Our new site isNJN Network
Better than ever before.
Please change your links.
Thanks, Stephen Pate
Sunday, February 15, 2009
We moved
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Something new
We're trying something new this week - all our stories will be posted on NJN Network instead of being on 7 different blogs. They will also be shorter to save you time.
Give us your opinion. Thanks, Stephen Pate for PEI Disability Alert
NJN Network - the rest of the story
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Guardian bans disability advocate, sells newspapers with disabled child
Use 'em and abuse 'em, Guardian and Journal Pioneer sell papers with disabled child (Guardian photo by Heather Taweel)
By Stephen Pate
NJN Network
January 20, 2009
Hard times at Transcontinental or hypocrites?
What is causing the schizoid behaviour at the Transcontinental, Guardian and Journal Pioneer these days? The Guardian and Journal Pioneer front page today is selling papers with a cute picture of this year's Easter Seals Ambassador. Last night the Guardian banned the email I have a dream on Barack Obama from PEI Disability Alert.Are they falling on hard times: desperate men do desperate deeds? The newspaper business is in big trouble so maybe they're just in a perpetual bad mood. Or are they upset of freedom of speech and a call for the end of discrimination of the disabled. We can't figure it out, can you?
On Martin Luther King Jr. Day I wrote a story on the significance of Dr. King's "I have a dream" speech 45 years ago. Everything on TV, computers and in the news is about Barack Obama a black man becoming US President January 20th, 2009. In the story I tied the struggle for civil rights with our struggle for human rights in PEI's disabled community. Barack Obama made the same connection between civil rights and disability rights in his speeches.
Having lived with discrimination all my life, it was a little heartfelt but a well written story. Heart never hurts in writing once in awhile since we are human. It's called an Editorial in the news biz.
When I emailed the story to the Charlottetown Guardian, they sent it back as spam. So I tried the Journal Pioneer. They sent it back too. Every email address at Transcontinental returned my hopeful Obama article that someday people with disabilities wouldn't face discrimination either. A letter to the editor the previous day was not returned as spam so this is something new.
The Guardian doesn't want any of their staff to read an article on Obama, freedom from discrimination and civil rights. That doesn't sound right for a newspaper. They could just delete the message but no they made a big deal about returning them. No doubt they are looking for attention.
This is now a two month plus campaign of harassment of PEI Disability Alert. We even thanked the Guardian over the weekend for declaring a truce late last week, in our story Guardian censor goes on holiday. It's not like we don't have enough to do in this volunteer job of trying to improve the lives of Islanders with disabilities. Gary MacDougall has made it his personal job to harass us and me personally. He left a nasty and ill-humoured comment on my Facebook Wall last week.
Well Mr. MacDougall, you can't just have the cute, quiet disabled children to exploit: the adults come with the package. Why don't you decide whether you agree with human rights for the disabled or not. Now when are we going to get the Guardian behind the push for coverage of seniors in the PEI Disability Support Program?
Easter Seals and Rotary abusing children with disabilities Part 2
By Stephen Pate
PEI Disability Alert
January 20, 2009
The annual Rotary Easter Seals fund raiser needs to be fixed to stop the abuse of children. However, Rotary will do everything in its power to discredit this report and me. It has already started but you are reading the truth here. It's ironic to be discussing this on the inauguration of US President Obama. Yesterday the Charlottetown, Montague and Summerside Rotary Clubs announced their joint, annual Easter Seals campaign. In an article last week, Rotary Easter Seals abuses children with disabilities, we discussed in general terms our concerns about this campaign. I know the deal as a Rotarian for almost 20 years, a fund raiser for Easter Seals / March of Dimes and a child with a disability used in fund raisers.
As an Easter Seals Ambassador, the child is objectified as a photogenic model of disabilities suitable for TV, newspaper promotion and fund raising. That has been going on for decades but is really out of touch with a more humane understanding of the child's emotions. Would we allow an 11 year old girl to be used to promote women's rights or an 11 year old photogenic boy to promote Gay Rights? Not likely.
A child with a disability fights every day to get past the pain, the barriers and to feel "normal". The children are emotionally abused in this process. Rotary picks them up for three months and then drops them. Most children respond positively to attention, especially from adult role models. The Easter Seal's ambassador thrives on it. He or she will work tireless passed the point of exhaustion to do whatever the adults ask. It's both cute and sick all at once when you realize that a few months later they will be dropped like a stone.
Rotary doesn't invite the child back for meetings a year later, two years later. In fact it was a struggle to get Charlottetown Rotary to invite them for the 25th anniversary. Montague Rotary and Summerside Rotary Clubs do keep in closer contact but the Charlottetown Club hands off most contact to groups like Camp Gencheff.
Does this matter? During the 25th Anniversary year I interviewed the former Ambassadors. Instead of getting the expected positive comments about Easter Seals, the consensus was "Rotary used us and then threw us aside." At first this was hard for me to understand since it was not my experience but more about that later. I took those comments back to Rotary but met resistance.
When I was on the Easter Seals committee, I lobbied to have past Ambassadors, or Timmy's as they were called, included in other Rotary events. More than 10 of the children expressed the feeling they were used and dropped by Rotary after the money was raised. Other Rotarians argued to exclude past ambassadors from meetings. Cost was the consideration.
The argument seemed petty and selfish considering the children had helped Rotary raise more than $1 million dollars. Besides, the children are not models or objects. They are children with disabilities and are probably more sensitive than most due to their problems integrating into society.
It wasn't always this way. As a child I had volunteered for Easter Seals and March of Dimes. These groups were my friends and benefactors. They would pick me up regularly to drop the puck at hockey games, throw the first ball at a baseball game or participate in some small way in a community event. It was fun and I felt included in things. Rotary, Easter Seals and March of Dimes made me feel special when my disability made me feel different.
I knew they paid my medical bills and provided me with leg braces and shoes. There was no medicare back then. Rotary in Halifax kept in contact with me until I was a mid-teenager. Rotarians acted as mentors to me. I was always available whenever they needed me. I can remember fondly my mother grumbling about last minute calls when she had to get me dressed in a hurry. That could happen if another young person got sick since there were many children doing the same thing. This relationship encouraged me to become a Rotarian and to volunteer.
The children are used and discarded
While the Easter Seals campaign is underway, any attempt to receive extra help for the child will be rigidly refused by Rotary. Rotary doesn't want to set a precedent and provide only a small bursary which was raised to $800 when we pointed out tuition was more than $4,000.
One of the mothers asked if Rotary could help the boy get a computer for his homework. A Rotarian donated $500 to buy the child a computer but the committee argued strenuously not to accept it. I was at meetings when the Rotary committee squabbled over providing help that was already funded in case the next child with a disability asked for more.
That was the day I decided to quit working for Easter Seals and Rotary on PEI. It was a group of mean businessmen using children to enhance their public stature, without a heartfelt love for the children.
Rotary can change the way it treats these children. It probably should stop using them outside their peer groups in any event. The reality is teenage children are not motivated by a sub-teen ambassador. If a child role model is used, it would be better to use the 10-11 year old for elementary school tours and a teenage role-model for the junior high and high schools. They should stop using them in pubic, that is outside their peer groups. Rotary should get over it's relationship issues and maintain closer ties with former ambassadors and it should compensate the child on the basis of today's cost of education not some pittance from the past.
