Growing up in the 60’s and 70’s, I‘ve
always retained a strong sense of social values including being a passionate proponent
for full equality across the board regardless of gender, beliefs or
disability. In fact, I fondly recall
working with the “Disabled Ski Club of Great Britain” training some blind
athletes on the dry ski slopes in England in the early 80’s even before my own
spinal cord injury. In all my worldly
travels and varied experiences I’ve always tried to empathize with others and strived
to see how I would live and react if our circumstances were reversed. Perhaps I was naïve, but prior to my accident
I had no idea to what degree people with disabilities were marginalized,
ostracized and discriminated against be it consciously or subconsciously. Indifference and ignorance is often worse than
outright and overt discrimination. As
the old saying goes, “walk a day in my shoes” and then you “just might” see
part of my life’s challenges. I would go
one step further and add that we in the disabled community call all those in
the able-bodied community TAB’s which is an acronym for “Temporarily Able
Bodied”! Of course nobody chooses to
lose any amount of mobility or independence yet as I’ve learned first-hand at
the tender age of 24 that accidents can happen to anyone, at anytime and
anywhere … most often in a heartbeat.
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| First time - Adaptive Waterskiing - Heron Park, England '95 |
I fundamentally think that the riddle
of spinal cord injury research will eventually pay dividends, ideally finding a
cure to regenerate paralyzed limbs either partially or completely throughout
the body. Until that time, we (people
with disabilities) still have to live in the “here and now”. This means, not predicating all our resources
on a future cure but rather, maximizing our collective quality of life through
education, acceptance
and applicable research that helps us become more
independent and participate fully in all aspects of society. Depending on your comfort zone, this could
range from attending your first concert and pursuing adventure sports to
playing a musical instrument or even ultimately going into space with Sir Richard
Branson’s “Virgin Galactic” set to launch their inaugural commercial flights
later this year!
As it would require writing a book to address
all of my 30+ years of disability activism and advocacy work, I thought it
would be more impactful to elaborate on one major personal incident which has had
far reaching consequences but eventually resulting in changes which have benefited
all of society. It seems that my
greatest lessons in life have usually come as a direct result from my own
personal setbacks and adversity which at the time seemed so overwhelming that I
thought I’d never overcome those obstacles and view the world with the same
level of trust and unbridled optimism.
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| Ottawa Carleton - Injury Prevention Week - Organizing Committee - City Hall '95 |
Flash
forward a couple of weeks when I was performing some routine banking at my local
Canada Trust branch and then reviewed my pass book (a booklet commonly used
before internet banking). Suddenly, to my horror, I discovered eleven
unauthorized withdrawals on five separate days from my personal bank account.
After a thorough review, I calculated that I had been defrauded a total of
$5,207.00. I then went directly to the Ottawa-Carleton Police Station to file a
report. I was advised by a detective to see a lawyer before the police became
involved, because I would need an affidavit testifying that all the
transactions were unauthorized and not made by me. Apparently, in this type of
fraud, the person usually reporting the crime is the first prime suspect. After getting all of my paperwork in order I
returned to the police station to file a formal report but was advised by the
detective, due to the back log of cases, no investigation would take place for many
months.
With that knowledge, I took matters
into my own hands. Instantly, I knew who to suspect was behind these crimes.
The only person who had access to my PIN number and regularly helped me with my
banking and my care was my new personal attendant, LK. Over the next few days I did a little more
investigative work and all the evidence pointed to LK. I felt so very violated
by this person since she was always in my home, I trusted her with my most
intimate details and even treated her like a friend. I couldn't comprehend how
someone whom I employed, at a good hourly wage, could breech my trust and live
with themselves in the bargain. When I eventually met up with LK I relayed all
of the terrible events of the previous week but the entire time she never said
a word and surprisingly, never offered any empathy or concern for my loss! Then
I asked outright if LK had ever taken my ATM card without my knowledge or
whether she knew anything about these crimes or had any involvement whatsoever?
