The project
Memory Witness and Hope is a workshop series and film project that brings together people labelled with intellectual disabilities from the Ottawa area.
The project is funded by proceeds from the judicial settlement of the Huronia Regional Centre class action. Memory Witness and Hope was founded and is directed by Natalie Spagnuolo and Josée Boulanger.
Our mission
Our mission is to facilitate connections between people, share knowledge, and promote justice through stories.
Our work is guided by the following principles:
- Every person has the right to make their own decisions and has the right to receive the support needed to exercise that right.
- We practise equality in all of our interactions.
- We integrate supported decision-making into our practice.
Further reading
To learn more about the class action and the history of institutions in Ontario:
- CBC Radio: 'The gristle in the stew'
- Toronto Star: 'Judge rules on plaintiff-lawyer rift in Huronia settlement'
- Premier Kathleen Wynne's apology speech
- Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives — The Monitor: Freeing our people — Updates from the long road to deinstitutionalization
- My Life Story by Justin Clark