Meet Michelle Stilwell, Paralympian, Politician and 2023 Canadian Disability Hall of Fame inductee

Joeita Gupta:
I am Joeita Gupta, and this is The Pulse. It's a fierce debate. I'm talking about the controversy about whether sports and politics mix. You have the purists, those who believe that sports has nothing to do with politics and that athletes operate in a vacuum. And I don't mind telling you that I support the other side of the debate. I feel that sports is a microcosm for society. Factors dominant in society such as discrimination, bias and exclusion also crop up in sports. Though when athletes break barriers, it reverberates beyond the arena or playing field. Nowhere is this more true than the role of parasports in social inclusion for people with disabilities. Today we discuss disabilities, sports and politics. It's time to put to your finger on the pulse.
Hello and welcome to The Pulse on AMI-audio. If you haven't already had a chance to do so, please don't forget to like or subscribe to this channel. If you subscribe, it's a great way to be notified about feature videos. We upload a new video every Saturday, and this is a great way to know when we post new content to this channel. So I hope you will take a moment to subscribe if you haven't already done that, and also tell your friends and family about it. Over the last week or so, we've been talking about the inductees to the Canada Disability Hall of Fame. Last week you heard from Chantal Benoit, and this week you'll be hearing from Michelle Stilwell. I hope you'll tune in for the week after that when we talk to the recipient of the King Clancy Award, who is Natalie Wilkie.
Michelle Stilwell is a remarkable individual who has succeeded in multiple domains. A six-time gold medalist in wheelchair basketball and athletics. She is the only female athlete to win gold in two separate summer sporting events. Michelle has numerous accolades and medals to her name in wheelchair racing as well. In addition to her athletic accomplishments, Michelle has excelled in politics as well as in business. She has served two terms as a member of the Legislative Assembly in British Columbia and was the Minister for Social Development and Social Innovation from 2015 to 2017. Michelle Stilwell, hello and welcome to The Pulse. I'm really happy you could join us today.

Michelle Stilwell:
Hi, great to be here. Thanks for having me.

Joeita Gupta:
You've had, as I outlined there, so many medals, so many accomplishments to your name. What does it mean to you to be inducted to the Canada Disability Hall of Fame?

Michelle Stilwell:
Oh, wow. Well, obviously it's a huge honour to be in a group with such esteemed colleagues and friends that have been already named and who are joining me this year, but I really don't see it as a personal achievement, I guess. But I do see it as a platform to advocate and perhaps inspire other people with disabilities along the way. It really gives an opportunity to put that spotlight on what people's abilities are and what their potential is and where the disability community can go and recognize that disability isn't a barrier to success.

Joeita Gupta:
When I talked to Chantal Benoit about her start in wheelchair basketball, she said to me it wasn't as big as it is now, and there wasn't even a local team. That was Chantal's experience, but when you got your start with wheelchair basketball, what were things like?

Michelle Stilwell:
Well, when I got my start, Chantal was there. She was one of my teammates and she was one of the leaders who taught me so many things in the game of wheelchair basketball, but I was very fortunate. When I was injured, I was in the rehabilitation hospital in Winnipeg and I was in the occupational therapy department when somebody came up to me and asked if I had ever thought about playing wheelchair basketball? And quite honestly, I hadn't. I had been a gym rat and involved in many sports in my pre-injury life, and so I was certainly intrigued by the idea of sport again post-injury.
And so I advocated to my doctor to give me a day pass so that I could go check out a wheelchair basketball practice and see what it was all about. And I think my passion for sport was ignited that first day that I went into the gym and I saw so many people with varying abilities pushing up and down the court, weaving in and out, and just that power of athleticism and not recognizing what their physical limitations may or may not be, and acknowledging that also in Canada we are so blessed to play wheelchair basketball as an integrated sport.
So what I saw on the court were people with disabilities playing alongside with able-bodied individuals, and it was such a unique moment and I was just instantly intrigued and my competitive nature came out pretty quick.

