[homeles_ot-l] NIMBY FW: Last Frontier of Legal Prejudice - Dream Team Op Ed in The Star

Mon Apr 26 09:35:49 EDT 2010

FYI . . . Lynne Browne

Coordinator, Alliance to End Homelessness (ATEH)

147 Besserer St., 2nd Floor, Ottawa, ON K1N 6A7

Cell 613-513-6647

Office 613-241-7913, ext. 205

www.endhomelessnessottawa.ca <http://www.endhomelessnessottawa.ca/> 

  _____  

From: The Dream Team [mailto:coordinator at thedreamteam.ca] 
Sent: April 24, 2010 4:04 AM
To: Lynne Browne
Subject: Last Frontier of Legal Prejudice - Dream Team Op Ed in The Star

<http://www.thedreamteam.ca/common/ajax/front/components/Newsletter/linktrac
ker.php?nid=20&original=http://license.icopyright.net/user/external.act?publ
ication_id=7212> Toronto Star

April 24, 2010

Last frontier of legal prejudice

By The Dream Team

Attitudes toward people with mental disabilities are based on myths

Until the Supreme Court of Canada abolished the practice in 1951, many
Ontario neighbourhoods were kept exclusively white by a long-standing
tradition known as real estate covenants.

Somebody wishing to buy a house typically had to agree that their property
"shall never be sold, assigned, transferred, leased to, and shall never be
occupied or used by any person of the Jewish, Hebrew, Semitic, Negro or
coloured race or blood, it being the intention to restrict the ownership,
use, occupation and enjoyment to persons of the white or Caucasian race not
excluded by this clause."

Today, although racism and anti-Semitism still exist, most Ontarians find
these forms of bigotry abhorrent and are embarrassed that the law of the
land once permitted them in the interest of "preserving the character" of
local neighbourhoods.

Yet in 2010, there is still one form of prejudice that remains perfectly
legal - zoning bylaws that target people with mental and other disabilities.

Using much the same rationale that racists did three-quarters of a century
ago, such laws are enacted to "preserve the character" of neighbourhoods and
keep undesirable residents out. It is the last frontier of legal
discrimination and society barely raises a fuss.

In February, eight members of the Dream Team
<http://www.thedreamteam.ca/common/ajax/front/components/Newsletter/linktrac
ker.php?nid=20&original=http://www.thedreamteam.ca/news__events?news_id=41_a
mpy_amp;uniqid=1309>  - a collective of Toronto-based psychiatric survivors
who lobby for supportive housing - were the lead applicants in a case filed
by the Human Rights Legal Support Centre
<http://www.thedreamteam.ca/common/ajax/front/components/Newsletter/linktrac
ker.php?nid=20&original=http://www.hrlsc.on.ca/en/index.htm>  against the
municipalities of Toronto, Kitchener, Smiths Falls and Sarnia. The case
targeted restrictive zoning bylaws governing where group homes for people
with disabilities could be located.

In early April, we experienced a major victory when the City of Sarnia
agreed to voluntarily amend its bylaw to remove the restrictive provisions.

In announcing the decision, Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley
<http://www.thedreamteam.ca/common/ajax/front/components/Newsletter/linktrac
ker.php?nid=20&original=http://www.city.sarnia.on.ca/visit.asp?sectionid=617
>  declared, "These antiquated bylaws had to go and we've been working on it
for some time. We moved decisively to remove portions of our bylaws that
placed arbitrary restrictions on group homes - those restrictions had
nothing to do with planning and everything to do with negative stereotypes
about disabled people."

We are deeply gratified by the mayor's statement, his acknowledgment that
the bylaws were discriminatory, and particularly his call for other
municipalities to follow Sarnia's lead.

We have urged Toronto to heed his call and eliminate similar anachronistic
zoning bylaws that still exist from pre-amalgamated municipalities such as
Scarborough and Etobicoke, which require supportive housing units to be
located as far away as 460 metres from other residences or care homes. These
districts also prohibit rooming houses, which often are the only housing
available for low-income people living with mental illness.

The Toronto Housing Charter
<http://www.thedreamteam.ca/common/ajax/front/components/Newsletter/linktrac
ker.php?nid=20&original=http://www.toronto.ca/affordablehousing/hot.htm>
has already committed the city to erasing barriers by declaring: "All
residents should be able to live in their neighbourhood of choice without
discrimination."

Yet we watched with dismay on Thursday when the draft of the long-awaited
amalgamation zoning bylaw was unveiled at city hall and it still failed to
eliminate discriminatory distancing provisions. The politically charged
discussion on city-wide rooming house regulations has now been postponed
until 2011, after the next municipal election.

Since 1999, the Dream Team has battled against stigma and discrimination
while advocating for more safe, secure and affordable supportive housing for
people living with mental illness in Toronto and throughout the province.

We have found that existing NIMBY attitudes toward psychiatric survivors are
based on stereotypes and myths that don't reflect reality. To that end, we
have been working to educate Ontarians about the real facts in order to
eliminate discrimination based on ignorance or fear.

In 2008, we released a study,
<http://www.thedreamteam.ca/common/ajax/front/components/Newsletter/linktrac
ker.php?nid=20&original=http://www.thedreamteam.ca/uploads/File/WeAreNeighbo
ursReport-DreamTeam.pdf> We Are Neighbours, in partnership with the
Wellesley Institute, showing that the existence of supportive housing for
people living with mental illness doesn't increase the crime rate or lower
property values in neighbourhoods where it is located.

On the contrary, the study found that tenants in these buildings contribute
a modest but significant amount to their local economies; contribute to the
vibrancy of their area through their street presence and watchfulness;
contribute to the friendliness among neighbours; and contribute to the
collective efficacy of their neighbourhoods through civic action around
issues such as noise, tidiness and crime.

We are confident that, armed with the facts, most people will view
discrimination against people with mental illness equally as repugnant as
they do bigotry against other groups.

The Dream Team is group of psychiatric consumer/survivors who advocate for
more supportive housing in Ontario for people with mental health issues.

Torstar Syndication Services
<http://www.thedreamteam.ca/common/ajax/front/components/Newsletter/linktrac
ker.php?nid=20&original=http://license.icopyright.net/user/external.act?publ
isher_id=1040> 

Reprinted from Toronto Star, in the "Opinion|Columns" section.

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