The Audacity of Inclusion: Fighting for the Equality of Persons Labelled Intellectually Disabled

One beautiful, surprisingly warm spring morning on the isolated islands of Haida Gwaii, an insight smacked Dulcie McCallum in the face with the force of an unexpected tsunami: at the heart of it all, the law was the culprit. Rather than promoting rights, the law was itself the taproot of injustice.

For people with an intellectual disability, the law is what defines their disadvantage, not their disability.

For every child diagnosed with the label of intellectual disability, there remains a certain lousy predictability to the way they will be treated by society and the prejudice that will haunt them. Officially labelled with the r-word, they have also been tagged with "imbecile" or "moron." Often treated as objects of pity or charity, segregated in "special" schools, sheltered workshops, and institutions, they are consigned to the sidelines of society.

Their erasure as full persons reached unimaginable heights during eugenics, which led to systemic sterilization and en-masse extermination. But fear is warranted, as pervasive victimization remains a threat. Their intentional exclusion has done-and continues to do-inestimable damage.

The Audacity of Inclusion will crack open the vault of injustices perpetrated against people who have an intellectual disability, helping shatter preconceptions and opening new ways of seeing people who are forced to live with a legally sanctioned label. In telling their stories, Dulcie had the support and wisdom of self-advocates Canadians Barb Goode, Harold Barnes, and "Sir" David Weremy, and New Zealander the late Sir Robert Martin, each of whom made invaluable contributions.

Dulcie McCallum, formerly a registered nurse, is a human rights lawyer, member of the Strategic Litigation Advisory Committee of Inclusion Canada, and alum (Distinguished) of the University of Victoria (1981) and the University of King's College (2022).

Her credibility as a lawyer for people with intellectual disabilities led to her being invited onto Canada's delegation to the United Nations. The invitation came as a result of working for over four decades with, and advocating for, persons with an intellectual disability. In 2012, she was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, and in 2011, Inclusion Canada's President's Award, for her contribution on Canada's delegation to the UN to negotiate the CRPD. As well as her advocacy work, she was the Ombudsperson for the Province of BC and the Access and Privacy Commissioner for Nova Scotia.

An active volunteer who in 1996 received the YWCA Women of Distinction Award (Community Service), Dulcie continues to dedicate herself to volunteer work, particularly by making extensive contributions to Inclusion Canada. For pastimes, she is a dedicated swimmer and dog walker, does personal training, is a voracious reader of nonfiction and fiction, fancies herself a creative chef, and is a devoted grandparent.

Dulcie was born and raised in West Vancouver. Thereafter, she lived and worked in Vancouver, Haida Gwaii, and Victoria with her then-husband Bob and now good friend. She resides with her Golden Retriever, Millie, in Halifax, NS, where her only child, Juel, moved for university and now lives with her husband and Dulcie's two grandsons.