Up until now, Rotary has been stubbornly refusing to change its way which is why I'm no longer a Rotarian. If you want to help the disabled, using them for fund raising isn't enough anymore. We're not going to stay on the farm. We have rights under the Charter and we will achieve those rights in Society. Rotary could be a force for change in the process but so far they are resisting strenuously.
The Media role in this hypocrisy is the topic of the Part Three.
Monday, January 19, 2009
I have a dream
By Stephen Pate
PEI Disability Alert
January 19, 2009
January 19th is Martin Luther King Jr. day across the United States of America. Tomorrow, January 20th, 2009 the United States will inaugurate its first black president, Barack Obama, the son of Dr. King's dream. In 1963 Dr. King said "I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."
I have a dream and my dream is that all people of PEI will be free and fairly included in PEI society whether they have a disability or not. My dream is Dr. King's dream, it is the dream that God gives us. Dr. King quoted from the bible, since he was a preacher, that all men shall be free, equal and accepted in society, including the disabled.
"And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"
Barack Obama is the dream come true for Blacks but he is not stopping there. He wants to remove barriers for the disabled and has said so. Watch his speech. President-elect Obama repeated that promise today that all Americans will be included in society including the disabled.
That is the American Dream but it is not the reality on PEI. We live in a bigoted society where the disabled are merely tolerated, given charity, discriminated against and abused. The President of our great university, UPEI, is allowed to take away the rights of the disabled to accessible parking and only a few voices speak out. There are many good people at UPEI but they are afraid of the tyrant and bigot who is their president. Today's UPEI Diversity Day is an exercise in hypocrisy when our own children with disabilities are discriminated against.
The governments, both Conservative and Liberal, can deny health services to seniors who are disabled. The government can deny jobs, services, benefits anything it wants simply because it has bought off the disability organizations into silence. They are loyal to their annual grants and not the disabled.
The government can create a climate of fear and reprisal just like the one created by the President of UPEI to keep good people from speaking out. Decent hearted Americans too lived in a climate of fear and reprisal until the law and the government showed them the way to tolerance.
We are in many ways like America decades ago. We have a law, a constitution that guarantees equality but some parts of our society don't want to grant those rights freely. Those people are disability bigots, no less reprehensible than racial bigots or sexual bigots. Bigotry is our enemy for it robs us all of our capacity for humanity and the greatest command from Christ - to love one another. It's time for PEI to grow up and grant everyone
freedom.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Massive infrastructure spending a waste
Mild consumption boost required
By Stephen Pate
PEI Disability Alert
January 18, 2009
Any massive amount of infrastructure spending in Canada will result in more patronage spending, making the rich richer. It will have little benefit for ordinary Canadians and the long lasting effect of more national debt.
If the government wants to improve the economy, a mild boost in consumption by consumers is the best approach. A modest tax cut for middle income taxpayers may work, although they can decide to save and not spend if they are worried about their jobs and homes.
The Guaranteed Annual Income plan for those living below the poverty line (LICO) would result in more direct spending. The poor have unmet needs and additional money would be spent to meet those needs not saved. The GAI is also supposed to be spending neutral for the government since it costs less to administer than the myriad of existing social programs, according to Senator Hugh Segal and other social economists.
In 2007, he said in the Toronto Star, "Surely the time has finally come to seriously consider a guaranteed income, financed by the money now in innumerable other programs."
"Detractors of a guaranteed annual income will invariably point to its price tag. However, the municipal, provincial and federal governments are currently footing the rather hefty price tag of poverty as it translates into health-care costs, an overburdened judicial system, a myriad of social services that often duplicate each other and the basic loss of human productivity."
The downside risk is that landholders, the rich, will increase rents to the poor and take away the benefit.
Just like the banks convinced the US, Canadian and European governments to give them trillions of dollars in bail-out money, the next rung in the economic ladder of oligarch's want their share. Landowners and large construction firms are looking to dip into the public purse based on economic panic.
Throwing panic money at problems results in waste and fraud. The US Senate is blocking passage of more stimulus dollars because they cannot find over $300 billion that was spent in the last 3 months. The same thing is slated to happen in Canada as municipal, provincial and federal politicians clamor for tens of billions of dollars in emergency spending. Economic studies show that the money will be spent without normal controls. This will produce inflated windfall profits for landowners, contractors and other connected parties. It takes years of careful planning to execute large projects. Rushing projects through to stimulate the economy will have no positive effect.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Disabled sold for 30 pieces of silver
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
Friday, January 16, 2009
What's bigger? $4 million or $400 million
Liberal MLA Janice Sherry, wants to talk about Tory hogs at the trough versus Liberal hogs
By Stephen Pate
NJN Network
January 16, 2009
MLA Janice Sherry complained yesterday in PEI's Public Accounts Committee hearings the Tories were stalling the process over important amounts of money in the hog plant losses of $4 million. Guardian “There have been millions of dollars of taxpayers’ money lost in that file and I’m sure that will be an embarrassing and difficult file to handle at the committee level,’’ backbench MLA Janice Sherry said to Bagnall."
Sherry seems to have missed a couple of zero's. She fought fiercely in December to have the $400 PNP scandal involving the Liberal government delayed for months if not for years.
The hog plant deal was worth $4 million and PNP $400 million. Maybe Sherry is more interested in Tory hogs at the trough than Liberal hogs in a bigger trough.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
LA sued over provisions for disabled in disasters
Are Charlottetown and Summerside safe?
By Stephen PateNJN Network
January 15, 2009
AP reports that the City of Los Angeles is being sued by Disability Rights activists claiming LA is not providing disaster planning and response for persons with disabilities.
"The class-action lawsuit was filed Tuesday in by nonprofits Disability Rights Advocates and the Disability Rights Legal Center. It says hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the South underscored the fact that special needs residents are among the most vulnerable groups when emergencies strike."
In July 2007 a man was left in the Atlantic Technology Centre basement during a fire alarm. Fire officials bluntly and incorrectly stated,
"Charlottetown fire inspector Randy MacDonald said although staff were trying to help MacPhee, there's no law that requires it. He added the only people allowed to override elevators in a fire are firefighters.MacDonald said it is up to individuals — disabled or not — to have an escape plan."In Los Angeles, "the groups want the city to create a voluntary registry that would alert rescue workers to disabled people living alone, and provide instructions on where they can be taken in the event of a disaster. City officials have not seen the suit and would not comment. The suit also names Los Angeles County because it also provides emergency services in the city."
Have the Cities of Charlottetown or Summerside come up with a better plan since 2007?
Do not use cork floors for wheelchairs
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.
Flooring surfaces in a home with a wheelchair occupant need to be hard and relatively smooth, with little rolling resistance and no surface irregularities. Recommended flooring is full thickness hardwood, not including soft wood species, tile, treated concrete or other facsimiles. Sheet flooring works but will wear sooner due to the chair traffic. Read the section on slippery surfaces as well.
A power wheelchair with occupant weighs about 400 lbs for an average male. That weight reaches the floor over only a few square inches. Floors take a beating from wheelchairs no matter what contractors and flooring manufacturers tell you. Vinyl thresholds are crushed under the weight of a power chair going back and forth.
Installation must be heavy duty with the best quality sub-floor and Ditra. All sub-floors should be installed properly. Flooring screws that don't connect should be removed and replaced. Hardwood boards will start to loosen up if not nailed down perfectly. Tiles crack with proper foundation, including Ditra. Do not scrimp. Think of your flooring as industrial use because that's what a chair feels like to the floor.
