The Ford government is in the midst of defending itself against a Charter challenge of the "More Beds, Better Care Act" — a controversial law that allows Ontario hospitals to force some elderly patients to pay up if they refuse to move into a long-term care facility.
The legislation also includes powers to transfer certain people to nursing homes outside their home communities: as far as 70 km for hospital patients in southern Ontario and 150 km in northern Ontario.
A pair of public health advocacy groups is leading the Charter challenge, which landed in Ontario Superior Court this week. You can read our coverage from The Trillium HERE and HERE.
Lawyer Steven Shrybman of Goldblatt Partners, who represents one of the two advocacy groups, was a recent guest on Village Media’s Inside the Village podcast. He said he has “never encountered anything that's just so cynical and so cruel in its impact on the most vulnerable people in our community.”
“The government is saying: ‘OK, we’re going to move you whether you want to go or not — and if you don’t consent, we’re going to choose a home for you,” Shrybman said. “You’re not going to be included in the process of selecting a home, and ultimately if you refuse to go to a home that we’ve chosen for you, we will bill you $400 a day for every day you spend in the hospital.”
You can watch our full interview with Shrybman HERE.
Past episodes of the podcast are available on this news site /insidethevillage. If you prefer the audio version, it is available wherever you find your favourite podcasts.
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