As MPP for one of the most northern parts of Ontario, let me tell you what it is like to lack access to health care and long-term-care services in the north.

In March 2022, an announcement by this government was made saying that 68 new and 60 upgraded beds for Extendicare would be in place in Kapuskasing.

Les gens du Nord sont malheureusement trop habitués à une réalité désolante. Les membres de nos familles doivent être envoyés à des centaines de kilomètres de nos proches. Les temps d’attente pour se voir attribuer un lit pour des soins de longue durée sont de plus de trois ans. La pénurie de personnel de soins de santé, empirée par la loi 124, affecte durement la disponibilité des lits dans des petites villes comme Kapuskasing, Hearst, Moonbeam, Cochrane, etc.

Therefore, when the government announces 68 new beds and improved services for long-term care in Kapuskasing, it is that much disappointing when the result is non-existent 18 months later. According to Extendicare, there is a delay due to the high cost of operations and construction of this project, due to taking so much time to be built, and it now needs more additional funding to begin.

We are facing a province-wide housing crisis on all fronts, and some of the elderly do not even have the opportunity to age with dignity, surrounded by their loved ones. That is the sad reality in the north at the moment.