Toronto man stages hunger strike outside of long-term care home

A Toronto man has started a protest in response to the critical military report regarding the rough conditions being seen in Ontario’s long-term care homes, according to BlogTO.

Innis Ingram began the hunger strike on Wednesday outside of the Camilla Care Community in Mississauga. The facility is currently housing Ingram’s 76-year-old mother and is one of the five that had to be taken over by the provincial government due to the extremely poor state it was in.

Armed Forces members were shocked with what they witnessed after being deployed to the homes during the pandemic. They reported things like non-sterile medical supplies that were being reused, cockroach infestations, expired medications, unnecessary resident sedation and feed bags that hadn’t been changed for such a long time that “contents had become foul and coagulated.”

Though the conditions were shocking, advocates working on the front lines have been calling for changes in Ontario’s long-term facilities for some time now.

In a Facebook post, Ingram said he’s “feeling a little rough, but still prepared to go the distance” in order to add pressure to officials to make swift changes.

He has said that he will protest until conditions are improved by inspectors and residents are treated with care.

An independent commission was launched by Premier Doug Ford last week to investigate the shortfalls of the system after looking over the military report which he said was “the hardest thing I’ve done as premier.”

Crosses were also planted on the lawn at Camilla Care by Ingram to represent nursing home residents in Ontario who have passed away as a result of the coronavirus outbreaks.

Reports show that 1,377 of the 2,189 coronavirus deaths in Ontario—over 60 percent—have been at the province's long-term care homes where 191 outbreaks have been confirmed along with almost 5,000 resident cases.