Madam Speaker, I want to thank the member for Winnipeg North for sharing his time with me. Today, I will be speaking on a very important issue following the motion brought forward by the hon. member from the NDP. I would like to thank my hon. colleague for moving it forward.
Let me start with a clear statement. I support national standards for long-term care, but I support standards that have been designed correctly and in consultation with the provinces and territories. The motion we are debating today is unfortunately not the correct course of action to take today to support our seniors in the long-term care system.
Canadian seniors have built this country. Many of them literally fought for it. They deserve our respect and care. As a society, it is important that we have open and serious conversations about the care we provide our senior citizens. There is no doubt that the impact of COVID-19 on long-term care facilities across the country has been devastating for Canadians. It has been especially difficult for those who have lost loved ones. As a country, we need to ensure that something like this never happens again. Our government is taking concrete steps in this regard, which I will speak about shortly.
Members of the House know that I have been a vocal advocate for improving long-term care and bringing the national standards in consultation with the provinces and territories. Last May, five of my Liberal colleagues from the GTA, other Liberal members and I sent a letter to the Government of Ontario calling on it to form an independent inquiry into the conditions of these homes and how COVID was able to spread through them so rapidly. From the start, we were sounding the alarm that something needed to be done. In the letter we demanded that the province work with the Government of Canada in creating national standards for long-term care, which I strongly support.
The report by the Canadian Armed Forces described truly horrible conditions at the homes they assisted in, including Grace Manor in my riding of Brampton South. The stories we have heard in the report were tragic. I have met with many families and advocates from across Ontario. This is why my colleagues and I have been working toward progress on LTC standards and our government has committed to work on this long-term solution. It is the responsibility of the provinces to regulate, protect and inspect long-term care homes in Ontario. The province promised an iron ring around them, but this never materialized. Our seniors deserve better.
As of Saturday, Ontario has seen the death count of 3,891 long-term care residents and 10 staff due to COVID-19, and 413 of these have been in Peel. Too many of these deaths were preventable. I truly support bringing in national standards for long-term care, but the motion before us today, I would argue that the first part of it seeking to bring Revera under public ownership is not the right solution to address this important problem.
With my time here today, I would like to explain why. It would be helpful to explain the federal government's role, or lack thereof, in this context. First, allow me to provide a bit of background. PSP Investments is mandated with investing net proceeds from the pension contribution of the public service, the Canadian Armed Forces and the RCMP pension plan in capital markets in the best interests of the contribution and beneficiaries under those respective acts. It reports to Parliament through the President of the Treasury Board, who is responsible for its legislation. The organization does include certain information about Revera in its annual report as well.
Under the Public Sector Pension Investment Board Act, the President of the Treasury Board is responsible for establishing and nominating a committee whose mandate is to establish a list of qualified candidates for proposed appointments as the director of the independent board of directors of PSP Investments. Based on the nominating committee's selection, the President of the Treasury Board makes a recommendation for appointment to the Governor in Council, and that is an important distinction.
The fact is that PSP Investments is not part of the federal public administration. It is not a government department or agency of the Crown. It does not receive parliamentary appropriations and it is not a part of the public administration of Canada.
PSP Investments is a non-agent Crown corporation that operates at arms' length from the Government of Canada. Part of the motion brought forward by my hon. colleague asks the government to interfere in the investment decision and strategy of this fund to make one long-term care group, namely Revera, public. It implies that the Government of Canada has authority to enact such a process, but the fact is that PSP Investments is intentionally structured to be at arms' length from the government. It is what ensures its independent and non-partisan role. PSP Investments must be, and is, responsible for its own investment decisions.
The President of the Treasury Board therefore does not have the authority to issue investment direction. Nor can he force PSP Investments to sell or transfer ownership of any of its assets. The organization's investment decisions are not influenced by political direction; regional, social or economic development considerations, or any non-investment objectives. In fact, such kind of interference would put PSP Investments at a competitive disadvantage and could impact its ability to achieve its legislative mandate.
The limitation also extends to Revera, which, as my hon. colleague well knows, is a private company that owns, operates and invests in the senior living sector. It is a wholly owned operating subsidiary of PSP Investments, which operates, develops and invests in senior housing facilities. Importantly, it is subject to the same rules as other businesses operating in the industry and its Canadian homes must be licensed or approved by applicable provincial or territorial government bodies. As such, its services are subject to provincial regulations on the quality of care and services. It is also self-funded, meaning that it has its own sources of financing and prepares independent audited financial statements. Since it is a wholly owned operating subsidy of PSP Investments registered under the Canada Business Corporation Act, it is not a part of the federal public administration.
Our government is taking concrete steps to help seniors in long-term care homes. In last September's Speech from the Throne, our government announced important measures aimed at doing just that and committed to working with the provinces and territories to set new national standards for long-term care, so we could ensure that seniors would be safe, respected and could live with dignity. We all want that. We are taking additional action to help seniors stay in their homes longer. We are pleased to work with Parliament on Criminal Code amendments to explicitly penalize those who neglect seniors under their care, putting them in danger.
In last fall's economic update, our government announced funding of up to $1 billion to establish a safe long-term care fund to help provinces and territories protect people in long-term care and support infection prevention and control. More recently, we are seeing progress with vaccinations. Thousands of seniors in long-term care facilities across the country have received their first doses of vaccines, and many have already received their second.
This is not a partisan issue. Our NDP colleagues know that the responsibility of delivering and regulating long-term care falls to the province and territories. A motion that does not recognize this fact does not bring us closer to the national standards. To be successful—