Excerpt from the Official Report of
DEBATES OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY

(Hansard)


April 27, 2011

Report recommendations on services for developmentally disabled persons

S. Simpson : The report that was released today by the coalition…. Thirty-three group homes closed — that's the reality.

The previous minister who had this file assured us in April of last year in estimates that no one would be forced out of their homes. That's simply not the reality. The executive director of the B.C. coalition of disabilities in today's report said: "Many group home residents have lived together as families for years. Tragically, however, over the last year some group home residents have been forced to move, and their families have been torn apart."

Will the minister tell those families just what this is about with families first? Who came first with this decision to make these cuts?

....

S. Simpson: The reality is this. The minister might call it a system redesign to not call it a cut, but it's a cut.

What are those community groups saying? Well, what did the executive director of the B.C. Association for Community Living say about this government's action? "We know that service redesign is not an answer to addressing the funds needed for those who are waiting for service. It is a shortsighted, poor and harmful excuse for fiscal planning, and it is completely unsustainable." That's what the community thinks about this position.

Hon. Speaker, 600 more people coming every year into this service. Wait-lists are growing, and the government is cutting back and not funding. Will this minister tell the House why it is okay to fix your fiscal mess on the backs of the most vulnerable people in British Columbia?

events
Saturday, August 27, 2011 - 10:00am - 12:00pm
Saturday, August 27, 2011 - 1:00pm - 3:00pm
Thursday, September 1, 2011 - 10:00am - 2:00pm
Saturday, September 3, 2011 - 1:00pm - 3:00pm
Saturday, September 10, 2011 - 10:00am - 1:00pm