The Parti Québécois (PQ) wants to put an end to the model of seniors’ homes and prioritize home care in order to improve the living conditions of the elderly. 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 electoral campaign in view of the general elections next October.
Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon was categorical: the system established by the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) of François Legault, which relies on the construction of seniors’ homes, “is not viable, both financially and to the needs of the population”. It not only costs “a fortune”, but “also does not meet the needs of the population”, he added.
“In Quebec, the proportion of our public spending on long-term care that is invested in home care is abnormally low,” said the PQ leader. We must completely change the offer of home care. If it forms the next government, the PQ promises to triple the supply of home care.
In his plan Live and age with dignity, presented on Sunday, the party proposes a “major change of direction” and undertakes to invest 2.7 billion dollars a year in home care. The four main lines of action of this plan relate to the possibility of living and aging in place, social diversity, the brake on impoverishment and the protection of the rights of seniors. It is a “very firm will to change our orientations and our way of spending”, explains Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon.
Liberal continuity
“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 the dignity of our elders, ”said the leader of the PQ, 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 political party has moreover committed to form, within the first 100 days of its mandate, if it is elected, a public and independent commission of inquiry to shed light on the crisis in CHSLDs during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The party also wants to create a protector of seniors, “entirely independent of the health network”, in order to prevent mistreatment, whatever its form. The latter would have the authority to receive complaints, but also to initiate investigations.
“Each of our measures is related to real problems experienced by our seniors and shows us how thin the record of the CAQ government is. [Il] proved to be the continuity of the Liberal approach, and this approach leads us straight to a wall in terms of public finances,” concluded Paul St-Pierre Plamondon.