“Hire the Handicapped!” Disability Rights, Economic Integration and Working Lives in Toronto, Ontario, 1962-2005
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i “HIRE THE HANDICAPPED!” DISABILITY RIGHTS, ECONOMIC INTEGRATION AND WORKING LIVES IN TORONTO, ONTARIO, 1962-2005 DUSTIN GALER A THESIS SUBMITTED IN CONFORMITY WITH THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY GRADUATE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO © by Dustin Galer JUNE 2014 ii “Hire the Handicapped!” Disability Rights, Economic Integration and Working Lives in Toronto, Ontario, 1962-2005 Dustin Galer Doctor of Philosophy Department of History University of Toronto 2014 Abstract This dissertation, “‘Hire the Handicapped!’: Disability Rights, Economic Integration and Working Lives in Toronto, Ontario, 1962-2005,” argues that work significantly shaped the experience of disability during this period. Barriers to mainstream employment opportunities gave rise to multiple disability movements that challenged the social and economic framework which marginalized generations of people with disabilities. Using a critical analysis of disability in archival records, personal collections, government publications and a series of interviews, I demonstrate how demands for greater access among disabled people to paid employment stimulated the development of a new discourse of disability in Canada. Including disability as a variable in historical research reveals how family advocates helped people living in institutions move out into the community and rehabilitation professionals played an increasingly critical role in the lives of working-age adults with disabilities, civil rights activists crafted a new consumer- led vision of social and economic integration. Separated by different philosophies and bases of support, disability activists and allies found a common purpose in their pursuit of economic integration. iii The focus on employment issues among increasingly influential disability activists during this period prompted responses from three key players in the Canadian labour market. Employers embraced the rhetoric and values of disability rights but operated according to a different set of business principles and social attitudes that inhibited the realization of equity and a ‘level playing field.’ Governments facilitated the development of a progressive discourse of disability and work, but ultimately recoiled from disability activism to suit emergent political priorities. Labour organizations similarly engaged disability activists, but did so cautiously, with union support largely contingent upon the satisfaction of traditional union business first and foremost. As disability activists and their allies railed against systematic discrimination, people with disabilities lived and worked in the community, confronting barriers and creating their own circles of awareness in the workplace. Just as multiple sites of disability activism found resolution in the sphere of labour, the redefinition of disability during this period reflected a shared project involving collective and individual action. iv Acknowledgments I wish to extend my appreciation to an array of people who helped make this project possible. Ian Radforth was an exceptional supervisor. He was a rigorous reader with a critical eye and knew exactly when to intervene to keep the project on the rails and when to step back to allow my thoughts and plans to develop under my own steam. I owe him my sincerest thanks for his support during the production of this dissertation as well as his guidance at each stage of my graduate career. Thanks also to Geoffrey Reaume, Dan Bender and Ravi Malhotra whose critical commentary and supportive feedback strengthened the final product. Special thanks to Laurel MacDowell for her support and encouragement throughout my graduate years. I would like to thank all the interview participants for taking the time to share their work experiences, thoughts and beliefs with me. Your personal narratives, taken individually and as a whole, greatly deepened my understanding of the bigger picture and illuminated new avenues not necessarily stored and secured in the archives. I also appreciate the generosity of Rob McInnes, Gary Annable, and Joanne Smith for entrusting me with the temporary care of their personal collections of documents and multimedia. Thanks are also due to the many archivists and privacy officials at Library and Archives Canada, Archives of Ontario, Archives of Manitoba, and Toronto Archives for helping me navigate through the process of locating and accessing restricted records. Thanks to my peers and colleagues in the History Department at the University of Toronto for sharing your thoughts on different aspects of my research as it developed. Thanks also to fellow participants and new friends at other universities