M-77 Improvements to long-term care

That:

(a) the House recognize that,

(i) a humanitarian crisis has unfolded in Canada’s long-term care (LTC) homes during the COVID-19 pandemic,

(ii) seniors, residents and staff in LTC are most vulnerable to COVID-19,

(iii) many LTC residents live in inhumane conditions, a longstanding issue, which has been made worse by the pandemic,

(iv) the death and suffering in Canada’s LTC facilities is deplorable,

(v) Canada is known internationally as a caring nation, but that during the pandemic, we often ranked worst among OECD countries for deaths in LTC,

(vi) LTC residents must have the dignity, quality of life and care they deserve,

(b) in the opinion of the House, the government should,

(i) work urgently with the provinces and LTC experts to take immediate life-saving action to get COVID-19 cases to zero in LTC,

(ii) provide proper and adequate supplies of personal protective equipment for staff, family caregivers and residents,

(iii) increase rapid testing at facilities for residents, staff and family caregivers,

(iv) implement a basic care guarantee and increase the number of trained staff in LTC facilities to ensure a minimum of four hours of regulated personal care per day for every resident,

(v) pay LTC staff adequately for their work, and provide benefits and paid sick leave,

(vi) invest in training and education to support ongoing professional development and specialization for LTC workers,

(vii) support unions to better ensure workers’ safety and standards of care for residents and staff,

(viii) support LTC home family councils and ensure they are included in decision making and not kept out of the residences unnecessarily,

(ix) make LTC a publicly insured, core health care service that is accessible and universal,

(x) create a long term care act, modelled after the Canada Health Act that establishes national standards for care and staffing, and mechanisms to enforce these standards in all types of residences and facilities,

(xi) ensure enforcement of standards of care through accountability and penalties, including criminal prosecution,

(xii) end private, for-profit care and transition LTC facilities to non-profit and co-operative management structures and ownership,

(xiii) increase the proportion of LTC investment in community and home-based care from 13 to 35 per cent in order to match the OECD average,

(xiv) work with the provinces to support shifting LTC policy towards innovative community care, such as naturally occurring retirement communities, co-housing models, and enhanced home support programs, to allow people to stay in their own homes as long as possible.