Nova Scotia Disability Rights are Human Rights
CBC Mainstreet NS: John McKiggan, the co-lead counsel in a proposed class action lawsuit on behalf of persons who have been waitlisted for the Disability Sup[port Programs and other social assistance. speaks with Jeff Douglas about that comes next.
A lawyer representing the province basically conceded Wednesday that the Nova Scotia government has systemically discriminated against people with disabilities, as the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal found in an October 2021 decision.
“We are not going to relitigate the issue (that was) before the Court of Appeal,” said Kevin Kindred, one of two lawyers representing the province at an independent human rights board of inquiry pre-hearing.
Instead, the province will argue that the widespread discriminatory practices, identified by the Disabled Rights Coalition and confirmed by the court, were justified. (photo: Francis Campbell)
Dozens of groups and prominent individuals have signed an open letter to Premier Tim Houston in support of a request from the Disability Rights Coalition.
The names go on for eight pages, but the request is straightforward: the signatories are demanding that the premier act immediately on a Nova Scotia Court of Appeal decision last October that said the province could no longer deny people with intellectual and physical disabilities equal access to income assistance and housing/care outside of large institutions.
More than 60 groups and individuals representing tens of thousands of Nova Scotians are collectively calling on Premier Tim Houston to drop his appeal of a human rights ruling that found the province systemically discriminates against all Nova Scotians with disabilities. (photo: Ryan Taplin)