SMD Disability Health and Wellness Conference a great success
June 16, 2009
Keynote speaker prompts community to strive for "Made in Manitoba" disability legislation
Members of Winnipeg’s disability community are inspired and moving with momentum after visits by two of North America’s foremost contributors of disability awareness and advocacy.
SMD welcomed David Lepofsky and Karen Tamley to their Disability, Health and Wellness Conference in early May, which focused on the theme of Gaining Momentum for Change.
The conference was opened by Healthy Living Minister Kerry Irvine Ross and also Family Services and Housing Minister Gord Mackintosh and Grand Chief Ron Evans. Mackintosh even used the opportunity to publicize the following week’s announcement of the province’s 30 million disability strategy that calls on the public to facilitate change.
In an incredibly poignant and moving speech, Toronto-based Lepofsky – one of Canada’s leading constitutional lawyers and a driving force behind Ontario’s disability legislation – pushed Manitobans to continue to hammer policy-makers and politicians for disability legislation that is long overdue in this province.
Listen to Lepofsky’s entire speech.
Tamley, who works as Commissioner for the City of Chicago’s Mayor’s Office for Persons with Disabilities, delivered much of the same message and stressed the amount of progress that can be made when legislation is at the root of a movement.
“In meeting with people (in Winnipeg), I realized we are dealing with so many of the same things,” Tamley said. “It’s issues with infrastructure, community living, para-transit issues and cost issues among others. I think one of the main things people felt, though, was they wanted more government support around some of these issues.”
Read Tamley’s entire speech.
Tamley’s position is the only in a US city at the cabinet level, which grants her the same power and clout as commissioners in the areas of fire, emergency preparedness and other departments.
She has 34 staff dedicated to working on disability programming, issues and troubleshooting and provides services and counselling in the areas of grant writing, information referral, assistance to services, employment services, disability etiquette and awareness for civil servants, compliance, permitting and review – among others.
Tamley said her short and limited experiences with those who perform similar – albeit much smaller-scale – roles as she does left her realizing how lucky Chicago is and how much work the rest of North America – Winnipeg included – must do to catch up.
“Most often in government, you see the real issues buried down in layers of government and debates as to whether it’s a civil rights issue or a health issue or some other kind of issue,” she says. “We have a very strong commitment from our municipal government and I think it really makes all the difference.”
Read More News Stories