We voted against Bill 135 because it’s actually going to complicate an already chaotic system, and people in this province deserve so much better.

Almost $78 million of home care funding was returned to the Ministry of Health—that’s $3.8 million from Toronto Central, $24.3 million from Champlain, $5.5 million from Waterloo Wellington. That’s a lot of money that is needed in those systems.

A constituent of mine says that she was appalled to learn that the funds were not invested, after she spent years as a primary caregiver to her husband and she witnessed first-hand the lack of stable care, the different people coming to bathe and dress him. This caused great hardship for that family—and she is only one person who would have benefited from this $5 million.

Speaker, to the Minister of Health: Will the government return the $78 million, plus any additional funds as yet unreported by other offices, and truly invest in stable funding and fair wages so that people in Ontario can age in place with some dignity?