08 Jun Officials defend a Stubborn omission of accessible washrooms

The Stubborn Goat’s controversial new pub on the Halifax waterfront will operate on provincially owned land without an accessible washroom, in violation of the Nova Scotia Building Code and several other statutes.

And that’s just fine, said Waterfront Development Corporation (WDC) spokeswoman Kelly Rose in a terse, one-sentence email:

The accessible washroom is located next door at the Visitor Information Centre and meets the requirements for the seasonal Stubborn Goat location.

Tourism Nova Scotia’s Visitor Information Centre is not “next door.” It’s 225 feet away, across a boat slip and beyond the next wharf, along a boardwalk often jammed with people.

In distance and inconvenience, asking customers in wheelchairs to use the Visitors Centre washroom is comparable to, say, the Economy Shoe Shop asking patrons to go out the front door, go to the end of the block on Argyle, turn onto Prince, wheel to the middle of the block, and use the washroom at the Press Gang.

The barrier-free design requirements of the Nova Scotia Building Code stipulate that, “toilet rooms for the public should… be conveniently located and accessible to patrons during all hours of operation.” It makes no exception for seasonal operations, and it doesn’t say you can send customers to another organization’s building somewhere on the next block.

The WDC requests for proposals from prospective pub operators, detailed results of which remain secret, did not include a requirement for barrier-free washrooms.

In a telephone interview, Stubborn Goat co-owner Geir Simensen vigorously defended the waterfront pub’s accessibility. He said bar staff will have a key to the Visitor Centre washroom so pub patrons can use it during hours when the centre is closed.

“It’s a government-run washroom facility with air conditioning, proper lighting, and a proper cleaning schedule,” he said. “We certainly don’t think it was a less than an acceptable effort.”

Simensen pointed out that the bar has added a ramp to make part of its serving area accessible, a building code requirement that went unmet when the Stillwell bar initiated the waterfront pub concept last year.

He said the Stubborn Goat’s owners asked if they could use “the same arrangements that were in place last year,” and the request was approved by “all the appropriate authorities.” However, Laura MacDonald, a co-owner of Stillwell, said in an email that the bar had three portable washrooms on site last year, one of which was accessible.

MacDonald added, “I don’t believe that the waterfront location requires an accessible toilet because it’s on provincial land, and therefore not subject to municipal inspectors who would require them.”

Determining who, if anyone, is responsible for enforcing building code requirements on WDC land has proven an elusive quest. The provincial government normally delegates responsibility for building code enforcement to municipalities. However, an HRM spokesperson initially confirmed MacDonald’s view that the municipality lacks authority to issue building permits or inspect construction on property owned by provincial Crown corporations like WDC.

WDC has not replied to questions about who has authority to inspect buildings on its properties. However, after several inquiries, a spokesperson for Nova Scotia Environment and another for the Department of Municipal Affairs insisted Halifax does have regulatory responsibility and authority under the Building Code Act and the Building Access Act. A Halifax spokesperson said the municipality would review this response from the province.

Restaurant washrooms are also covered by the Nova Scotia Food Safety Regulations, which require bars and restaurants to have public washroom facilities “available in a convenient location” and “constructed, equipped, and designed in accordance with the Nova Scotia Building Code.”

The Nova Scotia Environment spokesperson said in an email, “the Stubborn Goat is in compliance with provincial food safety regulations,” a statement that is preposterous on its face but accurately reflects the refusal of Environment Minister Margaret Miller and Chief Medical Officer of Health Robert Strang to enforce the law with respect to disabled persons. Their dereliction will be the subject of a subsequent post.

Access to restaurant washrooms is particularly critical for users of manual wheelchairs because their wheels come into contact with whatever may be lying on city streets and boardwalks, and this material is easily conveyed to their hands. The Department of Health and Strang have stressed the importance of hand hygiene in interviews, statements, and publications too numerous to list here.

The Nova Scotia Human Right Act prohibits discrimination in the provision of, or access to, services or facilities based on physical disability. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, guarantees every individual, “the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination and, in particular, without discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability.” WDC, Environment Nova Scotia, the Department of Municipal Affairs, and the operators of the Stubborn Goat all remain unmoved.

The common thread in the failure to provide an accessible washroom at the Stubborn Goat’s waterfront gastropub is the ingrained habit of officials at all levels to ignore the many laws requiring them to enforce accessibility, and to retreat when challenged into narrow technicalities—the logic of which they passive-aggressively refuse to spell out.