Nova Scotia Disability Rights are Human Rights
“‘It’s the right thing to do. It’s the human thing to do,’ Premier Tim Houston said two months ago.
“Now that his government intends to do the opposite, wouldn’t that reversal have to be wrong and inhuman?” -Jim Vibert
The Progressive Conservative government has had a change of heart about appealing a landmark October court decision that found the province culpable of systemic discrimination against disabled persons.
The Houston government is going to the Supreme Court of Canada to appeal a decision that said the continued institutionalization of persons with disabilities amounts to “systemic discrimination.”
The Nova Scotia government plans to appeal a recent court decision that found there was discrimination against three people with mental and physical disabilities who had sought improved services and housing in the community.
The Nova Scotia government says it will appeal a recent court decision that found there was discrimination against people with disabilities who had sought improved services and housing in the community.
A day after the Oct. 6 Court of Appeal ruling, Premier Tim Houston said his government heard the court’s message “loud and clear,” and he pledged to work with the disabilities community.
He also said he didn’t believe citizens should have to take the government to court to make it “do the right thing.”
But in an emailed comment Thursday, Community Services Minister Karla MacFarlane appears to shift the Progressive Conservative government’s approach.
“I just don’t think anybody should have to take their government to court to get their government to do the right thing,” Premier Tim Houston told a news conference on Thursday.
We won! Or did we?
After a legal battle that has been raging since 2014, as well as decades before that, we finally got the judiciary to admit that there is systemic discrimination against people with disabilities when it comes to accessing services that are freely available to the able-bodied.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2021: The Nova Scotia Court of Appeal (NSCA) released its ruling today which overturned a human rights board of inquiry decision and made a finding of systemic discrimination against the Province based on its treatment of persons with disabilities in need of supports and services to live in community.
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.