Notes for a Video Message  

By Ken Dryden, Minister of Social Development Canada

to the

Canadian Association for Community Living

2005 Annual Conference

Saskatoon , Nov. 2–4, 2005

Hello everyone. I’m sorry that I can’t be there with you today.

Two weeks ago, we had an FPT meeting on social services in Ottawa. As Ministers, we had a lot to talk about—about families and caregivers, the NCB, poverty and child poverty, an update on ELCC. But the main focus of the meeting was on people with disabilities.

The weekend before, to help organize my own thoughts as well as to give a framework to our department, I decided to write a preamble to a 10-year plan we were beginning to sketch out. The details would come later and over time—at the FPT, in a campaign platform, in a budget, in provincial and territorial priority setting and initiatives, in discussions with you and with others. I just wanted to get down on paper for me, for us, the right tone, the right attitude, the right spirit for what we were undertaking. And I wanted to get that preamble to every provincial and territorial minister. So when they arrived in Ottawa , I gave them a copy.

Here’s what it said:

Our vision for people with disabilities is to create an accessible Canada —a truly accessible Canada . A Canada where, thanks to adaptation, to technology, and to supports of different kinds, all can live full, realized Canadian lives. Accessible in our streets and in our communities, accessible in our homes, workplaces and educational institutions, accessible at all the different stages of our lives; and, crucially, accessible in the minds of people with disabilities, and in those without disabilities.

We have a long way to go.

It will require a clear idea of what an accessible Canada would look like. It will require the support, determination, and belief of more than people with disabilities, their stakeholders, and their governmental advocates. It will require a belief, a genuine belief, among people without disabilities, non-stakeholders, and governments in general and at all levels, not just that an accessible Canada should happen, but that it can happen.

We have a long way to go.

It will require clearly articulated examples of how in certain communities, in certain workplaces and educational institutions, it already has happened. It will require big, highly-visible demonstration projects, like the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, to show how it can happen. It will require governments at all levels, stakeholders, and interested others to help create the environment of possibility that can make this happen.

It is time to begin.

I also wrote some other things that weekend, which weren’t specifically part of our FPT discussions, but which I shared with at least one other Minister. Again, the purpose was to offer a framework. This is what I wrote:

In 10 years, Canadians with disabilities will live in a country that has committed to, and succeeded in, improving access to, and ability to pay for, disability-related supports and services.

People with disabilities, therefore, will have the income, aids and devices, personal supports, medications, and environmental accommodations that make social, economic, cultural, and political citizenship accessible to all.

Canadians will have achieved for people with disabilities significant measurable progress to address social inclusion and economic security and to re-balance the responsibilities that allow people to participate in society and the economy throughout their lives.

And Canadians with disabilities will live in a country that believes that an accessible Canada can and will be achieved.

In these 10 years, I continued, targeted action will result in progress in five areas affecting Canadians with disabilities and their families:

• First, for those with severe disabilities, who have low income, are of working age, and require high-cost items, we will expand the quantity and quality of existing supports and services and alleviate major gaps in coverage to help provide for unmet needs.
   
• Second, we will offset the additional costs associated with supports and services for those with severe disabilities and their families.
   
• Third, we will work to improve access to information about available disability-related supports and services.
   
• Fourth, we will expand income supports and broaden and improve employment opportunities.
   
• And fifth, we will pay particular attention to the unique needs and particular circumstances of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit people with disabilities and their families.

At our FPT meeting two weeks ago, we spent more time on people with disabilities—almost half the meeting—than on any other issue. All Ministers spoke with passion and commitment about the need to move forward toward the objective of full inclusion in the near future. At the end, in our communiqué, we agreed to the following words:

"Ministers affirmed that a key priority for the forum over the next year will be people with disabilities. They reaffirmed their commitment to the objective of the full inclusion of Canadians with disabilities in society. The focus for achieving this objective will be joint work with emphasis on improving access to and funding for disability supports and services and for income supports for people with disabilities, at the same time working to build public awareness and stakeholder and government support to address the challenges facing people with disabilities. At their next meeting, Ministers will consider jointly developed options in these areas that address both the short- and longer-term aspects of achieving this objective."

This is where we are. We know we have a long way to go. You know we have a long way to go. But, with you, we want to go there.

One more thing: from all of us here, I want to congratulate the Saskatchewan Association for Community Living as you celebrate 50 years of leadership and advocacy and outstanding work for people with developmental disabilities and their families.

And again, from all of us, I wish all of you a very successful conference.

Thank you.