Human Resources Committee on June 3rd, 2021

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Thank you, Ms. Chabot.

The last questions will be posed by Ms. Gazan, please.

Ms. Gazan, you have the next two and a half minutes.

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Thank you so much, Chair.

My last question is for Madam Dupuis-Blanchard, and perhaps Mr. Kuperman could respond to this one as well.

I'm wondering how you feel the government is doing in terms of mandating Canada's commitment to the implementation in Canada of healthy aging policies as set out by the World Health Organization. How are we doing in Canada with that?

I'll start with you, Madam Dupuis-Blanchard, and then follow up with Mr. Kuperman.

[Dr. Suzanne Dupuis-Blanchard]

Thank you for that question.

The National Seniors Council is indirectly involved, I can say.

My understanding is that the Public Health Agency of Canada is currently working on how to best align with the Decade of Healthy Ageing. The Public Health Agency of Canada is part of the work that we do at the council, and there have been discussions and some back and forth on that. My understanding is that they are working on Canada's commitment to the Decade of Healthy Ageing.

[Dr. Victor Kuperman]

I will add that from what we've seen in our studies of public messaging and federal messaging, the commitment is there, the alignment between federal policies and the broader context takes place.

That's what I can comment on.

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

How critical do you think it is for us to move quickly on this, especially in light of COVID and what we found out during COVID, or what we already knew but was highlighted during COVID?

[Dr. Suzanne Dupuis-Blanchard]

I think it aligns very well with some of the priorities that even the council is working on.

When we look at the components of the Decade of Healthy Ageing, it talks about healthy communities, about ageism, and many of these are issues that are currently discussed. I think it would be quite...I want to say “easy”, but it's never easy. However, it would certainly align with some of the priorities that are being discussed currently.

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Thank you so much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Thank you, Ms. Gazan.

Thank you to our witnesses today.

Dr. Kuperman, thanks for your patience in working through the new reality that is Zoom and technology.

To both of you, we very much appreciate the work that you do in your professional academic careers and your willingness to share that. It will be of great benefit to us in our work.

We appreciate the patient and comprehensive way you've handled all the questions. Thanks for being with us.

Colleagues, we're going to suspend for a couple of minutes to do the sound checks for the next panel.

To our witnesses, you're welcome to stay, but you're free to leave.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

I call the meeting back to order.

We have one witness who is besieged with technical problems, but Mr. Prud'homme is in a position to deliver the opening statement for Réseau FADOQ and Ms, Tassé‑Goodman will join us when that is possible. We don't have the leisure to extend the meeting today, so we're going to proceed.

We are continuing our study on the impact of COVID-19 on seniors.

The following comments are for the benefit of the witnesses.

Before speaking, please wait until I recognize you by name. When you're ready to speak, you can click on the microphone icon to activate your mike. Interpretation is available at this meeting. You have the choice at the bottom of your screen of floor, English or French.

When speaking, please speak slowly and clearly. When you aren't speaking, your microphone should be on mute.

I now want to welcome the witnesses to continue our discussion. They'll have five minutes to give their opening remarks. The committee members can then ask questions.

From the United Way of Canada, we have Debra Shime, vice-president of community initiatives.

I also want to welcome the representatives of the provincial secretariat of the Réseau FADOQ: Danis Prud'homme, director general, and Gisèle Tassé‑Goodman, president.

It's a pleasure to see you.

[Gisèle Tassé-Goodman, President, Provincial Secretariat, Réseau FADOQ]

Good afternoon.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

We'll conduct a sound check with Ms. Tassé‑Goodman. Ms. Shime can then begin her presentation.

If we could, let's do a sound check for Ms. Tassé-Goodman, Madam Clerk.

[The Clerk of the Committee, Ms. Danielle Widmer]

Can you speak for a few seconds, Ms. Tassé‑Goodman?

[Gisèle Tassé-Goodman]

Okay.

Good afternoon. Can you hear me properly?

[The Clerk]

Yes, that's fine.

Thank you, Ms. Tassé‑Goodman.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

We're going to start with Ms. Shime for five minutes, please.

You have the floor.

