Disability activist Rick Hansen to speak at Dalhousie’s Belong Forum

Disability activist and former Paralympian Rick Hansen will speak at Dalhousie University's Belong Forum, a public lecture series, this Thursday night to discuss changing attitudes and removing barriers for people with disabilities.

“People with disabilities are a tremendous example of how we can unintentionally create barriers that prevent a sense of belonging. The barriers can be in our minds based on attitudes and stigmas,” Hansen said in an interview with NEWS 95.7's The Sheldon McLeod Show. 

“We need to normalize our attitudes and move them toward a positive perspective, and make disability not a big deal, and really focus on barriers and how to get rid of them.” 

Hansen, who became a paraplegic at the age of 15, is best known as the 'Man in Motion.'

Inspired by fellow Canadian athlete Terry Fox, Hansen embarked on his 'Man in Motion' tour in 1985, travelling 40,000 km in his wheelchair across 34 countries. He raised $26 million for spinal cord research along the way.

When it comes to decreasing stigma and increasing accessibility, Hansen says there's still a long way to go.

“There’s a lot of barriers out there to accessibility that still prevent people from going to restaurants or going to community parties or just being a neighbour and going to visit. The sense of isolation doesn't do a lot to not only foster belonging but it doesn't do a lot to build a good economy and a great culture,” he said.

Hansen was the first student with a disability to graduate from UBC, and on Thursday he will also receive an honorary degree from Dal. Hansen currently has 20 honourary degrees, but he's humble about it.

“I really see them as a recognition of the work that’s still being done by so many people to keep making progress and also a call to action that we still have a long way to go.”

Hansen is also here in Nova Scotia to continue fostering the special relationship he’s had with this province. In April 2018, Nova Scotia was the third province to pass legislation to remove accessibility barriers.

With 20 per cent of its population being disabled, Nova Scotia has one of the highest disability rates in the country.

Due to the aging population, the province may see its rates rise to 31 per cent by 2026. The national average is 14 per cent.

“We're introducing a global standard to address the places and spaces where we live, work, play, and learn, and actually measure where we are by developing professional, accredited people who are trained and certified in this field.”

From there, buildings can be rated by this standard to see what is working and what needs to be changed.

“In the old model it used to be in the hands of just people with disabilities to identity problems and offer solutions,” said Hansen. “What we have to do is get architects, engineers, city planners, real estate developers, business owners and advocates to all be trained in a professional way.”

Nova Scotia has made the promise to become a fully accessible province by 2030.

Hansen says through collaborative efforts between the government of Nova Scotia, Nova Scotia Community College, and community leaders, the province will set an example for the rest of the country and the world.

Hansen hopes to see metrics and measurements created that will allow cities to track their building environment accessibility, and see how they compare to the rest of the world.