Speakers:
Personal experience often makes a powerful statement that can lead people to a "new way of thinking." As Josephine Grey shared her past experience with the welfare system, her story highlighted the need for change in the way poor people are treated in Canada.
As a working mother, Grey recalled she relied, in part, on welfare for supplemental benefits but found the bureaucratic obstacle course overwhelming. "I sat and sat in the office…finally I was pulled in and they wanted all sorts of paper work, my bank accounts didn’t go back far enough…I ended up losing my temper and leaving the office without the drug card I needed."
Although the United Nations makes a distinction between "absolute" and "relative", poverty in North America, Grey believes, is characterized by loneliness. "People who are poor in other countries have extended families, other ways to share with others." During her experience on welfare, Grey had no one to talk to, other than "the formal, systemic relationship of client-to-worker."
Catherine Frazee echoed this sentiment when she spoke of the rights of the disabled. Access, she explained is not just ramps and parking spaces. "There is also the need to access the human community."
Her research revealed how social inclusion forges relationships of mutual respect for children with disabilities. "When children are embraced within relationships, they are safe, their status as persons in the group is intact." It is no different for anyone else. Referring to the events of September 11, Frazee said "In those moments of horror, people reached for their cell phones to connect with their loved ones. That is the essence of inclusion."Bob Glossop cautioned, however, that we need to be aware of the language used, as many of the terms social activists use are couched in economic terms. "Earnings supplement, non-refundable credits, thresholds…these rationalize the pain, the outrage of others," he said.
"We need to get social debate back on the government agenda," said Marcel Lauzičre. "We need to rethink our social action and be aware that political exclusion is a fight against poverty and we are losing. We are far from victory." Establishing "a new way of thinking" and building a foundation for a new vision isn’t easy. As Catherine Frazee so aptly put it: "the ‘Rome’ of social inclusion won’t be built in a day."
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