Appeal court restores finding that P.E.I. discriminates against mentally ill

CHARLOTTETOWN – An appeal court has restored a human rights panel’s finding that the P.E.I. government discriminates against the mentally ill by denying them disability benefits.

The 27-page decision ruled that a judicial review of the case of an Island woman with debilitating paranoid schizophrenia did not assess it properly and applied the wrong standards.

The judicial review had overturned a 2016 human rights panel ruling that found the province discriminated against the mentally ill.

Millie King of Queens County filed the initial complaint on behalf of her daughter, Laura, who has schizophrenia, after being told her condition is not covered by the province’s Disability Supports Program.

The program gives financial assistance to around 1,300 Islanders with disabilities, but people with mental illnesses have not been eligible since the program began about 15 years ago.

Justice David Jenkins of the Prince Edward Island Court of Appeal awarded the Kings $12,000 for court costs.