Moving Beyond Research

By Patricia Pardo

The Canadian Association of Independent Living Centres (CAILC) has met and overcome many challenges since its formal inception in 1985. Amid the turbulence of an uncertain funding climate, and despite its ongoing struggle simply to survive, CAILC continues to promote the right of all people with a disability living in Canada to make choices regarding their own lives.

Through coordination of core programs and development of special initiatives, CAILC provides support to the ongoing development of Independent Living Centres in Canada.

Yet not all people with disabilities are accessing or participating in the 21 Independent Living Centres situated across Canada. In September, 1990, at a conference entitled "Independent Living: An Agenda for the ’90s," Henry Enns, a founding member of CAILC, observed that the IL Movement was not as inclusive as it could be.

"Outreach must be done in a vigorous manner to under-represented groups: disabled women and men who are from cultural and ethnic minorities; natives; gays and lesbians; people with AIDS; seniors; disabled welfare recipients; and disabled people who are medically unstable," Enns wrote in a 1993 publication.

Over the last five years, CAILC has developed a number of outreach projects aimed at enhancing the participation of marginalized groups. This Multiculturalism Project is an exploration, within the IL philosophy and within the programs and services offered by IL Centres across Canada, of the barriers that might exist to the full and equal participation of people with a disability from diverse ethnocultural communities.

Barriers were defined by board members and staff of IL Centres. Participatory in nature, this qualitative research seeks to capture the experiences, insights and perceptions of the board and staff of CAILC and of the Niagara Centre for Independent Living.

Research participants shared rich descriptions of their personal interpretations of the Independent Living philosophy, as well as barriers they saw to the participation of people with disabilities from different ethno-cultural communities,and recommendations and strategies to eliminate those barriers within the IL Movement.

Through the sharing of their lived experiences, the participants helped us to understand better Independent Living, its challenges and its opportunities. It was their insight which yielded the categories, themes and recommendations that will help the Canadian Independent Living Movement to become more inclusive. With their assistance, we were able to identify issues relevant to this study and to recognize some of the implications of multicultural organizational change on the IL Movement here in Canada.

Building on all of the activities undertaken in phase one, we hope to launch a second phase of the initiative which will aim to implement a multicultural/antiracist approach to organizational change within the IL Movement in Canada.

The overall goal of CAILC’s proposed multicultural organizational-change initiative is "to remove the visible and invisible barriers to the full and equal participation of ethno-racial communities as consumers, staff, volunteers and board members of the Independent Living Movement in Canada."

Wish us luck!

(Dr. Patricia Pardo was the primary researcher responsible for the Multiculturalism Project.)

CANADIAN ASSOCIATION OF INDEPENDENT LIVING CENTRES (CAILC)
1004-350 SPARKS STREET
OTTAWA, ON K1R 7S8
TEL: (613) 563-2581
FAX: (613) 235-4497
TTY: (613) 563-2581
E-MAIL: cailc@magma.ca
WEBSITE: http://indie.ca/cailc/english/index.htm