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Acknowledgements

Disability Rights Promotion International Canada (DRPI-Canada) would like to thank its partner, Independent Living Resource Centre (ILRC) for the tremendous support that made this project possible.

DRPI-Canada expresses its heartfelt gratitude to the monitoring site coordinator Susan Ralph, the monitors Mary Anthony, Brian Conway, Deborah Gilbert, Stephanie McGrath, Paul Morgan, Mary-Jo Power, Mike Ryan, Lynn Seward, Kim Underhay, and Sandra Yetman and all the persons with disabilities engaged as interviewees for their strong commitment and dedication to bring positive changes in the lives of their peers. Their passion and hard work were key to the success of this project.  We would also like to extend our thanks to Kathy Hawkins, Provincial Co-ordinator at the ILRC for helping to coordinate the online follow-up meeting which provided the opportunity to discuss findings with participants and make the recommendations found at the end of this report.

DRPI-Canada extends its gratitude to the community and university members of the Monitoring Individual Experiences theme of the project – Normand Boucher, Sandra Carpenter, Steve Estey, Isabel Killoran, and Marcia Rioux – for their contribution at the inception of this project and their continuous support throughout. Special thanks to Steve Estey, community leader of the Monitoring Individual Experiences theme and Marcia Rioux, DRPI-Canada director for their invaluable contribution in training the monitors.

The sidewalks at Brian are not fit to anyone to walk, let alone a wheelchair, so when I do get out on the side of the road, people put their middle finger up to me. I get people swearing at me... it’s stuff that I had to deal with most of my life. (Woman, age n.a.)

I feel frustrated. I feel hurt, I feel betrayed and I feel that the health care system should come and save me for all the trouble that I endured and that I have been forced to put up with… I see nothing but barriers and more barriers that we try to take down, but the health care puts more in the way… I was pushed away like yesterday’s garbage. (Man, 52 years old)

Accessing support services that treat people with dignity, even housing, is difficult. … My landlord has had my shower leaking for a year. He temporarily fixed it, now it’s leaking again. I have no access to my shower and my workers are refusing to give me a shower in any other part of the building.  In order to get proper care right now, I feel like I have to go to acute care system, to a hospital.(Woman, 41 years old)

My wife has to drag the manual wheelchair down six stairs and put it in the vehicle and bring me down to my doctor and then take it out of the vehicle, you know, it’s terrible. It’ downright terrible(Man, 53 years old)

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