CUPE and the North Bay and District Labour Council are calling on Nipissing’s MPP to support second reading of Bill 33 tomorrow (Thursday), something MPP Vic Fedeli says he will be doing.

“My caucus and I will be supporting Bill 33. We are standing up for seniors and support better care,” he says in a statement to our newsroom.

CUPE and the Labour Council say the Time to Care Act was introduced to mandate a four hour daily care standard for residents of long term care homes.

They say without a legislated, minimum standard many nursing home residents spend long hours alone, waiting for basic needs to be met.

Labour Council President Henri Giroux and CUPE National Northern Ontario Vice President Amanda Farrow-Giroux are visiting Fedeli’s office this afternoon.

“We can improve the quality of life and care for the more than 77,000 nursing home residents, province-wide,” says Farrow-Giroux.

“The time is now. Resident’s in Long-Term Care Facilities can’t wait any longer. Our seniors deserve to live with dignity and respect. Currently, Ontario residents in long term care receive less direct, hands on care from nursing and support staff than any other province. The result of provincial underfunding is, that there isn’t enough staff to provide residents with the care time they need each day to live with dignity in Ontario nursing homes”, says Giroux.

On top of supporting Bill 33, Fedeli adds the PC Caucus is going a step further.

“Given the magnitude of the shortfalls in long-term care under the Liberals, we introduced legislation last spring at Queen’s Park to call for guaranteed funding of long-term care because we believe the government isn’t keeping up with the growing needs of seniors. MPP Bill Walker’s Bill 110 would guarantee that funding for seniors in long-term care is indexed to CPI every year and never falls below inflation. Guaranteed funding would ensure seniors get better care, better oversight and better protection,” Fedeli says.

(File photo)