Re: our email to all members supporting the group “Advocating Parents of Nova Scotia”

We want our members who provide support to people in institutional settings to know that we recognize the work you do for Nova Scotians’ living with physical and psychological disabilities. We have heard from many members about the safety concerns, level of training and shortage of staff, we have also consistently heard from many members on the positive advantages for Nova Scotian’s who live in the community vs an institutional setting.  The support of the protest was by no way meant to insult you and we apologize if it appears as such.

NSGEU members who are also parents of residents in these institutions had approached us for support. We have been supportive of government’s initiatives to move people out of institutional care and into the community as long as the appropriate supports are in place. The previous government announced this initiative at the end of their term and we have been told it will take a decade to get there.

We as a Union are not advocating for the loss of jobs. We want to support the parents who are advocating for their children to move forward to put community supports in place faster.