Article content Richard Ruston of Windsor – a longtime board member of Community Living Windsor, and a lifelong advocate for those with intellectual disabilities. Photographed in 2015. Photo by Melodie Cook /Windsor
In 2007, People First of Canada partnered with the National Film Board of Canada on The Freedom Tour a documentary meant to raise awareness of the historical problems and cases of abuse at institutions housing those with intellectual disabilities.
Ruston travelled with the tour and acted as an interviewer.
“He advocated for the closure of institutions,” Cook said. “(The tour) drove across the Prairie provinces and found people who had lived in institutions and were willing to tell their stories.”