M-50 Long-term care

That, in the opinion of the House, the government should immediately: (a) recognize that many studies of conditions in long-term care residences conducted in Canada over the last decade have shown serious deficiencies in the quality of life of residents in long-term care related to low staffing levels, inadequate compensation and high staff turnover, inadequate direct hours of care of residents, poor nutrition and access to health care, over medication with mood-altering drugs, too many beds per room, and lack of regular inspections, among other issues, documented by the B.C. Seniors Advocate and Professor Pat Armstrong, among others; (b) recognize that COVID-19 has exposed these problems and that the deaths in long-term care residences in Canada were the highest among OECD countries as a proportion of total COVID-19 deaths; (c) recognize that two Ontario inquiries and a report from the Canadian Army have documented the desperate situation in 2020 of residents in long-term care and revealed a profound lack of respect or care for the human rights of Canada’s most vulnerable citizens; and (d) support the UN Convention on the Human Rights of Older Persons that is currently under development and be a signatory of that Convention.