After more than 30 years as a passionate advocate for people with disabilities Rick Hansen says he is more excited than ever before about the possibilities to accelerate progress for people with physical disabilities in the workplace, and in society overall.
Hansen, the CEO of the Rick Hansen Foundation, and still known as the Man in Motion for the tour of the same name that made him a household name in the mid-1980s, sat down with Sudbury.com before addressing a large audience at Laurentian University’s Fraser Auditorium Thursday evening.
Hansen was the latest speaker to participate in the Glencore Memorial Lecture Series at the university. In his talk, called “Removing Barriers and Unleashing Potential”, he challenged his audience to check their own attitudes and question the barriers to success within themselves and within their communities.
“At a high level, my conversation today, here in Sudbury, will have a chance to encourage and inspire,” he told Sudbury.com earlier in the day, before hitting the stage. “I hope it’s also an expression of gratitude. I’m also coming back here almost 30 years to the day, to say thanks to the people in Sudbury who were here and encouraged me on my journey.”
Hansen pushed his wheelchair through Sudbury in December 1986, more than halfway through the Man in Motion Tour, which brought him to 34 countries and raised $26 million to help improve the opportunities for people with disabilities, and change public perceptions.
At an institutional level Canada has come a long way since that time to improve accessibility for people with disabilities, he said.
“There were barriers everywhere,” he said.
But even today, Hansen said many barriers persist.
While 90 per cent of Canadians believe it’s a human right to have full accessibility and inclusion in Canada, according to a recent Angus Reid poll, half of Canadians say it’s understandable that hiring a person with a disability is a risky proposition, Hansen said.
One in seven Canadians – or around 4.3 million people – have a physical disability today, and that number is expected to increase to one in five Canadians as the country’s large cohort of baby boomers ages.
Nearly half of Canadians with disabilities are unemployed, Hansen said.
With changes to the job market, and technology that makes more tasks accessible every day, Hansen said the old excuses to keep people with disabilities away from the workforce should no longer apply.
“My hope is that as we come close to Canada’s 150th birthday next year, our country can come together in spite of the vastness of the country, on a principle of accessibility and inclusion,” he said.
