Charlottetown Rotary, addicted to money

Love of money betrays the cause

By Stephen Pate, NJN Network, Charlottetown, PEI, Canada, February 22, 2009

The protests against Jerry Lewis and his MD Telethon by disability activists is typical of a charity gone wrong. The same thing is happening on PEI with the abuse of disabled children by Rotary, Easter Seals and CBC Charlottetown. Well meaning groups have fallen behind the times and get stuck because the money is too good. It doesn’t have to be that way with Rotary on PEI and MDA don’t have to abuse children either. But money is a powerful drug.

When the the Muscular Dystrophy Association started fund raising with Jerry Lewis decades ago standards were different. We were called crippled children back then. We weren’t expected to grow up, get jobs, have sex and children. I’m not sure why. Does one bodily defect mean everything is broken? Fund raisers needed celebrities and the more flamboyant the more money was raised. Hence Jerry Lewis who is so nutty he doesn’t have a North American film audience. Too weird for us but the French love his slapstick.
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Myrtle is a plot

Nothing on TV could rival the Myrtle Jenkins Smith story

By Stephen Pate, NJN Network, Charlottetown, PEI, Canada, February 21, 2009

I was up way to early and tired of writing so I went into the TV room, yup that’s what we call it. Mostly a place for Hannah and Natalie to hang with the door closed and their friends over. I go in late at night – like 1 am when it may be free. Law and Order came on so I watched this complicated plot about a couple arguing, a woman gets shot, there’s a stripper, her photographer boyfriend, a lawyer with a dead wife, two ex-cons and a 22 caliber pistol. The thing was so complicated then I realized no less strange and complicated than our our Myrtle Jenkins Smith story.

I’ve known Myrtle for decades mostly because Vaughn, her husband, and I were business associates. He’s a pretty easy going guy. Myrtle was always pushing somewhere. When I ran into her as the lead consultant on the Disability Services Review Committee I thought it would be pleasant. She has a good way with people, getting things organized. We seemed to get along but there was something wrong.
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OSCAR SHOWDOWN

By The Trouble with Jerry, Hollywood, CA, USA, Feb 20 2009

Los Angeles – Nearly 50 activists from across the US protested at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) headquarters in Beverly Hills today, demanding to meet with AMPAS officials and to present a petition signed by over 2600 individuals objecting to the plan to grant Jerry Lewis the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at this Sunday’s Oscar Awards ceremony. The protesters, mostly people with disabilities, occupied the lobby and refused to leave. Finally, AMPAS Executive Director Bruce Davis was summoned to meet with the group, called The Trouble with Jerry. Lewis has long defended the use of pity as a fund raising tactic. He has also described disabled individuals as “half a person” and referred to a wheelchair as “a steel imprisonment.”
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$113 Billion to be spent on health, disability and poverty related issues

NJN Network, Charlottetown, PEI, Canada, February 21, 2009
with story from The Arc, Disability Policy Collobaration News

Editor - there will be more than the anticipated $18 billion spent of Americans living with disabilities in the ARRA with health, poverty, housing and disbility related spending combined. Medicaid spending is $87 billion and all other categories are in excess of $26 billion. President Barack Obama has kept his word with the American people to bring social and health issues to the forefront of US recovery efforts. The challenge for Americans is to get the money out to the States and agencies as quickly as possible.

Disability Policy Colloboration News

The ARRA moved extremely quickly through Congress. The Arc and UCP have worked hard to ensure that the economic recovery package signed into law maintained the highest funding levels for disability-related programs and provides for the best possible protections for people with disabilities. The final Bill contains $787 billion in tax cuts and program funding. Most of the funding is intended to grow and protect jobs.

What is the Status of the Legislation?

Jan 28 – passed by House by a vote of 244-188
Feb 10 – passed by Senate by a vote of 61-37
Feb 11 – the Senate – House Conference Committee resolved the differences between the two bills.
Feb 13 – the House passed the conference bill by a vote of 246-183 and the Senate passed it by a vote of 60-38.
Feb 17 – President Obama signed the bill into law.

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CBC Easter Seals, Bruce and Matt Rainnie the Jerry Lewis twins of PEI

The disabled are not freaks for your freak show

By Stephen Pate, NJN Network, Charlottetown, PEI, Canada, February 20, 2009
with a story from FREDA, Jerry Lewis humanitarian award demonstrations set for this weekend

Just like Americans with disabilities don’t want the Jerry Lewis TV freak show, we don’t want your stinking Easter Seals Show on CBC March 1, 2009. We don’t want to be your trussed up little moneys wobbling across the stage at the Confederation Centre so you can feel sorry for us. We don’t want your stinking money. It’s all guilt money.

“Oh look Martha, he’s so pitiful and cute. And he doesn’t drool much.”

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PEI's Treasurer Wes Sheridan can save $100's of millions

The Guardian reports “PEI’s Treasurer Provincial Treasurer Wes Sheridan is warning it will be a tougher budget than in the past.
Sheridan has completed about 25 public consultation sessions” We gave Sheridan one of the big sources of found money in our consultation – save more than $100 million by strict tendering of all PEI goods and services. The Province of PEI law, Maritime Procurement Agreement and NAFTA require tendering. The Province has fallen off the wagon and is spending more than $100 million wasted on patronage and mismanagement. The assumption on patronage purchasing is that you’ll get your share. The reality is that crumbs are thrown on the floor for small business and the big patronage bonanza is for a small number of rich business men like the late Harry MacLauchlan and the Matheson brothers.
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By the Gang who can’t shoot straight

By Stephen Pate, NJN Network, Charlottetown, PEI, Canada, February 10, 2009

When I see how badly Premier Ghiz has handled the disabled on PEI and every other issue it reminds me of that silly movie “The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight”. It’s a story of a bunch of crooks who messed up every job. Aside from the fact they were criminals, you had to laugh. Robert Ghiz leads a gang who can’t shoot straight. Given a simple task of adding seniors to the DSP, they bungled the job. Given the task of fixing the DSP, they got on their horses and rode off in all the wrong directions. Now they’ve got rural Islanders upset. It’s the same on every file. It must be discouraging to Ghiz to fail miserably at their jobs day after day.
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DISABILITIES
By Daniel J. Vance

Business owner Dave Neiman of St. Peter, Minnesota, has become a great deal more aware over the last six months about accessibility issues arising in his ten Arrow Ace Hardware stores.

It all started last June: “While launching a boat then with my father-in-law, I was jumping from boat to dock and just landed wrong,” he said in a telephone interview. A doctor later confirmed Neiman had severely injured his Lisfranc joint, which an American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons website defines as “the point at which the metatarsal bones (long bones that lead up to the toes) and the tarsal bones (bones in the arch) connect.”

In Neiman’s case, “all those foot joints popped out of their sockets and all the ligaments and tendons tore,” he said. He had foot surgery in which a surgeon pinned and screwed his right foot together and wrapped the foot in a cast. Then he learned he wouldn’t be allowed to put any weight on the foot for over two months. Even after that, he still would have another nine months of recovery in which he would have to use a walking aid, such as crutches or a knee walker.
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By Stephen Pate, PEI Disability Alert, Charlottetown, PEI, Canada, February 5, 2009

Ed – this report was sent to the PEI and other media and our contacts at UPEI 10 minutes ago.

Accessible entrance and exit doors are required to have an approved power opener with buttons placed inside and outside the door. Only one of the 4 exit doors has an electronic opener with buttons. That door is inaccessible with a 50mm drop after the aluminum threshold.

These are just two incidents that we investigated at random on the University campus. UPEI management refuses to discuss any disability issues with us so we took them to the City of Charlottetown, Planning Department who ignored our warnings.
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WE MOVED TO

NJN Network.com

That’s easy!

Click on over and change your bookmarks when you get there.

Oh give me land, lots of land under starry skies above, don’t fence me in…

Money is a bad motivator, Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver

By Stephen Pate
PEI Disability Alert
January 17, 2009

Judas Iscariot sold Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. Today we call that “payroll loyalty” – support the government that pays your way. In Great Britain, the government will “whip” or force support from any one or group who is on the government payroll. That’s what is happening on PEI with 22,000 Islanders with disabilities and their support organizations.