Friction is the second enemy of wheelchairs, especially manual chairs which rely on already weakened people to propel them. Every bit of friction will cost energy and can result in muscle pain. Surfaces should be as smooth without being totally smooth. A wet smooth surface is a fall hazard.
A real world test for tiles is: wear your house and street footwear to the tile store with a few bottles of water. Pick your tile, put it on the floor, and cover it with water. With one hand braced on a study surface and a friend to hold you, try your different shoes to see which ones still retain adhesion. If you are unsteady, try this while sitting in a chair.
Generally shiny tiles are out but small nubbly patterns will shed the water and provide adhesion. Some faux slate patterns work. Do not use the glossy finish on any flooring including hard wood.
Other than all that, use cork for wine bottles.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Mary Jean would you help us
Innovation Minister Allan Campbell gave Master Packaging CEO Mary Jean Irving $14.5 million to help 25 people (CBC)
By Stephen Pate
PEI Disability Alert
With the kind of money Premier Ghiz is giving Mary Jean Irving, he could help 2,500 poor Islanders reach the Low Income Cut Off (LICO) or poverty line. Or Premier Ghiz could add 3,000 seniors to the PEI Disability Support Program like he promised.
Mary Jean why don't you donate $10 or $20 million to the poor and disabled and get yourself some brownie points with the Big Guy and thousands of Islanders in need? We'll try to get Premier Ghiz to provide matching funds and maybe some other generous people will contribute as well.
Mary Jean, we'll set up the Mary Jean Irving Foundation to manage it for you. Please give this your kind and careful consideration.
Mary Jean Irving is a nice lady. She lives in the biggest house in PEI and is without a doubt the richest lady on PEI. We don't think she really needs the money as much as the poor and the disabled.
CBC reported that Mary Jean Irving is getting 75% of the cost of expanding the box plant in Borden as a loan New jobs coming to box plant in Borden-Carleton "Master Packaging launched a $19.3-million expansion to its plant at the foot of P.E.I.'s Confederation Bridge on Wednesday.P.E.I. is putting up a $14.5-million loan to help pay for the expansion."
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Evil Guardian censor rears its ugly head
Big Brother Gary is watching you
By Stephen Pate
PEI Disability Alert
January 13, 2009
Free speech is not encumbered by some editors' vicissitudes. With his views on censorship, MacDougall could get a job in Communist China or Premier Ghiz's office.Free speech is a lost commodity at the Charlottetown Guardian these days as hard-nosed editor Gary McDougall takes the blunt censor's axe to our comment on the Ghiz Cabinet shuffle. 16 other Islanders enjoy a wide latitude of free speech that is being denied to other Islanders and me. Do we have to fight for Freedom of Expression, Freedom of the Press, and freedom from discrimination on the basis of age, sex, race and disability? What kind of a third world dictatorship is PEI becoming?
The Cabinet Shuffle comment was posted as the first comment and taken down about 30 minutes later. I sure hope the website admin doesn't lose his lunch hour for letting it on the site that long. We left out the part about Alan drinking and carousing because the Guardian has standards.
It's trite to remind the Guardian that Free Expression is protected in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in the same sentence with Freedom of the Press. We'd hate to see the Guardian give up its rights.
Stephen Pate, what me censored? forgetaboutit!This is Gary's little back and forth censorship war that's been going on for months. Is he angry because we used CBC for the lead on our coverage? Or that we scrapped his picture of Richard? Maybe he's angry because his boss is angry with him or his bosses boss is angry? Or his dog bit him?
Or that PEI Disability Alert has a sister site publishing social media, NJN Network, and they don't give a flying fig what he thinks? Pretty hard to be king of the hill and lose it to a bunch of punks on the Internet. Yeah, that would be hard. Don't worry Gary, we'll keep printing the rest of the story you throw on the editing room floor.
Gary is a little demagogue we think, like the old style newspaper editor from Spiderman. He likes to throw his weight around. Maybe all the people working the news room at the Guardian like the abuse or maybe they're praying for a job at the Province like Townsend and Ryder. I used to work for the same person when I was a contributor to the Halifax Herald at age 13. Scarred the hell out of me then: seems kinda anachronistic now. I mean that was 40 years ago. I'm not looking under my bed for the boogie either.
Free speech is not encumbered by some editors' vicissitudes. With his views on censorship, MacDougall could get a job in Communist China or Premier Ghiz's office.
Gary should watch his blood pressure, get one of those Zona Plus hand squeeze things Dr. Jones recommends in section C1 of today's Guardian. We're not trying to make his life worse, actually better. No one should allow abridgment of freedom of speech except under the most extreme conditions.
PEI allows patients to get sicker
Prince Edward Island medication formulary provides worst coverage in Canada for inflammatory arthritis medications
File under: can't mean our PEI.
Prince Edward Island is providing the worst arthritis medication coverage in Canada, according to Arthritis Consumer Experts, a national grassroots arthritis organization. "Prince Edward Island ranks dead last in the country in terms of public coverage for gold-standard arthritis medications," said Cheryl Koehn, President of Arthritis Consumer Experts. "People in PEI who need these medications to prevent catastrophic joint damage and disability are being forced to wait and watch their own bodies becoming more and more disabled."
Arthritis Consumer Experts tracks medication listings for a particular class of arthritis drug called biologic response modifiers, and provides the results in the JointHealth(TM) report card on provincial formulary listings for biologic response modifiers. Since the first report card was released in October 2007, PEI has consistently ranked below all other provinces and territories in terms of reimbursement coverage for biologic response modifiers.
Biologic response modifiers work by attacking or blocking the molecules that cause inflammation in people with inflammatory arthritis, and are considered the "gold standard" in treatment for people with moderate to severe disease. Prince Edward Island provides very limited reimbursement coverage for this class of medications in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, and no coverage at all for the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis (inflammatory arthritis attacking the spine) or psoriatic arthritis (inflammatory arthritis attacking joints, skin, and finger nails).
Koehn noted that biologics in PEI have been "under review" for up to five years. "The PEI government has promised, year after year, that decisions on these files are imminent," she said. "After five years of waiting, people with inflammatory arthritis deserve an answer, and they deserve to receive the same quality of care as people living with inflammatory arthritis in other parts of the country."
These arthritis medications are listed on many public formularies in provinces across the country. Quebec, Saskatchewan, and BC provide reimbursement for all biologics approved to treat rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, and psoriatic arthritis. In Atlantic Canada, all other maritime provinces provide a range of biologic options for each of these three disease-types. Only people in Prince Edward Island are left almost totally without help.
"Why are Prince Edward Islanders with inflammatory arthritis receiving a significantly lower standard of care than all other Canadians?" Koehn asked. "People in PEI with inflammatory arthritis are suffering, and government is doing nothing to help them.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Stewart MacLean and Vinyl Cafe promote disability bigotry
Stewart McLean, CBC Vinyl Cafe host, we are not amused by disability bigotry
By Stephen Pate
PEI Disability Alert
January 11, 2009
Stewart McLean, the popular radio personality on CBC's Vinyl Cafe, is offensively bigoted to persons with disabilities and seniors. Pretty good aim, Stewart: with one shot you are able to hit two visible minorities protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
We politely request that Mr. McLean apologize for the bigoted remarks in "The Cruise" episode (Jan 10, 2009), that the apology be on air and in a press release to ensure his 700,000 listeners understand the difference between a character and a pejorative stereotype of a visible minority. The episode should be removed until he has "cleaned it up" and refrain from further displays of bigotry towards the disabled and seniors again.
