There used to be a 3 room B&B (Bed & Breakfast) on Drummond Street West in Perth called The Cornerstone. Doug McCue, a retired 68 year old Perth man used to run it, since 2003.
But, July 5, 2008 changed all of that, as the Ottawa Citizen reports here. Mr. McCue suffers from acute sinusitis, and is allergic to dogs, so does not allow them on his premises. He even kept hypo-allergenic bedding for his guests in the rooms.
So, on July 5 last year when Nancy Martin came calling, with no reservation and wanted to stay, he told her he could not give her a room, because her blind husband was accompanied by his guide dog.
A quandary for Mr. McCue. In a true free enterprise system, there is no quandary. He would be free to rent his room to whomever he chooses. If I came to rent a room and he didn't like the cut of my jib, he could send me away with my hat in my hand, unless I could find some way to pull a disability discrimination card out of my bag. Here in Trudeaupia, denying a room to a blind man is a No-No. Especially if they have already been shut out once that day, and if they have a pit bull for a lawyer,
Well, Mrs. Martin had been shut out once that day, and she does have a pit bull, the blind, but not deaf and dumb, Terrance Green, who the citizens of Ottawa can thank for the $17 million call out system for the 2 or 3 blind people who take OC Transpo daily, and get off at every stop along the way.
So, her fake right to have her blind husband stay wherever she wants him to trumped Mr, McCue's property rights, and Mr. Green went after him hammer and tong. it was an ugly story, and Mr. Green should be ashamed of himself, but he isn't. It was just business, and after all, he was defending his client's fake rights. Enough already. After free speech is resolved, this cr?p needs to get on the front burner, because this is only the tip of the ice berg.
Bottom line, Mr. McCue is out of the B&B business. The Martin's who are not bad folks donated the $700 he paid them to a charity. The OHRC arbitrated another victory for nobody.
As the article concluded:
The business has been closed. The money has been donated. The Martins never got their room. There was no admission of wrongdoing. And both sides were left physically diminished and disillusioned with the process.
"This is totally unjust," concludes McCue.
The only point, possibly, on which there is complete agreement.
The writer forgot to mention that Barb Hall won. Remember that fake rights of people within certain groups trump other constitutional rights. If remembering that does not make your blood boil, then do nothing. If it does get your goat, then stand up and do something about it.
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