Waterloo MPP blasts system as ‘callous’ after minister dismisses bill to keep partners together in LTCs | CBC News
Waterloo MPP Catherine Fife is calling out the provincial minister of long-term care for her comments on Fife’s Till Death Do Us Part bill that aims to keep Ontario couples together.
Minister Natalia Kusendova-Bashta was in Kitchener Wednesday afternoon to celebrate the opening of a new long-term care home in the city called The Village of Winston Park on Block Line Road.
During her visit, CBC asked Kusendova-Bashta to comment on why she hasn’t moved on a law that could keep couples together in long-term care (LTC) homes.
“We already have a spousal reunification program within our long-term care waiting list,” the minister said.
“As I have travelled across the province, I have heard success stories of couples being reunited, not only spouses being reunited, but also family members being reunited through the program that we already have.”
Fife says the current system is “callous and does not acknowledge the importance of partners or married couples staying together.”
“The minister of long-term care should take her rose-coloured glasses off quite honestly,” said Fife after reading a transcript of Kusendova-Bashta’s comments.
Fife first introduced the bill in Nov. 27, 2019 and it passed second reading in December of that year, moving it to the committee stage for review. That version of the bill died when the provincial legislature was prorogued in 2021. The bill was then re-introduced in March 2022, but it died when the provincial election was held in June.
“Residents who have been separated from their partners for years, months, they describe the mental anguish and their decline of their well-being, both physically and mentally,” Fife said.
“[The spousal reunification program] on paper, looks like a good program. But the fact of the matter is, is that we are not designing care campuses so that seniors can stay together.”
Fife says she wants to help design systems of care that recognize partners and spouses don’t age at the same rate.
Kusendova-Bashta says long-term care beds are currently reserved for residents who have “highest acuity needs who can no longer be supported at home,” adding that only people who are eligible for long-term care will be allowed to reunite with a spouse who is already living at a long-term care home.
