An activist for disability services reform has resigned his post as adviser to the provincial Disability Services Review Committee
TERESA WRIGHT, The Guardian – Stephen Pate was hired by the province as an adviser to the committee but said he felt he had no choice but to resign after feeling betrayed and not respected by the members.
“I had no faith that they were going to do anything positive for people with disabilities,” Pate said.
Stephen Pate, social activist (CBC photo)
Struck last December, the Disability Services Review Committee was mandated to review and get public input about gaps in current legislation and services for people with disabilities.
The province formed the committee to satisfy a promise by Premier Robert Ghiz during his election campaign to conduct a full review of disability support services, including the Disability Support Program.
Pate said the committee structure was faulty to begin with, and when he tried to have it more accurately reflect those with disabilities on P.E.I., he was met with roadblocks at every turn.
“They put nobody with a disability on the committee. They have caregivers and people who run NGOs who are not really part of the issue — who wouldn’t really understand because they’re not disabled.”
But the biggest problem Pate saw was that there was no representation for seniors with disabilities on the committee — who make up about 9,000 of the approximately 22,000 Islanders with disabilities.
“So I said one of the members should be a senior with a disability. That was argued for around a week.”
However, the province did finally appoint Anna Duffy from the Seniors Secretariat to the committee.
Pate said this and other incidents that occurred during committee meetings led him to his decision to resign.
“It was a culmination of just one thing after another for three months. I was treated with disrespect in meetings. I was told to be quiet. I kept saying to myself, ‘Why am I doing this?’ So I resigned.”
The Guardian attempted to contact the Department of Social Services and Seniors for comment but calls were not returned
Leave a Reply