DABC will be closed on Monday, October 2^nd, to acknowledge the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. While September 30^th has held this designation for years, this is the first year it is being recognized as a statutory holiday in BC.  

The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation honours the children who never made it home from residential schools as well as the Survivors of those “schools,” and acknowledges both this terrible history as well as the ongoing impacts of residential schools and the challenges and injustices that Indigenous communities continue to face. It also encourages the celebration of Indigenous cultures.  

It is based on Orange Shirt Day, which was founded by Phyllis Webstad, a Survivor of residential school. You can learn more about Phyllis and this movement here: https://orangeshirtday.org/phyllis-story/. 

We encourage you to take this day to reflect, learn, and have conversations with people in your orbit. There are many commemorative events across Canada. This article has more information about the day and events across BC: 
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/truth-and-reconciliation-day-1.6981764.  

The Disability Law Clinic at DABC is currently unable to provide any legal services due to a staffing shortage. Since 2020 the Disability Law Clinic has provided legal advice and assistance to people with disabilities in BC, in some disability-related areas of law. But we recently experienced a change in our staffing, and we do not have the resources to provide legal services at this time.

If you contact the Disability Law Clinic, our staff may still be able to provide basic information and referrals to other legal resources, but they will not be able to connect you with a lawyer or give any legal advice. If you need legal advice, we recommend that you consider other legal resources, such as the ones listed in our Resource and Referral Guide: https://disabilityalliancebc.org/programs/disability-law-clinic-resource-referral-guide/.

DABC will be hiring new staff as soon as possible, but at this time we don’t know how long it may take. We will provide updates on our website and social media as soon as we are able to resume providing legal services.

We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience.

DABC is very sad to report that Dale MacCalder, a longstanding member of the DABC reception team, has recently passed away.

Dale was an important part of our organization, and he will be greatly missed. Some of you will have spoken to him over the phone when calling to speak with our advocates, or in person at our office. He was a calm and reassuring presence for our clients, staff and volunteers alike.

As we have only received news of Dale’s passing this morning, staff who need to take the rest of today off are welcome to do so, and therefore may not be reachable. In addition, tomorrow (Friday, September 22nd) will be a day of mourning for Dale and as such, the DABC office will be closed and staff will not be working. Thank you all for your patience and understanding.

Our condolences to Dale’s friends and family.