PEI Council of the Disabled lurched towards the chasm of change last Saturday, yawned and turned away. The Council has faced increasing pressure from some members to return to the Council’s activist roots. The Board of Directors resisted and returned a slate of conservatives. The elections were at the PEI Council of the Disabled’s Annual Meeting held on the UPEI Campus on Saturday June 16th.
Council President Trisha Clarken was purged from the Board Executive in a putsch organized by Anne MacPhee, who assumed her position as President. MacPhee is one of 12 conservative Board members who resist the forces of change within the Council and within the disability community.
Ms. Clarken had been leading the Board forward to deal with everyday problems of Islanders with disabilities such as accessible affordable housing. Ms. Clarken also tried unsuccessfully to get the Council to protest the DSP $1 million cutback last year.
The PEI Council of the Disabled was founded by activists. They were Islanders with disabilities who saw the need to improve the lives of those like themselves who were excluded from society. Some of them are legends like Kay Reynolds.
Over the decades several things happened at the Council of the Disabled to change the focus. The Council hired a series of Executive Directors who were not themselves disabled, lessening their identification with the disability community. The Council adopted a policy of “best employee for the job” which meant it hired few if any persons with disabilities.
The Council’s funding is almost totally government money directed at projects. These projects reflect government agendas which in many cases don’t represent the real needs of Islanders with disabilities.
Today the PEI Council of the Disabled receives $700,000 in government funding, which is a large amount for an Island non government organization. It dispenses the money on a series of low-priority, low impact projects.
When a crisis like the $1 million cutback in the DSP occurs, the PEI Council of the Disabled goes into denial. Informed of the DSP cutbacks, the Board including Anne MacPhee said it wasn’t true. They didn’t see anyone who needed more help.
Instead of being advocates for the disabled, the PEI Council of the Disabled has become an apologist for the status quo. One Council employee even recently told an Islander with a disability to become her own advocate.
The PEI Council of the Disabled has seen the future and lurched away towards the past.
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