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Ms. Pam Damoff (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety, Lib.)

Jun/2/22 3:09:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, since the beginning of the pandemic, our government's focus has been the health and safety of Canadians. The most recent data indicates that the omicron wave has passed its peak, allowing us to move toward a longer-term approach to managing COVID. As we have said since the beginning of the pandemic, Canada's border measures will remain flexible and adaptable, guided by science and prudence.

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Context: House Hansard - 80 - Jun/2/22

Hon. Jean-Yves Duclos

Jun/2/22 3:21:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, today I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the first report on COVID‑19 rapid test procurement and distribution.

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Context: House Hansard - 80 - Jun/2/22

Mr. Adam van Koeverden (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health and to the Minister of Sport, Lib.)

Jun/2/22 6:52:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my friend and colleague from Kitchener Centre for his work on this file and his dedication to seniors living in his riding and across the country. Many seniors have faced significant health, economic and social challenges due to COVID-19, which has really laid bare the systematic challenges in Canada's long-term care system. As soon as COVID-19 exposed some of these challenges in our long-term care system, our government was there to help the provinces and territories with additional PPE, with the armed forces in the long-term care facilities in Quebec and Ontario and with much more. Our government has also stressed the need for permanent, long-term solutions for long-term care facilities so that the Canadians living and working in them are safe and treated with respect and dignity. Key to achieving that level of safety and comfort are national standards for long-term care. I would remind the member opposite that in March 2021, the Standards Council of Canada, which is a federal Crown corporation, the Health Standards Organization and the Canadian Standards Association announced that they would be collaborating on the development of two new complementary federal long-term care standards. That was a result of work from our government. Their collaboration with stakeholders across the country has focused on addressing the delivery of safe, reliable and high-quality long-term care services, the design and operation of long-term care homes, and infection prevention and control practices in long-term care. For HSO's standard, this means resident-centred care practices: a respectful team-based environment, a healthy, competent and resilient workforce with healthy working conditions, and strong governance practices and operations. For the CSA group standard, this means cleaning and disinfecting processes, waste removal, HVAC, plumbing, medical gas systems and the use of more modern technology in care systems. We expect that the final release of those standards will be done at the end of this year. Budget 2021 also included a $3-billion investment to support the provinces and territories in their efforts to apply these standards and ensure permanent changes are made. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to highlight the challenges in long-term care, including gaps in infection prevention and staffing. I believe that answers the first question my colleague asked, which was whether we recognize that this crisis is continuing. The answer is yes. Our government has made significant investments, including $4 billion to help the provinces and territories improve the standards of care in those facilities. In addition to that, there is $41.9 billion in cash supports to the provinces and territories through the Canada health transfer. Canadians can rest assured that we will keep working hard with the provinces and territories so we can fight COVID-19 together. That includes in our long-term care facilities. On the campaign, we also committed to investing an additional $25 billion over five years to better support the health care system and provide better mental health services across the country for seniors. The provinces and territories will now receive over $47 billion through the Canada health transfer in 2021 and 2022, with the territories getting $500 million, to help them prepare for outbreaks of COVID-19. To date, our government has spent more than eight dollars out of every $10 in this country to fight the pandemic. There were a couple of other questions. When will the tabling of the safe long-term care act commence? I believe that work is under way. We are working expeditiously on that because it is a priority for this government. I do not have any updates on work with the provinces, but I look forward to the next round of questions from my friend and colleague from Kitchener Centre.

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