It is often dangerous to write when emotional, but nevertheless we are writing out of anger and sorrow over the inhumane treatment of one of the most venerable — and vulnerable — groups in our society: our elders.
Our dedicated reporters and columnists have been writing about the deplorable state of long-term care in Ontario for decades. There have been some changes over the years but, unfortunately, the situation continues to worsen with underfunding and overcrowding at Ontario’s long-term care facilities. There was a crisis before COVID-19 struck. Now it is a tragedy.
We are denying basic human rights to our senior citizens. They are entitled to all the rights and freedoms the rest of us enjoy. Yet the events at the Tendercare long-term care facility in Scarborough, just one example of the deadly tragedy unfolding in many such Ontario long-term care facilities, strikingly illustrate the liberties that are being taken with seniors’ rights and, ultimately, their lives.
Against their will and best interests, we have allowed our elders to become trapped inside these facilities that were meant to protect them. Put starkly, it’s as if we have allowed them to be put into coffins and buried alive before our very eyes. We simply cannot imagine being denied access to the ones we love during this most traumatic of times while also seeing them denied a decent level of treatment and attention.
Our senior citizens are being denied access to loved ones; they are denied the right to leave (even when they test negative for COVID); in some cases they are denied access to medications and oxygen; they are denied adequate nursing and physician care; and when they are most ill many are denied the right to go to nearby hospitals where many of these basic necessities are readily available. Since the pandemic began, some 87 per cent of all COVID deaths in Ontario have been among those over the age of 70, and about 61 per cent of deaths have been in long-term care facilities.
This must stop. Enough is enough. As Gandhi said, “The true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members.”
We at the Toronto Star will be working tirelessly in 2021 to rally Ontarians to help bring meaningful change and save lives. In the coming days, we will be asking all Ontarians to sign an open letter to responsible city, provincial and federal authorities demanding an end to the inhumane treatment and needless death of our vulnerable elders.
We trust you will join us in this effort. Together we can make a difference.
https://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/2020/12/30/enough-is-enough-we-demand-change-to-the-inhumane-tragedy-playing-out-in-ontarios-long-term-care-homes.html
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