(Cartoon from Winnipeg Free Press)
By Kendall Worth
In today’s BLOG, I will share my thoughts – and those of people I have spoken with in the disability community as to how that vulnerable community feels about recent developments in Nova Scotia.
As I discussed in a BLOG earlier this year, there are a number of important issues facing the disability community in Nova Scotia that require immediate action. First among these was the follow-up to a major human rights case launched years ago by the Disability Rights Coalition. This case addressed the practise of institutionalizing persons with disabilities (PWD). The judgement found that there was systemic discrimination in the system and required the government to identify a remedy that would enable Nova Scotians with disabilities to live in community.
It took several years before the Government responded to this judgement with a “Human Rights Remedy”, accompanied by action plans and timelines to address the many recommendations of the report. In its first years in office, the Houston Government seemed to be making an honest effort on the de-institutionalization issue.
However, there were many other issues and concerns identified to address other issues related to the inclusion of the disability community in broader society. On these issues there seems to have been little if any action taken.
This impression
was only re-inforced by the most recent sitting of the Provincial Legislature, at
which issues of disability and inclusion were not addressed even once. Given
that the session lasted only ten days, perhaps people will think this is not
surprising. It certainly seems like the Houston Government is determined to spend
as little time as possible in the Legislature, where it faces difficult questions
from Opposition MLAs.
These concerns
have only heightened since the abrupt end of the legislative session. An
unexpected policy turnaround by the Houston Government has suddenly shifted the
focus of political attention in Nova Scotia from the challenges faced by ordinary
citizens to the prospect of both permitting and subsidizing the construction of data centres.
This issue has
inflamed opinion across the province and over the past few weeks has completely
absorbed the attention of media, politicians and citizens alike. As a result, issues like affordability,
inclusion, health care, etc have all fallen away - much to our disadvantage as
a vulnerable community.
This is not the
time or place for me to debate the alleged advantages and disadvantages of data
centres. I will say, that from what I have read on the experience of such
centres elsewhere, the implications for ordinary citizens do not appear to be
positive. Top of the list of concerns is the impact that such centres have on
people’s power bills.
Perhaps I will
dedicate a future BLOG to exploring the data centre issue. Today, all I want to
do is make the case that we cannot allow such issues to distract our
government, media and citizens from the HUGE challenges that people in my
community – and most notably those who live with disabilities - continue to
face, each and every day.
Data centres
will not help us to address these challenges anytime soon. Poverty rates
continue to rise in our province, right alongside inflation of groceries and
the lack of affordable housing.
It is incumbent
for our Provincial government to keep its focus on addressing the needs of
ordinary Nova Scotians, and not get distracted by long-term, pie-in-the-sky types
of projects like data centres.
A good and
simple place to start would be for the Government to extend the rent cap beyond
2027, and to apply that cap to units not individual tenants. The current rent caps will not apply to
disabled Nova Scotians who are leaving institutions and entering the housing
market as new tenants. This is wholly unreasonable.
What do you say, Mr Premier?
Kendall Worth is an award-winning anti-poverty activist who
lives with disabilities and tries to make ends meet on income assistance.
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