My vision for a better future for those with disabilities and special abilities in Manitoba

In my comments to those at the Independent Living Resource Centre, I spoke of my vision for a better future for those with disabilities and with special abilities in Manitoba. My speech is reproduced below.

I welcome your comments and suggestions. I have already had comments about additional items I should have mentioned - like doing better with sidewalks - so that someone in a wheelchair does not have to go several blocks before crossing a road. Be sure to email me with your thoughts - I can be reached at jgerrard@leg.gov.mb.ca .

Speech to the Annual General Meeting of the Independent Living Resource Centre
Sept 13, 2006
Dr. Jon Gerrard
MLA-River Heights
Leader-Manitoba Liberal Party

Friends, it is an honour to come before you this evening on the occasion of your Annual General Meeting. I am going to use the opportunity to give you my perspective – to give you my vision for people with special abilities who face special challenges. I would ask you to treat this as an opportunity for dialogue – an opportunity for you to hear my perspective – a Liberal perspective. I would ask you to give me your reaction – your comments – whether tonight or through an email – or other way – later on. I believe in being as open and transparent as I can – and so you and other Manitobans can see what I do on a daily basis on my blog. It is easy to find. You just go on to the Google search engine – type in “Jon Gerrard’s Blog” and it will take you right there.

My views of what is needed – have evolved over time – and continue to evolve in response to comments and suggestions I receive – and that is why I welcome your input – whether it is to say – you did not get this right – or good idea – but it needs improving – or whatever. I think it is important to give you one more perspective before I start. I am the leader of the Manitoba Liberal Party. As such my views carry some weight within the party – but part of my job is to bring people within the party to a common view about moving forward. In this I have found that it often takes time for people to embrace change – and that persistence and ongoing dialogue are important. So what I deliver today is a personal vision of what I would like to see us implement with a Liberal government in Manitoba.

To put my views in context, as you know I am a physician. I have friends with varied special abilities. My wife is a nurse and has been very involved with individuals with special abilities. I have been involved in developing and implementing various initiatives to help those with special abilities.

As a physician I worked with Dr. Gina Rempel to help her with planning and funding for the Link’d program – to network children with disabilities and their families. As a Member of Parliament and the Minister responsible for Western Economic Diversification, I established the Program for Entrepreneurs with Disabilties. In my present role as the MLA for River Heights and Leader of the Manitoba Liberal Party, I have been a strong advocate for those with physical and mental disabilities.

Now, I could stand in front of you today to bash the provincial government for not fully implementing the report calling for Full Citizenship for those with Special Abilities, and for not fully implementing the recommendations in the report on Housing for those with Disabilities. Clearly all the recommendations from these reports should have been quickly implemented.

But I want to move on to several cornerstones of my vision for a provincial action plan to improve the quality of life for those with special abilities. First, we have an older vision – which might be stated as follows:“How we care for those with disabilities in our society is a measure of the quality of our society.” I suggest to you that today’s vision needs to be:“How we empower people with special abilities to be independent and to have opportunities like everyone else – is a measure of the quality of our society, and a test of our ability to improve our society.”

Let me begin by explaining why I consider it so important to move forward in this respect.

1) First people who are empowered to participate and to contribute – are healthier and happier – Most people I know just want to have the barriers removed, so they are able to participate and be involved to the extent that they can. Indeed it goes beyond this – I believe there is a right for people with special abilities to be enabled to participate and contribute. We must, of course recognize, that all of us may find ourselves, temporarily or permanently, in situations where we have disabilities. Empowering those with disabilities – is not just to assist those with disabilities. It is in all our interests to do this.

2) But, I suggest to you that there is also a broader context in terms of the development of our society that we need to consider and to understand. Time and time again new technologies, new services and new understandings of how to improve the quality of life for those with special abilities have been at the forefront of the development of technology, service and understanding of how we provide services for everyone. Addressing the barriers for those with special abilities is important – because it improves the quality of life and the economy for all. There can be no better example than the work of Alexander Graham Bell – with those who have difficulty speaking and hearing – which led to the development of the telephone. And what a difference the telephone and all the communications technology which has happened subsequently has made.

Let me just review this for a moment. Alexander Graham Bell’s mother was severely hearing impaired. He grew up concerned about those who were deaf – and became a teacher for those who were deaf – and indeed was involved in training teachers for the deaf. Bell first addressed the question of transmitting vibrations as a means of helping lip-readers – and from this search to help those who were deaf – grew our whole modern communication system.

