MEDIA ADVISORY Charter Challenge on Bill 7 goes to court Monday

TORONTO, Sept. 19, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Ontario Health Coalition and Advocacy Centre for the Elderly will be holding a press conference regarding their court challenge to Bill 7 that will be argued before the Ontario Superior Court on Monday, September 23 and Tuesday, September 24. The press conference will be held in advance, on Friday September 20 (information below). Bill 7, euphemistically titled the More Beds, Better Care Act (2022), requires hospitals to charge elderly patients who are classified by the hospital as “Alternate Level of Care” $400 per day if they refuse to go to a long-term care home not of their choosing. Patients can be sent up to 70 km away in Southern Ontario, and up to 150 km or even further if there are no beds available in Northern Ontario.

Cornerstone to our system of modern medicine is the principle of informed consent to which all patients have the right. The court case is a Charter Challenge, known as a Constitutional Challenge or a Challenge under the Charter of Rights. It has been brought by the Ontario Health Coalition and the Advocacy Centre for the Elderly because the law -- which was passed by the Ford government in the summer of 2022 and came into effect that autumn -- violates the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the equality rights of elderly patients. These rights are guaranteed in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in our Constitution. Bill 7 targets the elderly, overriding their rights to privacy and informed consent that all other patients enjoy, and risks the lives of those patients sent to substandard long-term care facilities far away from their spouses and loved ones. The results are often an increase in their suffering and a premature death.

When: The press conference will be held on Friday, September 20, 2024 at 10:30 a.m.

Where: Toronto media is invited to join in person at the Advocacy Centre for the Elderly, 55 University Avenue, 15th floor boardroom. Parking is underneath the building. Enter the parking garage from the north side of Wellington between York and University.

For media outside of Toronto, you can join via Zoom. To receive a link from Zoom, please register here: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEpcOysrzgiH936T9qsq_Xj7pEwbgs4BCkd

Who:
Gail Herrington, patient family witness
Jane Meadus, Lawyer, Institutional Advocate, Advocacy Centre for the Elderly
Natalie Mehra, Executive Director, Ontario Health Coalition
Steven Shrybman, Lawyer, Goldblatt Partners

For more information: Natalie Mehra, executive director, Ontario Health Coalition (416) 230-6402, [email protected].

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