NDP MPP Wayne Gates is demanding answers after new reporting found nearly 300 seniors were forced to move to an LTC home
News from the Constituency Office of Niagara Falls NDP MPP Wayne Gates
Niagara Falls NDP MPP Wayne Gates on his feet in the Ontario legislature
QUEEN’S PARK – NDP MPP Wayne Gates (Niagara Falls), Official Opposition critic for Long-Term Care (LTC), is demanding answers after new reporting found nearly 300 seniors were forced to move to an LTC home not of their choosing (https://globalnews.ca/news/10373166/nearly-300-ontario-patients-moved-to-ltc-homes/) because of Ford’s Bill 7.
“I am calling on this government to repeal Bill 7 (which allows the government to move seniors in long-term care long distances from family members without their consent), apologize to these 300 families, and finally show seniors some respect,” said Gates.
“Sending nearly 300 seniors to Long-Term care homes that they didn’t choose – which might be far away from their friends and families – it’s absolutely unacceptable.”
In 2022, Ford rammed through Bill 7 without public hearings, despite widespread outrage (https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/ontario-seniors-to-pay-400-day-to-stay-in-hospital-instead-of-moving-to-ltc-1.6068385) and a lawsuit (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-nursing-home-charter-1.6809097) . Under the bill, seniors can be sent to long-term care facilities up to 150 kilometers away from their homes without their consent – or be charged $400 a day if they refuse.
“This government has shown a long pattern of disrespect to our seniors”, said Gates. “They rammed through Bill 7 without consultation, they refused to treat the workers who care for our seniors with respect, and they’re giving away license extensions to the worst bad actors during COVID-19. Our seniors deserve respect and dignity, and I won’t stop fighting for them.”
Background
* In 2023 Ombudsman report (https://www.ombudsman.on.ca/resources/reports,-cases-and-submissions/reports-on-investigations/2023/lessons-for-the-long-term) revealed that Ford allowed the LTC sector to collapse during the COVID-19 pandemic, wherein thousands of seniors lost their lives in LTC
* Ford has had a similarly bad track record at holding bad actors in LTC to account. In 2020, he passed Bill 218 (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/bill-128-france-gelinas-long-term-care-1.5799382) , which protected bad actors in LTC from liability
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