In May 2006 the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology, led by Senator Michael Kirby released “Out of the Shadows at Last – Highlights and Recommendations of the Final Report on Mental Health, Mental Illness and Addiction”.
The Empowerment Council (EC) made multiple submissions to the commission, advocating for the rights of mental health and addiction service users within Canada’s heath care system.
This submission is from February 15, 2005 and addresses the need for service-user led advocacy.
The National Council on Disability has concluded that one of the reasons public policy concerning psychiatric disability is so different from that concerning other disabilities is the systematic exclusion of people with psychiatric disabilities from policy making
National Council on Disability,
“From Privileges to Rights: People Labeled with Psychiatric Disabilities Speak for
Themselves”
Researchers at the Roeher Institute found that “Research findings on violence against persons with disabilities in institutional settings reach remarkably similar conclusions: the scale of the abuse against persons with disabilities appears to be of a substantial magnitude…Staff reporting of violence against persons with disabilities appears to
generate an estimate of incidence that is lower than when respondents are persons with disabilities themselves.”
There is no Ontario wide systemic advocacy voice of psychiatric consumers and survivors or people with addictions, nor is there a national advocacy voice of our community. We need organizations to represent our voice, and we need ones that exemplify the principles of good advocacy.
According to the Ontario Advocacy Commission, a brief but admirable centre of Advocacy controlled by people with disabilities: “Advocacy is founded on two key principles: independence and trust. An advocate must be independent, free from any real or perceived conflict, an advocate must be trusted to represent the interests of the
vulnerable person and only the interests of the vulnerable person.”
Please use the link below to read the full submission.