A discussion paper in support of the Canadian Federation of the Blind’s complaint to the Competition Bureau Canada

Daryl Jones, The Blind Canadian, Volume 18, CFB
The Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) was created in 1918 to help victims of the Halifax Explosion and soldiers who lost their eyesight during the First World War. Over the past hundred years, the CNIB has grown into a corporate behemoth, with a highly paid executive, a full-time staff of 646, a part-time staff of 306, and over 10,000 volunteers. The CNIB controls the blindness business in Canada and its reach has spread throughout the lives of the blind, including providing them public library services. One consequence of this market dominance is that the charity holds great power over the lives of the blind. The CFB hopes that this report will become a catalyst and will trigger a long-overdue dialogue and debate on the need for a new competitive model to provide services for blind and visually-impaired Canadians.