in Canada, the v United States, Israel, France, England, Scotland, Germany, Norway and elsewhere who attended conference discussions, helped organize disability history sessions and provided enthusiastic criticism on various papers that fed back into the research and writing process. Financial support for this project came from the Ontario Government through the Ontario Graduate Scholarship Program as well as an assortment of grants and fellowships from the School of Graduate Studies and the Department of History at the University of Toronto. I am also grateful for my work as a Street Outreach Worker at the City of Toronto’s Streets to Homes program for providing the means to attend several conferences and helping me to learn directly about many of the realities of economic liminality. Thank you to my friends and family for commenting on aspects of my research and, most importantly, allowing me to bounce new ideas off each other. I owe an insurmountable debt of gratitude to my parents, Sheri and Wayne. You supported me when I left a promising career in law enforcement to pursue a graduate degree in History, and enthusiastically listened as I shared each detail about my progress. You created the base of support upon which this dissertation rests. Special thanks to my sister, Azure-Lee, whose trials and successes turned me onto the study of disability issues. You have enriched the lives of others around you and have become a constant teacher in mine. Finally, I wish to thank my partner Andreas Vatiliotou. His love, patience and dedication were matched by his writing and editorial skills, which he gave generously in times of need at various stages of the project. You motivate me to think more critically and write more clearly. I dedicate this work to you. vi Table of Contents Abstract…………………………………………………………………………..ii Acknowledgments……………………………………………………………….iv Table of Contents………………………………………………………………..vi Timeline of Key Events………………………………………………………..viii List of Acronyms……………………………………………………………....xxv Introduction ……………………………………………………………………..1 1. The Voices of Our Parents: Family Advocacy and the Struggle for Economic Integration, 1960-1980………………………………………………………….26 Historical Traditions of Disability Advocacy……………………………28 Deinstitutionalization and the Role of Family Advocacy………………..36 Recalibrating the Experience of Disability………………………………44 Family Advocacy in the Era of Disability Rights………………………..49 Conclusion……………………………………………………………….63 2. Training the “Able Disabled”: Rehabilitation, Awareness Campaigns, and the Pursuit of Employability, 1970-1990………………………………………65 Veterans and the Growth of the Rehabilitation Industry………………...67 Rehabilitation and the Re-education of Disabled Bodies………………..78 ‘Hire the Handicapped’ and the Presentation of the ‘Able Disabled’…..86 The Politics of Rehabilitation……………………………………………98 Conclusion……………………………………………………………...107 3. “A Voice of Our Own”: Disability Rights Activism and the Right to Work, 1978-2005………………………………………………………………………110 Defining a New Vision of Employment Integration in Canada………...112 Disability Rights Activism and Employment of Disabled People in Ontario………………………………………………………………………….124 Independently Living and Working in Toronto…………………………138 Conclusion……………………………………………………………...150 4. “A Little Hong Kong?”: Sheltered Workshops and the Evolution of Disability Advocacy, 1970-1985………………………………………………152 Employability and the Role of Sheltered Workshops…………………...153 Workshop Advocacy and Relations with Disability Activism…………..162 Industrialization of Sheltered Workshops………………………………178 vii Supported Employment and the Demise of the Workshop System……...188 Conclusion……………………………………………………………...193 5. Glass Ceilings and Glass Doors: Employers and the Ideological (Re)Construction of the Workplace, 1975-2000……………………………..197 Employers and the Problem of Attitudes……………………………….199 Resilient Attitudes and New Problems………………………………….209 Government Employers Modelling Equity……………………………...218 Technology and the Failed Level Playing Field………………………..228 Conclusion……………………………………………………………...235 6. Life and Death of an Activist State: Politicians, Bureaucrats, and the Shifting Terrain Beneath Disability Activism, 1975-1995……………………………237 Establishing a Political Framework for Disability Rights……………..239 Specialized Bureaus and the Groundwork of Economic Integration…..249 Establishing Formal Relations with the Disability Community………..265 ‘Common Sense’ and the Withdrawal from Disability Activism……….274 Conclusion……………………………………………………………...286 7. “Together For Social Change?”: Canadian Labour Organizations, Disability Rights, and the Limitations of Social Unionism, 1975-2005………………..288 Developing a Progressive Discourse on Disability Rights……………..290 Charter of Rights and the Politics of Collective Bargaining…………...297 Injured Workers and Disability Rights Activism……………………….311