Skip to main content

“I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind.” ~~ John G. Diefenbaker

Shirley Bond calling on the NDP to step up to the plate and fix the problems identified in the LTC report

After an independent report highlighting failures by the NDP in
combating the crisis in long-term care (LTC) the BC Liberals are calling on John Horgan and the NDP government to implement standardized visitation policies for all long-term care and assisted living facilities in B.C.

“This government’s policy discrepancies have resulted in a situation where some seniors were allowed visitors while others had no contact with their families. Whether your loved ones are in a care home in Terrace or the Tri-Cities, the rules should be the same,” said Shirley Bond, Leader of the Official Opposition and BC Liberal Critic for Seniors Services and Long-Term Care. 

“It’s vital that this government set clear guidelines for health authorities and care homes so that there is a standard of practice that ensures whenever possible, long-term care residents can spend time with essential visitors.”

The Official Opposition sent a letter to Health Minister Adrian Dix today asking him to address the serious issues that were highlighted in the Ernst & Young report that the NDP delayed releasing for three months until pressured by the media. 

The report found that “Specific policy directives could sometimes be confusing, inconsistent, or lacking in detail, which led to operational variation, specifically related to PPE, IPC practices, single-site order policy and essential visitor policy and guidelines.”

Despite revision of visitor guidelines released on January 7, 2021, the current policy remains open to be interpreted differently by each Health Authority and continues to lead to operational inconsistencies, which are impacting the lives and well-being of B.C. seniors and their families.

“It’s clear that the government can do more to protect our most vulnerable seniors in long-term care who continue to disproportionately lose their lives to COVID-19 and who continue to suffer extreme loneliness and isolation during the pandemic,” added Bond. 

“On behalf of everyone in this province who has a loved one in a long-term care home or assisted living facility, we’re calling on the NDP to step up to the plate and fix the problems identified in the LTC report by introducing standardization of essential visitor policies. It’s the least we can do to better support British Columbia’s most vulnerable seniors.”

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

'Very good news' that Supreme Court will hear B.C. mineral claims case, Eby says

The BC government needs clarity from the Supreme Court of Canada on a landmark mineral rights claim, Premier David Eby says. But the lawyer representing the challenger says that they would have preferred the province respect the lower court's decision. Eby said Thursday it is very good news that the court will hear its appeal of a ruling that found the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the provincial mineral claims regime are "inconsistent." The BC Court of Appeal ruled in December that the provincial Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, or DRIPA, should be "properly interpreted" to incorporate the UN declaration into the laws of B.C. with immediate legal effect. That ruling set off the appeal from the province amid concerns that it could cause economic uncertainty ... CLICK HERE for the full story 

EBY OFFSIDE WITH NATIONAL INTEREST AS CARNEY AND SMITH BUILD BC'S ECONOMIC FUTURE WITHOUT HIM ~~ BC Conservatives

IMAGE CREDIT :  CBC News   Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced a landmark agreement today committing Ottawa to designate a new pipeline to BC's west coast as a project of national interest by October 1, 2026, with construction approval targeted for September 1, 2027. The deal pairs the pipeline with a new industrial carbon pricing framework and a fall 2027 construction start. British Columbia, the province where the pipeline ends, where the jobs would land, and where the export terminal would be built, was nowhere at the table. "This is a nation-building deal, and the BC NDP have been locked out of the room," said Trevor Halford, Interim Leader of the Official Opposition.  "While the Prime Minister and the Premier of Alberta were doing the hard work of growing the Canadian economy, the NDP is on the sidelines calling this pipeline a 'fiction' and an 'energy vampire.'  He chose petulance over partnership, and now BC ...

Kamloops - North Thompson BC Conservative MLA Ward Stamer speaks to Bill 20 — K’ómoks Treaty Act

The following is a condensed version of Kamloops – North Thompson MLA Ward Stamer’s remarks, to the BC Legislature, on the afternoon of Tuesday May 19th : I rise today to continue remarks on Bill 20, the K’ómoks treaty, and to address what I believe are some of the most important constitutional, democratic and governance concerns facing this Legislature today. At the centre of this debate are two major issues. First, unresolved overlapping territorial boundaries tied to this treaty process. And second, the growing legal and political consequences arising from the provincial government’s implementation of the Declaration of Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, more commonly known as DRIPA. Much of the government’s defence on DRIPA rests upon references to the United Nations declaration on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, commonly known as UNDRIP. And this is where we must begin having a more honest and mature conversation in this province. UNDRIP was never originally designed to function ...

Labels

Show more