CP24 and The Toronto Sun are among the media outlets reporting on the calls from OPSEU/SEFPO President Warren (Smokey) Thomas for an OPP investigation into the high rates of COVID-19 deaths in privately owned long-term care homes.
“Some level of law enforcement needs to do an investigation,” Thomas said in The Sun. “If you have a death in a jail, there’s always an investigation. We’ve had hundreds, a couple of thousand, deaths in long-term care homes.
“There’s just something very, very, very wrong here,” he said.
A spokesperson for Long-Term Care Minister Merrilee Fullerton did not rule out the need for a police investigation.
“Depending on the circumstances and the information available, the ministry may notify the police of any alleged, suspected or witnessed incident of abuse or neglect of a resident in a long-term care home that may constitute a criminal offence,” Fullerton’s spokesperson told The Sun. “The police would independently determine whether an investigation is warranted.”