FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January
26, 2006
Court ruling on
regional centres holds Pupatello’s feet to the fire
SMITHS FALLS – A court ruling
handed down today will force the Ontario government to fund
top-quality community care for people with developmental
disabilities before it can move them out of Ontario’s regional
centres, their caregivers say.
Superior Court Justice Charles
Hackland said that the 1,000 residents at the three remaining
regional centres cannot be moved from those facilities without
their consent or the consent of their legal guardians.
“Right now, the services just
aren’t there to put another 1,000 people with severe
disabilities into the community,” said Eileen Whitmore,
president of Local 436 of the Ontario Public Service Employees
Union at Rideau Regional Centre in Smiths Falls. “This ruling
gives our residents and their families the power to force
(Community and Social Services Minister) Sandra Pupatello to
pay for the high level of care they need.”
OPSEU local presidents at
Huronia Regional Centre in Orillia and Southwestern Regional
Centre in Blenheim agreed.
“I think it’s a great victory
for the clients we serve, but now the Minister has to step up
the plate and start providing adequate funding to community
services,” said Liz Daubney, president of OPSEU Local 323 at
Huronia.
“Now the Minister has to put
her money where her mouth is,” said Rose Clark, president of
OPSEU Local 126 at Southwestern.
The union expressed
disappointment that the court did not rule that the three
facilities should remain open. All three are set to close by
2009.
“The government talks about
moving people into homes in the community, but what they never
seem to realize is that, to our residents, the regional
centres are their homes and communities,” said Whitmore.
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For more information:
Eileen Whitmore, (613)
283-4834, (613) 285-6622, Rideau Regional Centre
Liz Daubney, (705) 326-7361 ext. 2402, Huronia Regional
Centre
Rose Clark, (519) 676-5431 ext. 2368, Southwestern Regional
Centre