She denied everything.
A few months later I received a call
from a Police Detective to inform me that under duress, LK finally admitted to
stealing my ATM card from my home (wallet) and was a direct accomplice by giving
her boyfriend’s my bank card and PIN number on five separate occasions. In order
to avoid prosecution, LK plea bargained with the police. In return for
identifying her boyfriends in connection with the crimes, she was granted
immunity and would not be implicated in the frauds. What makes this fraud even
more distressing is the fact that, due to my disability and reliance on others,
my vulnerable situation was exploited and my trust seriously violated. The
repercussions of these crimes were felt financially and psychologically for
many years afterwards. Worse, even after
all these years I have been unable to place 100% trust in my personal care attendants
and this has negatively impacted on my working relationship with the people I
depend on for my day to day routines and literal survival!
In the
hope that true justice would prevail and that these young individuals would
realize how much their crimes have hurt me and set back my life, I wanted to
attain some assurance that the three would be held judicially and morally
accountable for their actions. I
subsequently launched, pursued and was eventually successful in a civil action
against the perpetrators which saw them (2 boyfriends) paying me back all of
the funds that I had been defrauded. In
order to address this matter systemically across North America while hoping to prevent
others from ever having to endure what I went through, I launched a formal complaint
with the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) against all 6 federally
chartered banks. In essence, these nationally
regulated institutions failed all of their customers with physical disabilities
by not accommodating our “special needs” in the provision of wheelchair
accessible ABM’s and subsequently leaving us with little choice other than having
to divulge our PIN numbers to a third party.
After
being the longest CHRC complainant case (over 9 years from start to finish) in
battling the banks, their Toronto based lawyers and their lobbying arm, the
Canadian Bankers Association, in 2005 I was finally victorious in having a wide
range of policies, practices and disability accommodation issues agreed to by
all the 6 banks. At a reported cost of
more than $1 Billion the banks were forced to have at least one lower counter
ABM at every location across Canada in addition to being signatories to the
following ongoing initiatives.
1. Reaffirm their Commitment to implementation of the
Canadian Standards Association’s (CSA) “Barrier-Free Design for Automated
Banking Machines.
2. Develop an implementation plan for compliance with
the ABM standard and report on an annual basis their progress to the CHRC.
3. Continue to develop barrier-free access standards
for Point of Sales (POS) devices by encouraging participation by retail, manufacturing
and the Acquirer industries.
4.
Provide print information available to the public in
alternate formats.
5.
When constructing new premises and significant
renovations at bank branches, accommodate the needs of people with disabilities
to the point of undue hardship.
6. Consider the needs of people with disabilities in
the development of web-based services and products.
7. Maintain an internal dispute resolution process for
addressing customer complaints specifically available to people with
disabilities who wish to raise any issue concerning access to financial
services.
8. Report on the accessibility of their services to
people with disabilities in their respective annual Public Accountability
Statements.
As I am
legally bound not to disclose any further details about my Human Rights case, I
am pleased that the many years of fighting for my personal rights, systemically
lobbying the banking industry and “going the distance” in pursuing a satisfactory
resolution has finally paid off for all Canadians with disabilities.
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| World Toboggan Speed Record Attempt - Les Arcs, France '87 |
The video
clip below speaks mainly to my disability human rights advocacy work, awareness
and fundraising through the World Toboggan Speed Record attempt and the ‘Round
the World Challenge charitable organization.
I have had the distinct honour of working with and representing some of the
most notable organizations in the world including the United Nations, World
Bank, Christopher Reeve Paralysis Organization, Canadian Paraplegic Association,
The Back-Up Trust, General Motors Corporation, Pfizer Inc. and the Government
of Canada.
With more
than a billion people with disabilities around the planet and growing, I will
continue to act in a leadership role as a true activist, advocate and change
maker. Stay tuned for my next Quadrant
which will be posted at the end of April.
If you liked what you’ve read and watched, please send me your comments
and “likes” while sharing this story with your network of friends.
