Nova Scotia Disability Rights are Human Rights
On June 30th Vicky Levack was presented with the 2022 James MacGregor Stewart Award for her leadership as an outspoken advocate for people with disabilities. See the videos of the presentation and her comments here.
“The Court of Appeal ruled last year that the government’s failure to offer “meaningful” access to housing for people with disabilities amounted to a violation of their basic rights. But under Section 6 of Nova Scotia’s Human Rights Act, the province can exempt itself from that ruling if it can prove the discrimination is justified in a free and democratic society.” -Keith Doucette
“Every single thing I’ve read about how the NS government has opposed this case makes me cringe.” -David T.S. Fraser
The Nova Scotia government must decide by July 11 whether it will try and exempt itself from a Court of Appeal ruling that stated the province had discriminated against people with disabilities who were seeking housing. (photo: Craig Paisley/CBC)
A Disability Rights Coalition lawyer says there can only be one conclusion as to why the province does not do the right thing for Nova Scotia’s disabled.
“Fundamentally, they (government) don’t care about people with disabilities,” said Claire McNeil. “They say they do and you hear that all the time from this premier and previous premiers and ministers of community services but actions speak louder than words and the solution to this problem has been staring us in the face for decades and other provinces have done it and we haven’t.”
An independent human rights board of inquiry in the matter of Disability Rights Coalition of Nova Scotia, Beth MacLean, Sheila Livingstone and Joseph Delaney vs. the Province of Nova Scotia will continue Friday, April 22.
This hearing will be on preliminary matters in the newly constituted board of inquiry following a decision by the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal.
The board chair in this hearing is Donald Murray, who is independent of the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission.
The hearing will begin at 9:30 a.m. at the Holiday Inn Express, 980 Parkland Dr., Halifax. The proceedings will be live-streamed on YouTube (link in story).
Nova Scotia’s application for permission to appeal a decision that found evidence it discriminated against people with disabilities has been dismissed by the Supreme Court of Canada.
The pages below will introduce you to the recent Human Rights Case in Nova Scotia:
This is the documentary The Freedom Tour of Nova Scotia (1:11 hours)
Media Coverage of EH Human Rights Complaint
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.