Over 2,200 trips, 25 minutes a day for the past six and a half years is what Fairview Mennonite Home resident Jim McLeod has gone through to see his wife Joan since she was moved to another long-term care residence in 2018.
McLeod is continuing his fight for changes to the province's Long Term Care Act, which in its current form doesn't give couples the right to be accommodated together when entering long term care facilities.
It's a practice that has forced many couples across the province to live apart as beds become scarcer.
Married for 65 years, McLeod has been attempting to get Joan transferred from Hilltop Manor to Fairview Mennonite Home, where he lives in an independent apartment.
But almost six years after his effort gained momentum, the Ontario government still hasn't offered him and others any relief.
"That is over 2,000 trips there and back just to see my wife," said McLeod. "I've been trying everything, fighting every single day to get an answer out of these jerks, but they keep passing the buck."
He was given hope when Waterloo NDP MPP Catherine Fife introduced Bill 21, also known as the 'Till Death Do Us Part Act, to give long-term care residents the right to be housed together, but this is where McLeod's fight would only begin.
Fife says the bill, which she introduced in 2022, would end "the cruel process" of separating spouses in long-term care and reunite those who have already spent time apart.
But after hundreds of emails and thousands of signatures on petitions, McLeod has yet to hear a word from the province about the bill.
It remains stalled at the standing committee level, possibly to be re-written to suit the current government's needs.
"Every week there seems to be someone new who is supposed to re-do this thing and nothing ever happens. You have no idea what goes on with these idiots," said McLeod.
The City of Cambridge showed its support for McLeod and his fight back in October 2023, when city council voted to ask the province to end the practice.
Coun. Adam Cooper called the policy "cruel, wrong and unacceptable."
McLeod, Cambridge MPP Brian Riddell and minister of long term care Stan Cho all met at Fairview during a visit to break ground on renovations to the home in September 2023 to discuss the bill, but talks after that meeting went nowhere.
Cho spoke with the media after the ceremony and said the proposed legislation stands now, it could have unintended consequences on seniors, especially when assisted living is involved.
This is a statement that McLeod thinks is completely false and "another lie told by them to get them re-elected."
"They talk all these promises and say that they're providing at least a minimum of three hours worth of care a day to people in long-term care. That's a bunch of BS. I don't think my wife gets three hours' worth of care in three days," said a worked-up McLeod.
"All they do is pass me on to the next MPP and no one gives me any answers."
Fife said the silence is "beyond disrespectful" to people like McLeod who are fighting for the simple right to live with their spouses.
"Time is running out for them. So this minister of long-term care does not get the urgency of the issue. He doesn't recognize the health benefits of couples being together as they age," she added.
"It should be of their interest to not look so cold and callous, and find a compassionate solution. There's no good reason why Jim and Joan are not together."
This indecision and refusal to move on this issue is a lack of political will, Fife said.
Cambridge MPP Brian Riddell did not respond to requests for comment, but noted in an earlier interview that there are provisions already included in the Fixing Long-Term Care Act, from 2021, that provide an appropriate balance.
It considers the desire for spousal reunification with the importance of serving those with the greatest care needs, he said.
"There are nearly 40,000 people on the wait list for long-term care, stemming from a combination of an aging population and a sector that was systemically underfunded for years by former governments," Riddell told CambridgeToday.
"The bill does not include care requirements for reunification, meaning spouses with minimal care needs or who do not need long-term care at all could be pushed toward the top of the wait list at the expense of others in urgent need of care."
McLeod has heard this story from Riddell and Cho before and does not believe what they are saying is accurate.
"If that is the case and there are steps for reunification, why won't they pass this bill and why am I not living in the same building as my wife," said McLeod.
Fife doesn't believe that this current government has the best interest of seniors in mind as they continuously show the community that they are "second-rate citizens."
"The lack of empathy is shocking and when you look at Bill 7, it forces seniors to accept an available Long Term Care bed outside of their community and away from family. If they don't accept what's available to them, then they're fined $400 a day."
Enacted in 2022, the More Beds, Better Care Act would force seniors out of hospital beds and into LTC homes up to 100km away from their original communities.
Fife said the province repeatedly denied sending anyone a fine under the act, but after media reports came out with proof, they confirmed at least seven people were charged.
"One of the people who was charged was a recovering cancer survivor who then refused to pay. This is just another example of how expendable this Ford government thinks seniors are."
If not for McLeod's previous job as a corporate debt collector, he doesn't think he would have the will to keep on fighting for his cause.
"I can't stop, it's not who I am. Other people at this home depend on this to be reunited with their partners too. There are people all over the province who are going through this exact same thing. It wouldn't be right for me to stop," he added.
McLeod hopes to be reunited with his wife as soon as possible, but understands that his time is running out and is unsure how much longer he or his wife will have left to spend together.
"I just wish these politicians would stop posing for the pictures they love so much and do their jobs. People's lives are literally on the line."
