GROUP-HOME RESIDENTS NEED COMPASSION

To the editor,

We are very distressed to learn that key recommendations in the Group Homes
Task Force report that was issued last year have been scuttled.

Following the revision of provincial legislation governing the group homes
application process, a licence is no longer required for group homes of
seven to 10 clients recovering from drug and alcohol abuse. A carefully
crafted compromise has been shattered to the detriment of those in the
group home recovering from drug and alcohol addiction.

We suggest that the legal staff for the City of Richmond consult the
Canadian Human Rights Act for guidance on the matter. The act clearly
states that "... all individuals should have the opportunity to make for
themselves the lives that they are able and wish to have without being
hindered in or prevented from doing so by discriminatory practices based on
race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual
orientation, marital status, disability, or conviction for an offence for
which a pardon has been granted."

Disability means "any previous or existing mental or physical disability
and includes disfigurement and previous or existing dependence on alcohol
or a drug."

Moreover, the act clearly states that it is discriminatory to deny, or to
deny access to, any such good, service, facility or accommodation to any
individual.

We note that protests have been mounted against construction of a group
home for the elderly on Arcadia Road in Richmond. Group homes must be
permitted in residential areas of Richmond. They cannot and must not be
relegated to specific zones.

These residents need our compassion and understanding, not alienation from
our community.

Dick and Eleanor Hamilton,

Richmond