At the Top of the World

David Shannon and Chris Watkins prove there is no barrier to accessibility that is too great to overcome

David Shannon (left) and Chris Watkins at the North Pole (Photo: Team Independence)

The North Pole has now been made wheelchair accessible! On April 11, 2009, a “disabled parking” sign was raised at the North Pole, 100 years after the first successful able-bodied expedition.

David Shannon became the first person with quadriplegia and wheelchair user to reach the Pole. He and expedition co-leader Chris Watkins departed from Thunder Bay on April 4, 2009, then travelled to Longyearbyen, Norway, an island north of the Arctic Circle. From there, Shannon and Watkins flew to Borneo Ice Camp, a Russian-controlled station located about 96 kilometres from the Pole. They were then taken by helicopter and dropped on the ice, where they spent two days and traveled more than 10 kilometres over polar ice by sled to the geographic North Pole.

Longyearbyen, Norway, where the team started their push to the pole

Shannon describes feeling as though he were on another planet with its own unique dynamic of forces: “I could see a vista of ice and snow with ice ridges created by the explosion of the ocean current under me. There were points where there were cracks in the ice; sometimes it was smooth going, and then there would be deep snow-blown powder or snow boulders. All the while, the wind was unrelenting and it would blow fine ice pellets into my face, creating icicles on the beard that had appeared after 12 days without shaving. When I looked to the sky, the sun hung low to the curve of the earth with a luminescent glow that I had never seen before. Although with this positioning in the sky, one might think that it was near dawn or dusk, the sun never set over the course of 24 hours.”

Shannon and Watkins developed Team Independence 09 to promote accessibility, encourage greater community inclusion, and promote independent living. Shannon has quadriplegia as the result of a spinal cord injury at age 18, and Watkins has a significant form of arthritis.

Upon reaching the Pole with their wheelchair flag, Shannon stated, “This sign represents all peoples who have faced challenges or adversity in their lives and have dreamed of overcoming them. If we as people work together in our homes, our cities, our countries and in our global village, there is no dream that cannot be realized.”

The Shannon-Watkins North Pole Expedition 2009 was international in scope. Led by Canadians and supported by a multinational team, the journey was intended to create an opportunity to appreciate the advancements made for persons with a disability, including major human rights milestones such as the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

David Shannon and Chris Watkins all smiles after the expedition

Shannon and Watkins, who are both lawyers who work in Thunder Bay, Ont., wanted to highlight the fact that removing obstacles to community inclusion of persons with a disability, such as poor environmental design, poverty and unemployment, requires international cooperation. This approach to change can have even farther-reaching outcomes for our communities by also reducing climate change and inspiring international peace building. Watkins says, “Essentially, to have a quadriplegic reach the North Pole almost 100 years after Peary and Henson showed that while change may take time, through broad positive action, there are no dreams too big to dream, and there are no challenges too big to overcome.”

The North Pole journey was not the first time Shannon and Watkins have gone to great lengths to promote disability awareness. In 1997, at age 34, Shannon took his wheelchair 9,000 kilometres across Canada to promote empowerment for disenfranchised communities and greater social inclusion for all Canadians. During the tour, he wheeled 10 hours a day and spoke directly to 20,000 people.

Shannon has received many awards and honours, including the Queen’s Jubilee Medal, for his commitment to human rights and community service. He was the founding chair of the Accessibility Advisory Council of Ontario, and a member of the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal. He continues to sit on numerous boards and committees, including the Council of Canadians with Disabilities and the Tetra Society of Ontario.

As a lawyer, Shannon practises primarily in administrative law and civil litigation. His advocacy and academic interests have centred on civil rights mechanisms that promote freedoms for persons who face medico-legal forms of incarceration, and do not have community-based supports.

In August 2006, Shannon represented the Canadian Association of Independent Living Centres (now Independent Living Canada) in meetings of the United Nations Ad Hoc Committee to draft the Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities.

Chris Watkins has practised predominantly in poverty law. He regularly represents people with mental health disabilities on a pro bono basis. He has been nominated for a prestigious pro bono award and worked on several cases of national importance. Watkins has also been chairman of the Canada Pension Review Tribunal for two terms. In this quasi-judicial position, he adjudicated on issues dealing primarily with disability pensions.

While involved with the tribunal, Watkins volunteered for pilot projects and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms issues panel. He has been active politically and held an elected post within the executive of the Liberal Party of Canada (Ontario). He has also served on the riding executives of cabinet-level members of the Canadian and provincial legislatures.

Watkins is very involved in the community. Among his many achievements as a volunteer, he created Chris’s Climbs for Kids on the tenth anniversary of the near-fatal 1988 automobile accident that left him with chronic pain and arthritis. Since 1998, he has climbed mountains around the world, including Mt. Rainier, Mt. Kilimanjaro and the Himalayas, and raised funds for children’s charities.

For an expedition to Mount Everest, Watkins was part of Team Everest 03, led by celebrated one-armed climber Gary Guller on behalf of the disability community. The expedition has been made into an award-winning movie.

Accolades have flooded in for Shannon and Watkins. In addition to the Polar Spike Awards, given by the polar exploration community (usually reserved for major ski expeditions), congratulations have also come from many people, groups and organizations around the world. The Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation featured the North Pole Human Rights Expedition on its website; Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty sent a two-page letter of recognition and congratulation; and climber Gary Guller wrote about the achievement on his blog.

What’s up next for Team Independence? Not content to rest on their laurels, Shannon and Watkins have already announced plans for a journey to the South Pole in 2011. They invite others to get involved and help break down barriers to accessibility.

For more information about Team Independence, please visit their website at www.teamindependence.ca.