Evidence of meeting #12 for Health in the 43rd Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was teachers.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Bloc
Luc Thériault Bloc Montcalm, QC
Pardon me for cutting you off.
If there had been enough personal protective equipment from the outset, would the decision to remove families from the CHSLDs, the long-term care centres, nevertheless have been made? If so, given the effect that had on patients—dying alone is inhumane—what could be done in future to prevent that kind of separation?
Treasurer, Canadian Association for Long Term Care
There was definitely a shortage of personal protective equipment in the early days of this pandemic. It's something we're still experiencing but to a much smaller degree currently.
If the stockpiles had been there in March or April.... We didn't even consider that as a barrier. As you know, it was talked about a lot in the early days of the pandemic as a concern, as a risk, as a barrier. Had we had larger stockpiles, we would have spent less time talking about personal protective equipment and probably more time talking about the other challenges we were facing.
Luc Thériault Bloc Montcalm, QC
Staff retention is related to working conditions. Better funding obviously fosters better working conditions and therefore helps retain staff. I imagine that dealing with the same people in a long-term care home has a positive effect on the quality of the care residents receive.
Treasurer, Canadian Association for Long Term Care
Absolutely. Staff turnover results in residents seeing more unfamiliar faces. That continuity of care, knowing your caregivers and seeing them on a regular basis, is all part of what we're talking about here today. It's good for mental health because you become connected with your caregiver and they become part of your extended family.
Definitely, retention of staff is a priority of long-term care. Increasing wages and improving working conditions will help us do that.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ron McKinnon
Thank you, Mr. Thériault.
We go now to Mr. Davies.
Mr. Davies, go ahead, please, for six minutes.
NDP
Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to all the witnesses.
Ms. Mooring, a recent pan-Canadian survey conducted by the Canadian Teachers' Federation revealed that 46% of teachers across Canada are concerned about their own mental health and well-being. In a November 27th interview, you responded to that by saying, “It is stressful for all of us during this pandemic, but the fact teachers feel they don’t have what they need in order to keep themselves and everyone safe is particularly difficult”.
Could you tell us where you see the deficits? What do teachers want that they don't have and what do they need in order to improve their feeling of safety and mental health?
President, British Columbia Teachers' Federation
Thanks very much for the question.
Part of what we have outlined in our brief is the fact that teachers don't feel there are adequate preventative measures in place in schools right now. Two of these issues involve PPE. In B.C. at least—and this varies across Canada—there isn't a requirement for PPE to be worn in classrooms, just in common areas. That can be extraordinarily stressful, especially for teachers with underlying medical conditions, in terms of being able to keep safe, not only for themselves but also for their students. Teachers take a high level of responsibility for keeping their students safe, and it feels like that's difficult to do.
The other issue—and I think this is more similar across Canada—is that there isn't the funding to reduce classroom density. We know that physical distancing and mask wearing are important in terms of limiting the transmission of the virus, and neither is present right now in classrooms in British Columbia.
The other is data collection. We would like to see specific sector data as well. We don't have that right now. There is some information that is available publicly in B.C., but it's only a rolling clearing house of schools that have been issued exposure notifications. In B.C., there have been over 1,000 exposure notifications issued. What's happening is that parents are starting to collect that data online, and that's not the most reliable way to get that information. We need to hear that from the health professionals, so that data should be available.
The measures we're putting in place in classrooms in order to protect students are also impacting the way teachers teach. Because there isn't PPE, students are required to be more stationary than we would like. This is also having an impact on teaching and learning.
NDP
Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC
Following up on that, you mentioned the lack of safety protocols regarding mask wearing and physical distancing. You said they're not being applied in classrooms and school places.
What role would you like to see the federal government play in that? Could you imagine, say, the Prime Minister or the federal government perhaps issuing a national directive in that regard, or should this be left to the provinces? I'm just curious as to how you think that should be addressed.
President, British Columbia Teachers' Federation
There already are recommendations from the federal health office around wearing PPE, and that's for students 10 years and older. We would like to see that be more consistent.
We would certainly like to see, at a minimum, encouragement federally for greater consistency across Canada in terms of some of the preventative measures that are in place. Similarly, physical distancing is one of the most problematic measures. We're just not able to physically distance in classrooms of 30 or more students as well as all the adults in the room—teachers, support staff, etc. These are crowded rooms.
We have concerns that as the community spread of the virus is increasing—and that certainly is happening in B.C., especially in certain communities—those in-school transmissions are going to be inevitable. We're going to see the closure of schools instead of keeping them open.
NDP
Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC
I'm going to try to squeeze in one more quick question, if I could.
Teachers are well placed to monitor the health of their students. We heard that when children were home-schooled, this had a number of positive but also negative impacts on them. I'm just wondering. Has the return to in-person classes had a positive impact on students' mental health, or are you seeing challenges in that regard as well?
