Bill 3 – The Compassionate Care Act has received royal assent and is now passed into law in Ontario. Improving Access to Palliative Care in all care settings for all ages now has Legislative momentum! The Bill puts a focus on hospice palliative care and ensures that a framework is developed by the MInister of Health and that the Legislature receives a report on progress. Bill 3 was a Private Member’s bill and as such cannot direct funding or spending, however the Bill puts a focus on hospice palliative care and ensures that a framework is developed by the MInister of Health and that the Legislature receives a report on progress.
Thank you once again to MPP Sam Oosterhoff for spearheading this Bill and thank you to the extraordinary all party support and collaboration that allowed this Private Member’s Bill to make it all the way into law – a rare feat! There were many impassioned submissions to the Standing Committee on General Government, which held public hearings into the Bill. HPCO’s Rick Firth presented to the Committee along with many from the hospice palliative care sector and family caregivers. HPCO called for an amendment to Bill 3 to shorten the reporting timelines to capture progress sooner and provide more impetus to prioritize and allocate funding to hospice palliative care. The reporting timeline was shortened before the Bill was passed.
The Bill can be found here: https://www.ola.org/sites/default/files/node-files/bill/document/pdf/2020/2020-12/b003ra_e.pdf
HPCO’s submission is here: https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:4ee57d00-185c-4160-ac6f-4f2e11665c91
The debate in the Legislature can be found here: https://www.ola.org/en/legislative-business/house-documents/parliament-42/session-1/2020-12-01/hansard#P713_150616
MPP Oosteroff’s News Release is here: https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:fc7bf435-a20d-4833-bebf-d6e252645f2a
