2007: Lana Frado Addressed the  Mental Health Commission of Canada:

www.csinfo.ca/bulletin/Bulletin_357.pdf

“The Commission’s three priorties are as follows:
• Launch of an anti-stigma campaign
• Creation of a Knowledge Exchange Centre
• Promotion of the development of a national mental health strategy”

Frado: “It is our hope that the anti-stigma strategy proposed by the Commission focuses on the right of consumers and survivors to live free from discrimination. Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat and move to the back of the bus: she didn’t lend her face to a poster campaign. Gays, lesbians and gender minorities fought back against police brutality at Stonewall: they didn’t design a fridge magnet. Key to these movements for social justice was that any action taken was led by the people directly affected.

Knowledge exchange: …self help and consumer/survivor delivered services continue to be relegated to those margins.

The knowledge generated by consumers and survivors cannot continue to be relegated to the discourse of “personal experience”. We have analyses, theoretical frameworks, ideologies and service design and delivery mechanisms that merit investment and equitable access to research opportunities.

National mental health strategy: …every city, region, territory and province of Canada would include a well-resourced network of consumer/survivor initiatives. We would hope that the foundation of the national strategy be economic and social inclusion whereby the gaps in opportunities for consumers and survivors to fully participate in Canadian society are addressed

…think broadly, outside the traditional paradigms of mental health services, to include employers and educators, the criminal justice system, municipal governments, and all aspects of Canadian society where we have been denied access for far too long.”

And in 2019: We still have Mental health weeks, days, rather thanrights…

Are subway ads and awareness weeks steps to real inclusion and equity for survivors?

Do you think of yourself as part of a rights-seeking group? What effect do these ads and engagement strategies have on our struggles?

How do we create knowledge and is it listened too?