N.S. failing people with disabilities

It was disheartening to read, less than 10 days after the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (Dec. 3), that once again Nova Scotia seems to lack any understanding of its obligations as a government with respect to the rights of persons with disabilities.

As a member of Canada’s delegation to the United Nations to negotiate the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the first international human rights document in the new millennium, I was disturbed to read about an 18-month-old child being placed into permanent care of the province after having been taken from, by all accounts, her loving mother, who happens to have an intellectual disability.

The purpose of this letter is not to try and second-guess Judge Forgeron’s decision but rather to raise the possibility that relevant evidence may not have been before her, or that other considerations have been ignored or overlooked by government officials, both equally disturbing.

When the Convention was completed, our “fair” province was the first to give the nod of approval to then minister of foreign affairs Peter Mackay for Canada to become a signatory. Yet here we are, 10 years since Canada ratified the Convention, with Nova Scotia once again seeming to have failed to live up to its obligations under international human rights law.

In a court decision reported by The Chronicle Herald (“Toddler placed in permanent care,” Dec. 12), the judge’s findings are cited: “Although the mother genuinely loves her daughter, as a result of circumstances beyond her control, she is unable to parent safely. The mother is herself a vulnerable person. Further, the mother has no viable support options. Given these facts, I have no choice but to place the child in the permanent care of the minister.”

“No viable support options.” To be clear: the Convention guarantees the right of individuals with disabilities to live in the community with supports and services. Equally, a person who has a disability has the right to choose to be a parent and, in doing so, to be provided with the necessary supports and services to enable them to exercise that right. Importantly, the Convention also obliges governments not to separate a child from their parent on the basis of disability of either the child or their parent.

One has to wonder. Does the woman herself have the appropriate supports and services as a vulnerable person? What steps did the province take to provide the mother with the supports and services necessary to enable her to parent? Did the province provide evidence to the judge about their efforts to put together a plan of supports and services taking into account the exceptional needs of the child as a result of the challenges she faces as the product of incest? Or was the mother forced to prepare her own parenting plan for court without support?

The Chronicle Herald’s Chris Lambie reports there has been some justice (“Halifax judge to sentence man who impregnated his own daughter,” Dec. 16). The father of the mother will be sentenced in the new year for incest. It appears that the only option the provincial government explored was for the father/grandfather to become the principal caregiver in his home for both of his offspring, and when that fell apart, government seemed to have looked no further. And as a result of the government’s application for permanent custody resulting in the child being placed in foster care, the mother is not able to have any visitation rights. In my opinion, both the original plan and the outcome fail any test of decency or, in any way, comply with the Convention.

So many questions that would benefit from answers. I suspect the government did not give Judge Forgeron the opportunity to consider these questions and get answers. I’m curious to know if anyone raised the mother and her daughter’s rights under the Convention.

Is it possible that, in the province first to give a thumbs up to Canada signing the Convention, a woman with a disability can lose her daughter because officials have failed to provide her with the necessary supports and services as an individual and as a mother?

Dulcie Mccallum is a human rights lawyer currently in the master of fine arts creative nonfiction program at the University of King’s College, working on a memoir of stories about her legal work with people who have an intellectual disability. She lives in St. Mary’s Municipality and HRM.