People with disabilities and those who serve them are breathing a collective sigh of relief after the province repealed controversial provincial safety standards that should never have been implemented.
Human Services Minister Irfan Sabir accepted a consultation team’s recommendation to nix the PDD Safety Standards Regulation imposed in 2012 after a fatality inquiry into the death of a disabled woman.
The new rules were thrown out because they imposed unrealistic standards on landlords that had the potential to further limit affordable housing options for people with disabilities. People feared they could lose their homes when some landlords said they would not pay for the costly safety equipment like sprinklers. Critics said the changes would have turned private homes into institutions.
The anxiety this caused was unnecessary and could have been avoided had government consulted the public and other stakeholders before drafting the policy.
“The standards were well-meaning they just weren’t thought out…” said Marie Renaud, St. Albert MLA and former executive director of LoSeCa .
The well-meaning part was to protect disabled people. The regulations came after a woman with disabilities died in a fire when she couldn’t get out. The part that was not well thought out was that there was no public or stakeholder consultation before the government policy was drafted.
Renaud fought hard to punt the regulations. She even tried to introduce a private members bill that would force government to engage with stakeholders and the community at large before changes were made in PDD legislation, but it died on the order paper last fall without any debate.
Carmen Horpestad, executive director of LoSeCa, said Friday’s announcement gives her and her clients peace of mind. The rules would have tightened an already limited pool of affordable housing for people with disabilities.
The issue raised the question about government’s role in protecting persons with developmental disabilities. While safety is considered important, critics said the regulations did not respect the dignity and autonomy of persons living with developmental disabilities.
Renaud said these issues must be at the centre of developing new regulations, which are still required to address the recommendations from the fatality inquiry.
Craig Brown, executive director of Transitions, said he is in favour of potential improvements to the system as long as they come about through a consultation process.
He is right. Disabled people and those who serve them must be consulted before new rules affecting their lives are imposed on them.
