Photo: Francis Vachon Le Devoir According to the PQ spokesperson on seniors' issues, Joël Arseneau, we must stop infantilizing the elderly or considering them solely as recipients of care.
Patrice Bergeron – The Canadian Press in Quebec City
Published at 6:42 a.m.
- Quebec City
The Parti Québécois (PQ) will table a bill on Tuesday to guarantee seniors their right to live at home as long as possible, with the required services and care.
The PQ wants to follow up on the demands from a major summit on home care that took place last May in Quebec City.
The bill would guarantee the right to affordable and suitable housing, which was also among the four major priorities set out at the end of the summit.
The legislative document also mentions the implementation of a government strategy aimed at maintaining the autonomy of seniors.
200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000In an interview with The Canadian Press, the PQ spokesperson on seniors' issues, Joël Arseneau, said that this bill fundamentally aims to increase the social participation of seniors.
According to him, we must stop to infantilize the elderly or to consider them only as recipients of care.
The framework bill proposed by the PQ thus establishes a certain number of principles and calls for the various ministries, whether Transport, Social Solidarity, Housing, or Municipal Affairs, to contribute to ensuring the autonomy of seniors.
The Minister responsible for Seniors, Sonia Bélanger, presented an action plan at the end of May with a long list of actions to be taken, but according to Mr. Arseneau, the results are not up to par and we need to go further with a legislative text.
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All parliamentarians can introduce bills in the National Assembly.
But when they are introduced by opposition members, it is very unlikely that they will be called to be debated and studied in parliamentary committee, because it is the government, through its parliamentary leader, the manager of the proceedings in the House, who decides which bills to study.
Let us recall that the National Meeting on Home Care, which took place last May, resulted in four recommendations.
Among these recommendations, there was precisely an intersectoral law on maintaining autonomy, which would enshrine access to home care as a right, as well as the right to affordable and suitable housing.
A recommendation also aimed to make CLSCs the main gateway for home care and services.
It was also recommended to ensure better coordination in each region between the different organizations that deal with home care and services.
Finally, it was recommended to strengthen the place of home care and services in the organization of the health network, in particular with the new Santé Québec agency that just began operations on Sunday.