DISABILITIES

By Daniel J. Vance

Last column I shared the story of 32-year-old Steven Fletcher, of Winnipeg, Manitoba, who as a Member of Parliament in Canada is the world's highest-ranking elected politician with quadriplegia. He became paralyzed nearly fully from the neck down after his car collided with a moose in 1996.

“People wanted to institutionalize me then,” he said in a telephone interview. “I spent eleven months in a hospital.”

After winning the fight not to be institutionalized, he earned his Masters degree in Business Administration from the University of Manitoba and became actively involved in student politics. From 1999-2001, he was the University of Manitoba student body president. In 2002 he was elected president of the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba and two years later beat the mayor of Winnipeg to earn his parliament seat.

So do his opponents often underestimate him? “If they do, they do to their own peril,” he said. “Underestimate me, please, particularly my opponents.”

Prior to the nomination process for parliament, critics from within his party said he wouldn't be able to greet voters face-to-face by knocking on doors. But he did, and excelled. “My aides had to use roller blades to keep up,” he said. “My wheelchair goes about ten miles an hour.”

He said he had to fight “tooth and nail” for his party's nomination.

As for being pigeonholed by his own party and others into speaking out on disability issues only, that hasn't happened. He said, “In my [district] I have a military base and a university. I ran on taxation, government accountability and crime. My disability wasn't evident in my campaign literature. In fact, you had to be pretty observant to even know that I was using a wheelchair.”

Steven Harper, head of Canada's Conservative Party, appointed Fletcher in 2004 as the party's Senior Health Critic, a prized position having nothing to do with disability issues. It deals with government healthcare in general, perhaps Canada's utmost priority. “This appointment was extraordinary given I am a rookie MP,” said Fletcher.

Besides serving in parliament, Fletcher enjoys adaptive sailing and was a founding member of Wilderness Access Manitoba, a group promoting equipment for disabled outdoor enthusiasts. Before his accident he was the Manitoba Provincial Kayak Champion, competing in the Canada Summer Games.

He also has served on the University of Manitoba Board of Governors.

For more, see www.danieljvance.com or www.stevenfletcher.com