Joeita Gupta:
One of the things that a number of athletes tell me, especially when they discover parasport after an injury, is the role that the sport or being able to play a sport has in terms of their recovery and feeling good about themselves and feeling positive about other aspects of their life as well. Was that the same for you also?

Michelle Stilwell:
For sure, and if you recognize, that's where the Paralympics began. It was post World War II where veterans were seen to be able to use sport as an avenue to increase their strength and their ability so that they could do those activities of daily living easier. So I certainly saw that in my rehabilitation that I could get stronger and that that would help me in my day-to-day life.

Joeita Gupta:
And did you ever think that there will come a day, the not-so-distant future from that day when you first saw the game being played on the court, did you ever think there'd be a day when you would represent the country internationally, that you'd win gold medals, that you'd be famous?

Michelle Stilwell:
Absolutely not. That first day in the gym, the coach gave me a basketball and sent me off to a corner. I couldn't even get the ball three feet above my head, but I am super, super competitive and somebody tells me I can't do something, I'm going to show them how I can and I'm going to find a way and I'm going to adapt, and I certainly did those things. Being a quadriplegic and playing wheelchair basketball wasn't typical. It still isn't typical. Most quadriplegics would play a sport like rugby. I played rugby too. I've tried it all. I've water-skied and played racquetball and tennis and athletics of course, but basketball was certainly a passion of mine, and it's that ability to have teammates who are working towards the same common goal.
Chantal and I had a very unique experience. I came into the team when they were on a winning streak. They hadn't lost a game in a long, long time. So I feel very fortunate to have been able to play with 11 other incredible women who just happen to have a disability of some sort and represent our country.

Joeita Gupta:
Do you think that your winning streak and the success that you had with wheelchair and basketball helped to make inroads not just for people with disabilities, but also elevated the idea that women could play sport and play it well?

Michelle Stilwell:
Yeah, I think anytime that we get an opportunity to be out there and show what we're capable of, opens up conversations, opens up people's minds and breaks down those stereotypes that we all too often see having an impact in our communities. So it's that chance to showcase the talents of these individuals with disabilities. It certainly breaks down barriers and changes perceptions and maybe even encourages a more inclusive society, I guess, and maybe values diversity a bit more.

Joeita Gupta:
That makes a lot of sense, right? Because people admire their athletes and they look to athletes as change-makers. You have the distinction of not just playing wheelchair basketball, but you have a number of medals to your name in wheelchair racing as well. How did that come about?

Michelle Stilwell:
I retired from wheelchair basketball when after the 2000 Games, my husband and I moved to Vancouver Island, and here on the island, there was not really the ability for me to compete at that level. So I was a new mom and I was just going to focus on motherhood, and I had accomplished my goals as far as basketball went, and I took up coaching when I was here on the island. And so I was coaching just a local little recreational team, speaking of getting people active and helping them get stronger and helping them in their daily lives. So I was spending my time in the evenings doing that, and I went over to Vancouver for a coaching clinic, and that's where I met Peter Lawless who became my coach, and he was the one who said, "What are you doing playing basketball? You've got really, really fast hands. You should be in track. You'd be really good at track." And I said, "No, no thanks. I'm good."
And I wasn't really all that interested, but he did pursue and persist and call me and invite me. And finally, I went to a track meet in Duncan and got in a race chair for the first time, and it didn't go so well. I got beat by a nine-year-old boy, and that competitive nature in me said, "That's not going to happen again."

Joeita Gupta:
That kicked in again, hey?

Michelle Stilwell:
Yeah.

Joeita Gupta:
So how much training was involved in learning to be a wheelchair racer? I would imagine it's a whole other sport, so there must have been a whole other set of skills you had to learn.

