Our grandparents and elders took good care of us and they deserve to receive the same quality of care as they age. But the pandemic has exposed just how poorly the Conservative government has treated our seniors.

Since the Conservatives came to power they’ve neglected seniors, clawing back homecare supports, raising Personal Care Home fees, failing to increase staffing at Personal Care Homes and cutting CancerCare. The Conservatives have not built a single new Personal Care Home bed since they formed government in 2016.

Health Minister Cameron Friesen claims that outbreaks and deaths in personal care homes are “unavoidable.” But we disagree – and so do the experts. Here are five immediate steps the government needs to take today to give our seniors the care and dignity they deserve.

1. Testing: implement mandatory surveillance testing at every long-term care home for all residents and staff. 

2. Staffing: train and hire more staff so seniors receive a minimum of 4.1 direct hours of care per day. Provide adequate PPE for all workers and appoint a dedicated staff person to support staff by providing PPE training and monitoring. End the wage freeze for nurses, health care aides and support staff, and ensure staff have access to mental health supports.

3. Inspections: mandate in-person inspections and make the reports public.

4. End for-profit Care Homes: work to make Long Term Care public to ensure standards of care are met, and build more personal care beds so residents can effectively quarantine. 

5. Appoint a Seniors’ Advocate to provide recommendations and hold the government accountable for their treatment of seniors.