(Quebec) Two CAQ ministers must pack their boxes for having lied to the public, believe Liberal leader Dominique Anglade and Parti Québécois MP Pascal Bérubé.
Posted at 1:32 p.m.
They were reacting to the revelations of Radio-Canada, according to which Marguerite Blais and Danielle McCann knew from March 30, 2020 that there was almost no more staff to care for the 154 residents of the CHSLD Herron.
In the official version, M.me Blais, who is the minister responsible for seniors, and Ms.me McCann, the former Minister of Health, learned of the disaster at the CHSLD Herron by reading the daily The GazetteApril 10, 2020.
PHOTO JACQUES BOISSINOT, CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES
Marguerite Blais
During her testimony before the coroner on January 14, Ms.me Blais said: “Herron, we learned that mainly from the newspaper article, we didn’t know the extent of the situation. »
On Tuesday, Mr. Bérubé accused the two ministers of having lied to the National Assembly and to coroner Géhane Kamel, who is investigating deaths in CHSLDs that occurred during the first wave of the pandemic.
It is also unlikely that Prime Minister François Legault was not immediately made aware of the situation at CHSLD Herron, added Ms.me England.
PHOTO DAVID BOILY, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Danielle McCann
“It can’t be that the Prime Minister’s Office didn’t know about it,” she said. I, as a minister, called my Prime Minister for much less than that on a weeknight, for much less than that. »
On March 29, 2020, Assistant Deputy Minister for Elders Natalie Rosebush emailed Ms.me Blais, with the title “URGENT: Situation CHSLD Herron Ouest Montréal”.
She told him of a “very problematic” situation at the CHSLD Herron, where there was “almost no staff left to take care of the 154 residents”.
The chief of staff of M.me Blais forwarded this email to him four hours later. Mme McCann got a “status report” the next morning.
The government “sat on this information” for 10 days, exclaimed Mr. Bérubé on Tuesday, before adding: “I don’t know if anyone is packing their boxes today, but I invite thinking people. »
“Look, this is serious,” he continued. Two ministers were briefed on what was happening at Herron ten days before. Imagine the impact if we had acted quickly on what happened in Herron. »
For his part, the parliamentary leader of Québec solidaire, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, invited Mr.me Blais to make an “examination of conscience”.
“She has been in Quebec politics for years and repeats on all platforms that she wants to defend seniors. Well how did she find out what was going on at CHSLD Herron and then she did nothing? »
Reassuring
Marguerite Blais’ office told reporters on Tuesday that the minister felt rather reassured when she read Ms.me Rosebush, March 29, 2020.
She had taken the trouble to write that “the CIUSSS will take charge of the CHSLD to provide the services, the time to bring the situation back and train the staff”.