Lack of community supports trap disabled in poverty, institutions

New Disability Rights Coalition report shows Nova Scotia government is not following its own Roadmap
Nova Scotia Disability Rights are Human Rights
Human Rights Case Posts

New Disability Rights Coalition report shows Nova Scotia government is not following its own Roadmap

A report issued yesterday by the Disability Rights Coalition says there remains “a mismatch” between government rhetoric on providing services to disabled adults and the frustrating reality faced by many families. Photo: Questsociety.ca

I remember how genuinely excited disability advocates were when in 2013 Denise Peterson-Rafuse, then minister of Community Services, announced a five-year plan to close down all large institutions for people living with physical or intellectual disabilities and provide them with the supports to live in their own communities, either in a small group home or in a place of their own. -Robert Devet

The Nova Scotia government is being accused of pushing its plans to transform services for people with disabilities to the back burner.
The Disability Rights Coalition says the 2013 roadmap in which the province committed over 10 years to more community-based services rather than institutional care has stalled.

As part of the United Nations Human Rights Committee preparation of a “list of issues” for its 2023 Review of Canada, the Disability Rights Coalition along with 23 other Canadian NGOs has filed the following submission seeking to address the rights violation of people with disabilities who are unnecessarily institutionalized and Canada’s failure to provide the necessary supports and services for social inclusion.

The livestream of the appeal hearing is now available on the Court’s livestream webpage.

The livestream of the appeal hearing will be available on the Court’s livestream webpage. At 10am on Wednesday Nov 18 and Thursday Nov 19 click “Read More” to go to the Court’s web page, then scroll down to the webcast.

“This systemic discrimination must be stopped. The compensation order for the complainants was particularly insulting. It is time to end segregation and discrimination against people with disabilities in Nova Scotia.” -Vicky Levack

Here are extracts from the Court of Appeal’s upcoming docket—it has information about the hearing dates (November 18th and 19th) and times as well as the names of the panel of three judges who will be hearing and deciding the DRC’s appeal.

The closure of institutions and the provision of community-based supports, which the DRC, People First and others have been pushing for years, is something which happened decades ago in the UK. Here’s a 9-minute BBC podcast which tells the story of one person who survived institutionalization and fought for his right to community living.