Announcing the JMcGS penalty

In nearly every small town in the US, you can drive down the main street and find the right proportion of accessible parking spaces, correctly sized and labeled.  Businesses have ramps and wide doorways, curbcuts are smooth and uneventful.

The Americans with Disabilities Act gives people with and without disabilities the right to file lawsuits in Federal court and obtain Federal court orders to stop ADA violations. If you are sued by an individual and you lose the case, you may have to pay the winning party’s attorney’s fees. The ADA does not permit monetary damages to be assessed against you in lawsuits brought by individuals. (Some state and local antidiscrimination laws allow compensatory damages to be assessed against you, but not the ADA.)

This puts the enforcement power in the hands or those affected by violations.  If you have trouble with a curbcut, you can wheel down to City Hall and demand  that the problem be fixed.  Nine times in ten, it's much cheaper to fix the problem than to defend a lawsuit, especially when costs are awarded to the winner.

This has spawned an industry - lawyers making a living suing on behalf of those affected by noncompliance.  They get fees awarded to them.  Some call that a "shakedown".  I call it efficient and just.

Here in Nova Scotia we're unlikely to follow that  example.  It works in the US because of the strong veteran lobby, but we're likely to be subjected to some inspection regime far removed from the courts.

In the two years since Bill 59 (the Accessibility Act) was proclaimed, the government has been busy committing to:

"the things we do now to initiate change across the organization and set the stage for creating a culture of accessibility." 

For Buildings, Infrastructure and Public Spaces this means a promise to

 "Conduct a review of existing occupied spaces to determine accessibility issues and priorities and develop an action plan to achieve accessibility in Government of Nova Scotia owned and leased premises by 2030."

So much stage setting, initiating, reviewing, prioritizing, and developing means that darn little has actually happened.

Every year on June 30th, James McGregor Stewart's birthday,  we award $1000 to an effective advocate for people with disabilities.

This year, on February 11, Stewart's death day, we will issue a $1000 penalty for the best example of a simple solution to a simple problem that has been overlooked by the province.

You can email me your nominations at wcreedh@gmail.com:

1. describe the problem
2. name those responsible
3. describe the simple solution 

This is an exercise in shaming.  We'll see whether anyone actually pays, but there is no reason why things shouldn't be happening now.

We will hold a vote in January.  The tax-deductible winning penalty will go into the award fund.  The simple solution must be in place.

As an example,  the post below has earned Laura Lee Langley and the Executive Council a nomination for a $1000 penalty for not fixing the simple problem with ABC requirements.

Gus Reed