The government is rushing the passing of Bill 7—not allowing the government to hear the concerns of Ontarians because there will be no public hearings. We understand that hospitals are under enormous pressure and that we need to find measures of support and relief, but moving patients out of ALC into inappropriate long-term-care facilities is displacing the issue, not solving it. The Premier himself said yesterday that patients deserve proper care, so why not invest in more home care?

The bill does not contain details regarding the implementation, and not knowing how far this government will go to free beds in hospitals really worries families.

My question is, how will the government ensure that patients’ rights to consent to proper care will be guaranteed?

Les gens sont inquiets, car le projet de loi ne donne aucune assurance que le consentement, la volonté et les besoins des patients et des familles seront respectés. Selon la loi, le patient doit être libre de consentir au traitement ou de le refuser. Le consentement doit être obtenu sans contrainte, ni coercition.

Est-ce que le ministre peut garantir aux Ontariens que la réglementation de mise en oeuvre du projet de loi 7 va respecter leur droit de consentir librement aux soins?