The province has called for an independent public inquiry into long-term care homes in Ontario after a former nurse is convicted of killing eight seniors in her care.
Attorney General Yasir Naqvi and Health Minister Eric Hoskins announced Monday they are moving to appoint a commissioner to lead a public inquiry into the circumstances of the deaths.
The decision comes the same day as Elizabeth Wettlaufer, who pleaded guilty last month to eight counts of first-degree murder, four counts of attempted murder and two counts of aggravated assault, was sentenced in a Woodstock, Ont. courtroom to life in prison with no eligibility for parole for 25 years.
“On behalf of the Ontario government, we want to express our deepest condolences to the victims, their families and the communities in Woodstock and London and the surrounding areas,” Naqvi and Hoskins said in a statement.
Despite Wettlaufer’s crimes, the ministers added they want to assure the public that the 78,000 residents in publicly funded long-term care homes are safe.
“It is our hope that through the inquiry process, we will get the answers we need to help ensure that a tragedy such as this does not happen again,” the Naqvi and Hoskins said in a statement.
The inquiry will delve into thousands of pages of evidence, witness testimonies in the case in order to answer how Wettlaufer was able to continue working and killing at multiple nursing homes?
"A lot of people have a lot of questions about how this could have happened for so long and undetected?" MPP Teresa Armstrong told reporters on Monday. "So we need to take some real serious steps ... It has really eroded trust in the system."
Earlier, Crown attorney Fraser Kelly said Wettlaufer's trial "was no ordinary murder investigation."
"This was particularly complicated," Kelly added.
Details of the inquiry are expected to be finalized shortly and the provincial government will make them available to the public once they have been approved by cabinet.
Meanwhile, advocacy groups like the Canadian Association for Retired Persons (CARP) are actively waiting to ensure the public inquiries scope is sufficient due to the complicated nature of Wettlaufer's murder investigation and the throngs of evidence presented at the trial.
"We eagerly await the terms of the inquiry to ensure its scope is sufficient to address the actions, responsibilities and duties of the many institutions and individuals who failed to prevent or put a timely stop to Wettlaufer's crimes, and to look at the systemic issues which have failed to protect residents of long-term care homes," CARP said in a statement to CP24.
