David Reville – interview

In the late 1960s, David Reville spent two years on a psych ward. His subsequent careers included: plumber, politician, community organizer, educator, and “mad” scholar – but his heart was always with the mad movement.

David Reville’s interview is about mad activism and education, politics, and community organizing in Toronto, Ontario from 1970-2010. After being a patient in Kingston Psychiatric Hospital, Reville found work and meaning in community involvement, becoming Canada’s first “out” mad politician. Being on Toronto City Council and in the Ontario provincial government gave him opportunities to change laws that impacted ex-patients and support successful psychiatric survivor initiatives. A boundary-crosser, Reville was drawn into post-secondary teaching in 2003, teaching Mad History in Ryerson University’s Disability Studies program and winning the Canadian Association for University Continuing Education Award of Excellence in 2011.

This oral history provides a sweeping introduction to the history of the mad movement in Toronto over the decades following deinstitutionalization. Reville references key activists and civic and provincial politicians of the period.

Key Words: mental health policy, mental health laws, legal aid, civic politics, provincial politics, vocational education, mental health, patient activism, mad movement, recovery model, tenant rights, patient rights, deinstitutionalization, Mad History, Mad Studies, Toronto,Mental Patients Association, LIP Grants, CAMH, NDP, Gerstein Taskforce, Oor Mad History, disclosure, PARC, Gerstein Centre, Ryerson University, mad students