1 August 2010
- In This Issue…
- National Family Conference,
Whistler, BC
October 22 – 24, 2010 - Dr. Gordon Porter – Appointed to the Order of Canada
- Federal Policy Forum on Inclusion
- Community Inclusion - National Partners Meeting
- Remembering Karen Gledhill
- CACL is a federation of more than 400 Local Associatons for Community Living, plus 13 Provincial/Territorial ACLs, and over 40,000 people working to advance the full inclusion and human rights of people with intellectual disabilities.
National Family Conference, Whistler, BC – October 22 – 24, 2010
CACL is delighted to be holding the 2010 National Family Conference: ‘Families, a Journey of Generations Moving Mountains’ in partnership with the British Columbia Association for Community Living (BCACL) and Family Focus – which will be held in Whistler, BC, October 22 - 24, 2010. The conference will be an opportunity for participants to celebrate the recently ratified UN Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and recognizing the importance in ensuring that all people have the same and equal rights and access to choice, services and supports.
The conference will include topics relevant to families and individuals who are seeking information that relates to children birth to 6 years of age, school age children, adult sons and daughters of all ages and self advocates.
To download the preliminary conference program or registration form kindly visit http://www.familyfocusconference.com/.
Dr. Gordon Porter – Appointed to the Order of Canada
On Wednesday, June 30th, Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaël Jean, Governor General of Canada announced the appointment of Dr. Gordon L. Porter, Director of Inclusive Education and past president of CACL, with Canada’s highest civilian honour for lifetime achievement, the Order of Canada.
Dr. Porter has been a tremendous advocate for the idea that quality teaching can reach every child. He has dedicated his life to ensuring that all children here in Canada and internationally have the necessary supports to learn, participate and contribute fully in every aspect of school life. His passionate belief is that no child should be left behind.
This well deserved honour, recognizing Dr. Porter’s local-to-global leadership on inclusive education – from its earliest beginning to its recognition as a right in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities - speaks to the remarkable man that he is and his dedication, passion and leadership in promoting the rights of Canadians with disabilities, particularly children.
Dr. Porter will be presented with the Order of Canada at a ceremony to be held at a later date.
The official announcement is available on the Governor General of Canada web-site at http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=13725&lan=eng.
Federal Policy Forum on Inclusion
In Ottawa on June 4th, the Canadian Association for Community Living (CACL) and People First of Canada (PFC) co-hosted the first Annual Federal Policy Forum on Inclusion.
The intent of the Annual Forum is to bring families and individuals with intellectual disabilities together to meet and exchange information with key policy makers within the federal government. The first Policy Forum on Inclusion focused on the broad issue of poverty with specific discussions held with respect to four theme areas: income, employment, housing and legal capacity. The Forum provided an opportunity for participants to hear first hand about the intention and policy direction of the federal Government as related to these issues and more importantly provided an opportunity for participants to share directly with federal officials their position with respect to these important issues
The Forum was well attended by family members, self advocates and community living representatives. A number of representatives from the Federal Government also attended – both as participants and presenters. Feedback from participants (both government and community) indicated a very successful event in that it helped build awareness among families and self advocates about the federal policy environment and enabled a two-way dialogue with the Federal Government about our Agenda and ways it can be advanced.
During the Forum, the official policy positions of CACL and People First of Canada were presented as related to each of the four issues, and panel presentations were given by family members and self advocates. Federal officials then provided an overview of the applicable Federal policy context. Following the formal presentations, time was available for general discussion and questions.
The various Policy Position papers and Fact Sheets on each of the areas discussed at the Forum are available on CACL’s website: www.cacl.ca or by contacting Anna MacQuarrie at amacquarrie@cacl.ca.
Community Inclusion - National Partners Meeting
On June 5th the annual Community Inclusion Partners meeting was held in Ottawa. This meeting provided an opportunity for representatives of the National Community Inclusion partnership (Canadian Association for Community Living (CACL), People First of Canada (PFC), Human Resources Skills Development Canada (Office of Disability Issues - ODI), provincial/territorial Associations for Community Living, Community Inclusion Coordinators and government and community agencies) to spend time together discussing the successes (and challenges) in advancing positive system change within this country. .
During this meeting, participants were able to meet with people from across the country who are engaged in similar efforts toward community inclusion; to discuss what we have learned, what we have achieved; to share common challenges/issues; and to establish a collective method to achieve our common goals.
During this one day meeting, sessions were held on ‘Creating and advancing a common research agenda’ the ‘UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities’ as related to implementation and monitoring, and representatives from Nova Scotia, PEI, Quebec, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick each gave detailed presentations of the outcomes of their efforts in their particular areas of focus.
A Proceedings Report of the meeting and copies of the individual presentations given are available and can be obtained by contacting Don Gallant at dgallant@nl.rogers.com.
Remembering Karen Gledhill
On June 14th, our Federation lost a passionate and dedicated leader, advocate, and a dear friend when Karen Gledhill passed away after a long and courageous battle with breast cancer.
Karen had been the President of Community Living Ontario, a member of the Board of Directors of CACL, and an active participant on numerous national committees. To each role Karen brought grace, charm and integrity, combined with a keen appreciation and understanding of how our movement fits within the larger human rights and social justice framework. She was a tireless worker as confirmed by her longstanding and ongoing contributions to the community living movement at the local, provincial and national levels.
As a member of our movement, and more importantly as a parent of a child with an intellectual disability, Karen was acutely aware of the important role and associated contributions that are made every day by parents. She was vigilant in ensuring that a parent perspective was always fully considered as we worked toward the attainment of our vision and goals. She was a major proponent of our efforts to reengage with families and our grassroots.
Karen's commitment, dedication and passion will be sorely missed within our Federation.
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