Community Living Ontario

Civil rights are the rock-bottom all Canadians at all times should be able to count on, including a right to: 

• Freedom of speech and other expression
• Personal privacy
• The opportunity to vote in elections
• Choose to practice any religion or no religion
• Live according to your own culture and traditions
• Receive and send mail
• Have or refuse medical treatment
• Have and keep personal possessions
• Be paid fairly for your work when employed
• Go where you want / have freedom of movement
• Belong to groups or organizations of your choice
• Be protected from harm by police and other public authorities
• Be treated fairly by courts of law and government services
• Have legal representation if you are charged with breaking the law

However, the true quality of citizenship is about a lot more than rights. It means having a personal identity that your peers recognize. It implies having a social role in your community, whether as a saint or a scoundrel. Rights are empty promises when you’re always cast in the role of a stranger.

The assertion of citizenship means taking your rights without waiting to have them given to you. In any case, people who have a disability know from experience that what is given by authorities can just as easily be taken back.

Rights are not real until they are taken — asserted in carrying out a social role in the community. Where citizens live, learn, work, and play is with and among other citizens, interacting with their social roles and identities — in other words, in a community.

Rights can be defended, but they cannot be given by someone else. You cannot be free if someone other than you is responsible for what you do.

We often use the term “Citizenship” to stand for the idea of a person belonging to a larger community in a substantial sense. “Inclusion” is another word intended to convey a deeper connection to society than mere physical presence.

So, citizenship and inclusion are a result of people taking their rights and asserting their identity and their role in the community.  It seems to me that this is not a difficult idea. What do you think?