If we, today, are going to move our whole society forward. If we are going to be building the industries and the business and the economy of the future, we need-- like Alexander Graham Bell – to be at the forefront of empowering those in our society with special abilities. This is why it is so important that all of us. That is why it is so important to have at the very core of our society a substantial and continuing effort which involves research, development, innovation and investment to improve our ability to empower those with special abilities.

I am now going to talk about my vision in four particular areas.

I) I would like to develop the approach and the vision to have all new buildings, including all new homes, in Manitoba built using universal design principles so that they are accessible for people with special abilities.When I bring this up, I am immediately challenged by those who are concerned with the cost and the effort to do this. It is true that this will not be easy or immediately accepted. It is true that it may not be accomplished in one year – or perhaps not in even ten or twenty years. So why, when there may be so much resistance, should we start down this path?

First of all – anyone of us – at any time – could have an accident – and find ourselves shut out of our homes or our work spaces.

Second, the present design of many of our homes and other buildings makes it difficult or impossible to have friend who has special abilities visit. And retrofitting is always much more costly than building access into the building when it is constructed in the first place.

Third, I am convinced that the world of the future will have to be based on universal design principles. Starting along this track will put our architects, our engineers and all those involved in building homes and other buildings at the forefront of designing and building the products which will dominate the market of the future. We can get people together in Manitoba to move in this direction – and we can work together to set a pace at which change occurs – but we should set this goal now. We can and should be leaders in Manitoba.

II) Moving toward full community living for those with all physical and mental disabilities should be the second major effort we undertake and accept. While this move was initially embraced by the current NDP government, as you all know, the NDP have taken a backward step in their approach to the Manitoba Developmental Centre in Portage la Prairie. In the Manitoba Liberal Party, we have embraced the movement toward full community living. I will be frank with you, when I was first elected, I was not so sure about this. But I have attended workshops and seminars and met with many in the community – and I have seen firsthand the importance of community living – and I have learned of the research evidence which has shown – many, many times - over that community living provides for a better and healthier environment, and indeed is no more costly than caring for individuals in institutions.

I have a good friend who is in a wheelchair and she also requires a respirator. She has moved to live independently – and I have seen the benefits. I have also visited and met Catherine Schaefer who is severely disabled and seen in her the benefit of community living and a community network of support. So I am a full supporter of independent and community living.

III) There are many aspects of the support for those with disabilities – or special abilities – in Manitoba which are excellent. But there are some which are quite problematic. Let me give you an example.

For my friend Bonnie, who you can meet on my blog if you are interested, the support works pretty well up until the point where she wants to get a job or start her own business. All of a sudden there is a threshold with huge obstacles and problems. When she starts earning more than 50 or a hundred dollars, the government will claw back seventy percent or more of what she earns. This is equivalent to a tax-back – and we need to start with the principle that no one should have the equivalent of a “marginal tax rate” higher than the marginal tax rate of the highest earners in our province. A 70% claw back or tax back rate provides a huge disincentive to trying to earn income. It needs to be substantially reduced.

Secondly, with current programs, if Bonnie starts earning a consistent wage or income, she may find all her supports withdrawn, and if she then has a health problem it may take time to get supports back. We need a seamless support system which is always there – and which enables people like Bonnie to take risks – like trying for a job or starting a business. We also need an approach which facilitates and enables home ownership for those with special abilities. Current support approaches can provide major obstacles for those who would like to move in this direction.

IV) Accessing health care and education for those with special abilities is, in many respects, good for those with special abilities in Manitoba. But there are clearly some major shortcomings. I was discussing with a physician this morning the fact that in Manitoba the development and use of approaches to home based monitoring lags significantly behind what is happening in some other jurisdictions. Approaches to and support for those with mental health issues often still leaves much to be desired in Manitoba. And I am sure from your personal experience you can cite other areas. There is much work to be done.

I will now bring my remarks to a close. In doing so, let me repeat the four major points.1) My vision is to move to use universal design in all buildings in Manitoba including homes.2) My vision is to move to full independent community living for all those with special abilities in Manitoba, including those with the severest intellectual disabilities.3) My Vision is to overhaul our present social assistance system as it supports those with disabilities so that it provides help instead of barriers to those who earn income.4) My vision is to make changes to our education and health care systems so that they are more responsive and provide better support for those with special abilities. All these changes are to better enable and empower those with special abilities to lead fuller lives and to be able to better participate and contribute in our society. And these changes will be positive in so many other ways – in improving all our lives – and indeed in building our economy.

Thank you. Merci.