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THINGS TO DO THIS WEEKEND FRIDAY MAY 19, 2017
LOCAL NEWS – LOCAL MATTERS
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SEE PAGE 13
HUMAN RIGHTS COMPLAINT
‘Mrs. Claus’ alleges mistreatment City woman says Burnaby Horsemen’s Association failed to accommodate her MS and allowed bullying By Cornelia Naylor
cnaylor@burnabynow.com
A Burnaby woman who has dressed up as Mrs. Claus for Christmas for the last five years and volunteered to give children rides on her miniature horse has launched a human rights complaint against the Burnaby Horsemen’s Association. Cheryl Needes has multiple sclerosis, and her complaint to the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal alleges the association failed to accommodate her disability and allowed her to be bullied by another member who took a video of her having an “emotional meltdown” and then showed it to others to mock her, according to Needes. Visitors to the association’s Christmas With the Horses open houses in recent years will recognize Needes as “Mrs. Claus” and her husband Tom as “Santa.” The couple have been involved in the Burnaby Horsemen’s Association since their daughter first took lessons at its facility at the east end of Burnaby Lake Regional Park 25 years ago. Tom was a board member for five years, and Needes, besides taking occasional lessons, has worked taking care of several horses at the association’s facility. Diagnosed with MS seven years ago, Needes says she is no longer able to ride regular-sized horses because of problems with balance. Her husband got her her first miniature horse, Elvis, about two-and-a-half years ago. “We realized that her condition was going to deteriorate and she wouldn’t be able to adequately exercise a large horse, but the small horse seemed to be within her abilities,” Tom said. “I felt that it would be good for her; it would be some-
HAPPIER TIMES
Burnaby resident Cheryl Needes, with her miniature horse Elvis, dresses up as Mrs. Claus for the Burnaby Horsemen’s Association’s annual Christmas With the Horses open house in December 2014. Needes has launched a human rights complaint against the association, alleging it didn’t accommodate her physical disability – she has MS – and allowed her to be bullied by another member. FILE PHOTO BURNABY NOW
thing she could still do.” The couple decided Elvis would be trained to pull a cart for Needes by the time he was four years old. But Needes said association members told her on multiple occasions she couldn’t work her minis in the indoor riding arena because it disturbed the other horses. She lodged a complaint with the board
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of directors, but the directors did nothing to affirm her rights, according to her human rights complaint. Nor did it step in, according to Needes, when another member named in the human rights complaint allegedly took and shared a video of Needes “having a complete emotional meltdown” last November after the member’s horse escaped from its stall and cornered Needes
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in a stall she was cleaning. The human rights complaint claims that, instead of stepping in, the board came after Needes in December for violating the conditions of her sublease by keeping her two miniature horses in the same stall. Continued on page 9
COFFEE WITH RICHARD! Join me for a last free cup of coffee.
Saturday, May 27 9:00 - 10:30 am Caffe Artigiano 4359 Hastings, Burnaby
Richard T. Lee I look forward to seeing you then!