Watson Lake's former MLA, Don Taylor, says he is banned from the town's only grocery store as well as the local pharmacy and medical clinic, and the Yukon Human Rights Commission has yet to respond to complaints he filed last July.

"I feel strongly that by its very nature, this issue is extremely important ... you or other folks down the street could be the next to be involved, with absolutely no recourse,” Taylor writes in an e-mail to the Star, along with copies of his two unanswered grievances and a third letter to the commission, dated Oct. 22, 2010, requesting "the courtesy of an acknowledgment.”

Taylor, who turned 77 last month, maintains that on March 23, 2010, he was shopping at Watson Lake Foods when he was instructed by the store's owner, Pat Irvin, to leave and never return.

The pair had a previous beef after an e-mail Taylor wrote implicating Irvin in illegal activity – something Irvin strongly denied – was widely circulated.

"When I politely asked why (I had to leave), Mr. Irvin responded that I was just too argumentative,” reads Taylor's version of events in his July 1 letter to the commission.

Taylor's letter concludes his basic rights have been violated and that Irvin should be cited under the territory's Human Rights Act for discrimination, by denying Taylor access to basic goods and services.

The Watson Lake senior also cites the act's "bill of rights” freedom of expression clause.

And it was one of Taylor's bouts of expression – the incriminating e-mail – that caused Irvin to sue the former House speaker for defamation last February.

The matter was settled out of court, said Taylor, adding he "simply could not afford to fight (it), so paid a thousand bucks and published their composed apology.”

And since that day he said he was booted from Watson Lake Foods, Taylor now makes a fortnightly 1,000-km round-trip to Whitehorse to buy groceries.

From Irvin's perspective, "the whole thing is silliness,” and the grocer insists Taylor is welcome to shop at Watson Lake Foods anytime, with one caveat.

"I told him not to come in and discuss his issues at the coffee shop (in the store) but he's welcome to buy butter anytime he wants,” Irvin told the Star.

"There's no problem with him shopping at Watson Lake Foods. I don't want him to discuss politics at the coffee (shop) ... he gets everyone all worked up, and it's just not a pleasant environment when he's there.”

Taylor's complaint to the human rights commission makes no mention of Irvin's coffee talk muzzle, but objects to Irvin's alleged discrimination against Taylor by refusing to offer services, prohibited in the Yukon Human Rights Act.

In Taylor's second complaint to the commission, dated July 2, 2010, he alleges that Parhelion Medical Services owner Dr. Said Secerbegovic has refused to serve Taylor at the clinic, or sell him prescription drugs there since November 2009.

As with Irvin, Taylor has been a vocal critic of Parhelion's prices, Secerbegovic's political affiliations, and "the preponderance of prescription drugs in Watson Lake” – the opening sentence of an August 2010 e-mail to several Yukon reporters and politicos.

Unlike Irvin's reaction when asked about his relationship with Taylor, Secerbegovic's gripe and his refusal to see Taylor at Parhelion is real, and not a misunderstanding.

"If somebody slanders me, what choice do I have?” Secerbegovic said when contacted by the Star. "I looked after the man for 34 years, and I just can no longer do it ... it would be unhealthy for me.”

Secerbegovic went on to say that he would see Taylor at the Watson Lake cottage hospital in the presence of a nurse and that pharmaceuticals could be purchased at the hospital as well.

"That's all there really is to say about it; he's got complete access to medical care (at the Watson Lake cottage hospital),” the Watson Lake doctor told the Star.

In a related story, Secerbegovic has launched a defamation suit of his own, against The Yukon New, for a 2004 editorial the doctor claims implied he was over-prescribing drugs in Watson Lake.

And as the lawsuit, filed more than five years ago, languishes in the courts, Irvin and Secerbegovic remain targets of Taylor's political writing on his blog, www.yukonadvocate.com.

Coupled with waiting for a response from the human rights commission, Taylor is also expecting preliminary results for cancer tests from his new physician in Whitehorse ­– another 1,000-km round trip for appointments.

Asked about the commission's delay in getting back to Taylor's complaints, Heather MacFadgen, the commission's executive director, said the reply target is "30 days, and we don't always make that. It depends on our workload and staffing situation.”

The commission, said MacFadgen, typically deals with 30 to 40 complaints annually, has been short one staff member for more than six months and was refused funding to hire a replacement.

MacFadgen could not speak to individual cases but noted delays can also manifest over jurisdictional matters.

The Yukon Human Rights Commission was established in 1987.

Taylor was first elected to the old territorial council in 1961, and served on that council and in its successor, the legislative assembly, until 1985.

He served as the Speaker for part of that time.