I rise today, as many of us have, with a heavy heart, because this is a serious, serious piece of legislation. I know the government House leader has, from what I can tell, about 27 minutes to respond, and respond he will, as he does. But here is my fear, Speaker, through you to the government: I fear what the government House leader and the government is going to tell us is that “Folks here are catastrophizing. This isn’t really a big issue. People’s consent is still upheld.”

Folks over there have consciences—I know they do—so they must believe that. But I want, through you, Speaker, to tell the government what I’m hearing from home, and to be honest and to put my own cards on the table as a representative of my community.

I’m hearing from people at home that if their vulnerable family members are compelled through significant fees, they’re going to resist paying those fees. I’m hearing from staff back home, Speaker, that if they are asked to strap people to a gurney and cart them out against their will, they are going to not be compliant with those orders.

How did we get to here? I want to say very clearly through you to the government, Speaker: I take no pleasure in realizing that if the government passes this piece of legislation, that they will be putting families in that position. They are going to compel them to not pay these fines, because they can’t afford to. And they’re afraid of where their family member will be discharged to. They’re going to compel staff members to resist orders from their hospital directors. This is all avoidable.

As speaker after speaker here has said, massively increase funding to home care, ensure people can be discharged to their homes with adequate PSW care and make sure those PSWs are well-compensated. As the member from Nickel Belt said, problem solved.

Speaker, the person inspiring my words this afternoon in particular is Maria Konopeskas. Maria Konopeskas died in late August of last summer, and she was an ALC patient at the General Hospital, lived with cerebral palsy, taught for decades in our school system, contracted that disability, could no longer work, was on the Ontario Disability Support Program. And she was being asked after a minor surgery—and she couldn’t be released to her own home, said our local LHIN, because there weren’t enough PSWs to support her. So Maria said, “No, I don’t want to go into a long-term-care home. I want to go back to my home. And I want support from PSWs to stay there.” And the LHIN administrator said no.

So she stayed in that hospital, Speaker, and she withered and she deconditioned in front of her own friends’ eyes. I want to quote Alan Thibeau who wrote me this note. He wrote me, the member for Ottawa South and the MPP for Hamilton Centre this note. He said, “I am sending this message to you because you’ve all worked tirelessly to support the rights of disabled citizens. If Maria could speak a final word to each of you, she would extend her sincere thanks to you for all your efforts to help. She would urge you to continue to advocate without ceasing to achieve equal rights for these marginalized Canadian citizens.”

Speaker, in honour of Maria Konopeskas, I’m appealing to you to the government to please pull this legislation off the table, because I can tell the people from home that if you decide not to pay these fees, or as a staff member if you decide not to comply with discharge orders against the will, you will have my support. You can contact our office, and we will be there to support you, because civil disobedience may be the way Bill 7 is stopped.