(Quebec) The Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, refuses to say whether he has all the inspection reports carried out following “watch visits” in CHSLDs in the spring of 2020.
The question was asked three times on Thursday by Liberal MP Marc Tanguay. The minister rose three times to ask that the coroner’s inquest process be respected.
Throughout the week in the National Assembly, the opposition maintained pressure on the Legault government to explain its management of the crisis in the CHSLDs, which killed 4,000 people in four months.
Thursday, Mr. Tanguay wanted to know if the Minister had in his possession all the inspection grids which were filled out manually by the employees carrying out the lookout visits.
He pleaded that the information contained in these grids was “critical” because they explained the housing conditions for seniors during the crisis.
” He is […] unacceptable that the Minister does not deign to answer a simple question: are the inspection grids filled in manually at the height of the crisis, yes or no in their entirety?
“He drowns the fish and […] only adds a layer of opacity in a search for truth that we want for all Quebecers and for bereaved families, ”lamented Mr. Tanguay in an interview.
The watch visits to the CHSLDs did not begin until April 14, 2020, after the discovery of the tragedy at the CHSLD Herron.
Assistant Deputy Minister Natalie Rosebush said on November 16 before Coroner Géhane Kamel that there was no instruction at the time to keep what was completed by inspectors.
The senior official explained that the inspectors recorded information in a file which “overwrites” the findings noted during previous visits.
No report has been destroyed, instead said Prime Minister François Legault this week in the National Assembly. Backup copies would allow access to the “overwritten” data.
The coroner has since summoned Mr.me Rosebush and will hear it next week.
The minister responsible for seniors during the pandemic, Marguerite Blais, is on sick leave and will not answer the coroner’s questions. M’s officeme Blais doesn’t know when she’ll be back.