I am writing in response to the Gazette’s April 8, editorial, “Absurd rules put people at risk,” and to your earlier front page article describing some reaction to the province’s safety standards for service providers receiving provincial funding to support people with disabilities.
At the outset, I would like to commend the Gazette for covering the important matter of safety for disabled people living in our community. I would hope the Gazette continues this kind of coverage and perhaps even go more in depth on this important issue.
I can certainly empathize with the general tone of the Gazette editorial decrying the apparent willingness of government to step in and regulate our lives perhaps when it is not necessary. As a small business owner in St. Albert for many years, I have seen my share of government regulation and from time to time have been overburdened by government bureaucracy. In this case, however, as a parent of a disabled adult living in our community, I believe safety trumps the burden of regulation on landlords.
I am also currently serving as president of the Transitions Rehabilitation Association of St. Albert. Transitions has been active for more than 35 years in St. Albert in supporting people with disabilities to live as actively and as independently as possible within our community. Over that time we have helped remove many barriers and worked alone and with others on constructive solutions to support people with disabilities. We take this responsibility very seriously and are extremely passionate about getting things right.
We all get frustrated from time to time with bureaucracy and we are not all going to always agree on a course of action, particularly in such a complex matter as personal safety where one lives. But I can tell you from personal experience and from what I hear from our staff at Transitions that the people we work with in government on this and other matters are just as sincere and just as committed as we are about getting it right. I can also tell you we and other front line service agencies are working cooperatively with government in ironing out the kinks in these standards to improve safety conditions for the people we support while not creating “absurd” rules that make it unreasonable for landlords to rent to the disabled. To facilitate this work, Transitions has received an exemption from the provincial government on the application of these standards. Presumably LoSeCa and other support agencies could also receive such an exemption.
I see from the Gazette’s original news story and its subsequent editorial that it has chosen to limit its fact finding on this issue pretty much to a single source, Ms. Marie Renaud, the executive director of the LoSeCa Foundation. I also see where Ms. Renaud has decided to enter provincial politics as a candidate in St. Albert in the upcoming election. Certainly I applaud her decision to enter public life, we all benefit when capable people put their name forward. However, the recent histrionics concerning these new safety standards including the mock wedding demonstration last week at the legislature cause concern. That kind of approach might advance one’s political agenda but it does nothing to advance the safety needs for people with disabilities. It is entirely inappropriate for the disabled to become a political football in the game of government bashing.
James Dawson, president, Transitions Rehabilitation Association, St. Albert
