by Gord Kyle Note: In the last article in this series, we looked back at the work done by community living to close the government operated institutions. In this article we will look at the work we continue to do to unravel the harm that institutional systems and thinking have done and continue to do to people who have an … Read More

by Gord Kyle For most people, highway 400 was a marvel. Travellers remembered all too well what it had been like before it was built, crawling their way out of Toronto to cottage country through the endless towns and villages along the winding stretches of Yonge Street. But 400 changed that. As the first controlled highway in the province, it … Read More

by Gord Kyle By 1980, workers at the ARC industries in Carleton Place had waited as long as they were willing to wait. Their calls for better pay had not been listened to and action was needed. Sixteen workers walked out to press their demands, holding a much-publicized two-day strike. For many employers, the demands would have been granted without … Read More

by Gord Kyle When Donald Frisby sat down to write a letter to Ontario Premier, George Drew, in February 1947, he likely was not sure what to expect. What he knew was that something had to be done to help the children in his small northern community of Kirkland Lake. His concern was for those children who had an intellectual … Read More

by Gord Kyle It was a warm evening as Wesley Stitt made his way along Carleton Street in Toronto. The rain the day before had passed and the temperature had risen to almost 18 degrees centigrade — a November 4th temperature that had only ever been surpassed one time before, forty-five years earlier. Wesley was not alone; others were making … Read More