For
Immediate Release
January 27, 2006
Carleton Place, Ontario
– Norm Sterling is relieved that yesterday’s Ontario Superior Court of
Justice ruling offers families of Rideau Regional Centre (R.R.C.) residents a
process to appeal Ministry decisions regarding where residents will be moved to
as a result of the McGuinty government’s cruel decision to close the centre.
“Since September 9, 2004,
Community and Social Services Minister Sandra Pupatello has shown a callous
disregard for the residents of R.R.C., the employees of R.R.C. and the community
of Smiths Falls,” said Sterling, MPP for Lanark-Carleton.
At that time Minister Pupatello
announced that R.R.C. would be closed by 2009 without any prior consultation
with the residents, families or community and without concrete plans to help
either the residents or the community deal with the closure.
The closure means that 430 vulnerable and very needy residents will be
moved out over the next three years. It
also means that the 840 dedicated staff will be out of a job and that the
community of Smiths Falls will lose $35 million in annual payroll.
Yesterday’s court decision
requires residents or their family members or guardians to consent to the
facility the resident will be moved to and directs that, in cases where the
resident or their representative does not agree to the Ministry’s plan, the
decision will be made by the Ontario Superior Court.
“Until that decision the
Minister held the hammer – and she has clearly demonstrated to my community
that she is willing to use it,” said Sterling.
“The court has rightly taken the decision out of her hands.”
Prior to the court decision, Minister Pupatello had offered no
arbitration process to determine if the alternative accommodation and care met
the needs of the transferring resident.
“My constituents don’t
trust this Minister to make the right decision,” said Sterling.
“Residents and their families will get more reasoned and compassionate
decisions from the courts.”
Sterling also committed to
pushing for compensation for the legal costs of any family who chooses to go to
court when the matter of a resident’s future care cannot be resolved with the
Ministry.
“The McGuinty government has
also promised assistance to the community of Smiths Falls for the huge economic
loss and I will work with Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister John Gerretsen
to ensure this happens,” said Sterling. “I
expect the government to offer alternative opportunities to the very dedicated
and long-serving employees of R.R.C.”
-30-
For more information, please call Lanark-Carleton MPP Norm Sterling at: (613) 253-1171