[Debra Shime, Vice-President, Community Initiatives, United Way Centraide Canada]

Good afternoon. Let me start by recognizing and thanking the committee and the government for the critical and important work you are doing to support people across Canada and to support the essential community services that are helping our families and communities.

United Way Centraide is Canada's largest funder of vital community services. We focus on eliminating poverty and ensuring vulnerable Canadians have the support they need to build sustainable livelihoods.

Each year United Way invests over $500 million to support over 3,500 organizations in over 5,000 communities across all provinces and territories. Of that, over $23 million is invested in specific seniors programs that help 330,000 people annually. In addition, we know that thousands of other seniors attend many other types of programs addressing such things as food security, disability services and general community well-being. With the support of our donors and corporate partners, we mobilized during the pandemic an additional $47 million, which aggregates both our initial investment in community and the government's investment.

In June 2020, with the support of the federal government through the new horizons for seniors program, we rapidly expanded funding to over 870 organizations that supported isolated seniors. These programs offered a total of 1.3 million services to over 700,000 vulnerable seniors during the pandemic. They were offered by a network of community agencies in every province and territory. These programs were enabled to reconfigure existing services to meet public health guidelines, expand existing services and support previously underserved areas. Over the course of the last year, we also funded over 5,200 community service programs through the emergency community services fund, of which 2,000 were services specifically for seniors.

To ensure that every person had access to services, with support from the federal government, we rapidly expanded our 211 navigation service to all regions of Canada so that every Canadian could get help finding the services in their community. The 211 service saw a staggering 39% increase in contacts over prior years. Many of those callers were and continue to be seniors or those seeking support for their [Technical difficulty—Editor] particularly vulnerable group. The extended shutdown of public activities affected the many community programs and services that those already vulnerable seniors relied on to combat isolation, build social networks, access culturally appropriate food, receive mental health support and stay active.

United Ways worked with municipalities, public health entities, foundations and front-line agencies to coordinate pandemic community responses. We collectively mobilized quickly around community response tables to problem solve such things as how to maintain Meals on Wheels deliveries, transition in-person contact to phone check-ins, assist seniors with prescription and grocery delivery and pivot seniors to online gatherings to maintain vital social connections.

Based on the context of each community, Centraides identified and responded to the needs of those who face barriers. Some of the barriers that we identified are living on a low income, being a member of a minority group or being over the age of 80. Those were identified as considerations of overall vulnerability. The most frequently funded programs were food and grocery support; outreach to prevent and address isolation, and hygiene and cleaning supports.

I'd like to leave you today with five key takeaways.

First, the last year has shown the level of innovation and agility that is possible within the community services sector. We do not want to lose that spirit of innovation and collaboration as we emerge from the pandemic.

Second, it is important to focus on the role that caretakers play as part of the continuum of care. It is an essential part of our response going forward that caretakers have the supports they need to keep seniors safe, secure and healthy at home.

Third, partnerships and collaborations have been the foundation of the innovation and response that we have seen over this past year. We can and should encourage collaboration and coordination between organizations, rather than foster competition. Seniors and their caregivers will be better off for it.

Fourth, we would be remiss to not mention the disproportionate impact of COVID on communities of colour—Black, indigenous and South Asian specifically. Our efforts must double to address systemic racism and the barriers and inequities they create.

Finally, one of the lessons for funders is the need for flexibility. Local leadership knows what they need, and with the right supports they will find the right solutions. We expect that services are going to start costing more and that agencies will not be able to deliver the same level of services over the coming months. These organizations have stepped up during this crisis and they are under great stress. We need to help them maintain their operations.

The United Way Centraide network remains committed to supporting seniors as Canada emerges from the third wave and as we turn our attention towards building back better. If we want a strong and equitable recovery that supports healthy aging, we need to support the community-based and community-led organizations that support seniors where they live.

This is particularly true for seniors from the most marginalized communities, including Black and indigenous communities, and those living in vulnerable circumstances.

I am happy to speak further to any of these issues, as requested.

Thank you very much for your time and attention today.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Thank you, Ms. Shime.

We'll now turn to Gisèle Tassé‑Goodman, president of the provincial secretariat of the Réseau FADOQ.

Welcome to the committee, Ms. Tassé‑Goodman. You have the floor for five minutes.

