Background
Reach Canada was incorporated in 1981 as a non-profit, charitable organization and is based in Ottawa, Canada. The organization was founded by Rod Carpenter and Ernest G. Tannis to improve the quality of life of persons with disabilities by performing lawyer referrals and educational programs.
This NGO has successfully registered around 150 volunteer lawyers, in both the public and private sectors, in the Ottawa region. Lawyers in the private sector provide up to three hours on a pro bono basis to people with disabilities who contact Reach Canada for help.
In addition, these professionals volunteer their time to give conferences, seminars and lectures on topics related to disability, legal and social rights of persons with disabilities, among others.
History highlights
In 1983, Justice Rosalie Abella of the Court of Appeal of Ontario, submitted her report on how the Government should respond to International Year of Disabled Persons. One recommendation was that Reach be identified as a community-based model worthy of supporting.
In 1985, Paula Agulnik started as a full-time executive-director. She continued in this position for 30 years. [2] Joanne Silkauskas took over as executive director in 2016.
In 1986, on the occasion of Reach's fifth anniversary, Gordon Henderson, became Reach's first Honorary Chairperson.
1991 marked the 10th anniversary of Reach under the U.N. theme: "From Awareness to Implementation". Reach Canada hosted a national conference entitled: "Are We There Yet?"
In 1996, Ramon Hnatyshyn, former Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of Canada and former Governor-General of Canada, agreed to become Reach's Honorary Chairperson. [3]
In 1998, Prime Minister of Canada, Jean Chrétien received, on behalf of Canadians, the prestigious Franklin D. Roosevelt International Disability Award at the UN after Reach successfully nominated Canada for this award. [3]
The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual awards presented by the governor general of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields.
Ramon John Hnatyshyn was a Canadian lawyer and statesman who served as governor general of Canada, the 24th since Canadian Confederation.
Robert George Brian Dickson was a Canadian lawyer, military officer and judge. He was appointed a puisne justice of the Supreme Court of Canada on March 26, 1973, and subsequently appointed the 15th Chief Justice of Canada on April 18, 1984. He retired on June 30, 1990.
Richard Marvin Hansen is a Canadian track and field athlete, activist, and philanthropist for people with disabilities. Following a pickup truck crash at the age of 15, Hansen sustained a spinal cord injury and became a paraplegic. Hansen is most famous for his Man in Motion World Tour, in which he circled the globe in a wheelchair to raise funds for charity. He was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 2006. He was one of the final torchbearers in the 1988 Winter Olympics and the 2010 Winter Olympics. He was profiled and spoke during the 2010 Winter Paralympics opening ceremony.
Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP (Gowlings) was a Canadian and international law firm, with about 700 legal professionals in 10 offices in Canada and as well as London, Moscow, and Beijing. The firm offered legal support in business law, advocacy/litigation and intellectual property law.
Landon Carter "Lucy" Pearson was a Canadian Senator and a children's rights advocate. She was the daughter-in-law of former Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson, through her marriage to his son Geoffrey Pearson.
Gordon Fripp Henderson, was a Canadian intellectual property lawyer who joined the law firm Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP in 1937, and later became its chairman. He was known for his advocacy on intellectual property matters as well as his involvement in intellectual property organizations throughout his career. Henderson's contribution to the development of Canadian and international jurisprudence is described as one of the most significant in Canadian legal history.
John Hnatyshyn was a Ukrainian Canadian lawyer, Senator and father of Ray Hnatyshyn, the twenty-fourth governor general of Canada.
The World Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry (WNUSP) is an international organisation representing, and led by what it terms "survivors of psychiatry". As of 2003, over 70 national organizations were members of WNUSP, based in 30 countries. The network seeks to protect and develop the human rights, disability rights, dignity and self-determination of those labeled 'mentally ill'.
John James Kinley was a Canadian engineer, industrialist and the 29th Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia since confederation.
Disabled Peoples' International (DPI) is a cross disability, consumer controlled international non-governmental organization (INGO) headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and with regional offices in Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, Europe, Africa, Latin America, and North America and the Caribbean. DPI is a network of national organizations or assemblies of disabled people, established in 1980–81 to promote the human rights of disabled people through full participation, equalization of opportunity and development. DPI assists organisations in over 152 nations with the day to day issues of helping disabled people. They also host assemblies and symposiums across the world with their different national branches.
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, formerly called the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, is an umbrella group of American civil rights interest groups.
John D. Richard was the Chief Justice of Canada's Federal Court of Appeal and in 2013, was listed as a NAFTA adjudicator.
Nimfa Cuesta Vilches was a Senior Deputy Court Administrator (DCA) at the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA), Supreme Court of the Philippines. She was a regional trial court judge in Manila until her appointment as Assistant Court Administrator in 2006 and as DCA in 2008. She was a family law expert in the Philippines and in the international legal community.
Roberta L. Jamieson, OC is a Canadian lawyer and First Nations activist. She was the first Indigenous woman ever to earn a law degree in Canada, the first non-Parliamentarian to be appointed an ex officio member of a House of Commons committee, and the first woman appointed as Ontario Ombudsman.
Constance Barbara Backhouse, is a Canadian legal scholar and historian, specializing in gender and race discrimination. She is a Distinguished University Professor and University Research Chair at the Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa in Ottawa, Canada. In addition to her academic publications, Backhouse is the author of several books on feminist- and race-related legal rights topics. Backhouse is President of the American Society for Legal History, and is the first non-US scholar to hold this position.
Council for Canadians with Disabilities (CCD), formerly known as the Coalition of Provincial Organizations of the Handicapped (COPOH), was created by people with disabilities in 1976 to provide support for all people with disabilities who seek the opportunity to go to school, work, volunteer, have a family, and participate in recreational, sport and cultural activities. The CCD is a national human rights organization of people with disabilities working for an accessible and inclusive Canada. In the 1970s, the CCD became a permanent part of the disability rights movement and it became a fluid entity that includes people with a range of different disabilities. To manage the work that will lead to the achievement of this goal, CCD established the following Committees to guide their activities in key areas:
- Human Rights Committee: Identifies Human Rights Committee issues of concern to persons with disabilities that could be addressed through law reform initiatives.
- Social Policy Committee: Identifies Social Policy Committee issues of national concern to persons with disabilities.
- Transportation Committee
- International Development Committee: Provides advice to CCD National Council on reforms that would improve the effect of Canada's foreign aid and policy on persons with disabilities.
- Access to Technology Committee.
Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury is a Bangladeshi politician who has served as the first female Speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad since April 2013. At 46 years of age, she became the youngest to assume the office. She was also the Chairperson of the Executive Committee of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association between 2014 and 2017. She previously served as the state minister of the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs of Bangladesh.
Gowling WLG is a multinational law firm formed by the combination of Canada-based Gowlings and UK-based Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co in February 2016, in the first multinational law firm combination co-led by a Canadian firm. Gowling WLG ranks at number 16 in The Lawyer UK 200 2019. On the list of largest law firms by revenue, Gowling WLG ranked as the highest revenue producing firm in Canada and 74th in the world (US$587,140,000) in 2017.
Rosemary Kayess is an Australian human rights lawyer, disability rights activist, researcher and academic. She is a senior research fellow at the University of New South Wales Faculty of Law and the chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, having contributed to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2004. Kayess has also been the director of several non-governmental organizations throughout her career, advocating for disability rights and the implementation of the UN convention in Australia and abroad. She was awarded the Australian Human Rights Medal in 2019 for her contributions to human rights in Australia.
