Editor:
COVID-19 has changed so much about the way we live in this country. Many predict these changes will be permanent.
What happened in long-term care was horrifying. No one deserved to die this way, least of all the generation that paid into the system they built (our much vaunted health infrastructure) only to have it fail them.
Canadians have thought publicly funded health to be one of the pillars of a civilized society, yet we still have private for profit long-term care facilities which are publicly funded. The disconnect is, government pays these corporations to “not provide” the proper care for seniors without any real oversight.
One only has to read the B.C. Seniors Advocate’s report, A Billion Reasons to Care, to get a better understanding of all the failings of the “private for Profit” model.
A May 25 Angus Reed poll showed that 66 per cent of Canadians want the federal government to take over ownership of all long-term care facilities in Canada.
Knowing this, the District of Sechelt is now in the process of approving the construction of a private, for profit facility. At the June 17 council meeting they passed second reading of the proposed Trellis Development on the same night that they proclaimed June 15th World Elder Abuse Awareness Day.
No irony there.
Ed Erickson, Gibsons
