BIG NEWS!

We’re thrilled to announce the recipient of the 2025 SCE LifeWorks Impact Award — to be presented at our Come Together Celebration on November 6th — Patrick Falconer!

Join us to celebrate: https://www.canadahelps.org/…/events/come-together-2025/

Patrick has spent decades advancing disability rights and inclusion in Manitoba — often behind the scenes, building bridges and driving change.

As lead consultant for the first Barrier Free Manitoba Steering Committee, as well as lead animator, he helped spark the movement that led to the Accessibility for Manitobans Act in 2013. He was also a key consultant for Disability Matters Vote, helping to mobilize thousands to make disability issues impossible to ignore during elections.

Dale Kendel, our 2024 Impact Award recipient, says:
“We wouldn’t have the Manitoba Accessibility legislation in 2013 without Patrick’s persistent, determined and focused attention on the mobilization of community members, sound education, openness to debate and strategic thinking, political savvy, applied knowledge and research. The man is a gem in the community development world and has contributed greatly for the benefit of many…That’s leadership. That’s Patrick.”

Leanne Fenez (Abilities Manitoba) adds:
“Patrick Falconer has spent decades doing the quiet, unglamorous work of bringing people together—and then turning that togetherness into progress. In Manitoba’s disability community, he’s been the connector and the catalyst: convening cross-disability partners, translating complex policy into plain language, and helping shape the Accessibility for Manitobans Act while pressing for strong, enforceable standards…Patrick builds bridges where silos used to be, treats disagreement as a path to better ideas, and keeps the focus squarely on the rights, dignity and perspectives of people with disabilities.”

Oly Backstrom, SCE LifeWorks’ CEO chimes in: “I learned so much from Patrick while working alongside him as a part of the Barrier Free Manitoba Steering Committee. Patrick is smart, strategic, and an absolute dog with a bone in the best possible way. In work that so often results in programmatic change, Patrick taught me the importance to press for systemic change. He is one of the most effective people I know at achieving it.”

Patrick’s legacy can be seen in stronger coalitions, better laws, and a more accessible Manitoba for all.

Congratulations, Patrick — and thank you for your decades of principled, visionary leadership!