Disability rights advocates are questioning the Nova Scotia government’s claim today that it is making significant progress in implementing a five-year plan to ensure people with disabilities have better access to support. The Nova Scotia flag flies on a flagpole in Ottawa on July 3, 2020. The Canadian Press/Adrian Wylde
HALIFAX — Disability rights advocates are casting doubt on the Nova Scotia government’s claim Monday that it’s making great progress in implementing a five-year plan to ensure people with disabilities have better access to support.
Vicki Levack, executive director of the Disability Rights Coalition, said while the government’s one-year progress report shows it’s moving in the right direction, it can’t ignore the fact that the province missed a key deadline earlier this year.
Under a five-year plan approved in June last year, the province agreed to stop admitting people with disabilities into large institutions as of March 31 this year, but the government recently confirmed that the deadline had been extended to January 1, 2025.
Rebak said this failure overshadows the government’s other achievements.
“They certainly accomplished some of their goals, and I have to commend them for that,” Rebak said in an interview after the progress report was released.
“But I think they’re getting a little too complacent. If they postponed the date once, they can postpone it again. That’s our concern. If they want to get people out of their facilities, they’ve got to stop filling them up.”
State officials say they need more time to hire staff to help people with disabilities get settled in their new homes and to adjust their funding model so that money is tied to individuals with disabilities, not institutions.
The plan is the result of a legal battle that began in 2014 when three intellectually disabled people came forward arguing it was wrong for them to be confined to a Halifax psychiatric hospital for years despite the medical opinion that they could live in the community with the right support.
In October 2021, Nova Scotia’s Supreme Court found there is systemic discrimination in the province against people with disabilities seeking services and housing in their communities.
In this landmark decision, the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal sided with the Disability Rights Coalition, saying the province’s failure to provide people with disabilities with “meaningful” access to housing and care in the community amounted to a violation of their fundamental rights.
In June 2023, the Nova Scotia Human Rights Review Commission approved the province’s five-year plan.
Community Services Minister Brendan Maguire said Monday the plan represents a “generational change” for people with disabilities. He said the plan includes 90 “goals” for the first year, which the province has met or made great progress towards meeting.
“This is a fundamental rethinking of what we do and how we do it,” Maguire told a news conference in Halifax. “We’re overhauling the system to not only right a historic wrong, but to build a system that supports Nova Scotians with disabilities to build the lives they choose, in the communities they choose.”
The Minister said, among other things, 304 people with disabilities have been added to the Independent Living Programme and a further 144 have been moved from institutions to community housing with the support of a new Transition Programme.
Rebak praised the moves.
“They’ve done a good job in that regard,” she said. “For someone who’s no longer in an institutional environment, it’s a win.”
Meanwhile, the government has introduced a new Disability Support Payment to provide an extra $300 a month to people on income support.
The minister also said waiting lists for Nova Scotians seeking access to government programs have fallen by 13.3 per cent over the past year.
To keep up with the changes, Maguire’s department has added 120 full-time staff to support the work being done.
“We understand the urgency and we’re moving quickly,” Maguire said, “but it’s going to take time to get to everyone… It’s a lot to do in five years, but we have to do this.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 3, 2024.