On April 14, I watched, for a rare time live, the National Assembly’s question period.
Posted at 4:00 p.m.
A motion presented by the Parti Québécois calling for a public inquiry into the carnage that occurred in CHSLDs and private seniors’ residences (RPA) during the first wave of COVID-19 was put to the vote. However, unsurprisingly, the people elected from all political parties, except those of the CAQ, voted in favor of the motion.
So far so good, but when the time came for Ministers Danielle McCann and Marguerite Blais to vote, they received hearty applause from their CAQ colleagues. No need to tell you that having lost my mother, who died of COVID-19 in a CHSLD, I was surprised and disgusted by this standing ovation for the two main actors in the government fiasco that occurred during this first wave.
Rightly or wrongly, I perceived this incense as being, once again, a trivialization of this horrible tragedy.
If Mmy McCann and Blais really had the well-being of people housed in CHSLDs and RPAs at heart, as they claim on all platforms, they would have defied the eternal party line and would have voted in favor of the motion. Especially since they are not standing in the next elections, what did they have to lose? By supporting this motion, they would have shown courage. Courage that they obviously do not have.
This affront disturbs me to the highest point. As is undoubtedly the case for the 5,059 other families who are trying, somehow, to mourn the loved ones they have lost.
Since the start of this damn pandemic, I have been bragging about the actions of the CAQ. Not out of partisanship, but because I agree with the measures put in place. But this misbehavior is not going away and I believe everyone affected deserves a public apology.