Madam Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Calgary Nose Hill.
We know that Canadians have the right to live and age with dignity and every senior, regardless of where they reside, is owed it. Long-term care homes have been at the centre of the COVID-19 pandemic and this past year has been extremely difficult for our seniors in care, their families and the front-line workers in the long-term care community. We know that COVID-19 has led to too many families having to say goodbye much too early and that some families were not even afforded this opportunity.
We all know that the health crisis has left too many seniors neglected, with their care needs not being met, and too many families have missed out on precious time together. Too many seniors have been lonely and isolated for far too long and our long-term care workers have sacrificed so much, worked tirelessly on the front lines and many are, understandably, burnt-out.
Whether we have read the Canadian Armed Forces exit report, watched the news stories or heard first-hand accounts, we should all be gripped by the heartbreaking stories that have emerged during this pandemic. The inadequate living and working conditions that have been exposed in some of the long-term care facilities is unacceptable. With the most outbreaks, fatalities and the toughest restrictions, seniors living in long-term care homes have been hit very hard by this pandemic. The difficult truth in these outcomes is that the serious shortcomings in long-term care contributed to these outbreaks and fatalities.
Scarcity of PPE, delays in testing, staffing shortages and inadequate infrastructure all contributed to the tragedy in long-term care. These vulnerabilities had a direct impact on the health and safety of our seniors and those who cared for them. Delays in getting PPE, rapid testing and an efficient vaccine rollout all have a real human cost and, shamefully, Canada’s outbreak and fatality rate in care homes stands out on the world stage.
First-wave reporting showed that Canada had the highest proportion of deaths occurring in long-term care among OECD countries. Canadian seniors living in long-term care were more vulnerable than seniors in care elsewhere. That is unacceptable. Where we go from here matters.
We cannot ignore the aggravating factors that have contributed to the losses in these homes. While the pandemic has heightened and worsened the challenges in long-term care, the reality is that these problems are not new. The need for better ventilation systems, private rooms and updated spaces that allow for infection prevention control measures are not new, but the pandemic has put a spotlight on the human cost of not investing in long-term care infrastructure.
Just as the need for qualified and adequate levels of staffing in care homes is not new, it is not possible for a long-term care home to bring in surge staffing if the home is already understaffed. These gaps in the long-term care sector left our seniors and front-line health care and essential workers vulnerable. With an aging population and increasingly complex needs, the problems in long-term care will only grow without intervention. We need immediate and medium-term action to stabilize and address the vulnerabilities in this sector.
The pandemic has underscored the urgency of action. Ensuring the health and safety of seniors living in long-term care must be a priority for every level government. No one has the jurisdictional or moral right to neglect the serious shortcomings in this sector. The federal government owes it to our seniors and all Canadians to collaborate with provinces, territories, senior advocates and caregiving organizations to address it. It is important that all these voices are in partnership to ensure we find meaningful and appropriate solutions.
We are now more than a year into the pandemic. The Liberal government has announced its intention to deliver national standards for long-term care, but we have not seen progress made on that announcement. There needs to be a collaborative approach to move the needle.
The Conservatives understand that to deliver meaningful change in long-term care, we cannot have a top-down Ottawa approach. Not only do provincial and territorial governments need to be at the table, we need to include seniors' advocates and caregiving organizations. Their experience and expertise are critical to developing appropriate solutions for our seniors, solutions that are more than just patchwork responses. We owe that to our seniors who have helped build our great country. We owe it to them to care for them in their later years.
Financial gain cannot be the priority in delivering care to our seniors. We need a thorough response to address the many serious shortcomings in long-term care. There cannot be a siloed approach to addressing it. We must act to address the vulnerabilities in all models of care homes. Together, all levels of government, seniors' advocates and caregiving organizations must act to address the wide range of vulnerabilities in care.
A comprehensive response to the crisis in long-term care must consider best practices for quality and appropriate care. Seniors in care should never have their care needs neglected and should have access to quality and appropriate care, regardless of where they reside.
A comprehensive response has to tackle the growing staffing crisis in care, bring stability in the short term, but also find solutions over the medium term to increase the pool of skilled workers in this sector. It has to ensure there is adequate access to PPE, rapid tests and infection control measures. We need to ensure that care homes have the resources they need to protect the health and safety of our seniors and front-line health care workers in this pandemic and moving forward.
A comprehensive response has to include a plan to update our outdated infrastructure, so the brick and mortar is in place to allow for the implementation of infection control measures. There needs to be investment and support for more long-term care facilities. We cannot ignore the continuum of housing needs for seniors. We need to ensure our front-line health care workers have the supports they need.
The Conservatives know that the needs in long-term care are comprehensive. Therefore, we need a comprehensive plan to address the crisis in long-term care. With an aging population, that will only put more pressure on an already exhausted system. The need to act is immediate. Everybody needs to be at the table to address it and ready to act in areas of their responsibility. We need to move beyond announcements and toward meaningful action.
Our seniors, regardless of where they reside, deserve to live and age with dignity. The federal government should be in partnership with all levels of government, working together to provide not only better but appropriate supports for Canada’s seniors who live in all models of care homes. That is why the Conservatives urge this government to work collaboratively with provinces, territories, seniors' advocates and caregiving organizations to take action on this important issue.
The Conservatives are ready to work collaboratively to provide better supports and appropriate care for Canada’s seniors. We urge the government to take a leadership role in promoting best practices in long-term care, while recognizing the diversity of needs and challenges across the country. We need to work together in partnership with all levels of government, caregiving organizations and seniors' advocates. We need to develop immediate and medium-term solutions to address the critical vulnerabilities in the long-term care sector. We need to stabilize the long-term care sector as we continue to navigate the pandemic, but we cannot afford to narrowly focus on the pandemic.
We need to work toward a comprehensive plan that will deliver substantial solutions for our seniors in care and those soon to be in care. It is not just that our seniors in care need more care; we must ensure there is a quality of care that addresses the complexity of their care needs. Whether it is the quality of care, workforce shortages or adequate infrastructure, only a collaborative and comprehensive approach will address the systemic issues in our long-term care sector. There is no time to delay. We have seen throughout the pandemic the real human costs of neglecting this sector.