We call on the CBC to remove the program from their broadcast website and apologize as well.
Frankly since bigotry is in the eye of the beholder, we are not interested in any self-serving rationale McLean, who wrote the script as well as read it, has to offer. Good writers don't need to resort to racial, sexist or disabled stereotypes to develop characters. An apology and positive action will suffice.
In "The Cruise" broadcast McLean portrays the positive impact the narrator Dave, an able bodied person, has on meeting "a man in a wheelchair" who is portrayed in negative, stereotypical fashion: helpless, weak in the head, detached from society and lost in a rut of hopelessness. The endless cruise story was rich in negative, stereotypical imagery.
Imagine if McLean had used "a black man" to describe his character before slowly spinning out the name, personality, age and deficiencies of the man. How would we imagine him: eating fried chicken and watermelon with a prodigious sexual capacity? How about "a gay man in a pink shirt", or "a hard nose business woman."
CBC's Vinyl Cafe reinforce bigotry and negative stereotypes of disabled
For McLean's edification there are 4.4 million Canadians with disabilities, and 1.7 of them are seniors. One third are severely disabled. Even among them, wheelchairs manual and powered along with other assistive devices allow them to live independent and useful lives. You can be a quadriplegic with restricted use of your legs and arms and drive a car plus a power wheelchair.
Stewart, we don't need your pat on the head, your care and assistance nor your patronizing attitudes. Stephen Hawking is one of us and so are millions of other capable people with disabilities who face discrimination every day. Yet we somehow manage to become world famous musicians, writers, politicians, business people and best of all just happy people.
McLean's Dave-hero rescues the hapless "man in a wheelchair" with help by pushing his wheelchair outside in a violent storm, encouraging exploration of new experiences, re-uniting with his family and becoming a creative writer.
I kept waiting for Dave to take the man to a brothel for some good old sex he probably hadn't experienced, another cliché for both the disabled and seniors.
At first our "man in a wheelchair" doesn't have a name, This is the character development part of the story when the disabled man is an object, like a well-endowed woman in a low cut dress or a big black man.
Our "man in the wheelchair" is a cranky dinner companion who wants to be pushed outside in the storm.Is this a Clint Eastwood assisted suicide story, sort of "put the disabled on an ice flow"?
The resilience of the "man in the wheelchair" who now sports a name is amazing. With Dave's help, our man develops a love of bungee jumping off the ship clutching his walker another stereotypical image of the senior with a walker.
The "man in the wheelchair" plot and his personal development at Dave's careless assistance comes just before he is killed off. The former paralytic, helpless creature, now swinging off the bow of the ship, is revealed to be 90 years old. It's preposterous but it does get McLean out of his plot corner.
One can only assume the death was an afterthought on McLean's part who realized if he encouraged the feeble to bungee jump and write books, the world would go to pot.
The story is insulting and the writer's prominence as a quasi-small-l-liberal makes it all the more offensive.
Rotary Easter Seals abuses children with disabilities
By Stephen Pate
PEI Disability Alert
January 13, 2009
The patronizing fawning that occurs during the Rotary Easter Seals fund raising campaign is child abuse. The disabled child is objectified and used to raise money with minimal concern for their well-being.
While Easter Seals has a minor positive impact on supports for children with disabilities, the use of photogenic children with crutches or wheelchairs is obscene and abusive. In reality both the CBC and Rotary are seeking positive Public Relations event. Neither has a genuine desire to advance state of persons with disabilities. The cynicism with which both CBC and Rotary approach this project is disheartening.
These comments are not meant to detract from the good done by Easter Seals and the generosity of Danny Murphy and Tim Horton's who are the epitome of open support for children with disabilities. However CBC and Rotary need to clean up their act.
For Rotary we suggest they drop objectifying the disabled and raise money based on need. Would it be acceptable to put an 11 year old female in public view to raise money for women's shelters? How about an 11 year old boy who is gay to raise money for gay rights? In truth the practice is obscene in this day and age.
The PEI Rotary Easter Seals campaign under way seeks out a child who will look "disabled" but who is photogenic, meaning not too disabled to upset the TV audience with odd behaviour. No quirky facial expressions or loss of motor control that would unnerve the audience.
Once the three month campaign is over, Rotary, CBC and the sponsors discard the child as of no further value. Past Rotary ambassadors are used to this one-time-throw-away attitude. While CBC and Rotary tell the parents of the child that it's a one-time deal, the child is not able to make a decision that may impact their emotional well-being at that age.
We're not recommending cutting support for the children: however we should let Rotary and CBC know that objectifying children is abusive. Is the disabled child just another "Christmas turkey?"
End of part 1. Next in a 3 part series "Rotary and Easter Seals"
Monday, January 5, 2009
PEI Unemployment rate tops 16.6% for disabled
By Stephen Pate
NJN News
January 5, 2009
Statistics Canada reports unemployment for Canadians with disabilities is 10.4% whereas for those without an disability unemployment is 6.8%.
That represents 50% higher unemployment if you are one of Canada's 3.4 million disabled.
On PEI, the rate of unemployment for the disabled is 16.6% versus 11.1% without a disability. Only Newfoundland and Nunavut have higher rates of disabled unemployment.
Government programs to assist employment of persons with disabilities have failed to even the playing field. The Province of PEI has no effective program to ensure employment equity for the disabled.
Unemployment Graph Canada 2006 Statistics
Source Statistics Canada PALS 2006
Americans With a Disability Reaches 54.4 Million
By Stephen Pate
NJN News
January 5, 2009
And we think we have problems: the US Census Bureau announced on December 18th that 54 million Americans have a disability.
"About one in five U.S. residents - 19 percent - reported some level of disability in 2005, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report released today. These 54.4 million Americans are roughly equal to the combined total populations of California and Florida." says the press release.
"Among those with a disability, 35 million, or 12 percent of the population, were classified as having a severe disability, according to Americans With Disabilities: 2005."
"Nearly half (46 percent) of people age 21 to 64 with a disability were employed, compared with 84 percent of people in this age group without a disability. Among those with disabilities, 31 percent with severe disabilities and 75 percent with non severe disabilities were employed. People with difficulty hearing were more likely to be employed than those with difficulty seeing (59 percent compared with 41 percent).
"A portion of people with disabilities — 11 million age 6 and older — needed personal assistance with everyday activities. These activities include such tasks as getting around inside the home, taking a bath or shower, preparing meals and performing light housework."
14% of Canadians are reported by Statistics Canada as disabled.
NYC Disabled Man Left in Bus on Icy Night
The New York Times reported that a 22 year old man with CP was left over night on the disability bus. The bus matron knew he was still on the bus but wanted to get home. The police charged her with "felony reckless endangerment."
According to the story published: January 1, 2009 "a 22-year-old disabled man spent a frigid New Year’s night alone, strapped in his seat on a bus parked overnight at a Brooklyn depot after he was left behind, the police said on Thursday."
