Controversial Ontario law to help free up hospital beds could affect Maritimes [Video]

A new Charter challenge that got underway Monday will test the constitutionality of a controversial Ontario law allowing hospitals to place discharged patients into long-term care homes not of their choosing or face a $400-a-day charge if they refuse.

The Ontario Health Coalition and the Advocacy Center for the Elderly argues the law, known as the “More Beds Better Care Act” or Bill 7, violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

However, the province of Ontario disagrees.

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It’s an issue is garnering interest outside of Ontario, including in the Maritime provinces.

Wayne MacKay, professor emeritus of law at Dalhousie University, says this is because many things that happen in Ontario are a model for governments elsewhere.

“But more significantly… this is such a big problem everywhere in Canada. The problem of not sufficient hospital beds and not sufficient long-term care beds, that’s the core problem,” said MacKay during an interview on CTV News at 6 …