Opinion: Lawsuits and hard work: finally closing the MDC

Opinion: Lawsuits and hard work: finally closing the MDC

Opinion

‘We tell ourselves stories in order to live,” is a famous quote from essayist Joan Didion to describe how we often search for the lesson in every tragedy to make sense of the world. Stories are crucial in making sure past lessons are not unlearned, and more importantly, mistakes are never repeated.

No one knows this more than the producers and contributors of a stunning new documentary called These Four Walls: A Documentary on the Manitoba Developmental Centre. This documentary, directed and produced by Branden DeFoort, features the dark history of institutionalization here in Manitoba. It was released a few weeks ago at a screening at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights as the province is on the cusp of permanent closure of the developmental centre in Portage la Prairie.

The documentary is as engrossing as it is heartbreaking. It provides the grim history of when the Manitoba Developmental Centre (MDC) first opened in 1890 as the Home for Incurables, until its final iteration. It also centres on a man who will go down in Manitoba’s history as an unlikely hero named David Weremy, the person who launched the class-action lawsuit against the government for widespread abuse and neglect that had occurred at MDC.

The Manitoba government settled that $17-million lawsuit last year and offered an official apology to all current and former residents of MDC who had endured hardship, neglect and abuse. Instilled in my memory now as my last day inside the Manitoba Legislative Assembly as an elected official, this apology was delivered by then-premier Heather Stefanson to a crowded gallery of teary-eyed people living out a legacy of trauma from being institutionalized, and according to many of them, being cast aside by a society that either didn’t want them or made no place for them.

Today, nearly all former residents, including Weremy, have found a home in the community, and according to many first-hand testimonies I’ve had the honour of hearing, they are living happier, more fulfilling lives.

The institution that once housed an average of 1,200 people at its peak in the 1970s is now having its remaining few residents transition into community before closing its doors for the final time. Within months, the centre will be permanently shuttered and the landscape at Portage la Prairie will transition into something else.

All that will remain of MDC is the cemetery where former residents are buried and, soon, a monument.

While undoubtedly the moral, ethical and right thing to do, closing MDC has not been without challenges.

Upon announcement of its closure in January 2021 with a three-year phased approach, 133 people still lived there. Some of them had significant developmental challenges; others had called it home for the entirety of their lives. Individual care plans had to be created with a team of dedicated professionals and loved ones to ensure proper placement for each resident, and community services needed to ramp up significantly to meet the need. Purpose-built homes needed to be prepared, and the sector needed to be stabilized, especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The pace at which this work commenced, with everyone coming together under one banner to accomplish these tasks — including Manitoba Possible, Pulford Community Living and Inclusion Winnipeg, to name a few — was nothing short of miraculous.

More needs to be done to ensure people with disabilities can live fully and freely in community. If we’ve learned anything from the history of MDC, it’s that there is a deep dependency on care providers; it’s crucial that standards are created, evaluated and maintained to ensure abusive environments are not replicated in community. Care providers and direct service workers must be qualified, compassionate and competent. This takes money.

The compensation for historically underfunded workers in this sector was not commensurate with the job requirements, which was why last year, the PC government invested an additional $104 million in salaries. Today, as the NDP government tables its first budget, many of us will be looking for a continuation of further stabilization of community living.

Furthermore, an Intellectual Disability Issues Advisory Council was struck to oversee the implementation of recommendations from a Pathways to Dignity report, ensuring community living was evolving and striving to offer the best services possible. The work of this committee and so many others involved will ensure the tragic lessons of the MDC are never forgotten and that a better future exists for all our neighbours and friends living in community.

Rochelle Squires is a recovering politician after 71/2 years in the Manitoba legislature. She is a political and social commentator whose column appears Tuesdays.

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