Eyes wide shut

Dear Mayor Norton,

I usually don't stray from Nova Scotia, where there is an almost infinite supply of stories about the indignities visited upon people with disabilities.  St. John's  astoundingly wrongheaded, regressive and just plain stupid decision to end free bus passes for blind passengers needs to be identified for what it is.

• Larceny.  You compel blind residents to pay taxes to build and maintain the roads they cannot use.  
• Oppression.  You deny blind residents the means to get a job, to escape poverty, to become useful citizens.
• Atavism.  This is 2014, a year in the 21st century.  Yours is a policy from a Dickens novel.  
• Hypocrisy.  It is ludicrous to think this tiny concession discriminates against anyone.  You have a lot of nerve to cite the Charter as you persecute blind people.

You'll probably have to resign when the Human Rights decision goes against you. Time to reconsider that legacy thing.  Maybe throw Councillor Reardon under the bus.

Gus Reed

PS for those who want to scold me for not knowing the difference between St. John and St. John's, the decision of the city of St. John is St. John's decision. The decision of the city of St. John's is also St. John's decision.  Read it and weep