March 23, 2021

Long-term care: Liberals and Conservatives vote against abolishing profits in long-term care facilities

Today, Liberal and Conservative MPs in Manitoba voted against the NDP motion to abolish profits in long-term care (LTC). This motion, proposed by the NDP would remove all profit from long-term care facilities. Profit has no place in the care of our loved ones

“The result of today’s vote is disappointing,” said MP Niki Ashton (Churchill—Keewatinook Aski). “Our society must get back to valuing the lives of seniors and all who care for them. The Liberals and Conservatives have proven that they consistently put profit ahead of the health and wellbeing of our seniors and care workers. This must change.”

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. During the pandemic, for-profit homes experienced much higher infection rates than non-profit and publicly owned homes. A recent report showed that Ontario's for-profit nursing homes have 78% more COVID-19 deaths than non-profit homes and showed that chain private ownership is one of the main risk factors for serious outbreaks.

Local Liberal MPs Jim Carr (Winnipeg Centre) and Kevin Lamoureux (Winnipeg North) and Conservative MPs Ted Falk (Provencher) and Raquel Dancho (Kildonan-St. Paul), all voted against the NDP’s plan to fix this broken long-term care system and implement a Care Guarantee. This plan would save thousands of lives across the country and create better working conditions for long-term care workers.

"Manitobans have died from COVID-19 outbreaks in for-profit personal care homes at a rate higher than in those run by the province or not-for-profit organizations. Yet, the Liberals and Conservatives have chosen to let these facilities continue to make profit and risk the lives of loved ones,” said Leah Gazan (Winnipeg Centre). “No one deserves to make profit on the mistreatment of seniors.”

In addition to its commitment to increase health transfers, the NDP is planning an additional $5 billion investment in LTC systems across the country in its first term. The New Democrats also plan to extend targeted federal funding for home care that is set to expire in April 2022 to $1 billion starting in 2022-23. As with any national program affecting the Manitoba government's jurisdictions, the NDP would allow the Manitoba government to opt-out with compensation if the programs do not meet its vision.

Contact:

Claire Johnston

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