The ultimate human right is one that you make up for yourself. That’s what an Ottawa woman, Pamela Howson, seems to have discovered. And now she claims that human right has been violated by the City of Ottawa.
Ms. Howson asked the city to allow her to build a parking pad on her front yard because, she claimed, her driveway was not wide enough for her to get to her parking spot behind her house, according to a report in the Ottawa Citizen. City officials, however, told her to apply to the committee of adjustment, a panel set up to consider variations to zoning rules.
A former investigator with the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal—or Commission, I’m not sure which—Ms. Howson, apparently, decided her family’s need to park in front of her house constituted special circumstances. And, after she had concluded that going to the committee of adjustment would be an “expensive and time-consuming process,” she took her case before the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario.
Ms. Howson argued at the Tribunal’s hearing on Monday that the city had discriminated against her by not letting her build the parking pad. According to the report in the Ottawa Citizen, Ms. Howson “complained that city officials ‘refused to engage’ with her human rights complaint. At the very least, she said, the city should have acknowledged the issue and supported her application before the committee of adjustment.”
Isn’t this just about the silliest use of government resources you can imagine? Consider that this person was once considered competent enough to work for the Ontario government. Consider also that the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario agreed to hear this case. What an outlandish waste of money.
And I thought Alice lived in a cocked-up world.
Maybe there should be property rights in Canada then .....
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ReplyDeleteI've removed the comment by Anonymous Mar 7, 2012 12:38 PM because I believe it is morally dishonest to make unsubstantiated claims about a named individual, former Toronto mayor Barbara Hall, while claiming anonymity for oneself.
DeleteI have said this before my human right is not to have to share the the road with someone who cannot drive her car down an ally with 6in clearance either side.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you should have shown the pic in the Ottawa Citizen.
admotto. yes, property rights would be good. they are absent from our so called constitution. who cares if the woman puts in a pad to park her car on on her own property.
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