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Hello. I am Russell Havill. I am a 68 year old senior. I came to Kenora in 1983. My brother approached Sharon White, an Adult Protective Service Worker employed by the Kenora Association for Community Living. She got me into the wood room at the Association’s Arc Industry.

I moved into the Adams block. I put my name into Ontario West Kenora Housing and was able to move into the Apartment I am living in now.

Kenora Association for Community Living got me a job at Gould’s nursery and I worked there for 9 years.

I participated in People First. a self advocate group for persons with disabilities. I joined the Kenora Association for Community Living as a member and subsequently got elected to the Board of Directors

I served as a member of the Provincial Self Advocacy Council for 7 years. I also served on the Board of Directors of Community Living Ontario for two years. To recognized my contribution on behalf of persons with Disabilities Community Living Ontario awarded me the James Montgomery Honour Award.

The Kenora Association for Community Living awarded me an Honorary Life Membership in 2011.

I believe in the valuable work of the Kenora Association for Community Living. They assisted me to live a very meaningful and satisfying life in Kenora.

I believe that everyone should be assisted to Live, Learn, Work and Play in their Community.

 I support the Kenora Association for Community Living  

At a recent provincial conference I had the opportunity to listen to reporter and Author Ian Brown, author of The Boy in the Moon. What impressed me about the author was not his story about his son, about his philosophy or any specific incident or story he told.  What impressed me was his honesty, his frankness, and humanity. I bought a copy of his book The Boy in the Moon  and I committed to myself to read the book in its entirety. For those who want a more fuller introduction to the bookI would recommend the books and videos listed at http://www.kacl.ca/hotlistkacl.html#boy .  It is not an easy book to read - it isn’t even a pleasant book to read but at the end of the book I said to myself, “This was an important book to read”.

The theme that appealed to me the most was introduced on page 3″What is the value of a life like his-”.

This is a question that I think most every one asks of someone, sometime or other.

When I got into the disability field almost 27 years ago, the first answer I got was from a certain religious person who was conducting a funeral for an individual who had been served by our Association for many years. The answer that the religious official gave was that “he” had been born, had lived and died to bring those who were attending the funeral closer to God.  In addition to thinking about how udderly weak, selfish and shallow this individuals conception of “God” was, I thought that the consumer diserved more credit. Since that time I have heard many others who have said in my consumers they saw the face of God or similar signs, when all I see is “John, Sussie or who ever is in front of me. 

More meaningful to me is the phrase that I have heard from others speaking of their departed loved one, ” I miss him, he meant the world to me.” 

“What is the value of a life like his?” The answerr can only be answered by a specific individual.  When one says “We are all equal because we are loved equally by God”, or that “We are all equal because we are all some body’s mother and loved by that mother.” I listen politely but my thoughts are elsewhere.

The principle of equality of human beings or the principle of equality of value, is not descriptive but prescriptive.  What we contribute to others or what values we hold to specific others is for that specific other to determine. The principle of the equality is not about actual contribution or value but raher about how we should treat human beings. The principle of equality makes sense to me, and I beleive that it should make sense to a society that wants a better world. Richard Wilinson and Kate Pickell in The Spirit Level, Why Equality is Better for Everyone provides soem scientific data.

Hello. I am Russell Havill, President of Kenora People First, a group of people who advocate for persons with disabilities.

I am a 68 year old senior. Before I turned 65 and had to live on Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP), I had to scrape, and scrape and scrape to make ends meet each month. Sometimes, I would have to go without milk or meat at the end of the month. I couldn’t go out for coffee or do a lot of things I wanted to. Now as a senior I receive old age security and guaranteed income supplement.

Between 1993 and 2004 there were no increases to ODSP.  Since 2004 there have been 8 increases to ODSP. Even with such increases the amount people on receive from ODSP buys 18% less than 1993. I believe persons with long-term disabilities should receive a guaranteed annual income equal to that received by Seniors.   Help lift persons with disabilities out of poverty at least to the same level as Seniors.

The goal of KACL is to ensure that all people with special needs have the opportunity to live a meaningful and satisfying lifestyle and interact as an equal in their community by providing continuing opportunities for personal growth through education, training, support, advocacy and an informed public.

Included in the goal is the desire to achieve a measure of equality for those we serve.

Equality is desirable goal that any society should strive for all -not just the disabled. The Proof:

1. People in more equal societies live longer, a smaller proportion of children die in infancy and self-rated health is better. 
2. People in more equal societies are far less likely to experience mental illness. 
3. People in more equal societies are less likely to use illegal drugs.
4. Children do better at school in more equal societies.
5. Unequal societies are harsher, they imprison a higher proportion of people.
6. Obesity is less common in more equal societies.
7. There is more social mobility in more equal societies.
8. Communities are more cohesive and people trust each other more in more equal societies.
9. Homicide rates are lower and children experience less violence in more equal societies.
10. Teenage motherhood is less common in more equal societies. Unicef measures of child well-being are better in more equal societies.
11. Further economic growth will not improve our health or well-being. For a better quality of life we need greater income equality.
12. More equal societies spend a higher proportion their income on overseas aid and perform better on the Global Peace Index.
13. Inequality fuels status competition, individualism and consumerism. It makes it harder to gain public support for policies to reduce global warming.

The equality trust has set up to provide education with respect to the bemnefits of equaity and may be seen at  http://www.equalitytrust.org.uk/