{"id":32,"date":"2023-08-31T17:08:08","date_gmt":"2023-08-31T21:08:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/capacitydecisionmaking\/?post_type=chapter&p=32"},"modified":"2024-07-15T13:45:42","modified_gmt":"2024-07-15T17:45:42","slug":"chapter-4-michael-bach","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/capacitydecisionmaking\/chapter\/chapter-4-michael-bach\/","title":{"raw":"Chapter 3: Michael Bach - Canada","rendered":"Chapter 3: Michael Bach – Canada"},"content":{"raw":"
Speaker Bio<\/span><\/span><\/h5>\r\n\"A\r\n\r\nFor over 25 years,\u00a0<\/span>Michael Bach\u00a0<\/span>(he\/him) has undertaken research and development in Canada and internationally on ways to advance the full inclusion and human rights of persons with disabilities. His research and publications cover disability theory, policy and practice in a range of areas including education, employment, and funding and delivery of community-based services. Michael\u2019s particular area of expertise is in legal capacity of people with intellectual disabilities.\r\n\r\nMichael holds a Ph. D. in Sociology and Equity Studies from the University of Toronto\u2019s Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, where his dissertation focused on developing a more inclusive theory of personhood on which to challenge the usual equation between intellectual disability and legal incapacity. Michael is currently an Open Society Foundations Fellow, continuing his international comparative research on the right to legal capacity for people with significant intellectual and cognitive disabilities.\r\n
Background<\/span><\/span><\/h5>\r\n
Current state of Article 12 in Canada<\/span><\/h6>\r\nCanada ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) in 2010 and initially played a leading role in advocating for the inclusion of Article 12. However, despite early progress, full implementation of Article 12 has largely stalled in Canada. Notably, Canada's ratification of the CRPD included an interpretive declaration and conditional reservation, which allow for substitute decision-making under specific circumstances (Inclusion Canada, 2022).\r\n\r\nIt's crucial to recognize that civil rights and, consequently, the right to legal capacity, are primarily regulated at the provincial and territorial levels in Canada (Inclusion Canada, 2022). Consequently, some provinces and territories have not established the necessary support systems to effectively implement supported decision-making, resulting in tens of thousands of disabled Canadians still living under guardianship. For instance, in Ontario alone, approximately 17,000 individuals are subject to guardianship arrangements (The Coalition on Alternatives to Guardianship, 2017). As a result, despite the thirteen years that have passed since Canada's ratification of the CRPD, guardianship remains the norm rather than the exception in many provinces.\r\n
Current State of Activism in Canada<\/span><\/h6>\r\nAdvocacy for supported decision-making and the implementation of Article 12 remains an ongoing effort in Ontario and various other Canadian provinces. Numerous organizations, including Inclusion Canada, IRIS, and Community Living Ontario, among others, are actively advancing this cause through legal actions and research initiatives.\r\n\r\nOne example is the Right to Decide project, initiated in 2019 by Community Living Ontario. In collaboration with the IRIS Institute and Pooran Law, this multi-year project established six sites across Ontario to explore the practice and implications of Supported Decision Making at the community level (Planning Network, n.d.).\r\n
Video Presentation<\/span><\/span><\/h5>\r\n[h5p id=\"5\"]\r\n\r\nClick here to read the Transforming the Disabling\/Maddening State - Michael Bach video transcript.<\/a>\r\n
Key Points<\/span><\/span><\/h5>\r\n