Values: Freedom, Choice, Respect, Dignity, Inclusion

The BC People First Society (BCPF) is a non-profit provincial organization that is part of the international PEOPLE FIRST movement. We work to make sure that all people are respected and included in communities as full citizens. We do this by supporting each other to speak up for ourselves and others.

Our vision is a diverse community where all people are:

• included and involved
• honoured and respected
• seen for their abilities
• and supported to participate

Self-Advocates Supporting Self-Advocates

BC People First is run by a Board of (5-10) Directors, all Self-Advocates, representing the province by region and the Executive Board. Director positions are usually 3-year terms. Executive positions are voted on every year, with the President taking a 2-year term. BCPF Members who want to get more involved are invited to join Committees chaired by a member of the Board.

History of the People First movement in Canada

Here are some of the important dates in the history of the development of People First across Canada:

• 1973 For the first time, people labelled as mentally handicapped come together at a conference in Canada.
• 1974  Inspired by the British Columbia conference, a conference of self-advocates is held in Oregon. The name “People First” is chosen as a name for the self-advocacy movement.
• 1974  The first People First group in Canada begins in British Columbia.
• 1978  A local People First group forms in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. Groups are active in British Columbia and forming in Alberta.
• 1979  People First groups form in Brantford and Oakville, Ontario.
• 1980  Self-advocates in Ontario hold a conference at Mohawk College in Hamilton, Ontario and decide to form a provincial People First organization. People First groups began to form in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
• 1981  Provincial conference of People First in Ontario held in Toronto, Ontario. About 650 people attend. International People First Conference in Oregon.
• 1982  Meeting of self advocates organized at the 1982 World Congress of the International League of Societies for Persons with Mental Handicap in Nairobi, Kenya. Barb Goode represents Canada.
• 1983  People First of Ontario formed. People First groups have formed in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec, Prince Edward Island, and Alberta.
• 1984  National Self Advocacy Development Project begins. Project soon becomes known as the National People First Project. First issue of the newsletter of the project (“The National Organizer”) comes out in July. International Self Advocacy Leadership Conference in Tacoma, Washington. People First leaders from British Columbia, Quebec, Manitoba, and the National People First Project attend.
• 1985  British Columbia forms provincial People First organization. In Ontario, there are 34 known groups. First meeting of the Halifax/Dartmouth, Nova Scotia People First group. 1986 Conference of People First leaders from Canada and the United States held in Bolton, Ontario. Self Advocates organize a “Workers Council” in a sheltered workshop in Nova Scotia.
• 1989 There are 19 People First chapters in British Columbia. Nova Scotia provincial People First group begins. Saskatchewan and Manitoba also have provincial organizations by this time. Founding Convention of People First of Canada. Provincial organizations alive and well in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. People First of Canada and People First of Ontario host the Third International People First Conference in Toronto. About 1,500 delegates from 34 countries attend the conference.