The approach she always advocated was intersectional analysis from a feminist standpoint. She believed it was very important to understand everyone's realities and to accept everything about a person. She felt that it was up to individuals to step forward and explain their habits and needs to others. It's not up to us to decide what is best for them.
Ms. Barile did in fact work on de facto equality because at the time, she was already working with everyone else and any organizations that called upon her, whether on behalf of persons with disabilities or women's organizations. Even if she didn't feel they were the right place for her, she went to these organizations to make them aware of the realities of disabled women.
Ms. Barile asked the Fédération des femmes du Québec where the disabled women were and how the federation could do its work without including them, particularly after she began to get involved in the World March of Women, which developed out of the Bread and Roses March. She worked very hard to make sure that this march would be accessible. However, she was told that it was important to begin by working for women's rights and only then look into it. This demonstrated to her that disabled women were still on the fringes of society.
She said that she didn't share the federation's opinion, but wanted to continue to work with them because she wanted disabled women to be included in its work. She wanted to see disabled women among the others making demands. She said that it was impossible to speak on behalf of women while excluding some of them. As there was a wide range of groups, it was important to include all of them. I myself firmly believe in this approach, which Ms. Barile employed to make groups of persons with disabilities understand.
It's clear that parity was never very strong in these groups. It still isn't. However, we are working hard, just as she did, to be at all the decision-making tables and groups to speak about equality with them. Ms. Barile wanted to know what these groups thought about the equality issue and what was happening in this area. She told them that in some important issues, such as violence against women, real progress could be achieved by working together. Women alone could not get it done. She therefore forged ties with many different groups and I think that she found it exhausting, because it wasn't easy to make her case to every single group.
She was also one of the first women to condemn policy inequality. In Quebec, she worked hard on getting policies adopted that would give an equal place to persons with disabilities. She wanted to know what role women would have in preparing the reports.
Today, the reports of the Office des personnes handicapées du Québec, which are often consulted, do differentiated analyses by sex or GBA, but nothing beyond that. Of course women are not a single homogeneous group; there are diverse groups of women. It's important to know which women we are dealing with. That is what Ms. Barile accomplished and what we are pursuing.
I am one among others who are continuing her work. I also work with others who knew Ms. Barile at the time and who didn't really agree with her approach, but who agree with it now. I'm thinking among others of Dr. Patrick Fougeyrollas, an anthropologist and disability expert, who is known in particular for his development of the disability creation process model. He is currently working hard to ensure that there is equality, even in research work, on behalf of the advancement of all persons with disabilities.
I believe that Ms. Barile would be proud of what we are doing. She would also take pride in being with us and being able to speak to you. She would certainly consider it a great honour to present all of the work she did, and all of the women for whom she was a role model, who have followed her lead and are continuing her work.