[Gisèle Tassé-Goodman]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Parliamentarians, my name is Gisèle Tassé‑Goodman. I'm the president of the Réseau FADOQ. I'm joined by Danis Prud'homme, the director general of our organization. I want to thank the committee members for this invitation.

The Réseau FADOQ consists of a group of people aged 50 and over. The group has nearly 550,000 members. Each time that we take political action, we want to help improve the quality of life of seniors.

Sadly, seniors were the first victims of COVID‑19. The people who receive only old age security benefits and the guaranteed income supplement must live on less than $18,500 a year. It was hard enough to live on this income before. The onset of the health and social crisis exacerbated this financial distress, since prices for basic necessities increased. In addition, given the lockdown, many seniors temporarily lost their support network. This led to additional costs, especially for delivery services.

In the end, the government provided a one‑time payment to seniors who were struggling to make ends meet last summer. Obviously, the Réseau FADOQ would have preferred that the government speed up the implementation of the old age security increase promised in 2019. This improvement was ultimately announced in the latest federal budget. Any improvement is welcome. However, the Réseau FADOQ believes that people aged 65 to 74 should also benefit from it. The government must review this proposal to avoid creating two classes of seniors.

As president of the Réseau FADOQ, I must point out the elephant in the room. A great deal has been said about residential and long‑term care facilities. Many seniors have paid the price for a flawed health care system during this health and social crisis. In reality, the provinces are chronically underfunded by the federal government when it comes to health care.

Granted, some money has been provided during the current crisis and the latest federal budget proposes investments in long‑term care. However, this support is neither recurring nor proportional. Health care funding takes up 40% of provincial and territorial budgets, while the Canadian government funds only 22% of the spending.

According to the Conference Board of Canada, based on the current growth rate of the Canada health transfer, the federal share of health care funding will drop to less than 20% by 2026.

The Réseau FADOQ is asking the federal government to increase the indexing of the Canada health transfer by 6% each year, in other words, to its pre‑2017 level.

The Canada health transfer must also take into account the aging population of the provinces and territories.

The COVID‑19 crisis has exposed significant shortcomings in terms of financial literacy and the affordability of Internet services. This reality has left many seniors doubly isolated, both physically and virtually.

The Réseau FADOQ is actively working to strengthen digital literacy among its members through training workshops. This type of initiative deserves more government support.

Moreover, Internet service packages are very expensive and seniors have limited incomes. The federal government must improve competition among service providers so that more affordable Internet packages are available to everyone.

I want to thank the committee members for listening. Mr. Prud'homme will answer questions. However, I'll reserve the right to answer them as well.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Thank you.

We will begin the first round of questions and answers.

Mr. Tochor, go ahead for six minutes.

[Corey Tochor, Conservative, Saskatoon—University, SK]

I believe Brad is up on the schedule.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Mr. Vis, please.

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to both witnesses for appearing today.

Ms. Shime, on the fourth point you raised, you said that the impact of COVID-19 on communities of colour was disproportionately more impactful. You mentioned the South Asian community.

Can you explain what data you used to reach that conclusion, and how it impacted the South Asian community? I ask that because approximately 30% of the people I represent are of South Asian descent.

[Debra Shime]

Thank you so much for the question.

In preparing our statement for today, we looked quite broadly at the communities that were adversely affected by COVID, and I would say that we know the South Asian community has been disproportionately affected overall in the pandemic, so we draw our conclusion from that. We're happy to provide you with some data and statistics following this meeting if that would be helpful for you.

I would say that one of the things we do know is that many from the South Asian community who are working in essential work also live with combined families, so they were putting their families, including elders, at risk when they were coming home from the jobs that allowed all of us to eat and to get our prescriptions delivered and to get our food delivery and Amazon delivery and things like that. I think that's just drawing conclusions from what we know of the community, but I'm happy to provide additional information.

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

That's actually very helpful. I know there are two groups in my community, the Filipino community and the Punjabi community especially, who work in long-term care, and there were local instances, just as you described.

Was there anything particularly related to [Technical difficulty—Editor] impact in those communities, though, or was it just the fact that some of their family members who they're living with were taking COVID home because of the vulnerable situations they found themselves in while working?

[Debra Shime]

I would say it's the latter.