When we first reported the $1 million cutback in spending on PEI Disability Supports back in 2006, none of the other disability advocacy groups supported our findings. They were “payroll loyal” to the government of the day. After trying to get a response, we despaired of getting them to speak in the March 2007 article Why have the disability groups not spoken out on DSP cutbacks?

Changing the government from Conservative to Liberal more clearly proved that the PEI Council of the Disabled and other non-government organizations were not going to recommend serious reforms to the PEI Disability Support Program. The people put on the committee were stooges, plants, saboteurs for the government. They have titles that imply they work to help Islanders with disabilities but they are really working to implement what the government wants.

To keep their loyalty, the Province gave them all bonuses last year, like the Council of the Disabled got another $25,000 to keep quiet. 30 pieces of silver?

For instance, the government appointed Anna Duffy from the Seniors Secretariat to represent seniors. I know she is considered a saintly person but she is not helping seniors with disabilities. Duffy announced at her first review meeting seniors are not disabled only impaired and didn’t need any help. That doesn’t agree with Statistics Canada who say 9,000 seniors are disabled.
One lies and the other swears to it.

Of the people on the Review Committee, all of them work for the government or are from organizations funded by government and are firmly “payroll loyal”. That is why the first report of the committee was a white wash and failed to make an substantial recommendations to the government for reform. They did not even hint that 40% of the disabled, seniors, needed help.

Once I realized that last January, there was no other course but to resign from the committee. Will anyone stand up for seniors and others on PEI with disabilities or will everyone turn a blind eye to their needs and the government’s indifference?

For the record, the Review committee members are:

Bridget Cairns,
Barry Schmidl,
Twilah Stone
Kevin Porter
Shelley Watts
Teresa MacKinnon
Charlene Stevens
Anna Duffy
Sharon Gallant
Kathy Pilkington,
Teresa Aitken
Corinna Costain

By Stephen Pate
PEI Disability Alert
January 15, 2009

Do not listen to anyone who tells you cork floors are great for wheelchairs. That person has never been in a wheelchair nor used one on a cork floor. An article by Pedro Arrias, Canwest News Service columnist, entitled “Home adjustments early on allow for independence in later years” is misinformed. It says “The cork flooring in this home is both attractive and functional, as carpeting is a difficult surface for wheelchairs to maneuver.” Cork floors are too soft and offer too much surface resistance for either manual or powered wheelchairs.
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The NJN special edition tackles the tough topic – is the PEI media on the take?

With PNP money flowing in all directions, what impact is that having on local reporting of PEI’s biggest scandal in history.

People with disabilities are not all alike and the accommodation they need to go to work or school is different. Ryan’s comment on the story You Really Hit A Nerve makes good points. Thanks for your comment Ryan.

Woman in power chair, Auto Adapt UK photo

Ryan is a student at UPEI living in residence. He is a paraplegic and uses a power chair. For Ryan and others in the PEI-Canadian Paraplegic Association, walking long distances are not a problem. They have an electric wheelchair.

Ryan wrties “Although some disabled students are going to have to work more now- because they have to wheel a bit longer to get where they are going.”

That’s the crux of the problem. Ryan is making the assumption other people with disabilities are in a wheelchair. But they are not.

The same view was expressed to us over and over by UPEI management and their Access-Ability committee. “It can’t be that bad to wheel a few more meters.” But again they are quadriplegics or paraplegics and using wheelchairs. Why isn’t everyone using a wheelchair? they ask.

I’ve had this discussion with them over and over and wondered: are they stupid or just putting me on?

There are different types of disability and different degrees. A wheelchair solution doesn’t help the blind or many other disability types.

Blind women walking, National Federation of the Blind photo

The majority of people with a walking disability do not use a wheelchair. They are not members of the PEI-Canadian Paraplegic Association. They definitely have trouble walking but use canes, walkers or just walk with difficulty.

I had polio at 3 and always had walking problems like falling, slowness, pain and fatigue. I toughed it out for 45 years because wheelchairs are a big pain to use. I also wanted to look like everyone else. People in wheelchairs get patted on the head – it happens all the time. Who wants to be looked down upon. It’s hard enough getting respect and having self-respect.

Another reader Freda writes in Wade MacLauchlan Doctor of Pain

“It’s better for people to walk as much as they can and want to(if they can). Prevents osteoporosis, better for the heart, etc. And it is hugely expensive to get the van, scooter, etc, and not covered by insurance unless you’re at a certain level of disability–and even then, often not.”

Sometimes we look through only our own eyes, seeing the world through our lenses. This can be especially so when life has dealt the severe disability card. I have been as guilty of that one as the rest. We need to look at each person’s situation and find an accommodation that helps them to be able to work, to go to school, entertainment, church – be a part of the whole community.

There is resistance to accommodation from some parts of society and UPEI is a typical example. The worship of the youthful body is pretty much the main focus of President Wade MacLauchlan. He spent $12 million on building accommodation for sports and some piddling amount on the disabled. Quite a hero. Didn’t they just give him that tin star called the Order of Canada?

On July 13th we implemented a new service for people with vision impairments. Odiogo allows the user to have the page read to them.

During the 18 days of August that the service was running, 30 people listed to the Blog using Odiogo.

We are impressed by the number and glad that we finally have a solution for the vision impaired.

If you are using this service and know someone else who might like to use it, pass this link along. If you are maintaining your own internet site, look into adding Odiogo. It was pretty easy to setup and the results are almost natural.

Disability Alert – July 9, 2008

A combination on Facebook and Blogger social media networking and mainstream media attention from CTV, the Edmonton Journal and CBC turned around this case of disability abuse in Alberta.

Obviously Smitty’s restaurant doesn’t want the bad publicity from local and national media coverage of this story. They saw the light and the problem is all fixed.

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Letters to the Editor – Eastern Graphic

Of 12,000 Islanders with disabilities, 4,300 or 33 per cent have unmet needs for specialized equipment according to Statistics Canada June 3 report PALS 2006.

PALS 2006 is a survey conducted after the 5-year census to develop a profile of the disability population in Canada.

Those 15 to 64 years of age had 45 per cent of their needs for assistive devices unmet. Seniors had slightly lower needs.

230 children on PEI have unmet needs for special devices. The need among children is unconscionable and the direct result of a penny-pinching government that spends its money on cocktail parties.

A total of 55 per cent of persons with very severe disabilities had unmet needs for specialized equipment, which was the highest for all levels of disability. Mild or moderate levels of disability have lower needs for equipment which are easily met. A mild mobility disability may only require a cane while a severe mobility disability would require an electric wheelchair and home modifications.

Types of disabilities surveyed were hearing, seeing, communication, pain, learning, agility and mobility. Agility means difficulty with bending, dressing, grasping objects and reaching. Mobility includes difficulty walking a half a kilometer, up and down a flight of stairs or 12 steps, or walking carrying an object of 10 lbs or more.

Disabilities limit the participation in everyday life by more than 50 per cent for those with mobility, agility and pain disabilities.

Nearly three quarters of people with a hearing disability still reported the need for hearing aids. One third of those with seeing disabilities reported needing large print reading materials. One third of those with mobility disabilities need lift devices and the same number with agility disabilities need hand or arm braces.

Only 11 per cent of needs are paid from the public purse on PEI. We know this from the fact that only 1,100 of PEI’s 22,000 persons with disabilities are covered under the DSP. Most needs on PEI are met from the disabled person’s own resources or family.

High cost of assistive devices was cited by more than 63 per cent of Islanders for not getting the device they need which is higher than the national average. When will the government wake up and start funding this program properly.

The PALS survey is our only way of knowing the true problems of Islanders with disabilities since the government is in denial. Last year the Deputy Minister of Social Services and Seniors told me Statistics Canada wasn’t accurate, it couldn’t be trusted. The government wants to minimize the problem that Islanders with disabilities need help.

Stephen Pate
PEI Disability Alert,
Charlottetown

Minister Jim Prentice

Michael Geist reports in his blog that Industry Canada employees are scrubbing or removing negative entries off Minister Jim Prentice’s Wikipedia entry.

CBC reported, as well, the staff were buffing his entries to make the Minister look better.

This is what happened last spring when the PC Party Youth scrubbed my entries off Pat Binns Wikipedia page and then buffed the page with Public Relations entries. The story was reported in the Guardian, CanWest Global, CBC and Windsor Star among other media outlets across Canada.

