Mr. Speaker, I want to inform you that I will be sharing my time with the fabulous, wonderful and extraordinary member for Montarville.
I want to begin with some warm words for all of the employees who work in the Quebec public health network. Under normal circumstances, without a pandemic, Christmas is a difficult time because everyone wants to take time off, scheduling is tricky, and it is hard to please everyone. This year, health care workers at all levels, from maintenance workers to those in charge of entertainment and activities, will be having a rather different Christmas.
It is the same thing for patients. This Christmas will be very different since they may not be able to have as many visitors as they would like.
In particular, I want to thank the people who work for community groups. We forget about them because we focus on long-term care homes, community health centres and home care. We do not spend enough time talking about the people who work for community groups, about the community network that complements the public network and works in partnership with it. These volunteers, these citizens, improve other people's quality of life and provide services. I would like to express my deep appreciation and support for them. We know it is not easy. Community groups providing essential services have not had a break since March. They adapted quickly and changed how they operate so they could keep providing the services people need.
We talk a lot about seniors' needs in this pandemic situation. They have been hit hard, perhaps harder than anyone else, by this pandemic. People talk as if that were the only issue, but we need to acknowledge that conditions of care in long-term care homes were the weak link in this pandemic.
I have said repeatedly that I used to work for seniors, specifically managing seniors' housing. It was a big part of my professional life. I can tell the House one thing for sure, and I think my colleague from Châteauguay—Lacolle said this earlier: some long-term care homes did not have the same death toll as those in other parts of Quebec because they had enough staff and good management. The problem is that those people are now worn out. They have been working non-stop since March, not taking vacation, sometimes doing mandatory overtime, yet they have continued to care for our seniors.
Long-term care homes are already regulated by and must comply with many Quebec standards. They are inspected and evaluated regularly by the department. Amongst ourselves, we call these departmental visits. We call this obtaining accreditation from Accreditation Canada. In long-term care homes, there are standards for reducing medication for seniors, including the prescription of psychotropic drugs. There are standards for reducing control measures, formerly known as restraint measures. Long-term care homes have many quality performance targets to meet in order to pass a departmental visit or obtain accreditation from Accreditation Canada.
Therefore, there is no need for Canada-wide standards to improve the quality of care provided in long-term care homes. There is no doubt about that. As the Premier of Quebec told the media earlier, the idea of Canada-wide standards for the supervision and management of our long-term care homes is unacceptable. This does not respect jurisdictions and, let's face it, it is not Ottawa that provides direct services to seniors, youth and the homeless; it is the staff hired and covered by a collective agreement, which is managed by and negotiated with the Quebec government. Additional standards will in no way bring in more staff at long-term care homes or ensure extraordinary service levels. The service is already extraordinary.
The thing that is missing is an extra set of hands. That is clear. There is a shortage of workers at every level. Obviously there is a lack of funding to hire that extra staff. We must not overlook the fact that there is currently a labour shortage. There are not enough people who want to become personal support workers. We talk a lot about personal support workers in long-term care homes, but we must not forget that home support workers and social workers also provide home care. It is hard to recruit people in that field as well.
Standards are not going to fix the problem in long-term care homes, in home care or in the delivery of different services to the people who need it in Quebec and the provinces. There needs to be increased funding to better organize services and meet needs.
No one will be surprised to learn that this requires better federal transfers to the provinces, as we have said repeatedly today. Quebec has to make tough choices. It does not have the necessary financial capacity because Ottawa has diminished that over the years. Year after year, federal health transfers to the provinces have been reduced so much, by both the Conservatives and the Liberals, that they now cover only roughly 21% of needs.
I have listened to the debates. It is often said that the Bloc wants to pick a fight. I am not trying to pick a fight. Earlier, I read that Ontario's finance minister said that he hopes parliamentarians will support the Bloc's motion. It will take federal health transfers to Quebec and the provinces to increase their capacity to meet the needs of their residents. The experts, the pros at organizing health care services, are the ones who know what is needed. We often talk about a top-down approach. The needs are not being expressed at the federal level, and the federal government does not deliver the services. It does not have the expertise or the necessary first-hand knowledge to provide money with conditions to bring in programs.
I am passionate about this subject, and I have two things to say. First, we must not forget that the health care system does not merely consist of services for seniors. These services are important, but other care sectors are also important, especially those dealing with homelessness, mental health and addiction issues. Community groups are known for their innovation and practices, which are often studied by other countries. Quebec's intervention practices are closely followed.
I will repeat that the Government of Quebec must make agonizing choices. We know that 45% of Quebec's annual budget is allocated to health. Obviously, it must increase its capacity.
I implore my Quebec colleagues to understand and to use their leadership to convince the government that it is misguided in its desire to trample on Quebec's jurisdictions and to impose standards. It is playing with words. I am certain that the deputy House leader will tell me that soon. We know that the Liberals do not want to impose them. No provincial government will agree to participate in the negotiation of Canada-wide health standards for long-term care. Not one. If it does not work, it cannot be imposed.
I am asking all Quebec members sitting in the House of Commons to collaborate and stand together with the Premier of Quebec, who requests and requires respect for provincial jurisdictions, and I am asking the government to drop this idea of imposing Canada-wide standards for long-term care homes.