It’s Up and Running!

Shawna Kennedy assists in EnableLink’s virtual ribbon cutting ceremony,while Eileen Mercier and Ray Cohen look on.

When each person with a disability can connect with every other person with a disability - as well as non-disabled people who are our allies and supporters along the path toward human rights and equality - change is inevitable.

In June, the Canadian Abilities Foundation launched EnableLink - Canada’s Online Community for People with Disabilities. The ceremony was held during the People in Motion Exhibition and was a great success. Speakers included Raymond Cohen, President of the Canadian Abilities Foundation (CAF); Eileen Mercier, Chair of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB); and Sandra Carpenter, Executive Director of the Foundation on Independent Living.

Catherine Frazee, a CAF Board Member prepared the following speech to acknowledge the significance of this initiative.

As a Board member of the Canadian Abilities Foundation, I bring two perspectives to the launch of EnableLink - that of someone with a long-time professional interest in human rights and that of someone with a newfound but deeply held personal interest in disability, arts and culture. From both perspectives, the technology that we see launched here today is a good news story.

First, I believe that, although disability culture is young here in Canada, artists and cultural producers can only benefit from increased contact with the work of others around this country. Already, the World Wide Web has enabled people with disabilities - dancers, writers, musicians, actors - to learn about exciting developments in the arts in the U.K., the U.S. and other places around the world. The time has come for Canadian artists with disabilities to catch the wave of excitement, exploring tools like EnableLink not only for their information value but also for their potential to stimulate the development of new creative forms. These same tools will also serve scholars and others interested in studying and analyzing the broad cultural conditions that nurture the development of pride and empowered identity.

Second, it is my observation that human rights advocacy is being revolutionized by Internet technology. The Internet offers powerful new ways to link people to other people around goals rooted in the ideals of equality, justice and participation. It is indeed a great equalizer - provided that everyone has access to a computer - I’ll say more about that in a moment.

The great equalizer has touched my life in ways that are both profound and banal. I can do things never before possible - go surfing; parachute into chat lines; stroll through online bookstores, where narrow isles and boxes of unshelved material never block my passage. I can fly anywhere in the world - or at least book my flights - without risk of damage to my precious and oh-so-fragile wheelchair! I can learn more about my diagnosis and meet others who share it - and still others who share my determination to refuse to act as if a diagnosis makes any significant difference to their rich and active lives. I can learn so much and go so many places that I begin to feel that I - well, I don’t exactly rule the world, but I sure do have access to it!

I am however, one of the lucky ones. I want every member of my community - the community of people with disabilities - to have access to a computer and the coaching they might need to make use of this amazing technology. I want every website to be fully accessible and every residence that houses a person with a disability to have an appropriate computer with an Internet connection available for unrestricted use.

Because when each person with a disability can connect with every other person with a disability - as well as non-disabled people who are our allies and supporters along the path toward human rights and equality - when the opportunity for this kind of connection presents itself, change is inevitable. Sharing ideas and strategies for change will then happen spontaneously and without exhausting the strength and meager resources of our community.

So... I want to thank the founding sponsor of EnableLink - the Ontario Workplace Safety Insurance Board -and the other Workers’ Compensation Boards across the country that have seen the potential in this idea and contributed to its realization. The next challenge for all of us is to see that these new technologies help to narrow, rather than widen, the gap of privilege, the gap of access. I think EnableLink is a great first step. I sincerely hope that with every new "hit", threads of connection will be woven with others who might otherwise remain in isolation.
fall 1999 / abilitiesÊ#

People in Motion provided a stimulating venue for people to watch the launch
and test drive Canada’s newest online community for people with disabilities.

We Want To Hear From You!
Take an active hand in making EnableLink information-rich and valuable! Write, fax or e-mail us to add content to your online community.

UPCOMING EVENTS
Send us upcoming events for the EnableLink Calendar (September 1999 and beyond). Be sure to include the following information:
Title of Event/Conference:
Date:
Location:
Description:
Contact Information:

LIBRARY, BOOKSTORE & READING ROOM
Send us your suggestions for book titles and articles of interest for the Library, Bookstore and Reading Room. Be sure to include:
Title:
Author:
Date:
Publishing House:
Subject:

LINKS
Tell us about your favourite websites. Don’t forget to include:
URL (Internet address):
Subject or area of interest:
A few of your personal comments on the site:




We are grateful to the Workers’ Compensation Boards of Canada
for their support.

HOW TO CONTACT ENABLELINK

EnableLink, c/o Canadian Abilities Foundation
489 College Street, Suite 501, Toronto, Ontario M6G 1A5
Tel.: (416) 923-9980 Fax: (416) 923-9829 E-mail: ask@enablelink.org