For Immediate Release
October 19, 2004

 “Keep Rideau Regional Open”:  Sterling

Lanark-Carleton MPP Norm Sterling demanded in the provincial legislature today that the McGuinty government reverse a decision to shut down the Rideau Regional Centre in Smiths Falls.

“This announcement hit like a bombshell in my riding,” Sterling said at Queen’s Park this afternoon. “The facility’s residents, their families, and staff were shocked to learn that this announcement contained no concrete plan to address the future care of the residents.”

In September, Community and Social Services Minister Sandra Pupatello hastily announced the closure of the Centre after it was reported in her local press that she had said she would expedite the closure of Rideau Regional and other facilities like it in the province.

Sterling said he shares the concerns he is hearing from family members who worry the decision will only serve to lower the quality of life for many of the residents.

“The Minister has clearly put the cart before the horse,” Sterling charged. “She has abdicated her responsibility to the residents of this facility by announcing the closure before she has given any serious thought as to how the province will care for these people in the community. It looks like she’s putting dollars and cents ahead of the needs of those she is responsible for protecting.”

In the legislature, Sterling told MPPs from all three parties that the average age of the residents at the Centre is in the fifties and that most of these people consider the residence home. 

“Let the remaining residents live out the rest of their lives with their life-long friends,” Sterling requested of the government in the legislature. “Don’t separate them from the physical and emotional surroundings which they have relied on for virtually all their lives.”

“I am calling on the Minister to immediately reverse this decision,” he demanded.

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For more information, please call MPP Norm Sterling at: (613) 253-1171