Plays Well With Others

Why Disability Organizations Must Continue to Work Together

An interesting paradox regarding the broad objective of independent living (IL) is that we can only achieve this by working together, supporting and caring for each other. This is true at every level of the work we all do, whether it is locally, provincially or nationally. A fundamental strength of the IL movement is the capacity, willingness and need to collaborate, cooperate and support each other. The whole of the IL movement in Canada is infinitely stronger than the sum of its parts, when we work together.

There are a number of excellent, and respected, consumer-focused national organizations in Canada doing important work to advance the interests of people with disabilities. For example, the Council of Canadians with Disabilities provides leadership and excellence in key areas such as disability-related supports, reducing poverty, employment for people with disabilities and human rights advocacy. The Canadian Association for Community Living has established itself as a pioneer and is respected for providing leadership on issues of inclusion, advocating for the rights of people with intellectual disabilities and their families, and helping Canadians and communities build an inclusive country. People First of Canada has been a trailblazer in promoting equality for all people who have been labelled, and educating Canadians about these issues. And IL Canada has, for 25 years, worked nationally to promote the development of IL Centres in Canadian communities, and to articulate and promote the IL vision, philosophy and work of the IL Centres at the national level. IL Canada also serves as a liaison between the IL Centres, various federal government departments and members of parliament.

This is not a definitive list of the key organizations working nationally, but it does provide a snapshot of their varied mandates and goals. It also illustrates clearly that no single organization in Canada speaks for all people with disabilities. No one organization “owns” the IL movement in this country. This is a critical fact. Each of these groups may have its own distinct group of individuals it serves, but we would suggest that the overlap and commonality of some issues strongly reinforces the rationale and need for groups like ours to work together, to support each other and to speak with one voice on key shared issues. Those we serve expect each of our groups to work together as effectively and efficiently as possible to advance IL and the rights of and opportunities  for people with disabilities. To take any other approach is, in our view, abandoning our core obligation to our individual and collective consumer groups and supporters. As well, we have much to learn and share with each other. Anytime we close the door on cooperation, we all lose.

For IL Canada, this is just as true in the relationships that we have with our own member centres. Too often, a national office of a federation or an association can lose touch with the day-to-day challenges and opportunities which member centres face. This includes losing sight of the fact that the expertise, knowledge and experience, which makes a movement such as ours strong, is more often found in the small/large, urban/rural, Francophone and/or Anglophone centres rather than in a national office. This is the strength of an association. We associate because we have abilities and skills and learnings that we can and must share. A national office will never have all the answers, but it should be willing to move mountains to find those answers within its membership and effectively share that information. It’s not rocket science, and it really only requires the will and desire to work together in a spirit of mutual support, transparency and honesty.

There is so much work that we all need to do in order to advance IL, promote inclusion and fight for the rights of people with disabilities—it makes no sense to do this in isolation from each other at any level. Do we want to work in a silo, or a sandbox? There is both the room and the need for all voices if we decide to play well together. And that’s all it boils down to—the will and desire to create positive change together. There is nothing holding us back that we cannot overcome, together.

For more information, visit ilcanada.ca.