REALITY CHECK: Trudeau’s inaction ensures LTC profits endure

While new COVID variants rise across the country as we enter a third wave, Ottawa still hasn’t acted on the lessons learned from the first two waves.

A new report by Canadian Institute for Health Information reinforces the nation-wide devastation this pandemic has exacted. It shows that resident deaths at retirement and long-term care homes represented 69 per cent of Canada's overall COVID-19 deaths, well above the international average of 41 per cent.

“Canada has actually the worst record overall” - Dr. Samir Sinha, Mar 30, 2021, CBC

We also know that for-profit care homes have accounted for 78% more COVID-19 deaths than non-profit homes in some regions. Yet during this same period, for-profit care companies collected millions in pandemic subsidies while continuing to pay millions in shareholder dividends.

Ottawa’s response? Not a single national care standard in sight. Worse yet, Justin Trudeau’s Liberals voted against an NDP motion to remove profit from long-term care. Liberals chose to protect the profits of shareholders instead of peoples’ lives and well-being.

Canada deserves better.