Dear Mayor Roy,
As a former resident of Weyburn, I was disgusted and appalled at City Council's rejection of the site for a group home for people with disabilities.
Not only is this an affront to people with disabilities, the decision was based on faulty information more in line with 1950s thinking than 2019 knowledge. At no point in recent history has the location of a group home resulted in a decline in home values, as many studies have proven. Councilor Wheeler is ignorantly misinformed. The residents' remarks regarding safety border on the defamatory. As the mother of an adult with a cognitive disability, I can assure you safety concerns have less to do with fact and more to do with ignorance.
Perhaps Weyburn council is unaware that Canada has ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This includes the right to choose where to live.
I strongly urge Weyburn to work to correct its new image as a backwater, bigoted community and reverse this decision. You risk this image becoming permanent. You are also inviting a lawsuit and a human rights complaint. I will gladly assist in that effort.
My mother's obituary will be appearing in the paper this week. She was a well known Weyburn resident and I am certain she would be as equally ashamed of her city as I am.
Sincerely,
Hope Taylor
