Healthcare

I live in North Bay, Ontario. I moved here from Toronto and have been here for approximately 3.5 years. I can't get a family Doctor here. There is an increase in services that are not covered by OHIP. Wait times at the Emerge are insane. Ohip covered Rocket Doctor was serving my needs and now of course, they don't. While I agree that we should focus on getting Doctors to North Bay, the wait list must be huge. Having virtual care with ohip covered options is paramount here. I imagine it is all over Ontario. Get it done.

I have tried all day to get appointments to deal with my mental health. Walk in clinics said they can’t deal with my issues. Virtual doctor was the only help I received. It is imperative that it continues to be accessible by everyone equally in Ontario

We're all saying the same thing. There is a multi-year waitlist to get a primary care physician in my city, there are 0 walk-in clinics here, so the only choice if it is not a minor ailment where you can see a pharmacist it to go to emergency and wait 6-8 hours. Oftentimes we know what the issue is and just need to see a doctor to discuss and get a prescription. Having this available again would save emergency doctors for actual emergencies.

9 years clean from fentanyl, coke & Xanax. You cannot force a person into treatment. It doesn't work that way. The fact that someone thinks this will work is idiotic. There aren't enough facility beds available currently for the ones who need help now. How can you deal with more? Not only that but by forcing a person into treatment who isn't ready for it yet is just exposing the people who are there seriously to relapse from those forced people sneaking shit into the facility. I don't know where this idea came from but you need to do better. Do your research. You don't know anything about addicts to propose something like this.

Im in recovery. Recovery gave me my life back, and I will be forever grateful to every Albertan who's taxes went towards giving me that gift.

I know first hand, recovery isn't something that can be forced. It's something you earn everyday.

This bill will kill people. This bill will discriminate against people. This bill will further traumatize an already traumatized demographic. The science says it will lead to more harm, and more deaths. The lawyers say it isn't an acceptable reason to strip people of their inherent human rights. The provinces own data doesn't even show their "recovery model" works. They don't report drug deaths the same way anymore, and accurate data is years behind. The last coroners report is from 2022. They are making up data to support this. They are handing out contracts to their friends to run the private treatment centers, many of which are christian 12 step organizations and not science and evidece based treatment.

They are taking people out of their homes, their lives, forcing them into months of detainment so they can charge the taxppayers and embezzlem money to their friends. They dont care about people who use drugs, are willing to strip them of dignity and risk their lives.

We know the answer. Preventative mental health supports, harm reduction, reducing stigma, improving access to trauma therapy, increasing minium wage, having affordable housing, having our first responders and police officers educated thoroughly in mental health and addictions first aid, offering drug testing so when people do use, they are able to ensure what they have isnt mixed with fentayl. An 18 year old on bc was at a college party, drinking with her friends and decided to try cocaine. A kid just starting out her life, just wanting a fun night with her friends. She didn't know there was fentanyl in it, and now a mother has to experience hell everyday for the rest of her life.

The opiod crisis is a drug poisoning crisis. Recovery doesnt solve that. An 18 year old kid partying for the first time doesnt need recovery. She needs to know the cocaine isnt poisoned, she needs to know what signs to look for if she or her friends need help. She needs to know the importance of telling 911 if drugs are involved so that they can respond properly. She needs to know how to use a narcan kit, and make sure if she is going to use drugs, that one is available. She needs to have access to mental health suports so that if something happens, she doesnt turn to drugs to cope with distress. The same things kids learn when they are taught about alcohol.

Our taxpayer money will actually make a difference if invested in things that actually help save lives.

This isn't one of them. This isn't compassion. This isn't helping.

It's an abuse of power to make friends of the premier and marshall smith very rich.

If anyone who reads this wants more information, or wants any evidence to back what ive said, or has anything to comment that I may not have considered, my email is janes.alyc@gmail.com and Im happy to have a civil conversation anytime.

As a Social Worker, I have worked with individuals struggling with addiction for 25+ years. Recovery works best when it's voluntary, supported and rooted in dignity, not coercion. Forced treatment violates human rights and often fails to address the root causes of addiction (i.e. trauma, housing, insecurity, mental health etc). We need more harm reduction services, community-based care and long-term support, NOT more control.

A family member of someone I know had an episode putting themself and others at risk of serious harm. A court order allowed for their pickup, detention, and treatment, which at the time, they thought was unfair. Once they started receiving proper anti-psychotic medication they could logically see the reasons someone would need to be prevented from doing harm, and they began cooperating in their voluntary treatment, and is continuing to take the prescribed drug to manage their condition voluntarily, under community supervision.

So this is a case where involuntary detention combined with voluntary participation in their own treatment, is working.

We already have that mechanism for handling serious cases of mental disturbance based on factual evidence through legal court channels.

This proposed legislation makes it too easy to deny people ther rights based on non-objective personal assessment and for non-life-threatening situations and personal discrimination by unaccountable officials. Stop Bill 53!

You can't force people to change, they have to be ready to change. If we really want to help people overcome addiction, we need to provide safe places to live, food to eat, and access to therapy - voluntary therapy when they're ready.

The issues Dr. Stockton is fighting against are the reasons why I stopped working at Eagle ridge ED. The conditions for patients and staff caused a lot of moral distress. It is impossible to safely care for the patients when there is no support for the people working understaffed and overwhelmed by growing patient volumes and acuity. It is not the fault of the staff who are simply trying their hardest to do their best by the patients! FHA needs to listen to their staff and support them if they want to have safer patient care.