Michelle Stilwell:
Certainly, it's a whole new set of skills, but I already had the background from my time as a Paralympic wheelchair basketball player. I knew about perseverance and I knew about dedication and I knew how to put my plan together, execute the plan, and the result would come. So Peter would tell you that I was a really easy athlete to coach because I already came with those skills, but I did have to learn how to get in and out of the chair, how to steer the chair, how to punch the wheels in wheelchair racing. You're not actually pushing your wheels, you're punching them.
So it's a whole different set of equipment and that comes with its challenges too, because all the equipment that wheelchair athletes use for every sport, there's different equipment and it's not cheap. So those are the barriers that most come encounter with. I would like to try a lot of different sports, but you can't have... well, I personally can't have all the equipment needed to do each and every sport.

Joeita Gupta:
You and most people. Is there a conversation to be had about trying to eliminate some of those barriers? It would be sad to think that someone who aspired to play parasport couldn't do so for financial reasons.

Michelle Stilwell:
Well, and I think we have lots of grant programs now and they continue to evolve, and we have great organizations, whether it's the Canadian Paralympic Committee or local provincial sport organizations. There's places like here in BC, Kootenay Adaptive that has all sorts of mountain bikes and electric bikes that you can rent and go on adventures with them. So it's getting better. There's lots of organizations, but you have to know about them and you have to know how to find them and get connected to them so that you can be supported by them.

Joeita Gupta:
Yeah, it's such a long career, first as a wheelchair basketball player and then in wheelchair racing. Do you think back to a single moment... Look, I ask everybody, but do you think back to a single moment which jumps out at you as a bit of a highlight for you?

Michelle Stilwell:
Oh, well, people always ask me, "What was your favourite Games?" I was very fortunate to go to four different Games and I actually can't pick one because the first one, I got to stand on the podium with 11 other amazing women. And then in my second Games was Beijing, and I got to stand on the podium and hear O Canada play for me because of the accomplishment I did and for the work that I put in as an individual athlete. So that was pretty incredible.
Then we went to London, and London was just epic, to be honest. The crowds were incredible. The media had really embraced the Paralympic movement, and suddenly we weren't so much the afterthought. We were the equal thought to the Olympics, and we were getting just as much recognition and the sponsorships were there and we were getting support, and people were interested in learning about the different sports in itself. And so we had fans and it was... And then of course, Rio was my last Games, and I knew going in that they were going to be my last Games. So they all hold something a little bit special.

Joeita Gupta:
So your answer is all of the above.

Michelle Stilwell:
Yeah, I'm not very good at picking favourites, for sure.

Joeita Gupta:
Oh no, it would've been around the time of the London Games that you dipped your toe into politics. Why did you decide that you wanted to get involved with politics? Because you had a pretty full calendar as it is, I would imagine.

Michelle Stilwell:
Yep. And I wouldn't say I really decided to put my toe. Eventually, I did decide, but I was recruited, I was invited. I was certainly encouraged from my role in the community, for my advocacy within supporting people with or advocating for people with disabilities and especially those with special needs. That all came from my own lived experience. And when you have a life-changing injury like a spinal cord injury like I had, suddenly things are awakened and you start to see things that aren't right or things that don't work for you, and you think, "That's not okay." So you start using your voice and start advocating for change.
And so I was that individual who was never afraid to get involved or to speak my mind and point things out to people when I thought they needed to change. So yeah, I was encouraged to run. It took a fair bit of convincing for me to say, "Okay, I will put my name on a ballot." And quite honestly, the first time I put my name on the ballot back in 2013, I didn't think I was going to win because I thought, "Who's going to elect me? Why would they elect me?" And I got the question, your opening statement was talking about politics and sport, and I got the question from a reporter who said, "What do you know about politics?" And I very quickly responded with, "I have spent 20 years of my life in elite sport. I know politics. They're everywhere."

Joeita Gupta:
Well, this is what I wanted to ask you about because you had by then spent about 20 years not just playing sports, but playing sports at a very high level, representing your country internationally. You'd had three Paralympic Games by then. With all of that experience, how did it smooth the way for you as you entered the realm of politics?

