Let's take profits out of long-term care and implement a Care Guarantee

Jagmeet Singh and the NDP reveal first campaign promise aimed at helping loved ones in long-term care, their families, and the workers that take care of them

OTTAWA – The pandemic has shown Canadians the cost of government inaction and neglect in our health care system. Families have lost their loved ones in long-term care centers across the country. Today, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh outlined the NDP’s plan to take profits out of long-term care and implement a Care Guarantee for our loved ones in long-term care.

“Justin Trudeau made a promise to long-term care workers, residents, and their families to better fund long-term care and seniors care before he was Prime Minister. He broke his promise," said Singh. “He underfunded health care and prioritized protecting the profits of big corporations and their wealthy shareholders. Let’s be clear, nobody should be profiting off the neglect of our loved ones. The NDP will fight to make sure that profit is removed from the care of our loved ones.”

Decades of Conservative and Liberal cuts crippled our health care system and while he claimed to be different, Justin Trudeau maintained Conservative cuts to health care transfers.

The NDP has a plan to fix this broken long-term care system and implement a Care Guarantee with a commitment to our loved ones that they will be safe, a commitment to families that they can count on their loved ones receiving the care they deserve, and a commitment to workers who care for our loved ones. With this plan, the NDP will also take profit out of long-term care.

“Every Canadian, of every age, deserves to live in dignity and be treated with respect by their government and the health care system. And families need to know that their loved ones are safe in long-term care facilities, and that they’re getting the very best care possible,” said Singh. “We need a government on the side of seniors, their families, and frontline health care workers – instead of on the side of wealthy investors. The NDP will continue to fight to make sure people are ahead of profits.”

Key Facts on the NDP Plan:

Immediate calls

• New Democrats are calling on Trudeau’s government to immediately stop finger pointing and do everything he can to address this crisis by:
  • Creating a rapid response unit for disaster in long-term care (LTC) – a one stop shop:
  • The only job of this unit would be to support provinces and territories to save lives in LTC.
  • It could monitor best practices in Canada and elsewhere and proactively share them with health authorities.
  • They would offer to provinces and territories to send the Military to assist LTC homes struggling with large outbreaks where staffing has collapsed.
  • They would support provinces and territories to speed up the vaccination rollout to vaccinate LTC residents, front-line staff, and essential family caregivers by end of February.
• Fixing the sick leave program to ensure all workers have access to 10 paid sick days when they need them.
• Making Revera public

NDP plan to fix the system in the long term

• We need a government on the side of seniors, their families, and frontline health care workers – instead of on the side of wealthy investors
• It’s time to take profit out of the care of our loved ones.
• New Democrats are going to fix this broken long-term care system. We have a plan to implement a Care Guarantee:
  • A promise to seniors that they will have safe, dignified care – both at home and in care homes – available to them as they age.
  • A promise to families that they will know their loved ones will have the care they deserve with inspections, and appropriate levels of care and staff ratios.
  • A promise to workers who care for them that they will get a living wage, benefits, and the safe and secure jobs that they deserve.
• We can achieve this by:
  • Taking profit out of long-term care.
  • Working collaboratively with patients, caregivers, and provincial and territorial governments to develop national care standards for long-term care and other continuing care that would include accountability mechanisms and data collection and that would be tied and backed by adequate and stable funding. We plan to invest an additional $5 billion in long-term care systems across the country within a first mandate and we have committed to increase the Health Transfer.
  • Regulating long-term care and home care with the same principles of the Canada Health Act.
  • Improving working conditions for workers in the long-term care sector, as work conditions directly affect care conditions.