"The man, Edwin Rivera, who has cerebral palsy and has difficulty communicating, according to his sister Leslie Rivera, had been missing since about 3 p.m. Wednesday. He was found about 10:30 a.m. Thursday on the bus..."
One can hardly believe the story but it would not be an isolated case for a person with a disability to suffer abuse at the hands of a caregiver.
It's no more reprehensible than government officials who consign the disabled to poor living conditions, no support or inadequate support. Many Islanders with moderate to severe disabilities suffer every day due to government inaction with the Disability Support Program reform.
"Some men kill you with a gun, some with a fountain pen" Woody Guthrie
File under: we could use that here
Denver Westwood Blogs reports the Denver Colorado "city is recruiting citizens interested in ticketing those able-bodied but ass-lazy drivers who park in handicapped zones."
We could use that here. We've seen hale and hearty teenagers parking in accessible parking zones. One day at the Zellers Mall, two Aliant service trucks parked in the disabled zones while the service men went inside for something or other.
The story goes on to say "Denver uses volunteers to try to keep those parking spaces free for those who need them. The volunteers take eighteen hours of classes and operate in pairs for safety.
The program has been around for fifteen years, and it seems like a better idea now than ever. After all, the most notorious bit of parking enforcement in town in recent memory occurred when a rather feisty, unofficial volunteer decided to confront a federal judge about his hoggish habits."
After that, we could get the "lazy-ass" PEI Council of Persons with Disabilities to actually work on the problem of accessible parking. Other than collect fees, no one has seen them working on the problem for a decade.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Government foot dragging on Autism treatment
We receive emails regularly like the one sent today by Tammy McQuaid. (below)
The Liberal government and Minister Doug Currie are talking the talk but not walking the walk on delivering services to Islanders with disabilities.
They are not sensitive to how important it is to treat autism early. The parents are left in the dark while Currie contemplates the universe.
The lame duck Reform committee has delivered nothing but a stall. Time for Doug to deliver.
From Tammy McQuaid
Our daughter was referred to the Autism Assessment Team last July 23rd. She might get in to be assessed in April!
I’ve written letters to Doug Currie and have had a few conversations with him only to hear that he is going to make this situation a priority and he’ll keep in touch.
I also been in contact with Dr. Nadine Dewolfe about why we must wait so long and I’ve been in contact with some other people to investigate.
I must tell you, the more information I find out the more angry I get with our government. My husband and I have talked about consulting with a lawyer. If you’re looking for people to get on board for a class - action lawsuit, count me in. I’ll be there with bells on!!
Anything I can do to help, please do not think twice about contacting me. Time is passing and Autism doesn’t wait.
Tammy McQuaid
(902)658-2869
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Disability Support Program, This program must be extended
Editor - Mr. Morrison is the past Executive Director of the Canadian Paraplegic Association of P.E.I. and one of PEI's strongest advocates for Disability Reform.
At a DSP meeting one time he questioned the complicated application process for a wheelchair with the simple question,
"Do you think people buy wheelchairs to put in the rec room to play games. We need them and don't want them."Mr. Morrison is quickly reaching the age when he will no longer qualify for DSP assistance despite the fact that his needs are increasing with age.
Along with almost 10,000 Islanders with disabilities over 64 years old, he will be out in the cold. Tough luck said Pat Binns and even tougher says Robert Ghiz.
Morrison wrote this letter from the hospital where he is recovering. We wish him a full recovery and God speed.
The Guardian ]
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Editor:
I refer you to the remarks of the letter 'Two years later and still no coverage' (The Guardian, Dec. 26, 2008) wherein Mr. Pate points to the need for the Disability Support Program to extend to seniors (at least the equipment portion of the program.)
Since the inception of the program, I have seen it do some very good work. There have been issues around the age of qualifying for the program and around support for persons (mainly children) with autism. These have been addressed with some success.
Personally I have been a paraplegic for 38 years. From 1999 to 2006, I worked for the Canadian Paraplegic Association of P.E.I. My accrued disabilities forced me to retire which caused an abrupt change of circumstance.
I subsequently applied for help from the Disability Support Program. This program has been quite helpful to me (especially in the area of equipment support).
Which brings me to the point: I live in fear of the possibility of losing this support in just under two years. There is not a day goes by I don't feel concern about this issue.
There seem to be many programs that have or had been set up to help business grow and develop.
I would envision a disability support fund to somehow engage public and perhaps private persons or companies to help raise monies for the needs of DSP recipients at the age of 65.
I would argue this is also a basic right under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
I congratulate and thank the government as far as it has gone with this program, however, there is a need and, indeed, a duty to care for our most venerable citizens at our most vulnerable time of life.
I call upon the government of P.E.I. to take the next logical step and extend the Disability Support Program beyond the age of 65.
Thank you and best wishes for the new year.
Peter Morrison,
Charlottetown
Guardian censors letter, what are they hiding?
Letter Censored but not for space reasons
By Stephen Pate
PEI Disability Alert
January 3, 2009
The letter below re-printed from the Dec. 26, 2008 Guardian is a highly censored version of the letter submitted to the Guardian. It completely removed my argument in the second paragraph that the Liberal government has the money to cover seniors wheelchairs but uses it for patronage. It also removed a call to Christian charity during the Christmas season and specific details about the promise from Ghiz' government.
We strongly protest the revision which changes the fundamental meaning of the letter. This censorship is an abridgement of our fundamental freedoms under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Section 2 which states,
2. Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms:The very same sentence that guarantees freedom of the press guarantees freedom for all citizens to express their thoughts, beliefs and words.
...b) freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression including freedom of the press and other media of communication
The Guardian has no right to change my words distorting the meaning of my expression, nor do they for anyone. The choice for the Guardian is print or not, other than minor editing. Big brother as media is past we thought.
However, even the refusal to print one reasonable opinion over another is an attempt to control public opinion.
The Guardian has to be careful it is not censoring the public and it does a reasonably good job of allowing free expression on the Letters page and on its website.
In this case, they can't even argue space since the paper had a large white space after my letter.
The original letter without censorship was printed in the West Prince Graphic and Eastern Graphic, Ghiz earns 2008 Scrooge Award to the disabled.
Apparently it was reasonable enough for two other editors but not for the Guardian.
Are Gary MacDougall the Guardian editor, Don Brander the publisher or Transcontinental Media Network opposed to seniors receiving coverage for wheelchairs, hearing aids, walkers, and other assistive devices under the PEI Disability Support Program?
Or do they have a desire to abridge my right to free and reasonable expression of opinion?
The public deserves to know the answer.
Neither, I suggest, are acceptable in a free and democratic Canadian society.
STEPHEN PATE
P.E.I. Disability Alert, Charlottetown
The Guardian
Editor:
P.E.I. Disability Alert is giving the ‘2008 Scrooge to the Disabled’ award to P.E.I. Premier Robert Ghiz for not delivering on his promise to put seniors into the P.E.I. Disability Support Program. This is the first official year for this award, although Premier Pat Binns did get honourable mention in our Dec. 20, 2006 article ‘">P.E.I. government plays Scrooge to Islanders with disabilities’.
Censored Paragraph
Premier Ghiz has mismanaged the reported $400 million in Immigrant Investment. He is wasting $200 million annually on patronage by sole sourcing government business that should be tendered. He lavishes money on large corporations like the recent $30 million low-interest loan to build another luxury hotel in Charlottetown.Premier Ghiz refuses to keep his promise and spend a small amount on the 2,300 seniors with disabilities who still need a wheelchair, hearing aid or other device.
