Elderly Abuse in Ontario Nursing Homes

In the second part of The Star's Series on Elderly Abuse in Nursing Homes, we are introduced to more heart wrenching stories of elderly abuse and families that were not kept abreast of how serious some of these infractions were.


I'm sure the Ontario Liberal government will state that they're shocked and appalled at these findings, however, unless they increase the budgets of any departments that oversee and inspect these nursing homes, then it will be mere talk.  


In tough economic times, I find it hard to believe that other than meeting with these nursing home operators and demanding answers, the Liberals will properly police these homes on an on-going basis.  It will take an upheaval of massive proportions to create better watchdog and whistleblower protection to truly make a difference.  


It is no different than the water tainted scandal in Walkertown, the lysteria scare that befell Maple Leaf Foods, and the many other instances where self-regulation or laxed industry inspection or standards, eventually cause health scares.  Check out the self-regulatory standards in aviation in Canada that Transport Canada has agreed to.


If we continue to vote in market-oriented governments like the federal Conservative government and the Ontario Liberals that just won reelection, then already tight dollars that are being squeezed by further business-focused tax cuts or loopholes, cannot support the type of regulations we need in this country to protect you or I.  


This isn't a political pandering, its merely facts.  At the end of the day, there are only so many dollars available to a government; how it chooses to spend those dollars dictates what type of society we live in.  If we continue to vote for these parties, then we really cannot be shocked when these horrendous events or issues arise.


Nursing homes, education, health and safety.  I hope we make the right choice for our elderly today, tomorrow and every day.