Wikipedia is an on-line encyclopedia that allows users to make entries and change other users’ entries. If they don’t agree, a deletion or Wiki-War ensues as each user deletes the others material.

Wiki editors are supposed to weigh in and mediate the war. In the case of Pat Binns the Wiki Editor was connected to or in allegiance with the PC Party. He took the side of the PC Party Youth workers and blamed me for the fracas.

This was not true and Dennis King, of Binns office, admitted the fault was with overzealous party workers, as reported by the CanWest Global.

The Wiki editor got caught with is pants down, so-to-speak, when he revealed a confidential communication held by the Premier’s office. So much for Wikipedia “Fairness”.

That story is being played out again in another part of Canada.

Some newspapers will not allow Wikipedia quotes by reporters after the Pat Binns Wiki-War since the content is not veifiable or reliable.

Greensboro, NC 27410 January 23 2008

As the labor market tightens and employers begin considering overlooked population segments, they will find a gold mine in people with disabilities. According to Alexis Herman, former United States Secretary of Labor, “only one-third of disabled Americans are employed, even though more than two-thirds of unemployed people with disabilities say they would like to work”.

Unfortunately, discrimination is alive and well. Mostly, this prejudice is rooted in fear and misunderstanding: fear of not knowing how to relate to people with disabilities, fear that accommodations will be costly, fear that “once hired, never fired”, and fear of potential lawsuits. However, as companies and organizations that hire people with disabilities will tell you—these fears are often groundless and easily can be overcome.

An organization of business leaders, the US Business Leadership Network (USBLN®) (www.usbln.org) is having a major impact on this situation. Representing over 5000 businesses networking together, members share best practices and look for innovative solutions for recruiting and retaining workers with disabilities. In the spirit of cooperation, they work together, dedicated to educating each other on the business imperative of hiring individuals with disabilities—and the Return on Investment this socially responsible effort brings to the table.

One major USBLN® initiative is its Annual Career Fair, held in conjunction with its Annual Conference, which provides an opportunity for businesses to meet with high school and college students about career choices. As reported by Career Opportunities for Students with Disabilities (www.cosdonline.org), about 45 percent of college graduates with disabilities are unemployed or underemployed. USBLN is working to fix this disconnect.

Beyond connecting businesses to youth, the USBLN® markets the business case for hiring people with disabilities. Aside from doing “the right thing”, hiring people with disabilities enhances a company’s bottom line by creating a more varied workforce with true diversity of thought in meeting workplace challenges. Surveys have shown that people with disabilities have lower absenteeism rates, which correspond to additional dollars going to a company’s bottom line.

Hiring people with disabilities will attract customers with disabilities to your products and services as they’ll see, through your employees, your commitment to their community. From a Gallup poll, we also know that 88 percent of American people would prefer to give their business to companies that hire people with disabilities. The time is overdue for companies to overcome their fears and increase the employment of people with disabilities within their ranks.

According to Katherine McCary, USBLN’s President, and a loaned executive from SunTrust Bank, “Hiring people with disabilities requires CEO commitment; when CEOs get disability as a diversity case, they often get the business case”.

Our forecast: business leaders worldwide will embrace the profitability of hiring people with disabilities to help them address the growing, critical skilled labor shortages.

Joyce L. Gioia, CSP, CMC (Joyce@hermangroup.com)
Certified Speaking Professional and Management Consultant
The Herman Group
Greensboro, NC
Phone : 336-210-3548
Fax : 336-282-2003

In Their Own Words

A report from Inclusion International can help people better understand poverty among people with intellectual disabilities in developing countries.

Nobody knows more than a poor person what it means to live with poverty or what the biggest barriers are to escaping it. And nobody knows more than a person who is excluded how devastating it can be to be constantly pushed to the margins of society. And it is poor, excluded people who see most clearly exactly what needs to change to bring them out of poverty and into the mainstream.

It is the obligation of anyone who wants to improve the living conditions of the poor and the excluded to listen to their stories–and their proposed solutions–in their own words. If we fail to listen, we will inevitably fail to help.

A report entitled “Hear Our Voices: A Global Report: People with an Intellectual Disabilities and their Families Speak Out on Poverty and Exclusion,” published by Inclusion International in November 2006, helps share insights into how intellectual disability can lead to poverty and exclusion. “Hear Our Voices” also makes recommendations for action. The report was made possible with the partnership and financial support of the Norwegian Association for Persons with Developmental Disabilities, NFU, and the Atlas Alliance of Norway.

How “Hear Our Voices” Was Made Inclusion International (II) is a global federation of family-based organizations advocating for the human rights of people with intellectual disabilities worldwide. It spoke with people with intellectual disabilities, their families, and supporters in more than 80 countries about the experience of intellectual disability and poverty. “Hear Our Voices” combines personal with secondary research sources to analyze how well each of the eight Millennium Development Goals for fighting poverty are being met for people with intellectual disabilities. The report makes recommendations for how civil society organizations, governments and donor and international agencies can each play a role in ending poverty and exclusion among people with intellectual disabilities.

In the acknowledgments page of their report, Inclusion International points out that people with intellectual disabilities “are too often invisible,” which means that “their stories are not influencing decisions that affect their lives.” Inclusion International explains, “We wanted to bring about change on a global scale – by convincing governments, multi-lateral institutions, and communities of the current injustice of exclusion. Where before our members’ voices were not being heard because they were isolated, we wanted to bring them together into a loud chorus. We wanted to link those local voices to bring about global change.” (p. viii)

What Next?
Here, Inclusion International’s focus is on people with intellectual disabilities. But people who are deaf, blind, have mobility impairments, autism, psycho-social disabilities, or other disabilities are also “invisible” in society—whether or not they are poor. And all poor people also are invisible–whether or not they have disabilities. Disabled poor people, their stories, and their ideas for how to solve their own problems, are too rarely heard when people with power make choices that affect their lives.

Perhaps Inclusion International’s report could inspire other global organizations to do the research for more reports like it. Advocates could then use these reports to help amplify the voices (and signs) of disabled (and deaf/Deaf) people living in poverty around the world.

Read the Report, Watch the Video
The full 79 page report can be downloaded for free in English in PDF format (500 Kb) at

The report is also available in a 10-minute DVD (video). This video is not captioned. There are many pictures and only an occasional line of text on the screen that is used to highlight key statistics or other information. I’m guessing there is also some kind of narration–but this is not accessible to deaf viewers. I’m not in a position to evaluate whether this DVD would be accessible or usable to hearing people with vision impairments. If you are, please do comment below.

Deaf people and people with disabilities in Price Edward Island, Canada, this blog post is for you. This blog post is also for you if you’ve ever been frustrated at how YOUR government (in any country) treats Deaf or disabled people and wanted to do something about it.

Stephen Pate recently brought his blog to my attention:

http://peidisabilityalert.blogspot.com.

In this blog, he identifies all the many different ways that the government denies human rights to people with various disabilities, and Deaf people. And he uses his blog to bring attention to these human rights abuses and speaks out about them, in a loud voice.

If you know of any Deaf people (particularly, of course, Deaf people in Prince Edward Island, Canada) who have had their human rights violated, you may want to check out his blog. See if he can help tell your story. Or, disability advocates in general may want to check it out. See if there is a way you can make a difference in some of the many issues he blogs about.

I’m posting this here in part to thank Stephen Pate for linking to my other blog, We Can Do. I didn’t want to link to it from there because I’m trying to keep We Can Do tightly focused on disability issues in developing countries–which Canada isn’t. But Disability Alert still looks like a good blog. My main concern with it is that, unfortunately, the videos on it don’t seem to have captions. But then, these seem to be videos from other sources that he doesn’t control, so that probably isn’t his fault.

ED. We’ll check in to adding captions. Good point.

January 3, 2008

HALIFAX – Whenever she can afford it, Tracey takes a jerry can down to a special pump at a local gas station and fills it with what little furnace oil she can afford.

The 36-year-old Cape Breton woman, who doesn’t want her last name published, says $20 of furnace oil will last two or three days – and only if she, her husband and four children keep the heat low and bundle up when they’re inside.

“I only run my oil in the evening, just enough to heat the house up for the night, and in the day you just put extra sweaters on,” Tracey said from her home in the Sydney area, where the temperature hovered around -7 C on Friday.

