InstitutionWatch

[Anonymous]

http://www.institutionwatch.ca/
http://www.institutionwatch.ca/cms-file ... ring09.pdf

THE END OF THE INSTITUTIONAL ERA IN ONTARIO
March 31, 2009
WE GATHER HERE TODAY to mark the occasion of the closing of the last of the large institutions
operated by the Government of Ontario under the soon-to-be-repealed Developmental Services
Act.
This is a time for rejoicing. But it is also a time to be sad when we think of the lives of thousands of
people (most of them still young children) who were needlessly separated from their families, friends,
homes, pets, familiar places, neighbours and the larger community where they belonged. Instead of
being able to live normal lives like everyone else, these our fellow citizens were forced to spend their
days, most of them to the end of their days, knowing nothing but the company of others who knew the
same pain of abandonment, exclusion and segregation, and of those who were paid to care for them.
Their basic needs were met by staff who were often compassionate, but who also suffered the effects of
institutionalization. Some residents of the institutions were the victims of physical, psychological, and
sexual abuse, in addition to the mental suffering they had to endure just by being forced to live in those
facilities.
14/ INSTITUTIONWATCH / MAY 2009

While it is true that these residential hospitals
were, in recent years, well-maintained and had
dedicated staff members, one fundamental issue remained: It was and is unjustifiable to “jail” someone
for want of a few IQ points.
There is not a single person housed in these facilities - in Ontario or elsewhere - who could not be cared
for as well, if not better, in the community.
The mistake that was made with the de-institutionalization of people with psychiatric disabilities was
to release them into nothing, leaving them to struggle with severe mental illnesses without necessary
supports such as housing and income.
The result is thousands – no, tens of thousands – of people with psychiatric illnesses and addictions
living on the streets and in the rooming houses of Canada’s big cities, a social disaster and a national
disgrace.
To its credit, the community-living movement has, through its advocacy and hard work, ensured a
smoother transition for people with intellectual disabilities.
Throughout history, people living with developmental disabilities have been vilified, patronized and
marginalized.

Families, people with intellectual disabilities and community agencies must play a more active role in
providing information to provincial politicians to convince them of the necessity to close institutions.
Other provinces have closed their institutions, why is it that Alberta cannot do the same? People with
intellectual disabilities in Alberta must be given the same rights and privileges as people living in other
provinces.