Debbie’s Law introduced in Manitoba legislature

Roblin

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 07/05/2025 (356 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Debbie Fewster should be here today. She had just retired and was looking forward to spending more time with her grandchildren. But despite learning she needed a life-saving triple bypass in late August 2024, Debbie died on Oct. 13, 2024 while still waiting for the surgery her doctors knew she needed.

Debbie was told she needed surgery within three weeks — but that surgery never came. She waited over two months, and passed away still waiting. She did everything right. She trusted our health-care system, but it failed her. Her family didn’t get an explanation as to why the urgent, life-saving surgery was delayed — only a bill for the ambulance that came the night she died.

Now, her children are leading the charge to make sure what happened to her doesn’t happen to others. I’m proud to help carry that effort forward with Bill 226, The Health System Governance and Accountability Amendment Act (Reporting When Timely Care Not Available) — or as it will be known, Debbie’s Law.

This bill would make three key changes to Manitoba’s health legislation. First, it would require health authorities to notify patients when life-saving care can’t be provided within the medically recommended timeframe. Second, if care isn’t available here at home in time, it would require the patient to be informed of what out-of-province care options are available to them. Lastly, it would require fully transparent yearly reporting of the number of patients who die while waiting for life-saving care.

Right now, patients and families are left in the dark in Manitoba. There is no warning when delays could cost a life. There is no record when the system fails someone like Debbie. That has to change.

Debbie’s Law is common-sense, patient-first health-care reform. If a province can’t provide timely health care, patients and families deserve to know. They deserve the chance to make informed choices. And when the worst happens, families deserve answers — not silence.

We can do better. Debbie’s Law is a step toward restoring transparency, trust, and dignity in our health-care system.

I urge all Manitobans to stand with Debbie’s family and support this bill. Share her story. Contact the Premier, the Health Minister, or your local MLA and let them know you support this patient-first legislation. Demand a system that treats patients like people—not statistics.

For Debbie, and for every family still waiting — let’s get Debbie’s Law passed in Manitoba.