“We see a lot of people pumping their own oil just to survive,” she adds, referring to a gas station in Sydney that installed a furnace oil pump about three years ago. “That’s what we’re reduced to.”

Anti-poverty advocates say Tracey’s story mirrors many more in Atlantic Canada, as low-income families are forced to choose between heat and food in a region where a higher proportion of homes use furnace oil than in the rest of the country.

For Tracey, whose husband’s disability pension doesn’t even cover rent and food, that means using her federal child tax credit to pay for oil.

“My kids – they don’t get to do normal kid things. They don’t get a lot of clothing, nights to the movies, to be able to do things with their friends, because we have to sacrifice to pay the bills.”

People living on the East Coast are particularly vulnerable to the rising price of furnace oil, which in Atlantic Canada is on par with or slightly higher than the national average of $1.02 per litre. That’s up 50 per cent over the past 10 months, and double what it cost three years ago.

According to Statistics Canada, more than half of all homes in Atlantic Canadian used oil for heat in 2003 – the most recent figures available. The national average is just 12 per cent.

The four provincial governments in Atlantic Canada offer varying levels of help for people in Tracey’s situation, though advocates say those programs don’t provide nearly enough money.

The Nova Scotia government has eliminated the provincial sales tax on heating costs, although the government is currently under fire for scrapping a rebate program for low-income families.

In Newfoundland, homes with incomes below $40,000 can apply for rebates ranging from $100 to $300. New Brunswick cancelled a promise to remove the provincial tax and instead introduced a rebate program that gives $100 to low-income homes.

In Prince Edward Island, the government doesn’t charge provincial sales tax.

Dan Weston of the Fredericton Anti-Poverty Organization said rebate programs that offer amounts as low as $100 are “ridiculous.”

“One would think that heat in a winter country like Canada would be a right,” he said.

“People have to make serious choices – the choices are between food or rent or bills, because the price of oil eats up such a proportion of the daily finances.”

He said provincial governments need to do far more to help people heat their homes. If they don’t, Wilson predicted, governments will soon be footing the bill for shelters to keep families warm when they run out of money.

Non-profit agencies and some churches offer assistance, but they don’t represent a permanent fix.

The Nova Scotia branch of the Salvation Army offers help through its Good Neighbour Program, funded in part by companies including privately owned Nova Scotia Power and Wilsons Fuel, but families typically can’t receive help two years in a row.

A woman in Halifax who has used the Salvation Army and other sources to help pay her heating bills said such programs are just a Band-Aid solution.

“You can’t call them every month or every two weeks – it’s a one-time thing, you’re lucky if you get it once a year,” said the woman, who struggles to support a family of four on social assistance.

“We put in enough (oil in the tank) that will last, but that takes away from other things – food and bills.”

Ghiz should at least consider appointing a dedicated minister for the Department of Social Services and Seniors.

Editorial, The Guardian January 4, 2008

A Liberal backbencher’s suggestion that Premier Robert Ghiz appoint another cabinet minister to the Department of Seniors and Social Services seems like an expensive proposition, but it merits some consideration. This is no small department and it provides a wide array of services to many Islanders. If appointing a separate minister would result in better representation at the cabinet table and a more effective delivery of services, the expenditure maybe worth it.

At a recent meeting of the legislature’s Standing Committee on Social Development, Tyne Valley Linkletter MLA Paula Biggar presented a motion asking for a dedicated minister for the Department of Social Services and Seniors. Right now, one minister – Doug Currie – is responsible for that department and the Department of Health. In presenting her motion, Biggar argued that the needs of those depending on the services provided by the Department of Social Services and Seniors are growing more complex. The combined budgets of the Department of Health and the Department of Social Services and Seniors amount to about $494 million, she says; such heavy spending responsibilities suggest the need for two separate ministers to ensure these departments are “finely tuned and flexible in their response to the needs of individual Islanders and their families.”

Related Story
Disability Support Program Badly Broken – Where is the Fix?

She makes a good point, and it’s one which government should consider. Surely when government separated the responsibilities for social services and seniors from the Department of Health and created a new department to deal with those programs, it had its reason. Presumably that reason had to do with the distinctive mandates of each department. Shouldn’t the premier, then, appoint separate ministers to represent the concerns of each department at the cabinet table?

There’s also the demographic factor to consider. As the baby boom generation heads into its senior years, more demand will be placed on government’s menu of social services. Having a minister dedicated solely to overseeing those services makes sense.

An additional minister could also benefit the Department of Health. With responsibilities for social services and seniors removed from the Health minister’s plate, he’d be left with a more reasonable workload, and arguably be better able to address health-care concerns of Island taxpayers.

True, there could be a downside. Government is hard-pressed for cash as it is and in dedicating a minister to look after social services and seniors, taxpayers would be paying for an extra cabinet post As well, government would have to look at whether staff could simply be reassigned within the two departments or whether extra have staff would have to be hired. The latter would be problematic. It wouldn’t make sense if, in building up the bureaucracy for social services and seniors, government ends up cutting actual programs or financial aid to the people it was created to serve.

It falls to government to weigh these pros and cons and decide whether the advantages of appointing an extra minister would outweigh the disadvantages.

Honourable Doug Currie, Minister of Social Services and Seniors today announced members of the Disability Services Review Committee.

The mandate of the committee is to review the range of services now provided to persons with disabilities, carry out a public consultation process and report findings and recommendations to the Minister.

“Members of the committee were appointed by cabinet because of their demonstrated commitment and interest to ensuring community and government services available to persons with disabilities and their families,“ said the Minister.

Members of the committee include: Teresa Aitken, Bridget Cairns, Corinna Costain, Sharon Gallant, Kathy Pilkington, Kevin Porter, Charlene Stevens, Twilah Stone, Shelley Watts and Barry Schmidl.

Ex-officio members include Sharon Cameron, deputy minister and Kathy Jones, director of social programs of the Department of Social Services and Seniors as well as consultants Gordon MacKay and Stephen Pate.

Over the next few weeks, the review committee will develop a discussion paper to include statistics, trends, program information and questions for discussion and feedback. Stakeholder and public consultations will be organized throughout the province beginning in February 2008.

The comprehensive review will include research into best practices of international and pan-Canadian legislation, programs, and service models. These findings will be part of a report and recommendations to Government. The time frame for the review is expected to be six months.

More information about how Islanders can provide suggestions and feedback to the Disability Services Review Committee will be announced early in the new year.

Stephane Dion added Poverty to his agenda. It’s not enough – we need the Guaranteed Annual Income.

He needs to go further. A 30% reduction in poverty is not enough – that leaves 70% still poor.

This policy confuses the voter. It’s not a statement on poverty – its a nuance. The Government can brush it off like a fly.

The simple and low cost solution to Poverty is the Guaranteed Annual Income – the idea is 3 or 4 decades old and almost got done once before.

At the time political forces stopped the process. The time is now.

Conservative Senator Hugh Segal wrote an article on it fall 2006. Stephen Harper gave him the boot.

There is a clear dichotomy between those who believe in social justice and the right wing Tories.

GAI can be explained in a hurry which you need to win an election.

It has an elevator sell: try explaining your new job in the time it takes the elevator to go 10 floors.

GAI is fair.

It costs very little more than the multi-departmental, multi-jurisdictional patchwork of programs now in place at the Federal and Provincial levels. The cost saving is in removing 100’s of thousands of civil servants from the payroll and program reduction.

It also treats the poor with dignity and vitually eliminates core poverty.

This idea will sell in an election and it will also help million of Canadians

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Hugh Segal – Now is the Right Time for Guaranteed Annual Income

Randy Dickinson and Premier Graham of New Brunswick at UNB

By STEPHEN LLEWELLYN
llewellyn.stephen@dailygleaner.com
Published Tuesday December 4th, 2007 .

When Randy Dickinson went to the University of New Brunswick last week to speak to kinesiology students about disabilities, the classroom and its stage weren’t wheelchair accessible.

The executive director of the Premier’s Council on the Status of Disabled Persons uses a motorized wheelchair

He said Monday that’s a perfect example of why the province needs a tougher building code.

“When I arrived at the classroom theatre to speak, I discovered that the promised renovations to make the classroom and stage accessible had not been completed as promised since my last presentation the year before,” he said.

“It’s hard not to become angry and frustrated when you come to speak to a group of upcoming university professionals about disability awareness and the venue for the discussion is held in a location that is not suitable for persons with disabilities,” said Dickinson.