Michelle Stilwell:
Well, I think there was certainly... I had some respect within the community, and I think people listened when I spoke. They understood I brought a different kind of perspective, and I think that's what's so important about representation and making sure that we do have people with disabilities running for office because it's important that the disability community has that voice and that their voice is heard and it's represented in all levels of government and all levels of policy. And so I think really for me, it was being that voice and knowing that I could have that policy influence to support the decisions that have impact on people's day-to-day lives.

Joeita Gupta:
You had seven years as a Member of the BC legislature, lots of votes and lots of decisions. Are there a few things that you're extremely proud of in your time at the legislature?

Michelle Stilwell:
Yeah, it's great, locally within my community to know when I'm wheeling around town now and I see things that I know it was my voice that made that happen or brought that to our community. I would say as a Minister, my biggest... I guess my pride was the Single Parent Employment Initiative, and that's where we took people on income assistance and gave them supports for skills training for in-demand jobs. And we gave them transportation supports and daycare supports and the skills and the training if they needed to go to school for a year, to get a certificate to get them into the employment realm of jobs that were available and jobs that were in need.
And because so many people on income assistance, they don't get off the hamster wheel because they can't afford transportation, they can't afford the schooling, they can't afford the daycare. "Who takes care of the kids while I'm at school?" So there were so many roadblocks for them. So we took away some of those roadblocks, and when we started the program, I thought, "Okay, we're going to get maybe 50 to a 100 people who take us up on this offer." And within the first year, we had like 4,000 individuals taking part in the program, and it just continued to grow and succeed and we broke the cycle.

Joeita Gupta:
That's really powerful. So many lives changed because of your efforts. Is there something you wish you had done differently in your time in office?

Michelle Stilwell:
Yeah, always. Right? There's always 20/20 hindsight. I think if I could go back knowing what I learned over those seven, eight years and start off with that knowledge and understanding of how government works and how you move things forward and who you need to connect with and how you make it happen, I would've been far more productive. But honestly, when you don't have that experience you're learning, it takes a while to get the things that you want to see done across the line.
So it's that conversation that we often hear, should there be term limits? And I firmly believe that individuals need three terms because the first year you're just trying to figure out where the washroom is, and then the second year you finally got a plan and you know what you want to get done and you want to see it happen. And by the end of that term, you're just getting to the point where it's ready for implementation, so you need one more term to implement what it is you're trying to do. So three terms is good.

Joeita Gupta:
And you've had just about two. Do you think you'll ever run for office again?

Michelle Stilwell:
I don't say never, but certainly not looking at it at this time in my life. There's lots of other things that I'm involved in now, and they are still in some ways, shapes and forms political, serving on various boards and sitting on various committees and advocating in other ways. It's just doesn't come with a paycheck the same way.

Joeita Gupta:
So much has changed in Canada in terms of disability representation. We think about the Accessible Canada Act and how much of a turning point that has been. When you look back on the evolution of disability rights and inclusion in this country, how do you feel? Do you feel optimistic? Do you feel that there's more that needs to be done?

Michelle Stilwell:
Absolutely more that needs to be done. I think we can have hope with the progress that we've made. I think there's obviously increased accessibility, there's increased awareness, we're having conversations, but there's so much more room for improvement and especially my... What do I say? How do I say it? I guess the being my bonnet these days is employment opportunities for people with disabilities and especially neurodiverse individuals. And that stems from having a son who lives on the autism spectrum.
So it's constantly breaking down those attitudinal barriers and making or hoping to encourage business owners. And even in the public sector, we need to do far better job of employing people with disabilities and giving them that opportunity that will create positive change.

Joeita Gupta:
I was researching this interview and I was looking at some of the dates and I was thinking, "No, wait a minute. I must be making a mistake." Because there were a couple of years when you were a Member of the legislature in BC and you were Minister for Social Development, while also being an athlete.

Michelle Stilwell:
Yep.

Joeita Gupta:
This is a serious question. Did you ever get to eat or sleep?

