Gates reintroducing caregiver bill on Wednesday at Queen’s Park

Wayne Gates is taking another shot at getting legislation passed at Queen’s Park that would provide a “direct financial benefit” to people who have to significantly change their own lives to serve as caregivers for loved ones.

The Niagara Falls MPP is reintroducing the motion on Wednesday to the provincial government after he previously did last term, but it was stalled by the February election.

May is Caregiver Awareness Month in Canada, an appropriate time to bring it back, he told Fort Erie Radio in an interview.

“Caregiving is very tough and it’s very emotional,” he said, noting many factors people have to take on, such as time away from work and costs associated with care.

Gates said there are 300,000 people in Ontario who are “struggling financially” due to becoming caregivers, many having to dip into their own savings.

The MPP also said 33,000 people have had to leave their jobs to focus on caring for family members.

He will host a press conference at Queen’s Park on Wednesday, joined by a number of organizations who are backing him. These include Community Living Ontario, the Ontario Caregiver Coalition, and the Alzheimer’s Society of Ontario, among others.

He said every dollar benefitting caregivers ads up to $2.69 in savings in the province’s long-term care budget.

If approved, it would replace 7.8 per cent of the beds in long-term care, a savings of $300 million for the province, he said.

“It helps our moms, dads, grandparents stay at home,” Gates said.

“Everybody wants to stay at home and this would give more people that opportunity,” he said, adding that women are 50 per cent more likely to take on a role as caregiver.

Community Living Fort Erie executive director Sandy Leemet said this potential benefit would be greatly welcomed and that there are many instances locally of a need for it.

“We have families that are in crisis and have to quit their jobs to support their adult family member,” she told Fort Erie Radio in an interview.

When this happens, there is no income coming in and the next step becomes admitting your family member to a hospital or long-term care.

She believes financial compensation for caregivers would have a “huge impact.”

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