The catch-22 of group home bylaws

Bert Gockel wants nothing more than to live quietly in the tranquil rural community of Springfield, Man. But the community won't let him. He's not an axe-murderer or a pedophile, though some would say he's being treated like one. He is being excluded from Springfield because he is an intellectually disabled person who needs special care. New Directions, a Winnipeg-based social service agency, is seeking to house him and one or two other people with similar disabilities in a "shift-staffed home" where they will receive the 24-hour care they need to carry on their everyday lives.

But local residents don't want them in their neighbourhood and the local council is denying the agency planning permission. The agency has responded by taking the municipality to court, claiming before The Court of Queen's Bench that the local zoning bylaw, or the way that the municipality is interpreting it, has "a discriminatory impact on persons with disabilities" and is inconsistent with the Charter of Rights.