Nova Scotia premier apologizes to people with disabilities for 'historic, systemic discrimination'

Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston has apologized to people in the province with disabilities for years of "historic, systemic discrimination."

The apology was part of a video greeting Houston delivered to a recent conference looking at the future for people with disabilities in Nova Scotia.

"It is how we collectively treat our most vulnerable citizens that defines us as a society," the premier said in the video.

"In particular, vulnerable people rely on their government to level the playing field and we have failed Nova Scotians living with disabilities in this regard. What has happened is deeply shameful. It is wrong. It is not what Nova Scotians stand for and I am sorry."

Houston said that for decades people living with disabilities in the province have not been given the right to choose where they live, who they live with or how they're supported.

"They have long been denied the choice that exists for other Nova Scotians. Their basic human rights have not been honoured, nor respected."

The apology follows a remedy the province agreed to earlier this year as part of a legally binding settlement with the Disability Rights Coalition of Nova Scotia and the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission. That remedy will see more than 400 people with disabilities living in institutional settings moved into communities and eight institutions closed in the next five years.

Stephanie Caver, president of Inclusion Nova Scotia, said hearing the apology was an emotional movement that gave her goosebumps. No one was expecting the apology, she said.

"I think it was absolutely the right thing," she said in an interview.

"It shows real leadership, to be honest, and it really sets a tone for the remedy to the human rights findings and to a future for people with disabilities and their families.

"It's huge."

Carver said the government already had a court order and mandate to fulfill obligations to people with disabilities and their families. Houston's apology "acknowledges out loud" the wrongs done to people with disabilities, she said.

"It's really impactful to hear it out loud. People in the disability community were texting each other and going, 'Oh my gosh, I can't believe that just happened.' It was quite, quite significant."

Houston told reporters at Province House delivering the apology was "the human thing to do."