Skip to main content Start of content
Start of content

e-2624 (Health)

E-petition
Initiated by Penny MacCourt from Nanaimo, British Columbia

Original language of petition: English

Petition to the Government of Canada

Whereas:
  • COVID-19 has exposed degradation of care to seniors and instability of the workforce;
  • Privatization and deregulation have eroded the care seniors receive;
  • Government-funded profit-making long-term care (LTC) facilities profit at a cost to seniors, front-line workers and taxpayers;
  • The number of direct-care hours per resident is neither standardized nor regulated;
  • LTC facilities aren’t accountable for how direct-care funding is spent;
  • Government-funded profit-making LTC facilities profit by not providing the number of hours of direct care for which they are funded;
  • Profit is made by underpaying and overworking front-line staff, leading to high turnover and employment in multiple facilities;
  • Profit is made by contracting out food, laundry and other services to the lowest bidder;
  • Government doesn’t have an effective monitoring system to identify substandard care in LTC facilities, nor enforceable consequences; and
  • Family members or councils are often the first to identify inadequate care.
We, the undersigned, citizens of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to:
1. Include long-term care in the public health system, by creating national standards for care and staffing levels under the Canada Health Act and ensure accountability;
2. Eliminate profit-making by government-funded LTC facilities and ensure funds are spent as allocated and ban sub-contracting;
3. Standardize equitable and living wages and benefits, and implement single-site employment, for all staff;
4. Strengthen government oversight and initiate strong penalties and claw backs for facilities not complying with regulations;
5. Require independent family councils with protected rights.
Open for signature
June 3, 2020, at 11:29 a.m. (EDT)
Closed for signature
July 3, 2020, at 11:29 a.m. (EDT)
Photo - Paul Manly
Nanaimo—Ladysmith
Green Party Caucus
British Columbia
Disclaimer regarding petitions