Health committee  Yes, I would say that we would approve seeing an increase to the health transfers, but our recommendation would be that those transfers be targeted specifically for seniors and in some way recognize the aging population and how that varies across the country.

Health committee  There was definitely a shortage of personal protective equipment in the early days of this pandemic. It's something we're still experiencing but to a much smaller degree currently. If the stockpiles had been there in March or April.... We didn't even consider that as a barrier.

Health committee  Absolutely. Staff turnover results in residents seeing more unfamiliar faces. That continuity of care, knowing your caregivers and seeing them on a regular basis, is all part of what we're talking about here today. It's good for mental health because you become connected with you

Health committee  Thank you very much for your questions. I'll do my best to answer them. I'll start with your reference to the press release back in September. This press release drew attention to the fact that the Canadian Association for Long Term Care has identified a number of issues, chron

Health committee  Thank you. I'm not a doctor and I don't play one on television, but it's a good question and it is a good announcement. We see that funding as very helpful. We've talked about the need for more training and more staff. We'd like to see a national health human resource strategy

Health committee  From the position of Canadian Association for Long Term Care, we're in favour of testing. We'd like to see more testing done. At times, there has been difficulty having access to the level of testing that we would like to have for our staff and residents in the community. Therefo

Health committee  That's a good question. Currently, we don't have a system in place across the country where data is collected at the source—in the homes—and gathered and shared in any way across the country so that we can easily answer that question. Anecdotally, the industry would look at turno

Health committee  Absolutely, the last thing any staff member wants is to be the person who brought COVID-19 into their home. No matter how innocent it is, that's not what they want to see happen. Specifically about the question of permanent full-time positions, the industry right now is in need

Health committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Members of the committee, I want to thank you for inviting CALTC to appear again before you today to discuss seniors living in long-term care and the supports that residents require to protect their mental health. My name is Jason Lee and I'm here tod

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Speaking on behalf of the Canadian Association for Long Term Care, I'm not sure that we're really in a position to answer that question. It's out of our hands when elections are called. I'm sure that and a multitude of other things are taken into consideration when making such a

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I would agree. I was talking with Elections Canada officials. I know that they've been working on this scenario for the last several months trying to get ready. I don't think they're there yet so thankfully we're not in that position just yet, but every election that comes alon

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes, that's accurate.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  No, I have not.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  From my personal point of view, having more options available will be helpful, if we're faced with an election during a pandemic. They might be used, as one of your colleagues mentioned earlier, to test election officials coming into the homes to provide greater comfort that peop

Procedure and House Affairs committee  My first assessment would be yes, that would be something that would provide greater access for people to long-term care, if the comfort level was there for everybody involved, that the rapid testing was going to give assurances that they're COVID-free.