FIFE: Ontario’s system failed Joan and Jim – but their story shows why we need to change the law

WATERLOO – After six long years of forced separation, Jim McLeod and his wife, Joan, have finally been reunited under one roof at Fairview Seniors Community in Cambridge. Their story shows just how desperately Ontario needs laws to protect senior couples from being split up.

Ontario NDP MPP Catherine Fife has introduced legislation again and again to stop this from happening. Her latest bill, the Till Death Do Us Part Act (Bill 21), has been sitting in committee for 443 days since passing Second Reading.

“Jim and Joan’s story shows exactly why this needs to change,” said Fife. “No couple should be forced apart like this. The harm it causes is real. The government could act today to end this, but they keep choosing not to.”

Jim and Joan’s long-overdue reunion shows their determination to stay together no matter what barriers have been out in front of them. Although their story ended with them finally back together, no couple should have to endure years of needless suffering to get there. Jim has committed to keep advocating for change so that no other seniors have to go through the same struggle.

It took Joan being hospitalized and deemed palliative for her to finally be moved to Fairview, an outcome her doctor and nurse described as a health crisis caused, in part, by heartbreak.

Background:

• Jim and Joan were married for 65 years when she was placed in long-term care at Hilltop Manor in 2017, even though Fairview, right next to Jim’s independent living suite, was her first choice. For more than six years, Jim made nearly 2,000 trips to visit her, paying out of pocket while Joan’s health declined.
• Earlier this year, Jim sent Minister of Long-Term Care Stan Cho an invoice for all those trips, using the same mileage rate MPPs receive, to show the cost and strain this caused. “Minister Cho, please refer to the attached invoice covering approximately 2,000 trips I have made to Hilltop to visit my wife during the past 6+ years,” Jim wrote. “In future, I will send a quarterly invoice until Joan is moved to Fairview.”
• In Ontario, there is no legislation guaranteeing senior couples can stay together when one partner requires long-term care.