Theresa Ducharme (1945 – June 7, 2004) was a Canadian disability rights activist and a perennial candidate for public office.
She founded the disability rights advocacy group People in Equal Participation Inc. in 1981, and was the organization's chair for many years thereafter.
[2] In 1981, she became the first person requiring an on-board life-support system to fly as a regular passenger on a commercial Canadian airliner.
Her flight to Vancouver was the culmination of a lengthy battle with officials from the government and Air Canada, who had resisted her attempts to fly because of medical concerns.
In 1993, she asked the Supreme Court of Canada to rule against Sue Rodriguez, a British Columbia woman who had a terminal illness and was seeking the right to take her life.
[6] In 1995, Ducharme sought legal standing for her organization to testify at Robert Latimer's appeal of a conviction for second-degree murder.
She led a public protest again the provincial government's decision to privatize home care services in 1996,[9] and later testified before the Romanow commission on health.
[16] Ducharme said that her top priority was creating a youth advisory committee of city council,[17] and she also criticized Thompson for not having done more to promote downtown business.