Beyond the Framework

A society that recognizes the needs and aspirations of all citizens, respects the rights of individuals to self-determination, and provides the resources and supports necessary for full Citizenship.

                                                Saskatchewan Disability Action Plan, 2001

In the Regina Disability Manifesto IDEA Regina embraces this vision of and for Saskatchewan and has committed itself to its achievement.  Because the Disability Inclusion Policy Framework introduced in 2007 by the Government of Saskatchewan fails in any meaningful way to achieve this vision, we continue to seek a disability policy for Saskatchewan that seriously takes the “needs and aspirations” of all citizens, especially those who have a disability.

In January of 2008 IDEA Regina published the Disability Policy Framework – we can support for discussion.  In this document we suggest amendments to the Government’s policy framework that would make it more acceptable.  But also we identified the continuing limitation of the Disability Inclusion Policy Framework to provide or even to understand the issue of a “disability lens”.  In fact, we concluded that the process for developing and implementing a Saskatchewan Disability Policy needs a strong set of principles to guide it, principles such as those of the “United Nations Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities and the “Standard Rules”.

In Beyond the Framework IDEA Regina intends to introduce these two historic documents and present for discussion how they might be used in Saskatchewan to develop a truly inclusive Disability Policy Framework.

The purpose as the United Nations’ Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities is expressed in Article One.

“…to promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons with disabilities, and to promote respect for their inherent dignity.”

In the Council’s opinion the 22 Standard Rules, first developed in 1996, “constitute a set of clear guidelines and procedures which complement perfectly the articles of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities”.  The council recommends using the Standard Rules as a guide for implementing the provisions of the Convention and monitoring progress.

IDEA Regina released this document at our 2008 AGM and presented the Minister of Social Services with a copy at that time. Click here to get yours.