The council released its disability strategy Monday entitled The Path to Self Sufficiency and Inclusion for Persons with Disabilities in New Brunswick.

“This report will serve as a blueprint for positive changes in programs and services offered to persons with a disability in New Brunswick,” said council chairwoman Laura Peters.

The disability rate for the New Brunswick population is 14.4 per cent, compared to 12.4 per cent for Canada, said the report.

The report contained 100 recommendations, including adopting the Nova Scotia building-code model for accessibility.

It also calls for adopting the most recent version of the national building code.

New Brunswick uses the 1995 version, but there were updates in 2000 and 2005.

Dickinson said New Brunswick’s building code does little more than ensure that someone in a wheelchair can get in the door.

The Nova Scotia building code has more requirements such as designated parking for people with disabilities, visual alarms for the deaf if there is a fire alarm and signage with pictographs for people who are cognitively impaired, he said.

The report also calls for a chief building inspector in the Department of Environment with the power to act on complaints and apply punitive measures when the building code is violated.

“Citizens with disabilities, their families and caregivers as well as the other people who try to help them reach their potential are frustrated and are losing patience with the slow pace of reforms,” said Dickinson.

There’s been some progress over the years, but it’s not been available in all parts of the province, he said.

Premier Shawn Graham said at a media conference that his government asked the council for a new disability action plan soon after being elected.

Dickinson said it’s the first time in 25 years that a new premier called the council before the council called him.

“The system must have the capacity to be flexible enough to deal with people as individuals while still striving towards equity in outcomes,” said Graham.

“I will be directing all departments to take these recommendations under consideration and to move forward as quickly as possible to integrate these ideas into their operational plans,” he said. “This report is a blueprint for transformational change.”

The premier said the report’s building code recommendations are under consideration. But he also warned that some of the recommendations have cost implications and will have to go to the budget process.

Ann Passmore, 65, of Fredericton has two adult children who are mentally and physically disabled. She said the plan and the premier’s comment gave her a measure of hope.

“Over the years, I have heard many reports, many promises and nothing has been done,” she said. “They were just dreams. Now I do see the possibility of change. I hope it’s in time for me.”

She said she is looking for a place for her adult son to live.

“I cannot cope much longer physically with him,” said Passmore. “So my back is against the wall.”

She said she doesn’t want her 38-year-old son placed in a nursing home, which isn’t suitable for his social needs.

Joseph Trevors, executor director of the New Brunswick Special Olympics, said the report and Graham’s reaction was a big step forward.

“We look for any opportunity for people to live a better life through health and wellness,” he said.

The report calls for all recreational facilities to be accessible to the disabled.

Trevors said his organization still sees accessibility problems in some recreational facilities in New Brunswick.

“I wouldn’t say there are a lot,” he said. “We certainly run into a situation occasionally where a gymnasium or a recreational facility … has not been made wheelchair accessible.”

He said it’s usually in a smaller community.

The entire report can be read at council’s website at www.gnb.ca/0048.

Randy Dickinson at UNB

By STEPHEN LLEWELLYN
llewellyn.stephen@dailygleaner.com
Published Tuesday December 4th, 2007

The University of New Brunswick says its working as quickly as possible to make all it’s buildings accessible for persons with physical disabilities.

“We have made progress, but we still have barriers that need to be overcome,” said Shirley Cleave, associate vice-president academic (living environment), Monday.

Cleave said the university is adding ramps and elevators to buildings, investing in technology, improving parking lots and providing academic support personnel for students with special learning needs.

“Despite the current tight fiscal reality, the university is committed to continuing our efforts to make the university more accessible to our students, faculty and staff with disabilities,” she said.

The university made the comment after Randy Dickinson, executive director for the Premier’s Council on the Status of Disabled Persons, said he went to the university last week to talk about disability awareness and found the classroom wasn’t accessible.

He said he gave the same talk last year and the classroom wasn’t accessible then either.

Cleave said UNB’s accessibility advisory committee is in the process of prioritizing items to be included in the budget process and identify funding sources for major capital projects.

Patricia Kirby, co-ordinator of the student accessibility centre at UNB, acknowledged there is a need for increased collaboration on campus on the principles of barrier-free design.

“Although not all improvements can be made as quickly as we would like, we are diligently working toward improving access to our buildings and classrooms,” she said.

Group connects retirees looking for extra cash with elderly needing help

By LORI CULLEN, Special to the Times Union
Albany, NY
First published: Tuesday, December 4, 2007

When Mary Ann Engle bought her Schenectady bungalow, she thought she would live there forever.

Twenty-one years later, the retiree who lives on a pension and suffers with bad knees can’t do a lot of the things she wants to around her home.

“I put off projects while I was working until ’someday,’ ” said Engle, who retired from nursing last year. “When ’someday’ came, I couldn’t climb the stairs.”

Engle is not alone. As homeowners age, injury, illness or disability can force seniors to choose between staying home or moving to places where others maintain their homes or help with errands.

Umbrella of the Capital District is changing that. The Schenectady based nonprofit organization recruits and trains retired men and women who can help Umbrella’s clients with daily tasks.

The program provides supplementary incomes for active seniors while helping to meet the needs of the elderly. In return for their help, the seniors are paid $10 an hour by the people they are serving.

Ron Byrne, the founder of Umbrella, said the organization wants to help the elderly remain at home for as long as possible.

“That’s a fight. We want people to live in their houses and their community,” Byrne said.

According to census data, 12 to 15.4 percent of people living in the four Capital Region counties where Umbrella operates are over the age of 65. The organization serves more than 500 people, including the disabled, in Albany, Rensselaer, Saratoga and Schenectady counties.

In addition to paying an hourly rate to the workers, homeowners who are members of Umbrella pay the organization between $125 and $275 a year. The amount they pay depends on their income level.

The organization’s workers provide a variety of services including lawn and garden care, light carpentry and small electrical. They also handle plumbing, painting and nonmedical services like housekeeping, shopping, errands and transportation.

Umbrella employees are alert to potential fire and safety hazards such as loose bathroom grab bars and handrails.

“Basically, you are the eyes,” said Richard Osterhaut, who began working for Engle two years ago.

“Some things could cause a structural problem or be costly down the line if not attended to,” said Osterhaut, the former head of maintenance at Schenectady High School. “Maybe you see an overloaded outlet or things on the ground where someone might fall.”

If major electrical or plumbing work is needed, there are 20 licensed professionals who work for a reduced rate.

“I liked the idea of getting involved helping people get things done within their price range,” Osterhaut said.

It’s that same good feeling that lured retired Sears salesman Harry Kzachadoorian to Umbrella three years ago. Today, he combines more than 40 years of plumbing, heating and mechanical experience with his love of lawn care.

“My purpose isn’t just sitting around,” Kzachadoorian said. “We could use more help, and I highly recommend it for retirees who want to know what they’re going to do with their time.”

Betty Slagle, 84, of Albany, learned about Umbrella from friends. The organization paired her up with Kzachadoorian. His first assignment: fix a leaking sink. Now he cuts her lawn regularly and rakes the leaves.

“It’s a godsend,” said Slagle, a retired teacher. “Without the people who help me, I couldn’t stay in my home.”

Engle plans to sell her home because she can’t get up the stairs. But rather than move to an assisted-living facility, she’ll look for a one-story home and keep in contact with Umbrella.

“Richard does a very nice job,” she said. “I couldn’t do it without him. I couldn’t keep the house up as well.”

University’s seven-year plan will see all new projects meet or exceed barrier-gree guidelines

EDITORIAL STAFF
The Guardian

The University of Prince Edward Island says it is committed to enhancing inclusion and accessibility for people with disabilities through a multi-year project that will see improved exterior and interior access to buildings and facilities on campus.

University officials launched the Plan For Inclusion: A Response to the UPEI Accessibility Audit at an event in the Duffy Science Centre Monday.

The event was held in conjunction with the annual International Day for Persons with Disabilities on Dec. 3, first proclaimed by the United Nations in 1992.

The plan was developed by the UPEI Access-Ability Committee as the result of an accessibility audit of the campus carried out in December 2006 and January 2007 by the architectural firm Sperry & Partners Ltd., of Dartmouth, N.S.

The audit covers the main UPEI campus, including academic and service buildings and residences.

