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OPSEU delivers important message to Ontario legislature members on Bill 21.
Toronto (26 May 2010) - The Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU/NUPGE) is appealing to Ontario legislature members to make key changes in Bill 21 to avoid turning retirement homes into nursing homes.
Bill 21, an Act to Regulate Retirement Homes – to turn retirement homes into nursing homes, is currently before the legislature.
Addressing a legislative committee recently, Nancy Pridham, OPSEU's Region 5 vice-president, and Joan White, the union's long-term care chair, told MPPs Bill 21 contains serious shortcomings.
They urged MPPs to:
- Avoid using retirement homes as nursing homes. If retirement homes need some beds for Alternative Living Care (ALC) patients, they should dedicate a section of their facility to this function and this portion would be governed under Bill 140, an Act to Regulate Long-term Care Homes.
- Avoid self-regulation. Most retirement homes are operated by large, multinational chains. Self-regulation is an invitation for these corporations to cut costs in order to boost profits.
- Issue licences to individual retirement homes within a chain and not to an entire chain, thus making poorly-operated facilities subject to direct enforcement of regulations.
- Strengthen the bill to address residents’ rights, care and safety and enforcement of regulations.
NUPGE
The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE