Our Vision
The NWT Disabilities Council envisions that all individuals living with pan-disabilities have equitable full access and participation in society, where they choose and how they choose, toward the achievement of a self-determined, fulfilling, and meaningful life, as guaranteed under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Our Mission
Through listening and amplifying the voices of those living with disabilities we exist to educate, advocate, and support the self-determination of all individuals living with pan-disabilities.
Core Values
Everything that the NWT Disabilities Council does reflects our Core Values.
We recognize that individuals with a disability are experts on their own life.
Every individual with a disability has the right to respect, dignity and individual autonomy.
We believe that individuals with a disability and their families have the right to be empowered and free to be self-determining.
We honour the autonomy of Indigenous communities to direct supports to community members with disabilities.
We honour the traditional knowledge and wisdom of all cultures and cultural safety in all of our work.
We believe in equity, fairness, inclusion, and accessibility for all.
Definition of Disability
Disability is a dynamic lived experience of restricted or limited participation in life that results from the interaction of an individual’s bodily impairment and their physical and social environment.
Disability Value Statements
Disability is a dynamic experience that:
includes past, present, or future impairments,
can present apparently or non-apparently,
can present across the lifespan, and
can present permanently, temporarily, or episodically.
Disability is a complex phenomenon that encompasses many conditions of the mind and body that exist in different physical and social environments. As such, the boundaries between disability and ability are fluid and subjective; for this reason, the NWTDC will rely on self-identification of disability.
The NWTDC definition of disability is situated within the interactionalist approach to disability. The interactionalist approach acknowledges that the experience of disability results from the interaction of an individual’s body and their physical and social environmental factors.
The impact that disability has on a person is influenced by the intersection* of individual and social factors (e.g. age, gender identity, sexual orientation, culture, religious affiliation, race, and socioeconomic status, among others). For this reason, we acknowledge that the spectrum of lived experience of disability encompasses complex life circumstances, including, but not limited to: institutionalization, trauma, poverty, restricted housing options, and homelessness.
* The concept of intersectionality is explained in this short video
Disability bill of rights
The NWT Disabilities Council Bill of Rights
The NWT Disabilities Council has created a Bill of Rights document that outlines the rights of people with disabilities living in the NWT. This document outlines entitlements and protections that belong to people with disabilities under international, national, and territorial laws and policies. Our document addresses seven domains of life: health; family and social protection; community living; political participation; employment; education; and justice. We encourage all members of the NWT Disabilities Council to take the time to review our Bill of Rights document and share it with fellow community members. By doing this, we will be able to increase awareness of the rights of people with disabilities and strengthen our communities.
If you have any questions regarding your rights as a person living with or supporting disability in your community, please reach out to us at the NWT Council. We will work with you to fully understand your rights and to assist in advocacy if your rights have been violated.
Please click on the picture to enlarge it
NWT Disabilities Council Bylaws
If you would like to read the By Laws of the NWT Disabilities Council, click HERE