We are part of the Council of Senior Citizens Organizations of B.C. We are the largest independent, volunteer-run and operated federation of seniors organizations in British Columbia. We have approximately 100,000 members and we come from all socio-economic backgrounds. We are very proud to be non-profit and to accept no commercial sponsorships, for example, donations from pharmaceutical companies or for-profit service providers.
As citizens and senior citizens, we are proud and extremely grateful that Canadians have responded to the call for action to reduce the transmission of the virus to others, and especially to vulnerable people like us, seniors. We thank you for all of your efforts in dealing with this unprecedented health crisis that caught many of us by surprise. The opportunity to let you know our thoughts and recommendations about long-term care in particular and seniors' health care in general is very welcome.
By the way, we appreciated your report on national pharmacare and are looking forward to some fruition from that.
Almost half of the COVID-19 related deaths in Canada have been of seniors living in institutions that masquerade as care homes. Appalling conditions that came dramatically to the public's attention existed for several shameful decades long before this pandemic. Much of public policy seems to be based on baked-in anti-age prejudice, much like racism or sexism. Combatting and eradicating discrimination based on age will take concentrated, systemic attention over time.
No seniors we know are looking forward to going into care. That's because there is a real reluctance to go into a warehouse to wait for the inevitable end, and everyone has heard a bad story or many more. In an unprecedented effort to consult with seniors in care, our British Columbia seniors advocate interviewed as many residents as possible. A large number of the interviewees were somewhat reluctant to voice specific complaints beyond the ones about regimented time, lack of showers and that sort of thing. As well, and very telling to us, was that a huge proportion of them confessed that they really did not want to be in there. The reports are available online, by the way, so I won't go into parsing the data.
Mistreatment and neglect of seniors represents a violation of the basic human right to security of the person. Allowing that discrimination to exist and flourish is a result of chronic underfunding of health care of seniors and other vulnerable people in Canada; accelerating privatization and commodification of seniors care; non-existent or ineffective government oversight of international investments in seniors care; no consistent, enforced national standards for care; and a lack of nationally coherent, shared vocabulary describing services provided or offered to seniors.
We call for the complete reform of long-term care provisions in Canada and for independent seniors’ organizations like ours to be consulted in the process. Our recommendations are as follows:
One, that the federal government immediately begin transformational reform of long-term care laws, regulations, practices, and funding levels. Two, that the federal government initiate a national inquiry into the ongoing privatization of seniors health care. Three, that seniors health care in long-term care as well as allied care facilities become part of the Canada Health Act. Four, that government ban international investment in private long-term care homes, and phase out private ownership of long-term care homes. Five, that federal and provincial governments ban the contracting out of essential services that protect the health and safety of seniors. Six, that national principles and standards be grounded in national and international human rights legislation and be developed specifically to protect the human rights of seniors in long-term care in Canada. Seven, that accountability and enforcement measures be developed based on national reporting systems for regular monitoring of the provision of seniors care, and that a Canadian seniors advocate be appointed to monitor the implementation of these changes and to report directly to government.
It is clear that no one with the power to make any changes listened to seniors themselves until now. If they did, there is no evidence that things have changed. The fact that almost half of all the deaths from COVID-19 in Canada are of institutionalized seniors is a wake-up call for Canadians.