Nova Scotia argues that supported housing for disabled is ‘not a right’
HALIFAX — Nobody has the unfettered right to live in government-assisted housing of their own choosing, a lawyer for the Nova Scotia government told a human rights board of inquiry Monday.
“It is not a right guaranteed by the government,” said Kevin Kindred, the counsel for the Attorney General, during opening arguments in a case advocates say could help people with disabilities move into supported housing in the community.
The inquiry is considering the case of two people seeking to move out of locked-door, hospital-like settings and a third complainant who has died since the case started.
Vince Calderhead, the lawyer for the three complainants, told the inquiry that Nova Scotians with disabilities who are kept in institutions are the “last vestiges of the … county asylum” where impoverished citizens were once housed.