Dialogue City Episode #005: Colleen Huston and Andrea Van Vugt on Disability Advocacy

“There’s enough in the world to beat you down” — Colleen Huston

What has made the Disability Action Hall, a group of enthusiastic individuals who advocate for disability rights, so successful after almost 20 years? Colleen says that having fun and eating together is the the secret for staying together for 20 years. As a group, they have been trying to un-learn what they have been taught and all the negative messaging that comes with disabilities.

“I can’t have a 45 dollar bus pass increase”. That’s an example of a question that came up in one of the weekly meetings at the Disability Action Hall. At first you might think, “maybe that person should work or take a budgeting class?” But as they go around the room, every other individual is also having the same issue.

How can all these people have the exact same problem?

Is this one of our perceived stereotypes and myths that we as a society has always been contemplating, or is it a systemic problem? Is social assistance not enough? Are there too many barriers to employment? Is there not a strong disability hiring policy with a majority of employers?

Sharing these stories, and identifying those issues and experiences has led to the advocates from the Disability Action Hall get real mad and come up with some of their best advocacy ideas, and especially their rallies which they are best known for.

One of their rallies centred around new rules that were originally put forward by the Alberta provincial government that would have forced individuals with developmental disabilities who required overnight support to go through extensive health, fire, and safety inspections in places where they rent. This would have finnaicially burdened both the landlord and those with the disabilities, putting undue hardship and duress on top of their existing hurdles in living like any other individual. The group found that there was a loophole within the proposed rules where if you were married, you could be exempt from these new rules. The rally that a number of advocates, including those at the Disability Action Hall, was to host a fake wedding party for every single individual who would have been affected by these new rules. With a change in government in 2015, the group successfully were able to see these housing regulations repealed. This is truly a case where regulations were put in place without consulting those who were actually affected, which is why you often hear the phrase “nothing about us without us” at rallies.

PDD Safety Standards and the Disability Communities Concerns

Alberta repeals housing regulation for people with disabilities after backlash

For Andrea from Disability Pride Alberta, the common theme of discomfort (like many of our previous podcast episodes) seems to essential when it comes to talking about disabilities. Are we comfortable with the word disability? Why did it/does it make people feel uncomfortable? Do we need to be shy about discussing disabilities? Should we be curious?

1 in 7 Canadians over the age of 15 report having a disability. That’s roughly 14% in Canadians or 3.8 million Canadians as of 2017 living with a disability. More information here: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/89-654-x/89-654-x2015001-eng.htm

Some questions and food for thought for our listeners:

• Has society purposefully disabled individuals?
• Has society made a decision to exclude individuals?
• How does society respond to an individual with a cognitive disability who wants to run for office?
• How do we reach individuals when making policies? Are we fixated on legal terms or do we want to create policy that is in plain and simple language?
• Do you see disability as something that obstructs an individual’s ability, or do you see it as a natural state, where a genetic difference could transform that individual be far superior in other talents?
• Do you want sameness in the world? Do you want a boring world?
• Comfort the disturbed, and disturb the comfortable.

So for our listeners, what does disability mean to you? What does pride mean to you?

We want to thank Colleen and Andrea for taking time out of their day to come chat with us. You can find more information on the work that Disability Action Hall is doing by visiting their website, Facebook, and Twitter, and Disability Pride Alberta is doing by visiting their website, Facebook, and Twitter.

You can find this episode and more on iTunes, Google Play, Soundcloud, Stitcher, and TuneIn. Reach us on Twitter, Facebook, and via email at dialoguecity@gmail.com.

Show notes

1. Speak Out is an annual celebration/festival centered around the disability rights, pride and culture movement hosted by the Disability Action Hall.
2. The inaugural disability pride parade will be happening on Sunday, June 3rd, 2018 along Stephen Avenue, ending at Olympic Plaza. For more information, please visit http://disabilitypridealberta.com/.
3. The Canadian National Institute for the Blind was established in 1918 after blinded war veterans (from mustard gas) returned home from the First World War in order to offer aid and employment for those with visual impairment. The CNIB fought the Canadian federal government to expand services for the visually impaired, and now those with a CNIB get free public transportation across Canada. More information at http://www.cnib.ca/en/living/safe-travel/planes-trains/Pages/default.aspx
4. Post secondary institutions have accessibility services for students with disabilities, but this was not always provided. You can visit the following links for accessibility services for students at Calgary’s three largest post-secondary institutions:
   University of Calgary: http://www.ucalgary.ca/access/
   Mount Royal University: http://www.mtroyal.ca/AcademicSupport/ResourcesServices/AccessibilityServices/index.htm
   SAIT: http://www.sait.ca/student-life/academic-support/accessibility-services
5. Kent Hehr, Member of Parliament for Calgary Centre, was recently under fire for comments made to thalidomide survivors. More can be found here: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/thalidomide-survivors-hehr-allegations-1.4433539
6. Right To Love is a group of individuals who advocate for (but not exclusive to that topic) marriage rights for those in the disability community. A brief video of their work can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhrFdIFqSHU
7. Ableism is defined in the Merriam-Websters Dictionary as “discrimination or prejudice against individuals with disabilities.”
8. Fare Fairs Calgary is [taken from their website] “ a group of citizens living on low-income, community organizers and service providers working towards an affordable city for all.” Their work involves around advocating that all Calgarians be able to afford and take public transportation in particular.
9. Fair Calgary Community Voices is [taken from their website] “a group of individuals and organizations working together to ensure city subsidies for Calgarians living on low income are affordable and accessible. [They] work as an advisory group for Fair Calgary.
10. Persons with Developmental Disabilities is an Alberta government department that “ funds programs and services to help adult Albertans with developmental disabilities to be a part of their communities and live as independently as they can.” More information at: http://www.humanservices.alberta.ca/disability-services/pdd.html
11. Basic income is a concept that all individuals should be afforded a minimum income level that allows everyone to live with dignity and with a livable wage should they not be able to find employment. More information about this can be found in Dialogue City Episode 3 where we explore basic income in detail.
12. AISH stands for assured income for the severely handicapped. It is a form of financial assistance and health benefit in Alberta for those who have a disability. AISH has had no increases since 2012. More information here: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-aish-benefits-disabled-1.4387221
13. The Fair Entry program at the City of Calgary is a single application process for applicants to access all of the city’s subsidized programs and services.
14. Enough for All is Calgary’s poverty reduction strategy with Vibrant Communities Calgary as the primary facilitator in implementing the strategy. You can read the strategy here.
15. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) is defined in Wikipedia as “ the 2013 update to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the taxonomic and diagnostic tool published by the American Psychiatric Association (APA)”