That is a Scrooge of grand proportions. Scrooge wouldn’t put a lump of coal on the fire for his employee. Scrooge begrudged all expense except for himself.
We believe the award is well-earned by our premier.
Censored paragraph
We hope the Premier enjoys his holidays with not a material or health care in the world. Maybe as he reflects on the true spirit of Christmas he will have a change of heart and show compassion on those less fortunate than his family.The promise to include seniors was negotiated over months with meetings, e-mails and phone calls.
In the run-up to last year’s election, we criticized the Tory government for a $1-million cutback in DSP spending and for excluding Islanders 65 and older from receiving benefits like wheelchairs, hearing aids and other assistive devices.
We advocated with the Conservative, Liberal and NDP parties to correct these problems. Conservatives ignored the issue. The NDP were receptive and made reform part of their election platform.
The Liberal Opposition asked for position papers on needed reforms. We had meetings where its election platform was developed.
Censored sentence
We met with Richard Brown and with Chris LeClair, Robert Ghiz's Chief of Staff.The agreement was clear and simple. The Liberal Party, if elected, would reform the DSP including adding seniors to the DSP in their second year in office.
Censored paragraph
In July we met with Chris LeClair now Deputy to the Premier Robert Ghiz. He repeated the promise and promoted a reform committee.As time wore on it became clear that reform was not going to happen.
We discussed this with government and were assured that seniors would get in the program. I joined the reform committee in optimism and resigned months later in disgust. It was a sham.
It’s two years later and there is no coverage for seniors in the Disability Support Program.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Staying upbeat despite all
By Stephen Pate
PEI Disability Alert
January 1, 2009
Being a social advocate is not the easiest job. You are constantly prodding a reluctant government and society to change.
What keeps me going is the progress we have made in just a few years. Certainly the recent passing of Kay Reynolds and thinking about her life's work spurs me onward. She and others who worked tirelessly for the benefit of others are examples to us even after they pass on.
We have made great progress even in the past two years. When I tried to get anyone interested in the $1 million cutback in disability support spending in 2006, there was nothing but a wall of indifference. Today people are discussing disabilities and other social issues regularly in the paper and in public. Yes the Liberal government has tried to deep-six disability reform but they will not succeed. Ghiz will be gone and we will have significant reform.
Two years ago, people tried to belittle my letters to the Guardian an Graphic about disabilities and seniors without wheelchairs. Today, those are recognized social problems. Poverty is moving from a charity case to a problem we can solve.
Government corruption is no longer a backroom story: it's headlines and even story of the year with the PNP Immigrant Scam. The December 27, 2008 story in the Guardian Deal over Internet angers Liberal got the public talking with 57 comments that discussed underlying issues such as 1) the need for more open tenders, 2) political patronage and 3)corruption and deceit in the Ghiz government. It was a decent discussion of the social and governmental ills I have been writing about for two years.
I was encouraged by the level of discussion and the number of people who used their real names which rarely happened in the past. Islanders are getting fed up with the corruption of the Ghiz government and taking the leap to open and fearless criticism. Especially encouraging was I didn't have to make a single comment to keep it moving along.
So despite the fact we don't have seniors in the Disability Support Program, nor has the cutback been returned, nor has UPEI put accessible parking back on campus, we are making progress. We will solve these and other problems.
I take little credit for what is happening. Consider the 22,000 people on PEI with disabilities who live through their pain and challenges. Consider too the tireless caregivers, parents, spouses, friends and helpers who make their lives bearable. These people are saints.
Some people thank me for being an advocate with emails and one-on-one comments. Other people take it on themselves to tell me to bugger off.
On New Year's Eve an old friend decided that Old Ang Syne need to come at 5 PM. According to him, he was already over the 0.8 reading.
First he showered me with faint praise for the good work I do then gave the example of the person I should be. Apparently someone had accomplished more in 10 short years than all the other social advocates on PEI and they had a NICE personality.
After supper he called back to continue the thread until my migraine was out of control. Such is life.
This I take with a grain of salt since I am a nice person and get along with more people than I can even remember. If I wasn't social, my work would be impossible.
However, after someone who is abusing the poor, the disabled or the otherwise disenfranchised refuses to help, change or even acknowledge the problems at hand, well I do put them on my public exposure list. And that's the way it works.
You know I have a disability which is characterized by fatigue so you might wonder how I get all the writing, research, videos and everything else done. Sharon Cameron, deputy minister of Social Services and Seniors asked me that question, perhaps hoping to discover my Achilles Heel.
Well, I'm not telling you will tell you a story!
At about the worst time in my life, in the middle of a family crisis and when walking had become next to impossible I said to my lawyer "I apologize for being so slow."
He replied "You get more work done in a few hours a day than ten new associates all week. I could use you."
That's not a boast, just a promise to not quit until the work is done. If you would like to help, don't hesitate. Volunteer to help someone today and any day.
Jesus said "The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few: pray you therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth laborers into his harvest." Luke 10:2
Everyone can be a worker for social justice and make PEI a truly beautiful home for all. This is not Stephen Pate's cause: it's belongs with all of us.
As we begin 2009, we will renew ourselves and work to accomplish good work.
Happy New Year.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
What are RDSP's?
RDSP's or Registered Disability Savings Plans are a brand new government program that may allow you to save money for a dependant or related person who qualifies for the Disability Tax Credit.
The program is so new that only the Bank of Montreal has its program ready, according to their website.
There is a free RDSP Savings Bond of $1,000 for families with an income of $21,288 prorated down for incomes up to $37,885. That alone may be worth opening a RDSP. However, bank fees may impact the benefit.
There is also a Disability Savings grant of $3,500 based on your contribution and income level.
Like most Federal SP's the rules are complex and the benefits vary by income level and age. For instance, if the disabled person is 60 or older, you cannot start an RDSP. No Savings Grants are allowed after the 49th birthday of the beneficiary.
The cut-off date for 2008 plans and contributions is March 2, 2009 due to the late start of the program.
Contribuitions are not-tax deductible which essentially signals this as a low benefit and low priority tax program. That is, except for the grants and bonds.
In January 2009, we will report on the RDSP in detail covering how it works and who may benefit from the program.
Monday, December 22, 2008
RDSP's little help
By Stephen Pate
NJN News
The Registered Disability Savings Plans (RDSP'S) implemented by the government are useless for most Islanders with disabilities.
A benefit cited in the press release that follows says, "Families of people with disabilities will be able to take advantage of new Registered Disability Savings Plans (RDSPs) while also receiving support from the Department of Social Services and Seniors."
Social Services and Seniors Minister Doug Currie, solution disconnected from the problem for disabled
The likelihood that someone will be able to save money and receive social assistance and the same time is pretty slim, since social assistance usually puts the disabled person at less than 60% of the poverty line (LICO). Survival, not saving, is the main concern of the person living with the disability at that income level.
The program may be of some benefit to upper middle class parents and or relatives of the disabled but is no benefit to those most in need today.
Minister Doug Currie is, as usual, totally disconnected from the problem and his statement in the press release is pure puffery.
Islanders living with disabilities need real solutions not worthless programs that benefit the richest members of our society.
PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND GOVERNMENT HELPS FAMILIES SAVE FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
December 4, 2008
CHARLOTTETOWN, PEI -- Families of people with disabilities will be able to take advantage of new Registered Disability Savings Plans (RDSPs) while also receiving support from the Department of Social Services and Seniors.
Similar in structure to Registered Education Savings Plans, RDSPs enable family members and friends to save money tax-free for people with disabilities, so they can better plan for the future. The federal government says the plans should be available in financial institutions beginning next month.
The Department of Social Services and Seniors will fully exempt RDSPs when calculating clients’ eligibility for income-tested social programs, including social assistance, disability support services, child care subsidies, social housing, pharmacy programs and children’s dental programs. Assets in RDSPs will be exempt as long as the client’s total income does not exceed the low-income level defined by the National Council of Welfare.
“Today’s announcement will make it easier for families of children and adults with disabilities to prepare for the future and enjoy longer, fuller and more productive lives,” said Doug Currie, Minister of Social Services and Seniors.
The announcement comes during the week of the UN’s International Day for Persons with Disabilities.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Ghiz earns 2008 Scrooge Award to the Disabled
Letter to the Editor
December 17th, 2008
PEI Disability Alert is giving the "2008 Scrooge to the Disabled" award to PEI Premier Robert Ghiz for not delivering on his promise to put seniors into the PEI Disability Support Program. This is the first official year for this award, although Premier Pat Binns did get honourable mention in our December 20, 2006 article "PEI Government plays Scrooge to Islanders with disabilities".
Robert Ghiz earns 2008 Scrooge Award to the Disabled
Premier Ghiz has mismanaged the reported $400 million in Immigrant Investment. He is wasting $200 million annually on patronage by sole sourcing government business that should be tendered. He lavishes money on large corporations like the recent $30 million low-interest loan to build another luxury hotel in Charlottetown.
Despite all that, Premier Ghiz refuses to keep his promise and spend a small amount on the 2,300 seniors with disabilities who still need a wheelchair, hearing aid or other device.
Scrooge, not even a lump of coal
That is a Scrooge of grand proportions. Scrooge wouldn't put a lump of coal on the fire for his employee. Scrooge begrudged all expense except for himself.
We believe the award is well earned by our Premier Robert Ghiz.
We hope the Premier enjoys his holidays with not a material or health care in the world. Maybe as he reflects on the true spirit of Christmas he will have a change of heart and show compassion on those less fortunate than his family.
The promise to include seniors was negotiated over months with meetings, emails and phone calls.
In the run up to last year's election, we criticized the Tory government for a $1 million cutback in DSP spending and for excluding Islanders 65 and older from receiving benefits like wheelchairs, hearing aids and other assistive devices.
We advocated with the Conservative, Liberal and NDP parties to correct these problems. Conservatives ignored the issue. The NDP were receptive and made reform part of their election platform.
The Liberal Opposition asked for position papers on needed reforms. We had meetings where their election platform was developed. We met with Richard Brown and with Chris LeClair, Robert Ghiz's Chief of Staff.
The agreement was clear and simple. The Liberal Party, if elected, would reform the DSP including adding seniors to the DSP in their 2nd year in office. In July we met with Chris LeClair now Deputy to the Premier Robert Ghiz. He repeated the promise and promoted a reform committee.
As time wore on it became clear that reform was not going to happen.
We discussed this with LeClair and Minister Currie. They assured us that seniors would get in the program. I joined the Reform Committee in optimism and resigned months later in disgust. It was a sham.
It’s two years later and there is no coverage for seniors in the Disability Support Program.
Stephen Pate
PEI Disability Alert
Charlottetown, PE
Friday, December 19, 2008
Will the Council renew Kay Reynolds legacy
The passing of disability activist Kay Reynolds Kay Reynolds, champion of rights for disabled on P.E.I., dies at 85 is an opportunity for the disability community to pause and reflect on her life and accomplishments.
In the Parable of the Talents, Jesus said to the profitable servant "Well done, good and faithful slave! You have been faithful in a few things. I will put you in charge of many things."
If the Lord was handing out assignments, he looked on Kay and put her in charge of many things. Despite her personal disability, she accomplished almost the impossible during her life. We name the organizations she started or belonged to like the PEI Council of the Disabled and Pat and the Elephant as a proud list of our heritage on PEI.
While Pat and the Elephant has remained true to Kay's spirit, the PEI Council of the Disabled has slipped into a hibernation.
We have tried for 8 years to prod, cajole and encourage the Council to return to its activist role of the past when Kay and others founded it.
Today the Council is an $800,000 a year service engine, chugging along delivering programs for the Federal and Provincial governments. The disabled activists have gone on to well-paying government jobs, retired or just plain tired.
The Board of Directors is taking the safe middle road which means new disability issues are ignored until they go away or someone else fixes them.
Where is 80's activist Tony Dolan? Tony looks tired, worn out from life and unable to fulfill his old role of activist. There's no shame in that.
However, when new people try to join the Board they are rejected by a core group of died-in-the-wool no-nothings. When Trisha Clarkin joined a few years ago to make a difference, she was able to inspire the Council to tackle accessible housing for instance. 
Ann MacPhee, fights for tenants but not disabled
She ran afoul of Anne MacPhee the past and now current President. MacPhee, a person of considerable nastiness, orchestrated the ouster of Clarkin in a decidedly dirty and mean fight for the Presidency. Clarkin who is weakened by MD was no match for the muscular MacPhee.
I've had my own unpleasant experiences with MacPhee. At the DSP Reform meeting in Parkdale, she heckled me during my oral presentation. I'm no wall flower but I was shocked at her ill-mannered behavior. This was not the first time. I really don't feel comfortable in a room with her since she is extremely rude and manipulative.
Poor Executive Director Marcia Carroll is in the thick of that mess, trying to advance the cause of Islanders with disabilities. MacPhee has her on a very short leash. I'd daresay that the Council will stayed stalled as long as nasty and regressive people like MacPhee stay on the Board.
I'm sure Kay Reynolds put up with her share of trouble. Her troubles are over: it's up to us to carry the torch forward.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Kay Reynolds, champion of disabled, dies Thursday
EDITORIAL STAFF The Guardian
Kay Reynolds, a champion of the rights of the disabled in Prince Edward Island for more than half a century, died Thursday at the Prince Edward Home in Charlottetown. She was 85.
The funeral is to take place Monday from Central Christian Church at 11 a.m. Visiting hours are Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. at MacLean Funeral Home Swan Chapel.
Reynolds fought for the rights of the disabled since she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1949.
She was instrumental in the formation of the P.E.I. Council of the Disabled and the first Island Chapter of the Multiple Sclerosis Society and had long supported the work of Pat and the Elephant, the specialized transportation service utilized by Islanders with disabilities.
She served as a member of that service's board of directors and continually fought for funding to help preserve it.
For her work, she was named Islander of the Year, an award sponsored by The Evening Patriot.
Reynolds was born in Dartmouth, Oct. 11, 1923, was educated at Prince of Wales College, and graduated from the P.E.I. Hospital School of Nursing in 1945.
Reynolds was a young mother and professional nurse when she was first diagnosed with MS.
She was able to continue working professionally for five years after the diagnosis, but her deteriorating health forced her to leave her job and that's when she began helping people in a different way.
