(Quebec) The Legault government knew that there was an ongoing disaster in the CHSLDs in March 2020.
This was noted in a press briefing on Tuesday by the parliamentary leader of the Parti Québécois (PQ), Joël Arseneau. He regrets that the government is not telling “the whole truth”.
Mr. Arseneau was reacting to a Radio-Canada report, which revealed the existence of emails sent by CHSLD managers to senior officials from mid-March 2020.
These emails were filed in evidence as part of the inquest by Coroner Géhane Kamel into the deaths that occurred in CHSLDs during the first wave of the pandemic.
The director of the Association of Private Establishments Agreement (AEPC), Annick Lavoie, has notably launched several appeals for help, according to documents consulted by The Canadian Press.
These were “very clear signals” about the lack of equipment, patient transfers and labor mobility, says Arseneau.
“Why has the government not acted? This is the question everyone is asking, ”he said.
“Right now it seems established that the government’s line of defense of doing its best and then not being aware of what was going on, well, it seems to be weakened. important, ”he continued.
“Willful blindness”
PHOTO JACQUES BOISSINOT, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Dominique anglade
Liberal leader Dominique Anglade went on to reproach Prime Minister François Legault for his “willful blindness” and his “troubled relationship with the facts and the truth”.
“It is clear that there is information that is hidden from Quebeckers,” she said. Listen, these emails exist there. The emails that we saw that were put forward, they exist.
“The government is clearly not telling us everything,” she added. Once again, we have information which shows us that the government knew and that it did not act. ”
All this militates in favor of a vast public inquiry into the management of the pandemic, added the parliamentary leader of Quebec solidaire, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois.
“Thousands of seniors died in CHSLDs, that justifies the holding of a real independent public inquiry. We have a responsibility to the lives lost, to the bereaved families, to know the truth.
“François Legault’s strategy is the strategy of confusion. It is to mix the cards, to confuse Quebecers with all kinds of versions of the facts, ”he denounced.