A northwestern Ontario MPP is proposing a Bill of Rights for individuals who live in homes operated by government-funded agencies.
Thunder Bay-Superior North’s Lise Vaugeois says it would protect them from being removed without reason or notice.
The proposal would give residents the right to receive family members and support persons in their home, protect them from arbitrary and improper evictions, access to complaint and review processes and accommodation requests related to intimate care wherever possible.
“And it’s very important because it is demanding that the government demand that the institutions it funds respect the rights of the people who live in those institutions,” says Vaugeois.
“These are our group homes for people with disabilities, and that they respect the need of people living there to have connections with their family members without any restrictions.”
Vaugeois’s proposal stems from an incident where an individual needing 24/7 care was removed from a group home without notice.
He returned after a 4-year battle through the courts.
Maria Sardelis, founder of Access to Seniors and Disabled, supports the proposed bill.
She says existing laws are not providing enough protection.
“In Ontario, good laws that are protecting our disabled persons are either haphazardly enforced or not enforced at all, resulting in vulnerable persons being victims of abuse,” says Sardelis.
Vaugeois says she spoke to the Minister of Children, Community and Social Services, Michael Parsa, about her bill, and hopes the government will give it support when it is debated further in the Legislature.
