Half measures won’t save the lives of loved-ones in Long Term Care

In reaction to the recently released voluntary standards for long-term care homes, Canada’s NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh issued the following statement:

“The devastating and deadly conditions that took the lives of our parents and grandparents during the pandemic will forever be etched into our minds and hearts. And more than 17,000 lives were lost in long-term care during the pandemic.

Canadians expect their government to fix the problems described as dehumanizing by the Canadian Armed Forces. While today’s announcement of voluntary standards is welcome, optional guidelines are not enough to change the understaffed, dehumanizing conditions in for-profit long-term care. Only legislation will guarantee our parents and grandparents the quality of life they deserve.

And the evidence shows that privatized for-profit long-term care homes are more dangerous and deadly than non-profit and public homes. The NDP has called for the removal of profit from the care of our loved ones, but the Liberals continues to allow CEOs of long-term care homes line their pockets on the backs of our loved ones.

That’s why the New Democrats fought for long-term care standards in our deal with the Liberals. We want to see a Safe Long Term Care Act quickly. It is imperative for all levels of government to step up and do the right thing for people in long-term care homes – changes to improve the standards of care must be funded through the Canada Health Transfer.

You can count on New Democrats to stand up for our parents and grandparents living in long-term care."