The Parti Québécois (PQ) wants to put an end to the model of seniors’ homes and prioritize home care in order to improve their living conditions. Party leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon made the announcement Sunday morning during a press briefing at party headquarters, alongside MP Méganne Perry Mélançon. This will be the cornerstone of his campaign for the general elections next October.
The Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) seniors’ home model “is not viable, both financially and in terms of the needs of the population,” argued Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon. It not only costs “a fortune”, but “does not meet the needs of the population”, according to the PQ leader.
“It’s not normal as a society not to be worthy of our elders,” he argued. If it forms the next government, the PQ promises to invest $2.7 billion a year in home care.
In his plan Live and age with dignity presented on Sunday, the party proposes a “major change of course” by tripling the supply of home care. The three main axes of this plan focus on increased social diversity, impoverishment and the protection of the rights of seniors.
“Under Philippe Couillard and the Liberals, we thought we couldn’t go any lower. We thought we had seen the worst in terms of the living conditions of seniors. Unfortunately, under the CAQ government, we have just experienced the most inhuman moments in terms of dignity, ”said the PQ leader, referring to deaths in CHSLDs linked to COVID-19. “A tragedy for which the Prime Minister does not want to know the truth. He prefers to keep us in the dark and in lies,” he added.
The PQ has also pledged to form, within the first 100 days of its mandate, if elected, a public and independent commission of inquiry to shed light on the crisis in CHSLDs during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic. COVID-19.