Ontario has passed a motion to skip public hearings for legislation that would allow hospital patients awaiting long-term care to be transferred to a home without their consent.
Long-Term Care Minister Paul Calandra has said the legislation will free up badly needed acute care beds in hospitals.
It would allow hospital patients to be moved to a temporary long-term care home without their consent while they await a bed in their preferred facility.
The government moved a motion last week that would advance the bill directly to third reading, which means it will not be considered by committee or be subject to public hearings at that stage.
The legislation does not allow patients to be physically moved to a long-term care home, but it remains unclear what would happen if a patient refused a transfer.
The NDP says the process is anti-democratic and critics say the legislation unfairly targets the sick, old and the vulnerable.
