Recently Community Living Ontario held it's annual Communications Strategies Workshop. An important two day event that brings all of Ontario's Community Living agencies together to network and learn.
Wednesday night we were invited to a special screening of The Freedom Tour, a documentary about deinstitutionalization, created by People First of Canada, The National Film Board and provincial People First organizations in Manibotba, Saskatchewan and Alberta.
"An institution is any place where people who have been labeled as having an intellectual disability are isolated, segregated, and / or congregated. An institution is any place in which people do not have, or are not allowed to exercise control over their lives and their day to day decisions. An institution is not defined merely by its size." People First of Canada / Canadian Association for Community Living Joint Task Force on Deinstitutionalization Definition of Institution
The idea for the film came about when the government of Manitoba announced that it would be investing $40 million dollars into re-development of the Manitoba Development Centre - one of the remaining, large - scale institutions designed to house people who have a disability.
People First organizations protested the government's decision and decided to travel across the Prairie provinces to raise awareness about the continuing institutionalization of people who have a disability.
The film documents the tour of 16 people in 4 vehicles across 3 provinces using 2 cameras with 1 goal ... Free Our People!
The film offers an emotional, heart wrenching glimpse of what life was like inside the institututions through archival pictures, video footage, and powerful first-hand accounts from survivors and their families.
The Freedom Tour provides a powerful tool to reflect on our history, to recognize the harm that people experienced and to remember those who died in institutions.
March 31st, 2009 will see the goal of closing institutions in Ontario realized. The doors of Rideau Regional Centre, Huronia Regional Centre and the Southwest Regional Centre will close, never to open again. Everyone will have left the building.
While the day will be celebrated across the province there will also be time for reflective observance in memory of those people who died while housed in an institution.
With your support of The Freedom Tour we will realize the goals of closing the remaining institutions in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.
Please visit The Freedom Tour and People First of Canada websites to learn more about how you can lend your support and sign the on-line petition.
For more information on Community Living agencies visit: http://www.communitylivingontario.ca/
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