![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cobourgnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Linda-MacKenzie-Nicholas-stern-look.jpg?resize=615%2C348\")
<\/p>\n(May 28, 2020)<\/p>\n
By: Valerie MacDonald, Cobourg Now<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cAn inquiry would be a better method allowing members of the public to testify\u201d<\/p>\n
The July start to an independent commission on conditions in Long Term Care Homes (LTC) is good, but a full public inquiry is what is needed, says the\u00a0co-chair of the Northumberland Chapter of the Ontario Health Coalition.<\/strong><\/p>\n Northumberland County resident Linda Mackenzie-Nicholas,<\/strong>\u00a0who was also a\u00a0long-time union representative for health care workers<\/strong>\u00a0before she retired, was concurring with an assessment released by\u00a0Ontario Health Coalition executive director, Natalie Mehra.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201c<\/span>Any long-term care commission must have unimpeachable credibility and operate in the public interest\u2026and be under The Public Inquiries Act and fulling independent,\u201d<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Mehra stated in a media release\u00a0following the release of a military report about alleged conditions its members found inside five LTC homes in the GTA.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n The OHA is \u201calso calling for a full public inquiry or commission into Ontario\u2019s overall response to CVOID-19 at a later date (beyond LTC homes) once the pandemic has stabilized,\u201d Mehra stated.<\/p>\n Ontario Premier Doug Ford<\/strong>\u00a0called for support of the\u00a0Canadian Armed Forces<\/strong>\u00a0with the rise in COVID-19 cases and deaths in LTC facilities. He described the military\u2019s subsequent report\u00a0\u201ca wake-up call for our entire country\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0about the appalling conditions in LTC homes. He announced a commission would begin this summer and not wait until September. At the time of the release of the military report on LTC home conditions, Ford called it \u201cgut-wrenching\u201d.<\/p>\n