Police handcuff and fine son for visiting mom in LTC home, after breaking 'unlawful' ban

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 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.

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 resident's right to visitors.

"The resident's 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 me 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.