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January 26, 2005
The Hon. James K. Bartleman, O. Ont.
Lieutenant Governor of Ontario
Queen’s Park
Toronto, ON M7A 1A1
Your Honour,
RE: Proposed Closure of Huronia Regional Centre (HRC) – Orillia
As you are probably aware, the Government has embarked on the process to close the 3 remaining centres for
this Province’s most severely developmentally disabled citizens.
My brother William “Billy” George Luke has been a resident at HRC for the past 42 years. Billy suffered
uncontrollable epileptic seizures at a very young age and is now 100% reliant on the specialized medical and
therapy care provided at HRC for his very basic existence in life. If the Government has their way, my brother
will be placed in some retrofitted community care facility, who knows where, and without a detailed plan of how
my brothers’ most basic needs will be met. I, as do other families of HRC residents, see this as a premature
death sentence to our loved ones.
Orillia and HRC is a special caring community unto itself for our family. The only community that Billy has ever
lived and known. Ironically, the City of Orillia is also your reported birthplace. I trust that it may have special
meaning to you as well.
As one of your priorities for your mandate as Lieutenant Governor is to reduce the stigma of mental illness, I
would respectfully ask for your assistance to open up frank and honest dialogue with the Premiers’ and the
Minister of Community and Social Services’ office. One of the Government’s key reasons for closing H.R.C. is to
“de-institutionalize” the residents. This is a huge misconception and erroneous stigma labelled to HRC. We, the
families don’t view HRC as an “Institution”. We view HRC as a Centre of Excellence, with specialized care and
above all else a safe, secure and loving home for our loved ones. We want that to continue, we want HRC to
remain open.
I also note that as your role and responsibilities as Lieutenant Governor extend to include assurance that the
democratic will of Ontarians is upheld from a constitutional standpoint and that in your community role you
represent the people of Ontario, rather than the policies of the Government of the day, I again respectfully ask
for your assistance to open up dialogue. The Premier and Minister of Community and Social Services have so
far ignored all requests to do so and as of yet we have heard nothing of substance in response to our
concerns. The Government is forging ahead with their plans to close HRC and have commenced with relocating
residents. The Government’s so called “Plan” has yet to be released.
Finally, I draw your attention to the Developmental Services Act, R.S.O., 1990, Chapter D.11 and R.R.O., 1990,
Regulation 272. This Act and its regulation form the legal framework for how Developmentally Disabled Persons
in Ontario shall be provided with services.
As the Government has purported that developmentally disabled persons should be integrated into Community
Living and that thousands of persons have done so with so called success. I want to draw to your attention to
those so called success stories as probably and likely to have occurred during a persons’ “formative years” at
a younger age, when they were able to adapt. Residents of HRC have been here 30, 40, 50 years. Their
formative years are long past and their ability to adapt has long disappeared. Billy is not capable of adapting to
anything, let alone a complete change in his life. As I previously stated, we view any forced relocation by this
Government as a premature death sentence. The Developmental Services Act clearly defines “developmental
disability” as a condition of mental impairment present or occurring during a persons’ “formative years”.
The Act also states “The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations” for provisions dealing with the
approval, designation and operation of facilities for Developmentally Disabled Persons. While it is not my desire
to exert upon you, the Lieutenant Governor, to pass regulation, I’d like to think that you may exercise the right
to “encourage” the Government to firstly cooperate with the families and secondly that cost cutting closures
under the falsity of the misguided stigma of “de-institutionalizing” for the betterment of the residents is not the
proper approach to this matter either.
I implore you for any assistance you can provide in this matter. Myself and other family members of residents at
HRC emphatically believe that HRC is truly a Centre of Excellence, a potential legacy to be sustained and
improved upon. The Government on the other hand sees HRC as an expensive institution to operate, which
HRC is not.
If you should like, I could arrange for a guided visit to HRC for a first hand look at the important work and care
that goes on here for the residents. You will quickly discover that HRC is not an institution, but a safe, secure
and loving home for my brother Billy. I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours truly,
D.W. Luke
Cc Premier Dalton McGuinty
Minister CSS Sandra Pupatello