My Word!

By Raymond D. Cohen

Welcome. You will find within this issue our usual dog’s breakfast -- a little something for nearly everyone. A few articles in particular, however, warrant specific mention.

We are pleased to announce the initiation of a special five-part series to commemorate Rick Hansen’s Man in Motion epic world tour (see page 26). The series will feature the many legacies ensuing from Rick’s journey, and will offer an opportunity to participate in a celebration of the 10th anniversary of Rick’s return to Vancouver, to be held in May, 1997. The series will culminate a year from now when Patrick Watson, chair of the Canadian Abilities Foundation, will sit down with Rick Hansen to examine his ’round-the-world journey, and its amazing impact that persists more than a decade later.

And while you scour this issue for more of the information, inspiration and opportunity you’ve come to expect in ABILITIES, please note these articles which should not escape your attention:

The consumer perspectives on the federal Task Force of Parliamentarians on Disability Issues, provided by the Canadian Association of Independent Living Centres (page 41) and the Council of Canadians with Disabilities (page 43), make for important reading. These, in combination with the open letter provided by Task Force Chair, Andy Scott, MP (page 42), present a rather compelling case for ensuring that your voice is added to the growing chorus of people concerned enough about the future of disability issues in Canada to speak out.

It is encouraging to see the depth of consultation which has occurred within a relatively short span of time with a large number of people holding a stake in disability issues. But it would, I fear, be a mistake to consider the dilemma which we now face as lying outside of the erosion of support and services that is happening to all marginalized groups. To think of the disability agenda as an exclusive issue makes it far too easy for the bureaucracy to trivialize the disability perspective as being totally self-serving.

So, moving forward, my advice is to keep holding the disability viewpoint near and dear -- but also consider what it shares with other constituencies. Then, as we make our points to the Task Force, ensure that disability is seen in the light in which it belongs -- as an integral part of the whole.

Enjoy this issue of ABILITIES.