Carmela Sebastiana Hutchison (1961 – 2019)

A leading feminist disability activist and a dedicated mental health advocate, Carmela was a registered nurse specializing in mental health in both Nova Scotia and Alberta. Her professional career encompassed long-term, acute, adolescent and community mental health and psychiatric clinical settings. She lived with her husband in Irricana, Alberta.

In 1990, Carmela sustained injuries in a car accident. The following year she received a diagnosis of Dissociative Identity Disorder, Depression and Post-Concussion Syndrome. Her health continued to decline with over 30 other diagnoses.

Carmela continued to work tirelessly to make sure people living with a lived experience of mental illness can get the support and voice they deserve. She was involved with many National, Provincial, Municipal committees and not-for-profit organizations, including as President of the DisAbled Women’s Network (DAWN) Canada and the Alberta Network for Mental Health (ANMH), and as an Executive Member on the Council of Canadians with Disabilities (CCD). Carmela was also a member of 40 other committees (mostly concurrently) over the years. She advocated for people at all hours of the day while also helping people work with current mental health and social program systems to manage their illness and circumstances proactively. Carmela spoke to provincial/federal committees on mental illness and disability policy, facilitated support groups, and was called to Ottawa numerous times to present to Parliamentary Committees - sometimes while in hospital. Carmela was also featured in the 2017 documentary Not a One-Way Street.

“Nothing about us, without us.”