[nagdu] Progress in British Columbia

[Dudley Hanks]

It appears that there is some desire on the part of the British Columbia
government to rework its service dog bill.

Let's hope the final draft is better than the original.

Cheers,
Dudley, with Michener


From: PSSG CPPO SG:EX [mailto:PSSG-CPPO at gov.bc.ca] 
Sent: April-09-15 7:19 PM
To: 'dhanks at nothingnotpossible.com'
Cc: OfficeofthePremier, Office PREM:EX; Minister, JAG JAG:EX;
'william.thornton at bcguidedog.com'
Subject: Your emails to Premier Christy Clark, the Honourable Suzanne Anton,
and Toby Louie

Mr. Dudley Hanks
Email:  dhanks at nothingnotpossible.com

Dear Mr. Hanks:

I am responding to your March 24 and 31 emails to Premier Christy Clark,
your March 17 and 18 emails to the Honourable Suzanne Anton, Attorney
General and Minister of Justice, and your March 24 email to myself regarding
the proposed Guide Dog and Service Dog Act (GDSDA).

The GDSDA intends to safeguard public access for individuals who rely on
guide dogs or service dogs, while ensuring clarity and safety for other
members of the public and businesses.  It proposes to provide an option for
certification, through which certified teams would be issued standard
identification cards.  This will provide a consistent, simple way to verify
that a dog is certified and as such, that it meets a high standard of
behaviour.  This, in turn, is intended to reduce misunderstandings and
delays in certified teams enjoying full use of restaurants, hotels, buses,
and other publicly-accessible facilities.

If the GDSDA is passed, certification will be an option as it currently is
under the Guide Animal Act, not a requirement.  Rights granted under the
Human Rights Code would not be altered in any way by the proposed GDSDA.

The maximum penalties for denying access or tenancy to a certified team are
proposed to be increased to $3,000 upon conviction, and there would also be
an option to issue violation tickets.  A new offence of falsely purporting
to be a certified team has also been added, in order to convey the
seriousness of egregious, fraudulent use.  Additionally, a regulation
proposed under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act will make it an
offence to interfere with or harm a certified guide dog or service dog.

If you will be travelling to British Columbia and would like to request a
certificate for your guide dog, please contact the Security Programs
Division of the Ministry of Justice at SGSPDSEC at gov.bc.ca.

Thank you for writing.

Sincerely,

Toby Louie
Executive Director
Corporate Policy and Planning Office
Ministry of Justice

508335

pc:       Premier Christy Clark
            The Honourable Suzanne Anton
            Mr. William Thornton