QUEEN’S PARK – Sol Mamakwa, NDP Deputy Leader and MPP for Kiiwetinoong, is raising concerns about the harmful impact Bill 7 will have on elders in northern Ontario, many of whom are Indian Residential School survivors.
Bill 7 is Doug Ford’s cruel legislation that forces people waiting in hospital into long-term care homes they don’t want to go to. Mamakwa said it’s wrong for the government to put elders in a position where they have to relive the trauma of forced institutionalization again if they are moved without full consent.
“Bill 7 could impact elders like Garnet Angeconeb, an Indian Residential School survivor who is in hospital as an Alternate Level of Care patient,” said Mamakwa. “He’s being forced to relive his trauma now at the end of his life as he is put at risk of being institutionalized by Bill 7.”
Mamakwa called on the government to cancel its plan to send elders to long-term care homes they don’t want to go to without their consent. Instead, he said the government should be addressing the health care crisis with solutions that improve equity in rural and northern communities.
“Moving elders to long-term care homes they don’t want to go to without their consent is not the answer,” said Mamakwa. “Let’s work on solutions that will deliver better access to care in rural and northern communities — like hiring more health care workers.”