President, British Columbia Teachers' Federation
I think overall the impacts are positive, especially for students who are more vulnerable, but there are challenges, of course. You know, everyone is concerned about their safety.
We also have thousands of students who actually didn't return and are engaged in remote learning. That is very difficult to support when teachers are working full time in their classrooms. I would say that more investment is needed in terms of supporting students' mental health. Simply coming to school isn't enough. There need to be additional counsellors and counselling time for students, many of whom had really negative experiences during the school closure, especially, again, students who experience housing and food insecurity, family violence, etc.
There we would like to see more supports directed to supporting students' mental health. We're not seeing any increased investment in that regard.
NDP
Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC
You mentioned that $2 billion was made available by the federal government to the provinces, but you were concerned about leakage, that not all of that money would be used for the purpose for which it was intended.
What advice would you give this committee—to, in turn, give the government—to help ensure that the federal funding announced for a safe return to school is being used for the intended purposes?
President, British Columbia Teachers' Federation
We would like to see some accountability structures in place.
The Canadian Teachers' Federation is proposing a temporary ad hoc intergovernmental task force to take a look at sustainable operations of schools and how the money is being spent. We don't have any idea in B.C. about how school districts chose to spend that money. There needs to be some accounting of where it's gone, and that certainly hasn't been forthcoming yet. We think there is a need to ensure that the money is going to the purpose it was intended to go to, and that is keeping schools and classrooms safe.
Again, we're struggling with some of the preventative measures in B.C., including putting up barriers for teachers who have to teach hundreds of students every single week, and for teachers who have underlying health conditions.
There are still a number of health measures that should be in place but are not, as well as the additional safety measures that we think should be in place in schools.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ron McKinnon
Thank you, Mr. Davies.
We have a very short time left. I'm going to try to squeeze in one-minute rounds, one minute for each party.
The next person on my list, from the Conservative party, is Ms. Rempel Garner.
Ms. Rempel Garner, please go ahead for one minute.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
For the witnesses, I'm concerned about the impact of the impending holiday season on mental health. It might exacerbate the effects that we're already seeing and that you've described.
Briefly, can you provide recommendations? Maybe you can run through one each or table with the committee recommendations that on an emergency basis the federal government could take on to deal with some of the perhaps exacerbating issues that might happen over the holidays with regard to mental health and COVID lockdowns.
That's for anybody to answer or just to make a commitment to table that with the committee.
Chair, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University, As an Individual
I'm just going to say that I think the message has to be a very simple one. It's short-term pain for long-term gain, and the more we can follow the limitations that are being asked of us, the more quickly we're going to come out.
The second thing, I think, is to see this as an opportunity to create memories that are different memories, not to compare Christmas or the holidays to any previous ones, but just to say that this is completely different, so let's completely suspend what happened in the past and let's get the most out of everything we do this year, because it is, hopefully, just going to be a once-in-our-lifetime event.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ron McKinnon
Thank you, Ms. Rempel Garner.
We'll go now to Dr. Powlowski.
Please go ahead. You have one minute.
Liberal
Marcus Powlowski Liberal Thunder Bay—Rainy River, ON
I have a question for Dr. Kates.
I think a lot of people have been under a lot of stress in seeing their elderly relatives sick and possibly dying without their family being around. I can see this causing long-term problems for people—just the guilt of having to live with this.
What are your recommendations with respect to people who are facing this kind of issue to help them get through it, and hopefully get through it a little less scarred than they might otherwise be?
Chair, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University, As an Individual
I would say a couple of things.
The first is to just validate that this is something that anybody in that situation is going to be experiencing and not to blame themselves. There's a simple kind of five-letter formula: listen, inquire, validate, explain and support. I think that if those of us who are health providers can just follow that very simple kind of acronym, it can be helpful.
I think peer-to-peer support can also be helpful for people, whether it be through groups or one-to-one facilitated peer support where they can connect with each other. It can be very helpful.
I think the last is just to acknowledge that this is just an unimaginable and horrific experience that we've been through, and that just the opportunities to talk about what it's like rather than to lock it away or try to put it into the past is the way we move through it, using all available supports and involving all family members, including younger children as well, who have a different perspective but have been affected.
Liberal
Bloc
Luc Thériault Bloc Montcalm, QC
Mr. Lee, Quebec and the provinces form a common front in favour of a catch-up whereby health transfers would increase from 21% to 22% to 35%. The purpose of that is also to cover slightly more than the system's costs with a 6% indexation for subsequent years, since they have established that system costs are at 5.2%. That would cover the costs of the aging population.
I imagine you support those recommendations.
Treasurer, Canadian Association for Long Term Care
Yes, I would say that we would approve seeing an increase to the health transfers, but our recommendation would be that those transfers be targeted specifically for seniors and in some way recognize the aging population and how that varies across the country.