Unifor Demonstrates Disingenuous Support For People With Disabilities At #GoodJobs Summit

Michael Rosenberg (with NDP MP Libby Davies in the background)

Late on Friday night a friend gave me a heads-up that I should have a look into the Good Jobs Summit being held at Ryerson University. The event is led by Canada’s newest union indigenous voice appropriators Unifor, the infamous Canadian Federation of Students, the Canadian Centre For Policy Alternatives (who gave an award to violence-promoting bully Harsha Walia), and Ryerson’s CAW-Sam Gindin Chair in Social Justice and Democracy (whose leader Winnie Ng enthusiastically promoted a con-artist who’s been abusing indigenous communities for many years).

Having a good understanding of the organizer’s dangerous hypocrisy I figured I’d check it out and see what sort of entertainment Unifor had in store for me. Unfortunately, the video wasn’t as entertaining as it was disturbing. Right in the middle of a many conversations about respecting and working with people who have disabilities, the facilitator steamrolled over a friend of mine who has one.

I met Michael Rosenburg through Occupy Toronto in 2012. Lovingly known as “Block Michael” for his tendency to object to new ideas presented at Occupy’s general assemblies, Michael’s place on the autism scale can make him a difficult person to communicate with sometimes. It’s worth the effort, despite the challenges of his disability, Michael is one of the more intelligent people I’ve met in this city.

Of the many things I’ve learned through Michael’s presence, perhaps the most important one was how full of shit social justice advocates can be. They’ll spend countless hours talking about building non-oppressive spaces and working to include people with disabilities- but when a real-life situation arises, all too often, SJA’s don’t practice what they preach.

It often upset my stomach watching how Occupy Toronto’s facilitators treated Michael- they’d constantly cut him off, rarely giving him the time he needed to complete what he was saying. One of the challenges of Michael’s disability is that, when not given enough time to express himself, he can sometimes react with short bursts of anger. Speaking to another former occupier tonight, I learned that there was at least one occasion where Michael reacted this way and an OT facilitator openly mocked him for it.

One of the things I appreciate most about Michael is his tendency to call people out when they say something he perceives to be inaccurate or misguided.  He did that last night, challenging an earlier statement during the conference that innovation is the key to positive change. Michael responded, bluntly, explaining his theory that innovation can often be a distraction and therefore a drag on the economy.

Right in the middle of making his statement, the facilitator decided it was necessary to cut him off. She wasn’t very polite about it either, trying to cut-in saying rather condescendingly “okay, let’s let other people talk”. And once Michael finished his statement, she didn’t even take a moment to acknowledge it- simply moved on changing the subject.

It’s not surprising to see hypocrisy at a conference organized by these four organizations, I’ve been following them long enough to understand it’s the norm. But it hurt to watch them disrespecting one of my friends, particularly considering his disability. The organizers owe Michael Rosenberg an apology…