Wade MacLauchlan, president and vice-chancellor of UPEI, praised the committee for its work. He said it has produced “a very fine piece of work” in the comprehensive audit.

“We owe a great debt of gratitude to committee chair Joanne McCabe and the entire team who produced this report and developed the multi-year commitments that we undertake today.”

Committee member Paul Cudmore, a UPEI student who uses a wheelchair, is pleased with the university’s commitment to improving the campus for people who have disabilities.

“The physical accessibility and culture of inclusion at UPEI provides a great atmosphere for people with disabilities to pursue their post-secondary goals,” he says.

Under the plan, which will be implemented over seven years, all new construction and major upgrading projects on campus, including buildings, parking areas, pedestrian routes, adaptive technology and other services, will meet or exceed barrier-free and universal guidelines.

Funding for the plan will come from UPEI’s capital budget and will cover ongoing maintenance of accessibility-related upgrades and repairs, and continued disability awareness training for UPEI faculty and staff, as well as the actual improvements.

Improvements will include better lighting and signage, particularly for barrier-free entrances; replacement of the outdoor ramp to Memorial Hall; installation of automatic door openers where needed; designation of wheelchair spaces in teaching rooms; installation of assistive hearing systems in auditoriums and classrooms; renovation of non-accessible washrooms; and the continued replacement of door knobs with lever handles.

Significant improvements have already been put in place under the plan, including construction of a new outdoor ramp and accessible door to Dalton Hall; the addition of 11 new parking spots for people with disabilities; replacement of door knobs with lever handles in some high-traffic areas; and putting accessible desks in all accessible teaching classrooms.

The Guardian

Prince Edward Island will be marking the International Day of Persons with Disabilities on Monday.

Doug Currie, minister of social services and seniors, says he encourages Islanders to participate in community activities being hosted to promote a better understanding of disability issues and the community services available to persons with disabilities and their families.

Fourteen per cent of P.E.I.’s population, or approximately 19,000 people, have a disability,” says Currie.

“We need to continue to include and accept people with disabilities into every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life.”

The 2007 theme established by the Prince Edward Island Ministerial Advisory Committee on Disability Issues is “Opening Doors, Opening Minds, Seeing the Abilities.”

“People with disabilities have much to offer to the fabric of our society,” said Twilah Stone, chairwoman of the advisory committee. “We encourage all Islanders to welcome people with disabilities into their communities and their lives.”

International Day of Persons with a Disability was first proclaimed by the United Nations in 1992. According to the United Nations, this year’s International Day of Disabled Persons focuses on how to ensure meaningful work for persons with disabilities and on ways to tap into the abilities of this talent pool.

Related Stories
“International Day for Disabled Persons to be Renamed” Disability Alert, October 30th, 2007

Currie says the province of Prince Edward Island, in partnership with individuals, community organizations and the private sector, is committed to ensuring that persons with disabilities have the supports needed to overcome barriers, attain a satisfactory quality of life and achieve financial independence.

To this end, he said, staff of the Department of Social Services and Seniors are presently working on a framework for a comprehensive review of programs and services available to individuals with disabilities and their families.

10 face stiff fines for ignoring rules

BY LEONARD N. FLEMING Chicago SunTimes

Ed: Disability Parking on PEI is a mix of cooperation and non-cooperation. What’s your experience been?
Warning: If you are at the shopping mall and try to get away with parking in a handicap space or illegally using a disability placard, you are risking a stiff fine.

Ten people found that out Friday morning at Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg and at River Oaks Mall in Calumet City, when they were nabbed as part of an ongoing statewide sting operation aimed at curtailing those who take spaces away from the disabled.

“Our detail is designed to keep the spots opened for people who truly need them,” said Bill Bogdan, disability liaison for the Illinois secretary of state’s office.

Bogdan said police issued citations for various abuses, ranging from drivers not possessing a handicap placard to those who possess a disability placard or license plate but are unaccompanied by a disabled person in the vehicle.

At least one case was obvious to investigators Friday at the River Oaks Mall: a man using his grandmother’s parking placard pulled into a handicap space in a Ford F-350 pickup truck, a massive vehicle, Bogdan said.

The fine for parking in a handicap space can be as much as $350.

The penalty for displaying a placard or disability license plate without the person in the car is $500 and possible suspension of a driver’s license.

But unlike in past years, no one tried to use clout to get out of a ticket. Several protested, to no avail, Bogdan said.

Another good thing about having an increased police presence on the hunt for disabled parking scofflaws was that shoppers were able to alert police quickly to other crimes, including a stolen vehicle and wallet, Bogdan said.

More stings will be take place throughout the holiday season, the secretary of state’s office said.

November 16, 2007

The P.E.I. Health Information System is out of control with a spiraling budget likely to exceed $150 million and no end in sight. With thousands of families needing a primary physician and ER in crisis, what is the government doing with scarce health dollars? It’s like a family facing bankruptcy but buying one of those fancy plasma TVs. Why not, they’re on sale.

The computer system is supposed to compensate for doctors’ bad handwriting according to press reports. I don’t think doctors’ handwriting is going to be cured by a computer, if that is even a problem.

Announced to cost $10 million, the current budget is $50 million with no end in site. Is this another Gun Control project? As a former software developer and computer executive, I can assure you from hard experience these projects are usually out of control and no amount of money will fix them.

Anyone with a shred of common sense does not buy the first of anything. The Province is the guinea pig for the software developer with taxi meter running overtime at tens of millions per year. The Province should have waited until dozens of these systems were up and running in other Canadian sites. Of course, all the experts will assure us the system will save billions. That’s poppycock and they know it but they’ll be banking their money in off-shore banks when we realize it.

If the new government had the smarts, they’d stop this train wreck in its tracks and blame it on the previous government who too the hook, line and sinker of this consultant’s dream.

Stephen Pate,
Charlottetown

The Premier should stop playing games with the lives of Islanders with Disabilities

The story in today’s Guardian. Powered by Generous Soul – Charlottetown woman gets power chair from anonymous donor shows once again that PEI’s Disability Support Program is badly broken. Islanders with disabilities are not being served by the $9 million the government spends. They must rely on charity.

Disability Alert brought this to the public attention almost one year ago on December 10, 2006. More and more people are aware of the problem and coming forward to fill in the gap. God bless Ian Hunter and all those hardworking and generous Lions. They have been doing this work for years.

Premier Ghiz should separate the two departments and give Social Services and Seniors a new Minister. He should fund this program to the level required and stop playing games with the lives of Islanders with Disabilities.

The Liberals before they were in power promised reform of the DSP. Where is that? Is there any new money to help?

All summer long we have seen a cascade of people who need help from the DSP but can’t get it. Phone calls from case workers are not returned. Emergency needs put into protracted paperwork jungles.

It’s not that they don’t have money at the DSP: it appears that more than $4 million dollars may have been lost through mismanagement. We are investigating that story and will come back shortly.

Where is the new government? They are going to study the problem at a cost of $100,000. Since we told them what the problems were along with Baker Consulting and every person who can’t get help, that is a truly lamentable waste of time and money. If you need help the last thing you want is your wheelchair dollars being used to pay high priced consultants in suits. Could the Ghiz government not have the decency to set up an interim emergency program to help people who need it now?

Minister Currie needs to put his attention to this program and fix it before another Islander with a disability has to suffer like Shelley. Otherwise he is highly likely to slip into Ballem-Gillan syndrome – a disability who’s symptoms include loss of memory of the people you represent and spontaneous prevarication on the subject of disabilities.

One of the problems is the joint ministry of Health and Social Services and Seniors. Health takes all Doug Currie’s attention and SSS gets the left-overs.

Premier Ghiz should separate the two departments and give Social Services and Seniors a new Minister. He should fund this program to the level required and stop playing games with the lives of Islanders with Disabilities.

By Jim Day
The Guardian

Generosity is propelling Shelley Stanley forward.

For two years, the 50-year-old Charlottetown woman was immobile.

Her condition — she has a host of illnesses from vascular disease to nerve damage to her legs caused by diabetes — had progressed to the point where she could no longer get around on her own in a manual wheelchair.

She needed to upgrade to a power wheelchair in order to once again hit the pavement rolling. She pursued all avenues she could think of but fundraising and lobbying government both proved fruitless avenues.

