Month: October 2021

I have long been curious about why artists labelled with intellectual disabilities aren’t better represented in Disability Arts spaces (let alone the artworld at large).

This past spring I spoke with a number of people about some of the dynamics that create and shape the distance between some groups of disabled people and with some artists labelled with intellectual disabilities about their experiences, frustrations, dreams, and desires.

It’s a complex conversation, and one that I want to keep having.

I had the honour of publishing an article on this subject in the summer issue of BlackFlash magazine, A Temporary, Collectively-Held Space guest-edited by Carmen Papalia. Regrettably, a plain language version is not yet available, but we’re working on it.

Sincere thanks to Carmen Papalia, Maxine Proctor, the BlackFlash team and all those who spoke with me at all stages of this writing, including Eliza Chandler, Emily Cook, Rachel Gray, Tara Grude, Jessie Huggett, Sean Lee, Stephanie Nadeau, Debbie Ratcliffe, Elizabeth Sweeney, Alain Shain, and Shara Weaver.

Advocates of expanded assisted death regimes have been very successful in campaigning for the “right to die.” So much so that I’m told that most people on the political left assume that any opposition to it is informed by a conservative, pro-life position.

I recently had the opportunity to publish a version of a text that wrote (fuelled, to be honest, by rage and despair) while Bill C-7 became enshrined in Canadian law. This legislation radically expanded Medical Assistance in Dying in so-called Canada, creating a special track to early death for any adult with a disability.

Disabled people and people with disabilities overwhelmingly oppose this change to the law. While it’s heartening to see this beginning to be covered with more accuracy in the media, lives have already been lost as a result of this discriminatory legislation–lives of disabled people who would have preferred to live but lacked the supports to do so.

I’m honoured to publish this piece alongside poetry by Jane Shi. Many thanks to Anna Bowen for her careful editing of this text, and for the opportunity to add my voice to the chorus of opposition to this law.