Elizabeth Bishop

Saturday, I attended a presentation by Lorna Sullivan sponsored by InclusionNS.  It was a bit confusing because I couldn't figure out whether Sullivan had some official role in "The Remedy" or was a visiting dignitary or both.

 

She seemed to know a lot about "The Remedy" and wanted to have a conversation with the audience of 30 or so, rather than give a talk. 

She's a good story teller and had many refreshing tales.

We got off track a bit with audience members differing on the meaning of "inclusion".  Does it encompass the opportunity to interact with similar people, or is it simply broad integration?  

The meeting was held at the NSCC Ivany campus, just a stone's throw from the hospital where Joey Delaney was imprisoned before the misguided Human Rights inquiry and subsequent court case led to his release.

This led my mind to wander to Elizabeth Bishop (1911-79), Pulitzer Prize winning poet, whose mother was institutionalized at the "NS" from 1916 until her death in 1934.  Elizabeth never saw her mother after 1916.

Elizabeth Bishop herself summarized events in her autobiographical prose poem “In the Village”: "First, she had come home, with her child. Then she had gone away again, alone, and left the child. Then she had come home. Then she had gone away again."

At the NS, beginning in 1952, the Occupational Therapy department gave patients the option of learning crafts, including sewing, weaving, leatherwork, glove making, knitting, toy making, typing, knotting, crocheting, shell craft, sign painting, braiding, rug making, art, cork work, and simple woodwork. Male patients could also participate in work projects both inside and outside the institution. In 1959, female patients began to be placed in work positions throughout the institution, and the 1960 annual report noted that additional efforts were being made to find more positions for female patients.

In 1962, the Occupational Therapy department began a shift toward “industrial therapy.” Under this new program, the hospital claimed to have “utilized over one hundred placements for patients, using the hospital as an industry,” and anticipated the institution of a “token salary scale for working patients.” Although patients carried out much of the labour within the hospital, there was no discussion of paying them until 1962, when it was suggested as a future possibility but not actualized (Department of Public Health, Nova Scotia Hospital Report, 1962).

So the NS is the direct ancestor of "sheltered workshops", now known as "social enterprises".  They continue to operate outside legal employment practices.  "The Remedy" does not include employment discrimination.

Employment Standards are the responsibility of The Accessibility Directorate under the Minister of Justice.

There is general disappointment in the pace of standards development under the Accessibility Act.  It's been seven years since the Act was passed, and as one who was involved from the beginning, I AM personally let down.

I am certain that the Act has proved to have unanticipated repercussions - resistance from various special interests, new problems like housing and doctor shortages, and a courageous and contentious constituency.  But that's no excuse!

The world is full of inspirational quotes about disability: “A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.” said Christopher Reeve.  This lays responsibility for success at the feet of disabled individuals.

There is a better quote that makes it everyone's mission to assure equality: "Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination and, in particular, without discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability."

By contrast there seems to be an inevitable tendency of bureaucratic organizations to perpetuate established procedures and modes, even if they are diametrically opposed to stated organizational goals.  Leadership is the cure for that malady.

In the Justice Department, lawyering is a trade where the rewards are measured in wins and losses.  Justice is a higher calling, open to anyone, and the greater rewards are intangible.  The opportunity to change lives for the better is enviable, although it will sometimes mean taking a stand contrary to advice.

The record of the Justice department regarding people with disabilities is not a good one.  As an example, read the Compliance Framework, which focuses on concepts like 'restorative' and 'collaborative' as if people with disabilities  are only entitled to apologies and compromise.  This is made-up justice; a paternalistic "Now, now" and a pat on the head.  

Similarly, government's failure to adhere to its obligations in the "systemic" case is plain dishonesty.

Before I leave the topic of government criminality, I want to tell of a recent visit to Shubenacadie.  We found the site of the former school on a dirt road; unkempt, a few plaques, lots of stuffed animals.  This is a place of cruelty, clearly wanting to be forgotten by the government that paid for and operated it for 37 years.

There is also an Education Standard due from the Accessibility Directorate.  The one I've seen doesn't spend a lot of time on kids needs with regard to sports, extracurriculars and play; focusing on pedagogy instead.

There's a pattern here - discrimination, cruelty, insincere apology, inadequate "remedy".  Remember "the cure is worse than the disease"?

These are the years and the walls of the ward,

the winds and clouds of the sea of board

sailed by the sailor

wearing the watch

that tells the time

of the cranky man

that lies in the house of Bedlam.

Elizabeth Bishop

Gus Reed