The end of an abusive legacy: Manitoba’s last institution for people with intellectual disabilities closes
Manitoba’s last institution for people with intellectual disabilities has finally closed its doors after decades of advocacy by People First of Manitoba and other human rights organizations.
This follows a pivotal 2023 court ruling acknowledging that people forced to live at the Manitoba Developmental Centre in Portage la Prairie experienced abuse and neglect.
The settlement agreement reached by the courts opened the door to potential compensation for those forced to live at the centre, which was originally called the Home for Incurables when it opened in 1890.
“Forced confinement and segregation of any sort is a human rights violation,” said Moira Wilson, board president of Inclusion Canada. “People have a right to live in homes of their own in a community like anyone else where they have choice, dignity and control over their lives.”
About 755,000 Canadians live with an intellectual disability, of which 70 per cent live below the poverty line.
Canada is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities but has been routinely criticized for failing to uphold the convention’s principles.
University of Victoria professor Michael Prince quit the federal government’s Disability Advisory Group earlier this year, telling the Toronto Star that the newly created Canada disability benefit is a “colossal failure.”
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