[community] Disability Advocacy during the Coronavirus Crisis

[Ushnish Sengupta]

Came across a joint Canadian initiative appealing to the Federal Government
by a number of disability advocacy organization spearheaded by
https://archdisabilitylaw.ca/
Look for the document labeled:
COVID-19 and Disability: Recommendations to the Canadian Government from
Disability Related Organizations in Canada – March 24, 2020
Ushnish

On Tue, Mar 24, 2020 at 9:53 PM Cybele S <cybele.sack at gmail.com> wrote:

> Here's another complaint that got filed in the U.S. about this situation:
>
> https://www.centerforpublicrep.org/news/cpr-and-partners-file-second-complaint-regarding-illegal-disability-discrimination-in-treatment-rationing-during-covid-19-pandemic/?fbclid=IwAR0NpXKF9-wvvIkU39xFlIvBG2l4ENoJ-2K4AJ3A8xidvp4_cU_TZl-m-CM
>
> On Tue, Mar 24, 2020 at 12:06 PM Cybele S <cybele.sack at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I also remember the group Not Dead Yet was engaged in the MAID
>> conversation.
>>
>> Re pre-existing conditions, we should be quite specific.  I remember
>> still how those with lung conditions were left out of the Uber policy
>> conversation.  They should not be left out now.
>>
>> So who is particularly at risk in that sense?
>>
>> Thinking about advocacy, good to include:
>>
>> COPD and asthma and auto-immune groups.  And diabetes groups.  And HIV
>> groups.  And heart and stroke groups.  And others helping folks who are
>> immuno-compromised.
>>
>> Also thinking about people being forced to work who are at higher risk
>> from this.
>>
>> And people experiencing homelessness and poverty.
>>
>> And all types of people with mental health struggles now.  At this point,
>> everyone’s mental health is probably challenged so must be amplifying for a
>> lot of people.
>>
>> The decisions made about who gets a vent could also include those with
>> intellectual disabilities and biases against various cognitive disabilities.
>>
>> And of course all of the age discrimination groups like ACE.
>>
>> We sometimes have an issue in Canada that disability advocacy is
>> difficult because it can be hard to build constituency.  Now it is so
>> needed.
>>
>> I will start reaching out soon.
>>
>> Should we try to arrange a zoom call to discuss?
>>
>> Best,
>>
>> Cybèle
>>
>> On Tue, Mar 24, 2020 at 8:51 AM Jutta Treviranus <jtreviranus at ocadu.ca>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Catherine Frazee and the group that created the Vulnerable Persons
>>> Standard http://www.vps-npv.ca, the Canadian Association for Community
>>> Living, and the Council of Canadians with Disabilities were addressing this
>>> bias before COVID-19. With the passing and revision of Medical Assistance
>>> in Dying (MAID) legislation in Canada, there were regulators (and medical
>>> decision-makers) that questioned whether a life with disability was worth
>>> living. VPS,CACL and CCD have been fighting this attitude and the
>>> regulations that have an impact on these choices in healthcare for some
>>> time.
>>>
>>> Jutta
>>>
>>> > On Mar 24, 2020, at 8:11 AM, pina.dintino at gmail.com wrote:
>>> >
>>> > I did see something from David Lepovfsky last week, but not much more.
>>> > Pina
>>> >
>>> > -----Original Message-----
>>> > From: community <community-bounces at lists.idrc.ocadu.ca> On Behalf Of
>>> Ushnish
>>> > Sengupta
>>> > Sent: March 24, 2020 12:19 AM
>>> > To: Inclusive Design Community <community at lists.idrc.ocadu.ca>
>>> > Subject: [community] Disability Advocacy during the Coronavirus Crisis
>>> >
>>> > Anyone know who in Canada is doing disability advocacy work during the
>>> > cirisis, ensuring rights remain protected in a changing context?
>>> >
>>> > Wall Street Journal, Trump and now CNN as I watch it and others are
>>> musing
>>> > out aloud, while others are making more quiet implicit fatalistic
>>> > calculation of jobs vs lives. Who lives is decided according to some
>>> > utilitarian calculation of potential long term economic value of a
>>> life. In
>>> > some calculations, the elderly and disabled are accorded a lower value
>>> of
>>> > life.
>>> >
>>> > THESE ARE NOT MY VIEWS, I am raising them as issues being discussed
>>> openly
>>> > in mainstream media. Here is a sample of articles from the UK and the
>>> US
>>> > below. Not much to be found from Canada on the topic.
>>> >
>>> >
>>> https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/mar/23/uks-emergency-coronavirus-bi
>>> > ll-will-put-vulnerable-at-risk
>>> >
>>> >
>>> https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/23/us/coronavirus-washington-triage-disabled
>>> > -handicapped.html
>>> > --
>>> > Ushnish
>>> > ________________________________________
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>>> ________________________________________
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>>>
>>

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