When Simcoe North MPP Jill Dunlop mentioned the Huronia Regional Centre (HRC) and long-term care in the same breath, it set off alarm bells for former residents of the shuttered institution.
They were reacting to an OrilliaMatters article from January 2020 that included Dunlop’s comments about the Memorial Avenue property.
After noting the province had a goal to create 15,000 new long-term care beds, she said, “sites like the HRC are great opportunities for housing and long-term care in this area.”
Marilyn Dolmage, who was a litigation guardian for a former HRC resident in a class-action lawsuit against the province, said if a long-term care facility is built on the site, “chances are some of (the former residents) will end up there.”
The thought of possibly having to go back to the property where many faced abuse is “their worst nightmare,” Dolmage said.
“They want to make sure the buildings aren’t used again and that no one with a disability has to use them again,” she said. “They want the buildings torn down. They don’t sleep because the buildings are still there. It’s very visceral to them.”
Dunlop subsequently met with some HRC survivors to hear their thoughts, and the idea of a long-term care facility coming to the site “was a concern that was brought forward,” she said.
“I completely understand their concern because there is fear of going back to institutions like the HRC,” Dunlop said. “What those people in our community went through at the time was horrific.”
Infrastructure Ontario manages the property on behalf of the Ministry of Government and Consumer Relations. Dunlop said she contacted Minister Lisa Thompson to let her know the site is “very important to our community” and was told she would receive a briefing to update her on the latest information about the property.
Dunlop said the concerns former residents shared with her will be taken into consideration during any talks about future use of the site.
“It’s important that we have those conversations moving forward,” she said.
Dolmage said former residents were also concerned about comments made to OrilliaMatters after an electrical fire broke out in one of the buildings in October 2020.
At the time, Fire Chief Brent Thomas said renovations were “scheduled to start in the building soon.”
This week, Infrastructure Ontario spokesperson Jeff Giffen told OrilliaMatters, “The facility where the fire occurred was vacant at the time, remains vacant and there are no plans for renovations or re-occupation at this time.”
He noted some of the property and buildings are currently used for “ministry programs” as well as a public health lab operated by the Ministry of Health. The Ontario Provincial Police also has a presence on the site for training. The Ontario Court of Justice is located there, too.
As for the property’s future, Giffen said Infrastructure Ontario “has completed considerable due diligence to consider opportunities to maximize use of the property and this effort is continuing.”
“No decisions have been made regarding the property’s future and it has never been listed for public sale,” he said.
