Nova Scotia Disability Rights are Human Rights
Nova Scotia has a dark secret – we are one of the last provinces in Canada to close its institutions. There are still more than 500 people with disabilities being held in eight institutions across Nova Scotia.
The Government of Nova Scotia is breaking its promise to disabled children and their families. In 2013, the government vowed to close residential institutions for autistic and intellectually disabled children by 2023, replacing them with appropriate services so that children could continue to live with their families and attend school in their communities.
In his Human Rights Board of Inquiry decision in March 2019 [J. Walter Thompson, QC] found “Joey Delaney (one of the complainants) is so disabled that payment to him of a very large sum will not have a greater impact on his life than a moderate sum.”
Open letter to Minister Kelly Regan requesting pandemic pay incentives for workers supporting Nova Scotians with intellectual disabilities
“… Very few people with disabilities are appointed to Nova Scotia’s 135 Agencies, Boards and Commissions (ABCs) despite the claim that ‘The Government of Nova Scotia has an employment equity policy and we encourage people from diverse communities to apply’.” -Warren (Gus) Reed
The DRC’s appeal of its human rights claim based on the discriminatory impact of unnecessary institutionalisation and denial of meaningful access to community based options has been rescheduled.
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)
What You Can Do You can sign onto the Open Letter to the Premier of Nova Scotia… And/Or… You can file your own Human Rights Complaint…