The Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, refuses to say whether he has in hand 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 we respect the investigation process of Coroner Géhane Kamel.
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 for Seniors Natalie Rosebush told the coroner on November 16 that there were no instructions at the time to keep what was filled out 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’s Office has since announced that Ms Rosebush will be heard again on December 1. He was not in a position on Thursday to say whether or not he had received all inspection reports.
The minister who was responsible for seniors during the pandemic, Marguerite Blais, is on sick leave and will not answer the coroner’s questions. Ms. Blais’ office has no idea when she will be back.
Legault recognizes that seniors lacked care
During an emotional question period on Thursday, the Prime Minister admitted that “indeed, there are seniors who have not received the services they should have received.”
“And we are all uncomfortable with that, Mr. President, but we have experienced a historic pandemic,” he pleaded.
Mr. Legault was answering questions from the leader of the official opposition, Dominique Anglade, who wanted to know why, despite all the warning signs, the government had not better protected CHSLDs.
“We did not have that alert,” insisted the Prime Minister. Today we say to ourselves: “Well, we should have acted before.” Good yes. If we had known, we would have done it. “
The national director of public health, Dr. Horacio Arruda, testified during his visit to the coroner on November 15 that he was aware of the danger that awaited residents of CHSLDs from January 2020.
The former Minister of Health Danielle McCann had also affirmed that she knew it in January, to later declare to have really become aware of the danger on March 9, 2020.
“The crisis unit knew, was worried, but did not prepare the CHSLDs. That is the abandonment of its responsibility, ”hammered the parliamentary leader of the Liberal Party, André Fortin.
His colleague, the Member of Parliament for Fabre, Monique Sauvé, burst into tears when questioning the government on its decision to block access to CHSLDs to caregivers.