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Two P.E.I. residents who have been denied access to disability payments because their mental illnesses do not qualify under P.E.I.’s support program have filed a proposed class action lawsuit against the Prince Edward Island government.
Laura King and Nathan Dawson have filed a statement of claim in the Supreme Court of P.E.I. claiming the P.E.I. government has breached the Charter of Rights and Freedoms by denying disability support benefits to individuals with mental illness.
They want the province to change its policy and allow Islanders with mental disabilities access to disability support payments. They are also asking a judge to certify their proceeding as a class action suit.
Earlier this year, the P.E.I. Human Rights Commission delivered a 45-page decision stating the disability support program's exclusion of mental illness was discriminatory. This decision was in response to a complaint filed by King’s mother, Millie King, on behalf of her daughter Laura, who has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.
The province has since filed for a judicial review of this decision.
But King and Dawson are not waiting for that legal proceeding to unfold. Their lawyer, Mike Dull of Valant Legal in Halifax, says his clients are confident a judge will uphold the Human Rights Commission’s findings and, in the meantime, they want to fight for a change to P.E.I.’s policy.
“Laura and Nathan have sort of banded together to seek justice on behalf of all others in P.E.I. who suffer with similar afflictions and yet are left to their own devices to deal with it,” Dull said.
“It needs to be noted that P.E.I. is the only province that, according to the Human Rights Comission, arbitarily excludes people with mental disabilities from disability supports.”
Dull says so far 30 inidviduals have expressed interest in joining as class members of this lawsuit.
P.E.I. does not have class action legislation, so this proceeding will proceed by way of common law, but this still requires the court’s endorsement of a class action.
If province contests this case being certified as a class action, Dull says he believes it will be the first hearing of its kind in P.E.I.
The Island’s disability support program has an annual budget of about $13 million and serves roughly 1,300 clients a year.
It was created to supplement other supports available to people with disabilities.
In its decision delivered in March, the Human Rights Commission panel said the provincial government did not show there was a reasonable explanation for the exclusion of people with mental illness or that inclusion wasn't possible without undue hardship.
The panel ordered the disability support program to stop excluding people with mental illness.
Premier Wade MacLauchlan has defended the fact his government is now seeking a judicial review, saying it is necessary to determine whether this quasi-judicial body has the right to dictate government policy.
“In this case it is really to clarify,” MacLauchlan said May 5 in the P.E.I. legislature.
“It’s an important precedent involved in this case when you have the Human Rights Commission, in effect, overturning government policy. It’s very important to know and to clarify exactly what the implications are of that precedent.”
Neither King nor Dawson are agreeing to do media interviews at this time. Their statement of claim says they are seeking “compensatory damages” deemed appropriate by the court.
The province has not yet filed defence in court.
Two P.E.I. residents who have been denied access to disability payments because their mental illnesses do not qualify under P.E.I.’s support program have filed a proposed class action lawsuit against the Prince Edward Island government.
Laura King and Nathan Dawson have filed a statement of claim in the Supreme Court of P.E.I. claiming the P.E.I. government has breached the Charter of Rights and Freedoms by denying disability support benefits to individuals with mental illness.
They want the province to change its policy and allow Islanders with mental disabilities access to disability support payments. They are also asking a judge to certify their proceeding as a class action suit.
Earlier this year, the P.E.I. Human Rights Commission delivered a 45-page decision stating the disability support program's exclusion of mental illness was discriminatory. This decision was in response to a complaint filed by King’s mother, Millie King, on behalf of her daughter Laura, who has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.
The province has since filed for a judicial review of this decision.
But King and Dawson are not waiting for that legal proceeding to unfold. Their lawyer, Mike Dull of Valant Legal in Halifax, says his clients are confident a judge will uphold the Human Rights Commission’s findings and, in the meantime, they want to fight for a change to P.E.I.’s policy.
“Laura and Nathan have sort of banded together to seek justice on behalf of all others in P.E.I. who suffer with similar afflictions and yet are left to their own devices to deal with it,” Dull said.
“It needs to be noted that P.E.I. is the only province that, according to the Human Rights Comission, arbitarily excludes people with mental disabilities from disability supports.”
Dull says so far 30 inidviduals have expressed interest in joining as class members of this lawsuit.
P.E.I. does not have class action legislation, so this proceeding will proceed by way of common law, but this still requires the court’s endorsement of a class action.
If province contests this case being certified as a class action, Dull says he believes it will be the first hearing of its kind in P.E.I.
The Island’s disability support program has an annual budget of about $13 million and serves roughly 1,300 clients a year.
It was created to supplement other supports available to people with disabilities.
In its decision delivered in March, the Human Rights Commission panel said the provincial government did not show there was a reasonable explanation for the exclusion of people with mental illness or that inclusion wasn't possible without undue hardship.
The panel ordered the disability support program to stop excluding people with mental illness.
Premier Wade MacLauchlan has defended the fact his government is now seeking a judicial review, saying it is necessary to determine whether this quasi-judicial body has the right to dictate government policy.
“In this case it is really to clarify,” MacLauchlan said May 5 in the P.E.I. legislature.
“It’s an important precedent involved in this case when you have the Human Rights Commission, in effect, overturning government policy. It’s very important to know and to clarify exactly what the implications are of that precedent.”
Neither King nor Dawson are agreeing to do media interviews at this time. Their statement of claim says they are seeking “compensatory damages” deemed appropriate by the court.
The province has not yet filed defence in court.
