This October, Terrace residents can visit the Skeena Valley Farmers Market to discuss ableism in their communities

Discrimination

Updated: October 7, 2022

Terrace, B.C. – Starting on October 8, 2022 and continuing on Saturdays throughout the month, Terrace and District Community Services Society (TDCSS) will host a booth at the Skeena Valley Farmers Market to explore topics of ableism through conversation.

These events will profile BC’s Office of the Human Rights Commissioner’s (BCOHRC) new #RewriteTheRules campaign about ableism and discrimination based on disability. Visitors of the booth will have the opportunity to learn about this province-wide campaign and engage with their community on the topic.

Partners such as TDCSS, Indigenous Disability Canada (IDC) / British Columbia Aboriginal Network on Disability Society (BCANDS), and Disability Alliance BC played a key role in the campaign’s development, with leaders from these organizations serving on a Community Review Committee and informing campaign outputs by sharing their experiences living with a disability and supporting people with disabilities.

Learn more about the campaign, running across B.C. during October and November at https://bchumanrights.ca/rewrite-the-rules/

“We believe BCOHRC’s #RewriteTheRules campaign can contribute to opening up important conversations about ableism in our communities. We all need to question our unspoken assumptions about persons with disabilities and what we think people with disabilities need. That is why IDC / BCANDS was pleased to participate in the development of this campaign,” said Neil Belanger, Chief Executive Officer of IDC / BCANDS.

“Even though disabled people are the biggest minority in the world, many people still don’t know or talk about the physical, administrative and social structures that create barriers to disabled peoples’ participation every day. Most of our society does not acknowledge or talk about ableism or saneism. Some aren’t even aware that people with disabilities have these barriers, and we typically don’t hear about or talk about the reality that many people who face other forms of discrimination are also being discriminated against because they are disabled. We need to change that and BCOHRC’s #RewriteTheRules campaign can help us get people sharing ideas that hopefully lead to actions, to make our communities more inclusive and accessible,” said Salina Dewar of Disability Alliance BC, who identifies as a person with disabilities.

“In our campaign we are showing ableism as a set of unwritten rules. They show up in every aspect of our lives, from health care and education to the workplace and the built environment. Everywhere they go, people with disabilities have experiences that reinforce how the world wasn’t designed with their needs in mind,” said B.C.’s Human Rights Commissioner Kasari Govender.

“We must rewrite the unwritten rules of our shared settings and spaces, so people with disabilities are truly included—no special treatment required. These events at Skeena Valley Farmers Market are a great opportunity to spark the conversations needed towards making this happen,” concluded the Commissioner.

The event on October 8, 2022 is the second of multiple events happening across three communities in British Columbia – Victoria, Terrace, and Kelowna – in relation to the campaign. With ads appearing across British Columbia, the aim of the campaign is to raise awareness of and address ableism in British Columbia, and to identify and target systemic barriers that prevent the full inclusion of people with disabilities in our communities.

About the #RewriteTheRules campaign

Launched on October 4, 2022 and running until November 20, 2022, BCOHRC’s #RewriteTheRules campaign is aimed at raising awareness about ableism and the ways people in British Columbia can address it. People across British Columbia will see the #RewriteTheRules campaign in their communities, whether in major urban centres or in rural and northern communities.

See the media release about the campaign’s launch here.

To learn more about the campaign, visit https://bchumanrights.ca/rewrite-the-rules

About the TDCSS

Terrace & District Community Services Society (TDCSS) is a charity that began in 1970 as a Resource Board. TDCSS has grown into a broad-spectrum essential services provider and charity for the Terrace community and region. The charity provides a full range of services for adults with diverse abilities through its partnership with CLBC, a full range of services for children, youth, and families through its partnership with the MCFD, operates a Foundry site that provides health and wellness services for youth 12–24, anti-poverty and legal advocacy services through relationships with BC Housing and BC Law Foundation, and low-income housing at its Cedars apartments.  TDCSS has also partnered with BC Housing to bring up to 42 new units of affordable Seniors Housing to Terrace in the coming years.

About IDC / BCANDS

Indigenous Disability Canada (IDC) / British Columbia Aboriginal Network on Disability Society (BCANDS), or as more commonly known, IDC / BCANDS, is an internationally recognized and award winning, Indigenous not for profit Society serving the unique and diverse disability and health related needs of Indigenous peoples across Canada. IDC / BCANDS holds Special Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council and is the only Canadian organization to hold Observer Status with the European Association of Service providers for Persons with Disabilities (EASPD). 2022 marks the 31st year of IDC / BCANDS successfully delivering Indigenous disability and health programs and services across Canada.

About Disability Alliance BC

Since 1977, Disability Alliance BC has been a provincial, cross-disability voice in British Columbia. Their mission is to support people, with all disabilities, to live with dignity, independence and as equal and full participants in the community. They champion issues impacting the lives of people with disabilities through our direct services, community partnerships, advocacy, research and publications.

Please find this release in PDF format here.

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Media Contact

To request an interview with Commissioner Kasari Govender, please contact Charlotte Kingston, Director, Communications, at media@bchumanrights.ca or 1-250-216-4534.

BCOHRC is partnering with representatives from the disability community to speak about the Office’s campaign to address ableism. Depending on availability, Commissioner Govender could be joined by either Neil Belanger (Maluu’m Amxsiwaa), the Chief Executive Officer of BC Aboriginal Network on Disability Society or Salina Dewar from Disability Alliance BC.

Media Kit

Download our media kit for images of Commissioner Kasari Govender.

About BCOHRC

BC’s Office of the Human Rights Commissioner exists to address the root causes of inequality, discrimination and injustice in B.C. by shifting laws, policies, practices and cultures. We do this work through education, research, advocacy, inquiry and monitoring. Learn more at: bchumanrights.ca

About the Commissioner

B.C.’s Human Rights Commissioner, Kasari Govender, started her five-year term on Sept. 3, 2019. Since then, our Office has been working swiftly to build a strong team, to listen deeply to the concerns of British Columbians, to deliver education materials on our rights and responsibilities, to issue policy guidance to protect marginalized communities and to lay a human rights-based foundation for our work. As an independent officer of the Legislature, the Commissioner is uniquely positioned to ensure human rights in B.C. are protected, respected and advanced on a systemic level throughout our society.

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