N.S. housing wait also long for poor without disabilities, witness testifies
Many Nova Scotians wait years for subsidized housing, a shortcoming the province raised Tuesday as a defence against allegations it has consistently failed to find suitable homes for people with disabilities.
Neil MacDonald, a manager at Housing Nova Scotia, told a human rights inquiry that 3,400 families and seniors are on public housing wait lists, and the average wait approaches three years for some housing programs.
“Depending on what your needs are, you may need to wait a long time to get into a particular community,’’ he said.
The civil servant testified as the province defends itself against a complaint that it has discriminated against people with intellectual disabilities by keeping them in hospital-like, institutional settings.
The government argues that low-income housing programs also have limits and waiting lists, and called MacDonald to the stand as part of their case.
He said while applicants do eventually get into homes in their community, they may not be offered their first choice of building or unit.
Still, he noted that in recent years the province has been making a concerted effort to reduce the wait list for public housing, and to add to its stock of about 27,000 public housing units and 2,700 hbuildings.
Two patients, Beth MacLean and Joseph Delaney, have alleged the Department of Community Services violated the Human Rights Act by forcing them to remain at the Emerald Hall psychiatric ward in Halifax for over a decade, even though they had been medically discharged.
The human rights complaint, laid in 2014, argued they should have been provided housing in a “small options’’ home after psychiatrists medically discharged them.
Small-options homes are small housing units, usually with three or four residents, where day-to-day support is provided to people with intellectual disabilities to allow them to live in their community.
The province’s lawyers argue that while the province supports the principle of community-based care, it’s not a human right as defined in the legislation.
The complainants’ lawyer, Vince Calderhead, argues Nova Scotians on income assistance have superior access to social services and housing of their choice than people with intellectual disabilities receiving assistance under the same legislation.
As of February, there were 1,500 people with disabilities either awaiting some form of support from the Department of Community Services, or awaiting a transfer to a different housing option or location, according to the department.