“I was really at a loss,’’ she said. “I didn’t know what to do.’’
Then several weeks ago, Ian Hunter, a Pat and the Elephant driver and member of the Parkdale-Sherwood Lions Club, showed up at Stanley’s home at the Kay Reynolds Centre with a power wheelchair in tow.

A woman who wants to remain anonymous donated the chair. The generous gift — the chair is worth thousands of dollars — hit the mark, Hunter recalled with a smile.

“She (Stanley) just started to cry right there,’’ he said. “She was some excited lady.’’

Stanley calls the gift a Godsend. She said all she could do was cry tears of gratitude.

She has been doing her best to make good use of the coveted power wheelchair. Over the past few weeks, Stanley has become a familiar site to motorists as she zips along in her chair along the shoulder of Charlottetown roads, orange flag flapping in the wind.

She rolls out for coffee. She zips out for groceries. She has even powered her chair all the way to Wal-Mart, a good three-kilometre trek from home.

Stanley won’t be deterred by a change in weather, either.
“I have no plans to stay housebound this winter,” she said.

“She got her independence back, that’s the biggest story there,” observed Hunter. “She’s never home.”

Hunter would like to see more people like Stanley receive a generous hand to help get them on the move.

Barry Schmidl, executive director of the P.E.I. Council of the Disabled, said people have had difficulty getting coverage through the provincial Disability Support Program (DSP) to be equipped with an adequate chair to get them around.

“The DSP has not been as fast as they could be, to put it diplomatically, for people who need a chair or adjustments or upgrades to their present chair,” said Schmidl.

“If you can’t use your chair, because you need a power chair and you’re in a manual . . . that’s the same as you (able-bodied person) not being able to use your legs today.”

Schmidl said if people have a wheelchair in good working order that they wish to donate, they could call the P.E.I. Council of the Disabled at 892-9149.

The council in turn will do its part to find an appropriate recipient.

This article does not reflect the opinions of Disability Alert. It is a discussion of the topic.

By DONNA CASEY

Life or death situation

The day will come. It may be 50 years from today or it could be next month but the day will arrive when you are sitting in a doctor’s office or lying in a hospital bed, when you’ll hear the words, “There’s little we can do for you. We will try to control your pain as much as possible.

“You are dying.”

You may already be picturing your last days and hours — at home, in your own bed, surrounded by your loved ones, free of pain, ready to go.

But that vision is wishful thinking. Most of us will draw our last breath in a hospital bed. Some of us will die alone, while many will be lost in a medicated fog. Genetic counselling and in vitro fertilization has revolutionized how life begins. Now many think Canada is overdue for an honest public debate about how life ends.

Today, assisted suicide and euthanasia barely registers on the political radar screen. Like abortion, same-sex marriage and other hot-button social issues, lawmakers are loathe to venture into the ethical minefield.

Across the country, Canadians are running for the cure, not marching in the streets for the right to die.

But with baby boomers shifting into their senior years, some believe the fight for what some call “the last right” will heat up as a generation raised on freedoms and liberties grow old, sick and helpless.

During the past decade, the Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland have legalized euthanasia or doctor-assisted suicide. For the last nine years in Oregon, a competent person with a prognosis of less than six months to live can obtain a prescription from a doctor for a lethal dose of barbiturates.

Today in Canada, a person who carries out euthanasia faces a first-degree murder charge, with a mandatory minimum life sentence and 25-year prison term. Anyone who helps a person commit suicide could face up to 14 years in jail.

Could assisted suicide become law in Canada? A decade ago, few would have predicted same-sex marriage would be as Canadian as Mounties and maple syrup.

There are a growing number of people who believe we have the right to make that decision — to end our own lives with the help of a doctor.

In 1994, a doctor helped Sue Rodriguez end her life, a few months after the Supreme Court of Canada rejected the B.C. woman’s Charter challenge.

Elizabeth MacDonald didn’t wait for Canadian lawmakers. Earlier this year, the 38-year-old Nova Scotia woman with advanced-stage multiple sclerosis travelled to Switzerland to have an assisted suicide.

In 2005, Marcel Tremblay, a 78-year-old Ottawa man with a chronic lung condition, publicized his planned suicide by helium gas to help the right-to-die cause.

A 2002 Gallup poll showed support for euthanasia has risen steadily over the past 30 years, with a majority of Canadians now favouring it for people with terminal illness who are in pain.

One ethicist says most Canadians tolerate the idea of assisted suicide without necessarily supporting it.

“I think the middle ground of tolerating without approving is expanding,” says Bernard Dickens, professor emeritus of health law and policy at the University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics.

Dickens calls it a replay of the abortion debate in the 1980s — two entrenched, committed camps at opposite ends of the issue.

Supporters of the right-to-die movement are “independent, strong-willed people” — determined to choose how they will die, says Ruth von Fuchs, president of the Right to Die Society of Canada.

In Canada, the movement fits into two camps, with the 300-member Dying With Dignity Canada doing low-key lobbying on the assisted-dying issue.

Its more radical cousin, the Right to Die Society of Canada, counts only a few dozen members and offers legal advice and self-help assistance, including a mail-order guide on “a humane self-chosen death.” But both organizations see assisted suicide as a human rights issue.

Depicting assisted suicide as an issue of personal choice and dignity makes the cause more agreeable, says a historian of the euthanasia movement.

“If the issue is framed as an issue purely in terms of personal autonomy, of choice and human rights, the vast majority of baby boomers are going to be sympathetic to the legalization of assisted suicide,” says Ian Dowbiggin, professor of history at the University of Prince Edward Island and the author of A Concise History of Euthanasia.

But one physician says assisted-suicide supporters have “perverted” the notion of dignity.

“The moment the right-to-die movement sees discomfort, disability or social embarassment — like having to have someone wipe your bottom for you — they immediately declare a loss of dignity, as if dignity was no more than social status or personal ability,” says Dr. Will Johnston, chairman of Canadian Physicians for Life.

“There must be big problem with the reality when the image has to be so carefully manipulated to make it palatable to the public,” says Johnston of the shift among right-to-die groups to use “aid-in-dying” instead of the assisted-suicide term.

But Donald Babey, executive director of Dying with Dignity Canada, sees the assisted-dying cause as a grassroots movement standing up to “power structures” like mainline churches which “grasp at straws to legitimize its existence.”

“I’m convinced they’ve taken a manipulative and emotional approach and not a logical one,” says Babey of the argument that likens assisted suicide to “some kind of social cleansing.”

One of Canada’s top biomedical ethicists calls assisted suicide “a pretty straightforward issue.”

“The issue is how we die and whether there is something wrong with actively killing people,” says Margaret Somerville, the founding director of McGill’s Centre for Medicine, Ethics and Law.

Support for euthanasia reflects a shift in societal values that looks at death as “sanitized, medicalized and intensely individualized,” says Somerville, the author of Death Talk: The Case Against Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide.

Sanctioning assisted suicide would have a “huge symbolic effect” on how society treats its most vulnerable, says one religious leader.

“The response that should be given is one of care and compassion and support to those people at this point in their lives, not to kill them,” says Bishop Ronald Fabbro, a board member of the Catholic Organization for Life and Family.

‘CRY FOR HELP’

When a seriously ill person becomes depressed and dependent on others, their death wish is really a “cry for help,” says Fabbro.

“You’re talking about people at their most vulnerable time. People often need to be protected at that time from others and … even from themselves,” says Alex Schadenberg, executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition.

Supporters and opponents of assisted suicide use the experiences of the Netherlands and the state of Oregon to make their case.

After existing underground in Dutch hospitals for decades, euthanasia was legalized in 2002. In the Netherlands, a person can request an assisted suicide if their suffering is “unbearable with no prospect of improvement.”

The request must be voluntary and the death by lethal injection must be performed by a physician.

Dowbiggin believes the Dutch experience offers a “cautionary lesson” for Canada, showing that countries that begin to take a permissive attitude to assisted suicide keep pushing the boundaries.

But others say the Dutch law brings the practice out in the open.

“The dangers of abuse and exploitation and mistakes in Holland are significantly less than they are in Canada,” says Dr. Arthur Schafer, director of the University of Manitoba’s Centre for Professional and Applied Ethics.

“We know it happens in Canada but it happens in the dark,” he adds.

In Oregon, aid-in-dying has been legal since 1997. Defenders of the Oregon law say the statistics have proved its critics wrong, showing the law’s safeguards both protects against abuses and respects the wishes of competent individuals.

“You have evidence and data about why people are seeking it, who’s seeking it and the fact that it’s not the vulnerable who are accessing assisted suicide in Oregon but it’s the privileged,” says Jocelyn Downie, professor of law and medicine at Dalhousie University and the author of Dying Justice: A Case for Decriminalizing Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide in Canada.

The overwhelming majority of the 292 people who died using the law were white, college-educated, middle-class seniors.

Any change in Canada’s laws won’t likely be coming from Parliament. The best odds for a change in law would come from the courts. Any legal challenge would need to wind its way through several lower courts before getting before the Supreme Court of Canada.

ASSISTED SUICIDES IN CANADA

1994: Sue Rodriguez, 44, of Victoria, B.C., dies after an anonymous physician helps end her life. The death of the assisted suicide advocate, who lived with ALS, comes months after the Supreme Court of Canada ruled against her constitutional challenge of the assisted suicide law.

1998: Dr. Maurice Genereux, a Toronto doctor, is sentenced to two years in jail after pleading guilty to prescribing lethal doses of barbituates to two men with HIV.

1998: A Nova Scotia judge dismisses a murder charge against Dr. Nancy Morrison, right, a Halifax physician accused of hastening the death of a terminally ill cancer patient by lethal injection.

2002: Evelyn Martens, 73, of Duncan, B.C., is found not guilty of assisting in the suicides of two women.

2006: Marielle Houle, 59, of Sherbrooke, Que., is sentenced to three years probation for helping her son Charles Fariala, below, commit suicide. Houle pleaded guilty for her role in helping her 36-year-old son, who was in the early stages of MS, complete his suicide plan in September 2004.

June 2007: Dr. Ramesh Sharma, a general practitioner in Vernon, B.C., is handed a two-year sentence to be served in the community for helping a 92-year-old patient with a suicide attempt. He’s also stripped of his licence to practice medicine.

June 2007: Elizabeth MacDonald, 38, right, of Windsor, N.S., travels to Switzerland to end her life after years of chronic pain from multiple sclerosis. MacDonald’s husband, Eric, is questioned by the RCMP after returning, but it is determined he hadn’t broken any Canadian law on assisting a suicide

THE LAW

In Canada, it’s illegal to assist someone end their own life, covered by section 241(b) of the Criminal Code, with a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison. Euthanasia, which is Greek for “good death”, is the deliberate action by a physician or other person to end another’s life for benevolent reasons and with the consent of the person.

December 3, 2007 is International Day for Disabled Persons; however, the day is terribly misnamed. The word “disabled” is a negative label and should not be used to describe those living with disabilities. The United Nations has stated the name will be changed shortly.

We call on the Province of Prince Edward Island and the Government of Canada call it the “International Day for People Living with Disabilities” and not to use the pejorative and incorrect term “Disabled”.

The United Nations has acknowledged “Indeed, the member states of the United Nations are currently considering the recommendation to officially change the name of the day.” (Secretariat for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities October 29, 2007)

As to when the Day will be named correctly, the Secretariat said “We hope this issue will be resolved shortly. However, until the name is officially changed, we are unfortunately required to continue using the old terminology. We are very aware of the issue and are actively pursuing its resolution.”

Prince Edward Island and Canada are not required to use the old incorrect name. The International Day is sponsored by the United Nations and many governments around the world give note to this day. The purpose is to draw attention to plight of those with disabilities.

If people living with disabilities are in need of pity and charity then the label “disabled” is an apt one. Persons without a disability are encouraged to “feel sorry” for them.

The “charity model” has no place in today’s society. Canadians living with disabilities have the same rights as all Canadians, guaranteed by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. They have or are living with a disability: they are not disabled.

Negative labels and stereotyping are not benign. They impact on the freedom and self-worth of all minorities, including those living with disabilities. Call someone negro and they are a slave: call them black and they are proud. Interestingly some populations within a minority will fight to retain the old stereotyped names.

Wikipedia says, on the subject of using negative labels:

“The goal of changing language and terminology consists of several points, including:
1. Certain people have their rights, opportunities, or freedoms restricted due to their categorization as members of a group with a derogatory stereotype.
2. This categorization is largely implicit and unconscious, and is facilitated by the easy availability of labeling (sic) terminology.
3. By making the labeling terminology problematic, people are made to think consciously about how they describe someone.
4. Once labeling is a conscious activity, individual merits of a person, rather than their perceived membership in a group, become more apparent.
The situation is complicated by the fact that members of identity groups sometimes embrace terms that others seek to change.”

Prince Edward Island Ministerial Advisory Committee

Plans are now underway for International Day for Disabled Persons 2007.

The Prince Edward Island Ministerial Advisory Committee on Disability Issues invites you to participate in the “Opening Minds, Opening Doors, Seeing the Abilities” campaign by hosting an event at your organization or workplace.

Ideas for events include open houses, workshops, information sessions or events by and for persons with disabilities.

Please contact the Ministerial Advisory Committee on Disability Issues with your event details. A calendar of events will be published for public information during the week of November 26, 2007.

Please register your event by November 15th by calling 368-5967 or send an e-mail to cmferguson@gov.pe.ca.

International Day for Disabled Persons 2007 posters will also be available upon request.

Last Updated: Monday, October 29, 2007 7:23 AM AT
CBC News

The P.E.I. Human Rights Commission will hear a former employee’s complaint of discrimination by her employer on the basis of disability in December.

Sue Campbell was an employee at Kent Building Supplies. After she was hired by Kent, she was injured and says she could no longer perform her normal job. The commission investigated her complaint and decided it should go to a full hearing before the commission.

“The complainant alleges … that her employer didn’t accommodate properly to her limitations because of her disability,” commission lawyer Yolande Richard told CBC News Friday.

Richard said Kent Building Supplies denies there was any discrimination.

The company disputes that Campbell was not able to perform the job she was hired to do. There is also dispute over whether she was injured on the job.

James Bagnall, CanWest News Service
Published: Saturday, October 20, 2007

John Chambers, CEO of CISCO the giant communications company, admitted to a learning disability yet runs a company worth $200 billion.

Chambers suffers from dyslexia — a reading disorder in which people mix up letters in words. While dyslexic children often are teased mercilessly about their low scores on conventional tests, the condition has nothing to do with intelligence.

Chambers was very adept at hiding his dyslexia. It wasn’t until the late 1990s — several years after he had been appointed CEO — that he came clean. The occasion was a company “take your child to work” day. Before a crowd of hundreds of parents and children, Chambers had called on a young girl to answer a question. But the girl struggled, saying that she had a learning disability.

Chambers came to her rescue by acknowledging — for the first time in public — that he, too, had a learning disability.

The native of West Virginia spoke for nearly an hour Friday morning before an audience of more than 500 at Ottawa’s National Arts Centre. He had no notes and scarcely glanced at the slides that lit up the giant screen behind him.

To be sure, Chambers has delivered his stump speech many times in the past few months. But his ability to speak without notes is a necessary skill.

Chambers cannot read sentences, which is why the slides he uses in his presentations include only a couple of words which alert him to the general topic he wants to talk about. “I’m very good at seeing something and memorizing the whole concept,” he says.

He still has trouble with written directions and he prefers voice mail to e-mail. Through Cisco’s products, he is in a position to make his own world and those of other dyslexics somewhat easier.

What drives John Chambers? After serving for more than a decade as CEO of Cisco Systems, he is wealthy beyond his wildest dreams and has presided over several waves of technology transformation. Yet his enthusiasm for the job ahead remains unusually high.

During an interview Friday with CanWest News Service, Chambers, 58, said he had recently agreed to stay on as CEO for the next “three to five years.”

He said Cisco’s board of directors insisted on this commitment because Chambers has spent five years developing a game plan that will take years to pay dividends. Who better than Chambers to lead the fight?

There was another, more subtle clue to Chambers’ motivation.

One reason: Cisco is playing a leading role in creating the video-enabled Web.

“Everything and everyone will be connected,” he said, adding the Web 2.0 (as it’s known) will mean profound changes for how we work.
Cisco enjoys a market value of roughly $200 billion compared to less than $60 billion for the 11 companies that were its direct competitors a decade earlier.