York Region seniors protest at Queen's Park

Yorkregion.com
March 27, 2014
By Sean Pearce

The legal system will have blood on its hands if vulnerable senior citizens die before the court hears the merits of a $100-million lawsuit, says Newmarket resident Robert Weidenfeld, who launched the suit Friday against the province and York Region stemming from the upcoming discontinuation of the latter’s on-site alternative community living program.

Mr. Weidenfeld was visibly angry after being denied his day in court Tuesday, only to have it put off until July 31.

“That’s the legal system: the seniors have no rights and the government won’t listen to them,” he said.

“How many people are going to die by July 31? What’s going to be the body count?”

Mr. Weidenfeld, who intends to certify his lawsuit as a class action against the defendants and act as representative for all older adults in the region, expressed concern about how the program’s elderly and disabled clients will fare should their on-site 24/7 care be replaced by a “hub-and-spoke” model, where help could be up to 15 minutes away, between now and the time his motion is heard.

Mr. Weidenfeld’s statement of claim, of which he provided a copy last Friday to the York Region Media Group, does not specify general damages except to say they will be set out at a later time and following an independent evaluation “as specified by the court, following the undue, unconscionable and unconstitutional withdrawal of on-site health care services to seniors residing in retirement buildings managed by (the region)”.

His statement then goes on to seek aggravated, exemplary and punitive damages against all defendants in the amount of $100 million for a variety of reasons, which it says will be distributed evenly among seniors currently receiving ACL from the region.

It further states defendants committed “a breach of contract” by moving to do away with on-site 24/7 care and later alleges violations of the seniors’ constitutional rights, accusing the defendants  of committing “misfeasance and/or nonfeasance”.

Premier Kathleen Wynne is also listed as a defendant. None of the allegations in the document have been proven in court.

Mr. Weidenfeld explained he decided to stand up on behalf of the seniors after talking to some ACL clients at the Hadley Grange seniors apartment in Aurora.

He realized no one was listening to them and that what was being planned was unjust, he said, noting that while he’s not a lawyer he does have some familiarity with the legal system and possesses a master’s degree in science in electrical engineering along with 30 years experience in that field.

“Attacking the legal system is no different than attacking an avionics or electronic system,” Mr. Weidenfeld said. “You go through the same steps.”

Senior litigation counsel for York Region, Dan Kuzmyk, said he was not surprised Madame Justice Wright refused to hear Mr. Weidenfeld’s emergency motion after reviewing the materials.

After it was confirmed the motion would not proceed, the parties agreed to argue the motion on the next available motion date, July 31, he said.

“The region will be preparing and serving responding material on behalf of the region in due course,” Mr. Kuzmyk said.

“Although we are not prepared to discuss the specifics of the claim and motion while they are before the court, the region takes the position that neither his claim nor his motion have legal merit and are, in fact, an abuse of the court’s process and a waste of judicial resources.”

“Accordingly, we will be seeking to have Mr. Weidenfeld’s motion dismissed and his claim struck out.”

Ministry of the Attorney General spokesperson Brendan Crawley would not comment on the matter except to say the province has been served with a statement of claim. As the matter is subject to litigation, it would be inappropriate to comment, he said.

Representatives for the Central LHIN could not be reached for comment.

The lawsuit was just the latest chapter in an ongoing saga that began in January after seniors at several assisted living residences learned they would be losing on-site care through the region’s ACL program effective April 1 and would instead be receiving care through a “hub-and-spoke” model from CHATS and CareFirst where help outside of scheduled visits could be up to 15 minutes away.

Several clients with a variety of medical issues have voiced concerns over the past two months and last week the Central LHIN said it would extend the on-site care for a non-specific period of time.

On March 18, Newmarket-Aurora MPP Frank Klees tabled a motion aimed at preserving the 24/7 on-site care and directing the LHIN to conduct a review of the financial and human impacts of the upcoming change. His motion is to be debated May 8.

In a related twist, the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 905 has sent a letter to both the region and the LHIN requesting for them to hold off on the transition to the new service providers.

CUPE president Doug Sheppard said he’s expecting a response soon and, depending on the answer, the union is prepared to take the matter through the courts as one of the concerns it has is that the LHIN held no public meetings prior to the change in providers, which he said runs contrary to provincial legislation.

“We’re saying ‘Hey, let’s talk about this’,” Mr. Sheppard said. “I think it would be good for the LHIN to hear from the residents and the other stakeholders they’re impacting.”

York spokesperson Patrick Casey responded to requests for comment on the letter by saying the region would be replying directly to the union.