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

Budget 2027: After a Decade of Decline, NDP Budget Delivers an Assault on Seniors, Working Families, and Small Businesses

Peter Milobar, BC Conservative Finance Critic, condemned the NDP government’s latest budget as the result of a decade of decline that has left British Columbians broke, unsafe, and paying more for less.   “After ten years of NDP mismanagement, this budget is an assault on seniors, working families, and the small businesses that drive our economy,” said Milobar. “The NDP have turned their back on the people working hardest to make ends meet and the seniors who built this province.” Milobar pointed to a new $1.1 billion annual income tax increase and warned that the government is piling new costs onto households already struggling with affordability.   “This government keeps asking British Columbians for more, while delivering less,” Milobar said. “The question people are asking is simple: Where has all the money gone?” Milobar noted that BC has gone from a surplus in the first year of NDP government to a projected deficit of more than $13 billion this year, while prov...

WARD STAMER -- Those are REAL forestry numbers, not just made-up numbers

The following is a condensed version of remarks Kamloops – North Thompson MLA Ward Stamer’s made, regarding Forestry, in the BC Legislature, on Tuesday afternoon (02/24/2026)   Let’s talk a little bit, when we talk about Budget 2026, about the forest industry, which is near and dear to my heart. Forestry remains one of British Columbia’s foundational industries. It’s a pillar that built this province. Entire communities depend upon it. Interior towns, northern communities, Vancouver Island regions, the Kootenays, the Lower Mainland, with manufacturing facilities in Surrey and Maple Ridge, just to name a few — everywhere in BC is touched by forestry. One word that was not mentioned in Budget 2026 was forestry. That’s a shame, an incredible shame. It wasn’t an oversight – it was intentional. This government has driven forestry into the ground .... INTO THE GROUND! We can talk a little bit about some of the initiatives that this government has brought forth, to try to resurrect ...

FORSETH -- Before anyone gets excited about one poll showing a candidate with a 25 percent lead, and 44 percent support overall, let’s give it a few more weeks

Is this based in reality -- how accurate are the numbers? In the past couple of weeks a couple of candidates, for the leadership of the BC Conservative Party, have been presenting polling results that they lead the pack – one even going so far as to say they have a lock on 44% of those who will be voting, and a twenty-five percent lead over the individual ranked second. I am going to say that this one, from Kerry-Lynne Findlay, is highly suspect. First of all the company conducting the poll, ERG National Research, is not a Member of Industry Bodies (the Canadian Research Insights Council), meaning they do not adhere to established industry standards for research, such as transparency, privacy, and methodological rigor. AI Overview states that ... based on alerts from the Canadian Research Insights Council (CRIC) and reports, ERG National Research should be treated with extreme caution regarding its reliability, and legitimacy, in conducting political polling. Before I even read this in...

Labels

Show more