Nova Scotia Disability Rights are Human Rights
“I’m getting out of this horrible nightmare but there are so many others living their own nightmare with no help in sight” -Vicky Levack
In 2013, the current government committed to closing institutions and providing community-based living supports for all persons with disabilities within 10 years—by the end of 2023. It was all set out in the Roadmap—a plan to community inclusion drafted jointly by the Province and disability rights advocates, and endorsed by then Premier Stephen McNeil and his government.
The DRC held a rally at Province House in support of the Road to Inclusion 2023 campaign.
“It is not fair that because you have a disability, you do not have what you need to survive or be respectedfor your human rights. It is not fair to exclude people because of disability or race or being Indigenous orLGBT2Q+, or some combination of these.” -My Home My Rights (photo: Inclusion Canada)
“Call me old-fashioned, but when a politician, after a stump speech tells the assembled crowd “no questions” don’t you think the media should push in front of him to ask questions anyway? Isn’t that the journalists’ right and –as informed electors — our due?” – Judy Haiven
(photo credit Brett Bundale/ The Canadian Press)
Promises were made by Nova Scotia governments since 2013 that they would close institutions and provide community-based living supports for persons with disabilities and/or Autism Spectrum Disorder by 2023 but the reality is the progress has been too slow!
Vicky Levack with the Disability Rights Coalition in Nova Scotia says she feels deceived after learning no political party can commit to the targets of a 10-year plan to transform housing and care for people with intellectual disabilities.
Visit the social media resource page for the Road to Inclusion 2023 Campaign. Use Twitter and Facebook to take part in the conversation and make your views known on social media.
The pages below will introduce you to the recent Human Rights Case in Nova Scotia:
The case is a legal discrimination complaint about the Province’s failure to treat people with disabilities in a way that ensures that all persons with disabilities are supported to live in community.
This is the documentary The Freedom Tour of Nova Scotia (1:11 hours)
As of July 2021, you can write to the Premier and your other representatives about The Road to Inclusion and Equality for People with Disabilities using the template provided.