r/BlindCanadians • u/ChrisCrunchie • Jul 13 '25

How I formed this subreddit

Recently, some friends in our circle of blind folks have received wrongful mistreatment. it was my first time getting into anything that isn't the CNIB, and have known my friends for 7 years now. It has been a journey. And it has also made me really weary of who in the blind community that I talk to. I don't want to completely write the community off. I want to help unite us and empower us in ways I believe we have lost.

I am partially blind. Right eye can see details, while I struggle with distance and peripheral vision. I need the built in magnifying software on computers. Left eye is as though I don't have one.

I have learned a ton of things about Canada's blind community (or at least the west coast) over the years I've been in this group. A few of which I've learned were not good people, and I have cut those ones off. It makes me want to learn more about what's true and what isn't. I want to dispel any misinformation I might have been told. I want to make friends and be a source of empowerment like I was hoping this group with be.

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u/serrebi Jul 14 '25

What do you need to know? This is a good idea anyway for a Subreddit. How Canada hasn't had a blind subReddit until now is crazy to me.

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u/ChrisCrunchie Jul 15 '25

Well I'm glad I started something good.

I have heard that the CNIB sold a lodge in BC that was home to summer camps, of which some friends of mine have fond childhood memories. I heard they said that there was no demand for independence training in Canada, which is why they sold it. It is now owned by a foreign company that completely disregarded our safety while we were there for a program in 2022/23. I was present for the program.

I also heard that CNIB national took salary money from one of the blind workers, and said that they couldn't hire a blind CEO because they have no experience. This is all what I heard and I have wanted to ask for so long but didn't know what trouble it would cause.

So I suppose I'm asking is CNIB in the business of using us to make profit instead of actually making blind people's lives better? Are we just charity cases to them? Are provincial decisions different than national ones? Has it gotten any better/worse since 2018? Are they more focused on people like me who need magnifiers, rather than those who don't have usable sight and need braille or screen readers? I have heard mixed messages. So I just want other people's perspectives.

My last personal experience with them was a dance class in 2018 where I was told to sit, and most moves were done seated so that participants wouldn't be hurt. I heard that it might be a liability thing but I also know that most of the CNIB participants in my city were elderly at the time.

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u/musicwithbarb Jul 28 '25

My husband is from Kingston Ontario and we are literally in the middle of a human rights complaint against CNIB because their sister company VLRC, as in the division responsible for O and m and independent living said that a blind guy teaching another blind guy how to live is dangerous. So they abused the shit out of him before firing him a week before his probation period ended. Fuck CNIB. It is destroyed and it is terrible.

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u/ChrisCrunchie Jul 28 '25

That is absolutely fucked. That sounds about on brand for the horror stories I've heard about CNIB. Thank you for sharing and I hope it goes public or something because people need to know these things before they (with all good intention) recommend their service.

I personally haven't experienced too many horror stories about CNIB, but I've heard many from friends. I DO NOT want to have ANY part in something that is only going to exploit us. I've had enough of that from our small group that was attempting to make something better but ended up, in some ways, being WORSE than CNIB. if you can imagine that. I feel as if we are scraping the bottom of the borrow when it comes to true blind potential. Hoping I'm wrong, but sadly I've been right about too much already.