After more than a year of being forced to stay away from his mother’s long-term care home in Windsor, Paul Ziman broke the ban imposed upon him by Village at St. Clair to see his mom for the holidays — leading to his arrest and heightening calls from advocates for police forces to be properly trained in cases like these.
There were multiple visits that took place over the course of a few days. On Christmas Eve, according to Ziman, police were called but did not force him to leave.
But on Boxing Day, Ziman was offered a hallway visit with his mother but he refused and visited with her in her room. Police were called and this time there was a different response. Ziman said he was removed from the building in handcuffs, was released outside the home and issued a ticket under the Ontario Trespass to Property Act (TPA) for failing to leave the premises when directed, with a $65 charge. He says he was warned by police not to return again.
“It was pretty embarrassing. I was humiliated,” Ziman said.
That said, he is also hopeful that his ticket will get him before a judge to clear the ban and reunite him with his mother.
The Windsor Police Service has not responded to any of CBC’s requests for comment on this story.
Ziman, who is also his mother’s power of attorney, was first barred from the home through the TPA in September 2023 after a tense meeting at the residence. In a letter to Ziman, the home said he had been issued the order because he had demonstrated anger, and it also accused him of previously behaving in a threatening and abusive manner, which he denies. Ziman has said he believes he was banned for speaking out about his mother’s care.
Schlegel Villages, the company which oversees the home, denies this, explaining that visitor restrictions are rare.
Residents have an ‘absolute right’ to visitors, lawyer says
Advocates, like the founder of the Access to Seniors and Disabled advocacy group Maria Sardelis, have argued for years that the use of the TPA by a home is “unlawful” and violates the residents’ right to visitors.
“The residents’ right is very clear,” explained Jane Meadus, a lawyer and institutional advocate at the Advocacy Centre for the Elderly, pointing to the Fixing Long Term Care Act’s Residents’ Bill of Rights.
“That gives them an absolute right to have visitors and therefore it is our position that if a person is a visitor to a resident in a home, that this cannot be used.”
She points out that there are other avenues available to a home should they believe a visitor is causing a disturbance or behaving illegally, but stresses that the TPA is not one of them.
Schlegel Villages defends its right to make such restrictions.
“This is a last-resort option, and any such decision would not be made lightly — it would be based on the specifics of that individual situation and considered based on all other attempts to find a resolution,” explained Kristian Partington, the director of communications.
Ottawa police received training on appropriate use of TPA
In an email to CBC, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Long-Term Care said the Fixing Long-Term Care Act does give operators discretion to prohibit visitors “if resident safety could be put at risk.”
Meadus disagrees with that position and was “extremely surprised” to hear that response from the Ministry.
“I don’t see that that is legal. I don’t think it’s ever been legal. And police forces … are not properly trained,” Meadus added.
According to Meadus, the Advocacy Centre for the Elderly has done work to train police officers on this throughout the province, but more work needs to be done.
Sardelis has also made an effort to improve training by reaching out to forces across Ontario, including the Ottawa Police Service.
Staff Sergeant Jamie Ritchie is in charge of professional development with Ottawa Police and first connected with Sardelis in 2022.
She brought him various case law examples that he then brought to the service’s legal department to ensure that police officers were properly applying the TPA when it came to LTC homes.
“According to our training, and what we’ve gone with with our officers is the resident is considered the occupier [of that residential facility],” Ritchie explained.
“They’re allowed to have visitors and no one under the TPA can bar them from having visitors to their residence.”
‘I’m still a little shaken up’
Brent Ross, a spokesperson for the Ministry of the Solicitor General, confirms that the Ontario Police College has recently updated its training to include additional information on the definition of “Occupier” related specifically to individuals in long-term care homes or assisted living facilities.
Sardelis said she has reached out to Windsor Police to share her recommended training information with them, but says she has never received a response.
She also pointed out that different officers across the province respond in different ways based on their interpretation of the act, even within the same police force.
“I’m still a little shaken up about being arrested, “Ziman said.
“I was under the assumption I was just going to get a ticket and walk out with that… I’m not there to cause any problems. I’m just there to look after my mom.”
Ziman is hoping to fight his ticket in front of a judge.
Meadus says it would further help clarify the law if Ziman gets a judge’s written ruling on this. It would help set a precedent in terms of how the TPA is applied specifically in LTC homes, and resolve the confusion once and for all.
