David Shannon, CM, OOnt (born August 29, 1963) is a Canadian disability/human rights activist, lawyer, politician, actor, university lecturer, author, and adventurer.
Shannon has held positions in academia, law, social services, and human rights in both Thunder Bay, Ontario, and Halifax, Nova Scotia.
[1] In 1975, Shannon’s family moved again, this time, to Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, as Bill took on a faculty position with the School of Physical Education at Dalhousie University.
Prior to his last year of high school, Shannon’s parents moved to Mississauga, Ontario, where his father, who had at the time become "disenchanted with academia", accepted a job with the city of Toronto Health Care Unit.
[7] Shannon overcame some early difficulties during his recovery, such as losing 35 lbs, suffering from a severe bladder infection, and experiencing temperatures as high as 104 degrees F. However, he was able to visit his parents’ home in Mississauga that Christmas, which received local media attention.
[10] While pursuing his undergraduate degree, he and his friend, Darlene Bruzzese (his future second wife), were influential in setting up a local chapter of the Spinal Cord Society, which was an international organization based in Fergus Falls, Minnesota.
[13] Midway through his undergraduate studies, Shannon relocated to another accessible apartment in Thunder Bay, Glenwood Court where HAGI provided attendant services.
[14] While in his last year at Lakehead, Shannon became the assistant regional co-ordinator of the Canadian Paraplegic Association where he organized peer interaction groups for those with spinal cord injuries.
[10] After graduating with a Bachelor of Law from Dalhousie in 1991, Shannon decided to take two years off to pursue his passion of acting in Los Angeles, California, and Toronto, Ontario.
[18] After Divorce Court, Shannon began work at the Kinnea-Aweya legal aid clinic; he was called to the Bar of the Law Society of Upper Canada in 1996.
[23] Shannon began planning for his tour in the summer of 1994, obtaining corporate sponsorship from Scotia Bank, Human Resources Development Canada and Invacare to fund the trek.
[27] Shannon started the tour on April 1, 1997, in St. John’s, Newfoundland, by dipping an oar into the Atlantic Ocean and then proceeded to travel about 75 km per day with a support van and three crew members, including Denton.
[29] In larger cities, Shannon gave presentations about the benefits of employment and education for living a satisfying life and performed his one-man play The Puck Dances Lovingly.
The treaty was eventually called the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), and Shannon partook in discussions at the United Nations’ headquarters in New York to help craft it.
In April 2009, Shannon along with fellow disabled Thunder Bay lawyer Christopher Watkins reached the North Pole where they planted a handicapped parking sign.
[44] The feat made national headlines with Shannon and Watkins featured on the front cover of the Summer 2009 disability societal and cultural magazine Abilities.
In the summer of 2010, the Law Society of Upper Canada honoured both Shannon and Watkins with biographies on their website as part of the Diversifying the Bar: Lawyers Make History project.
"[52] In 2009, Shannon joined the Canadian Disability Policy Alliance in a two-year stint as the co-chair of the citizenship committee where he tackled accessibility issues throughout Canada.
[53] Shannon continued to practice law in Thunder Bay before moving to Halifax to accept the position as CEO of the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission (NSHRC).
[55] While CEO of the NSHRC, Shannon created a "new model of restorative justice" which advanced the mediation stage in disputes to something similar to a "traditional First Nations approach.
Shannon was also embroiled in a dispute with the provincial government over the potential closure of HAGI’s accessible Wilderness Discovery Camp on Shebandowan Lake just outside Thunder Bay.
[59] In the summer of 2015, as the director of HAGI, Shannon celebrated the 10 year anniversary of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) at a Thunder Bay press conference.
[60] That summer, Shannon also married his second wife, Darlene Bruzzese, and received an international disability honour by being chosen to be a flag bearer at the 2015 Parapan Am Games in Toronto.