Mr. Speaker, June 13 marks the second annual National Long-Term Care Day in Canada. Whether it is in Etobicoke Centre or across Canada, long-term care plays a vital role in the health and the quality of care of Canadians. In fact, over 200,000 Canadians currently reside in long-term care across Canada.
Today is important for a number of reasons: first of all, to remember the importance of long-term care; second, to thank the volunteers, the staff and the family members who give care to seniors in our long-term care homes. It is also a day when we can redouble our efforts to improve the quality of care in long-term care homes across Canada. Many seniors receive very good care, but there are still too many seniors in long-term care who do not receive the quality of care they deserve.
That is why I am proud to have advocated, along with a number of caucus colleagues a number of years ago, for the federal government to establish national standards for long-term care. The federal government did that. Now we need the provinces to adopt those standards, if we are going to make a difference for seniors in long-term care.
I hope that today we take this opportunity to advocate with provincial governments across Canada that they adopt the national standards so seniors get the quality of care they deserve.