My name is Dave Burchell and I am the Union of National Employees Representative for Persons with Disabilities.
I wish to remind you that today, December 3, is the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
The United Nations Decade of Disabled Persons was held between 1983 and 1992. It urged governments and organizations to make the necessary changes to improve the lives of disabled persons all over the world.
In 1992, as this decade drew to a close, the UN General Assembly proclaimed December 3 as the International Day of Disabled Persons.
In 2007, the assembly changed the name from the “International Day of Disabled Persons” to the “International Day of Persons with Disabilities”. The new name was used the following year.
This year’s theme is “Together for a better world for all: Including persons with disabilities in development”. My personal favourite was in 2004 when the theme was “nothing about us, without us” made a bold statement which rings constantly in my ears.
Canadian census data reveals that the number of persons who reported having a disability reached 4.4 million in 2006, or 14.3 per cent of the Canadian population at the time.
Persons with disabilities face many disadvantages and are still subject to stigma and discrimination. They are largely excluded from civil and political processes and remain overwhelmingly voiceless in matters that affect them.
I hope that you will join me and all other Union of National Employees and PSAC members, persons with disabilities and their allies in remembering the daily struggles we go through to achieve what able-bodied and sound-minded individuals take for granted. It is indeed a challenge for us, but with your help and the assistance of individuals who care, we can all be identified as ‘people, rather than persons with disabilities.