Michelle Stilwell:
Well, it turns out I don't sleep a lot. I still don't sleep a lot, but yeah, I'm a pretty effective multitasker. Some people don't believe in multitasking, but I don't sit still and I've always got things on the go. So I like to be busy and the more that I'm doing and the more that I can have in my to-do list, the happier I am. If I don't have a big, long active to-do list, I don't know what to do with myself, to be honest.

Joeita Gupta:
Do you still play basketball? Because that was your first love and I know you don't compete internationally anymore, but do you still have a chance to play recreationally?

Michelle Stilwell:
Yeah, so actually, my husband and I are coaching Special Olympics basketball here in our community.

Joeita Gupta:
Oh.

Michelle Stilwell:
Yeah. So I do get to play every week with my Special Olympics athletes, which is lots and lots of fun. So I still get to shoot around a little bit. I still have a basketball hoop outside my house and my son and I will play and yeah.

Joeita Gupta:
You are also a parent and you've talked a little bit about your son. If you had to think about the next 30 years, where do you hope we'll be in terms of disability inclusion? What's your dream as a parent?

Michelle Stilwell:
Well, my dream for my son is his independence and his ability to be integrated into community where he has friends and he has network and he feels like he's contributing, but we're not there and we have to have people who are open-minded, who are willing to understand how to job carve, right? I think that's the biggest dilemma that we have today, especially we have such a labor shortage everywhere. People are looking for employees, but if the employee maybe doesn't fit all the skills, they don't get hired and it's shortsighted because that individual might be able to do 80% of the tasks for that job, and maybe you need to look at another employee to pick up the 20%, and maybe there's that 20% from that employee that you can shift over to the employee with a disability, but it's thinking outside the box and yeah, I hope that we can continue to make inroads for that.

Joeita Gupta:
If you had to give someone some advice, if you could go back and think of someone being in the position that you were right after your injuries, facing the prospect of your life completely changed, what advice would you give them?

Michelle Stilwell:
Don't ever be afraid to speak up. I think so many times we're shy. We don't want to be bothered to somebody. We don't want to sound like we're complaining, and it's not that we're complaining. We're just pointing out inadequacies or inefficiencies or sometimes simple things that can make life better for people and not just me. You think of accessibility, accessibility when it comes to building ramps and having accessible entrances everywhere. That's not just for somebody who uses a wheelchair. It's for the delivery guy, it's for the mom with a stroller. It's for the senior with a walker, right? Accessibility helps everybody and makes life better for everyone.

Joeita Gupta:
Absolutely. The old curb cut phenomena. Michelle Stilwell, thank you so much for joining me today. It was such a pleasure speaking to you, and I'm looking at the clock and the time has just blown right by.

Michelle Stilwell:
It was my pleasure. Thanks again for inviting me.

Joeita Gupta:
Michelle Stilwell is one of three inductees to the Disability Hall of Fame. I hope you'll tune in for next week's episode when we'll be talking to Natalie Wilkie, who is the recipient of the King Clancy Award and a podium check at the 30th Canada Disability Hall of Fame Luncheon. Well folks, we have about run out of time here on the program. And again, if you have any feedback on my conversation with Chantal Benoit from last week, or you wanted to chime in with your reflections on my conversation with Michelle Stilwell, please feel free to leave a comment down below if you're listening on YouTube or if you're listening to the podcast. Otherwise, feel free to send us an email, write to feedback@ami.ca. You can give us a call at 1-866-509-4545. That's 1-866-509-4545. Don't forget to leave permission to play the audio on the program.
You can also find us on Twitter or now, I guess it's called X, @AMIaudio, and use the #PulseAMI. If you'd like to look me up on Twitter or X, I'm @JoeitaGupta and I would be very happy to read your comments and listen to your voicemails, and of course respond to your tweets as well. There are many people who make The Pulse possible every week. Our videographer today has been Ted Cooper. Our video editor is Jordan Steeves. Marc Aflalo is our technical producer. Ryan Delehanty is the coordinator for AMI audio podcast, and Andy Frank is the manager for AMI-audio. And I've been your host, Joeita Gupta. Thanks so much for listening.