Who We Are
Jim Derksen- Advisor to VP-Net
Mr. Derksen has been working with researchers in the policy theme as an advisor and a representative of the Council of Canadians with Disabilities and the disability community. Jim is a wheelchair user, was disabled at six years of age by polio. He helped to develop organisations such as the Manitoba League of Persons with Disabilities (MLPD), the Council of Canadians with Disabilities (CCD), Disabled Peoples' International (DPI) and the Canadian Disability Rights Council (CDRC.) His organisational development activities included serving as board chair (CCD and CDRC) at some times, and as co-ordinator/chief-of-staff at other times (CCD and the World Council of Persons with Disabilities Steering Committee Secretariat that organised the Founding World Congress of DPI.)
In 1980, the Council of Canadians with Disabilities seconded Mr. Derksen as Special Advisor to the Special Parliamentary Committee on the Disabled and the Handicapped ("Obstacles" Committee) in Ottawa. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms was being crafted at that time and as Mr. Derksen had access to politicians on both sides of the House as well as Department of Justice officials, he was able to help convince them that people with disabilities should be included in Section 15 of the Charter.
Mr. Derksen was employed in disability policy work by the Government of Manitoba until his retirement from the Civil Service in 2004. He is a recipient of the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal and lives in Winnipeg with his daughter, Amara.
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