Human rights board finds Nova Scotia discriminated against wheelchair users
HALIFAX — The Nova Scotia government discriminated against people in wheelchairs by failing to enforce a regulation requiring restaurants to have accessible bathrooms, a human rights board of inquiry has found.
The independent board of inquiry said in a decision released late Thursday that the province did not regulate food safety provisions related to having accessible washrooms in restaurants with patios.
As a result, chairwoman Gail Gatchalian ordered the province to interpret, administer and enforce the regulations as they appear.
“The respondent discriminated against individuals who use wheelchairs for mobility in its administration and enforcement … of the Food Safety Regulations contrary to … the Human Rights Act,” she wrote in the decision, released through the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission.