Since the United Nations’ International Year of Disabled Persons (1981), Canada has made considerable progress in all areas of disability. Widespread initiatives in research, prevention, rehabilitation, and community action have brought new meaning to the concepts of integration and life with dignity for people with disabilities.
Canada’s record of achievement in the disability field is plentiful:
- Canadians have been dedicated and creative in their efforts to translate equality into every aspect of community life, each success enthusing others to take up the challenge.
- In 1981, an all-party Parliamentary Committee issued an insightful report, Obstacles: Report of the Special Committee on the Disabled and the Handicapped, with contributions from citizens with disabilities across Canada.
- A National Strategy for Integration of Persons with Disabilities was launched by the Canadian government following the World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons.
- Early in the UN decade, the Parliament of Canada passed an Omnibus Bill designed to ensure the full participation of citizens with disabilities, through access to the electoral system and access in alternate format to government records and information.
- The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is one of the first such documents to guarantee the rights of people with disabilities.
- In 1983, the Secretary of State was designated Minister Reponsible for the Status of Disabled Persons and a special Office on Disability was established by the Canadian Government, now the Office for Disability Issues.
- Canada has hosted:
- Independence ’92, an International Congress on Disability;
- Third World Congress of Disabled Peoples International; and
- International Conference of Ministers Responsible for the Status of Persons with Disabilities.
- Canada has pioneered new initiatives to support complete integration and full participation of persons with disabilities: the Commonwealth Games held in Victoria, British Columbia in 1994 were fully accessible, and set a new games standards for integration and accommodation.
- Canada played a pivotal role in leading the global ban on antipersonnel mines, one of the leading causes of disability around the world.
- Over 2000 organizations are actively involved in the disability field in Canada.
- Today, many Canadians with disabilities are acclaimed for exceptional leadership in addressing issues, not always in the disability field, at the community, national and international level.
Source: REACH Equality and Justice for People with Disabilities