Reynolds loved nursing, particularly working in the maternity ward so caring for others came naturally to her and she continued to do it.
She taught home nursing for St. John Ambulance and ran the nurses' registry until an hour before she moved from her home to the Dr. Eric Found Centre. She later moved into the Prince Edward Home to live but remained active in various charitable organizations until just recently.
A Guardian story on Reynolds which ran prior to a 2000 fund-raising dinner in her honour for Pat and the Elephant stated:
"When Kay took on the challenge, there was no Council of the Disabled, no Multiple Sclerosis Society on the Island, virtually no wheelchair ramps, no automatic doors, disabled parking spaces, access to jobs, independent-living facilities, powered wheelchairs and scooters, no Pat and the Elephant transportation service . . . no recognition that those with challenges have an equal right to live a full life on their own terms."
There have been many positive changes in the years Reynolds has fought for the rights of the disabled and in 1993 her contributions were recognized when an independent living centre in Charlottetown was named in her honour.
Her involvement and positive influence continue. She sat in the provincial legislature as part of a very vocal and successful lobby to obtain provincial government funding for the first drugs available to treat multiple sclerosis.
Reynolds says the growth of Pat and the Elephant is one thing that gave her a sense of great satisfaction. It means she and many others have their independence and can contribute to their community.
She served until just recently on the board of Pat and the Elephant, the Council of the Disabled, Kay Reynolds Centre and the Quality Control Council for the Beach Grove and Prince Edward homes.
Reynolds insists she is simply one of many doing this work but she inspired many to get involved and to see their abilities, not their disabilities.
Friday Music: Neil Young
Image description: From 2007, a color photo of Neil Young from the waist up. He's giving the peace sign while standing at a microphone dressed all in black save for a silver bolo tie.
By Kay Olson
The Gimp Parade
The casually listener and fan may not be aware that Neil Young is yet another famous musician with disabilities. In 1951 at the age of six, Young contracted polio. Since childhood he's also reportedly had diabetes and epilepsy. In 2005 he had successful surgery for a brain aneurysm. He also has two sons with cerebral palsy and in 1986 he and his wife started the Bridge School in San Francisco, a learning center for disabled children. A 1989 alternative rock compilation album raised money for the school.
So, those are Young's numerous "credentials." Here are some fun details:
His song, "Helpless," is about his experience with childhood polio. Here's a link to a YouTube video of an old stage performance (my guess is early '70s), and here are the lyrics:
There is a town in north Ontario,
With dream comfort memory to spare,
And in my mind I still need a place to go,
All my changes were there.
Blue, blue windows behind the stars,
Yellow moon on the rise,
Big birds flying across the sky,
Throwing shadows on our eyes.
Leave us.
Helpless, helpless, helpless.
Baby can you hear me now?
The chains are locked and tied across the door,
Baby, sing with me somehow.
Blue, blue windows behind the stars,
Yellow moon on the rise,
Big birds flying across the sky,
Throwing shadows on our eyes.
Leave us.
Helpless, helpless, helpless.
From the 2002 Salon review of Shakey: Neil Young's Biography:
Everyone who's heard Young's "Helpless" (which means everyone who's been in earshot of a radio or stereo in the last few decades) knows that he comes from "a town in north Ontario." It was in that town -- Omemee -- that Young, now 56, contracted polio when the virus swept through Canada in 1951. It transformed the pudgy 6-year-old and nearly killed him. "Neil got polio and lost all his girlish curves," Rassy, Young's indomitable mother and a central character in "Shakey," tells McDonough. "Damn near died. Gawd that was awful ... Christ, he looked like hell on the highway. Skin and bones. He never got fat again ... We didn't know if he'd ever walk." When he came home from the hospital "fresh from a disinfectant bath, his black hair in spikes," Young asked the adults, "I didn't die, did I?"
I remember when polio was the terror that stalked the nation, when approaching standing water, say, would earn the harshest of parental rebukes. One of my oldest friends got it in '53 and has been crutching it for half a century; another acquaintance of mine spent most of his 49 years in an iron lung thanks to polio. What an experience like that may do to you -- assuming it doesn't kill you -- is radically alter your perspective and imbue you with a certain bravado and fearlessness, not to mention a sometimes trenchant honesty. Once you've been to hell and back, the things the rest of us find anxiety-inducing -- the scary odds against making it as an artist, for example -- aren't all that scary. Pam Smith, a girlfriend of Young's when he was a teenager, recalls, "Neil was insecure as a person -- I think that's why playing music was so good for him. He had all the confidence in the world in that role."
McDonough's exploration of Young's often tenuous physical state -- he's also epileptic and used to have seizures on stage early in his career -- is one of the more intriguing threads in the book and a key, perhaps, to the singer's sometimes irrational confidence and indefatigable persistence even when those all around him -- Stephen Stills among them -- voiced nothing but discouragement about his abilities.
Musical abilities, that is. Young doesn't have a pretty voice, but everyone knows at least one or two (or dozens) of his songs. Here's a live performance of "Ohio" recorded at Massey Hall (a Toronto theatre) and "Heart of Gold," both stage performances from 1971.
From Neil Young Quotes:
Polio fucked up my body a little bit. The left-hand side got a little screwed. Feels different from the right. If I close my eyes, my left side, I really don’t know where it is - but over the years I’ve discovered that almost one hundred percent for sure it’s gonna be very close to my right side… probably to the left.
- Neil Young interviewed by Dave Zimmer, BAM, 22nd April 1988
My favorite fun fact about Young: In the late 1990's Young bought the Lionel Toy Train company to delight his son Ben. According to Rolling Stone magazine, much of Young's 1980s musical output reflected his frustration at difficulties communicating with his son Ben who, along with an older brother, has cerebral palsy.
Wiki on the song "Helpless"
An extensive Rolling Stone magazine biography
Neil Young News -- a blog on everything you could possibly want to know about the artist
YouTube video of an October 2007 interview on BBC 2. It features commentary by a guy who was "converted" to the beauty of Young's music at a concert. He discusses Chromes Dreams II and the evolution of Young's work with the artist. If anyone locates the transcript for this, please link to it in comments.
Famous people with polio
Kay Olson describes herself as "I'm a thirtysomething disabled feminist. Overeducated, underemployed." She writes one of the most popular disability blogs in North America - The Gimp Parade
Does her disability mean attendance policy goes out the window?
HR Legal News
Editor - US law and precedents are not usually law in Canada but the case does emphasize the person with a disability cannot ignore their responsibilities.
Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, disabled employees are often granted exemptions from certain company policies. But where should employers draw the line?
The most common problem: attendance. Some courts have ruled that disabled workers should be allowed to take time off or arrive late, unless the company can prove punctuality is an essential function of the person’s job.
But does that mean those employees are free to ditch work whenever they want without consequences? No, it doesn’t, according to a recent court ruling:
An employee was left with a chronic elbow problem after an on-the-job injury. The company allowed her to take days off for treatment or flare-ups, as long as she followed the company’s policy and called her manager before the start of her shift.
At one point, she didn’t show up for three consecutive days — without calling. The company fired her, and she sued, claiming she should’ve been exempt from the policy.
The judge threw out the case. The woman offered no reason why she wasn’t able to call in before the absences. The company accommodated her medical condition by allowing her extra time off — but that didn’t mean it had to let her take leave without notification.
Cite: Bones v. Honeywell International, Inc.
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