In her letter Brittanny Lynn raises the issues of inaccessible pathways and missing sidewalks in her own community in Pictou County, but we encounter the same problem in many places in rural Nova Scotia. People without cars and people with mobility issues are the ones most affected.
Warren (Gus) Reed; “I wonder when Strang got hand washing religion. Four years ago, wheelchair users asked Strang to weigh in on enforcement of the province’s food safety regulation requiring “washroom facilities for staff and washroom facilities for the public available in a convenient location” in restaurants. He was indifferent:”
Warren (Gus) Reed is still waiting for the province to follow up on the September 2018 NS Human Rights Decision that restaurants must provide wheelchair access to washrooms. A recent case of Norovirus while traveling in the US made the risks wheelchair users are exposed to all the more real.
Accessibility advocate Warren (Gus) Reed on the importance of not giving up when bureaucrats and politicians feed you a steady diet red herrings.
In a decision issued a year ago a Nova Scotia Human Right Board of Inquiry ordered the Department of the Environment in no uncertain terms to enforce food safety regulations that make it mandatory for restaurants to provide wheelchair-accessible washrooms. Almost a year later plaintiffs are still waiting for actual changes.
Jen Powley. a tireless advocate for disability rights and housing for people with disabilities, has been presented with the 2019 James McGregor Stewart Award. Jen is a tireless activist for the right of persons with severe physical disabilities to live independently, rather than in nursing homes
Gus Reed is not happy about government inaction after the Human Rights Commission decision that Environment must enforce the requirement that restaurants provide accessible washrooms.
On the International Day for Persons with a Disability Paul Vienneau takes stock. Some progress, especially in the crafting of Bill 59, and a long way to go, he writes. “It’s as if the government thinks the work is done now. But change doesn’t come from from legislation. The legislation is merely the starting point.”
This weekend’s weekend video features Halifax musician, photographer, stalwart activist and Nova Scotia Advocate author Paul Vienneau as he hands out bottled water on a hot Spring Garden day. ““This helped me see that giving away water has become part of what I am doing with my life. It’s an antidepressant in 24 little plastic bottles.”
Paul Vienneau is one of the accessibility advocates who successfully challenged the government’s refusal to enforce health and safety regulations when it comes to accessible washrooms. After a long battle with the Human Rights Commission there finally was a human rights tribunal, and in September they won their case. Just this Friday the government announced that it accepts the decision. Paul is NOT impressed.