Burlington, Ontario — Finlay's Voice

A child should never die waiting to be seen in an emergency room.

But that's what happened to Finlay.

Finlay waited over eight hours.
He never made it home.

Before you continue: Finlay's story is difficult to read. We share it because understanding what happened is how we prevent it from happening again.

Finlay van der Werken was a 16‑year‑old from Burlington. On February 7, 2024, his mother brought him into the ER, doubled over in pain and struggling to breathe.

He was triaged as CTAS II — the category reserved for patients who need emergent care, with guidelines calling for a physician within fifteen minutes. The hospital's own system had already recognized this as urgent.

Then came the wait. Hour after hour, his mother returned to the desk as his breathing worsened, watching the doctors on shift dwindle through the night until, for a stretch before dawn, none were left at all.

“Please help me.”

— Finlay

His oxygen levels were checked again and again through the night. Each reading was lower than the one before it.

100%→96%→93%→92%→85%

Oxygen saturation, overnight — no one intervened

A doctor finally assessed Finlay at 6am, nearly eight hours after his mother first asked for help. His chart that morning noted sepsis and pneumonia with hypoxia, at high risk of acute deterioration.

Twenty‑one hours later, his parents made the hardest decision of their lives, and took him off life support.

Finlay never came home.

His death was preventable. And it revealed a crisis unfolding across Canada. Emergency departments nationwide are under extreme pressure. Wait times are rising. Preventable harm and deaths are increasing. Children deteriorate faster, cannot advocate for themselves, and rely entirely on systems that are failing them.

Read his mother's full account on Finlay's Voice →

Across the country

Worsening
ER access is worsening nationwide.
Below CTAS
Canadians face life‑threatening delays below Canadian Triage & Acuity Scale standards.
85%
of children are treated in general hospitals with widely varying pediatric readiness.
Confirmed
Investigations show many ERs lack pediatric expertise.
18,000
Canadians die of sepsis every year — and Canada has no national standards for sepsis care.

In Ontario, more than 30,000 people have already signed a petition calling for Finlay's Law — urgent reforms to make emergency rooms pediatric‑ready. But despite overwhelming public support, the provincial response has been limited to statements and sympathy, not action.

This is why we are now calling for federal leadership: children's safety cannot depend on political will or provincial variability. It requires national standards, accountability, and oversight.

Although healthcare is provincially regulated, the federal government shapes it through the Canada Health Act, national standards, and public health leadership. Provinces must meet the Act's accessibility principles to receive full federal funding — yet they still receive the full transfer even as ER access declines.

This is why we are calling on the federal government to act.

The federal petition asks Parliament to

  1. Strengthen federal oversight of the Canada Health Act.
  2. Tie federal health‑transfer funding to enforceable national standards for pediatric emergency care and sepsis treatment.
  3. Require transparent reporting and compliance to ensure timely, life‑saving care for all Canadians.

This is how we prevent another tragedy.

This is how we honour Finlay.

This is how we protect children across the country.

Petition closes August 29 — every signature matters

If you believe children deserve to be seen in time, please add your voice.

Sign the federal petition Read Finlay's story

Your signature could help save a child's life.

#FinlaysVoice → #FinlaysLaw