MONTREAL -- Opposition parties' expectations are high on the eve of Quebec National Health Director Horacio Arruda's testimony before coroner Gehane Kamel at the Quebec City courthouse.

On Thursday, the coroner will continue her investigation into the deaths that occurred in senior residential facilities during the first wave of the pandemic.

From March to August 2020, no less than 5157 seniors living in residential facilities died, accounting for 90% of the total deaths related to COVID-19.

Arruda’s testimony in this context is “extremely important,” says the leader of the official opposition Dominique Anglade.

“I expect Dr. Arruda to be [...] totally transparent about what happened and without any political influence in the answers he will give," she said in an interview.

“There was a lack of masks, of equipment, there were instructions that were not clear, there were many mistakes [...] Now we need to have more details on the sequence of events.”

She said she understands that the coroner's goal is not to point fingers, but to make recommendations to prevent future tragedies.

STAFF MOBILITY AND AEROSOLS

Arruda must explain two things: the “comings and goings” of health care personnel between institutions and aerosol transmission of the virus, says Québec solidaire (QS).

“How is it that we did not seem to adhere to the fact that the COVID-19 is airborne [...] so we skimped on the N95 [masks]?" questions the health spokesperson for QS, Vincent Marissal.

“I think that Mr. Arruda will certainly have some pieces to put back in the puzzle," he said.

QS parliamentary leader Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois agrees.

“How is it that Quebec public health has had a different discourse on the specific issue of airborne transmission compared to other public health systems around the world?”

“When we see the total fiasco of the question of ventilation in schools, I think it underlines the relevance of this question," he added.

CALLS FOR TRANSPARENCY

The Parti Québécois (PQ) wants to understand why Quebec has chosen to favour hospitals "by completely abandoning the CHSLDs to their fate, even by transferring patients to the CHSLDs".

A strategy that has proven to be “wrong,” deplored PQ parliamentary leader Joël Arseneau in an interview.

“What we already knew at the time, especially from B.C., was that the elderly were the most vulnerable.”

“In B.C., measures had been taken to protect seniors' residences [...] notably by completely prohibiting the transfer of personnel,” he said.

According to Arseneau, Arruda will have to explain why Quebec was in “contradiction” with good practices regarding labour mobility.

In addition to this, the PQ would like Arruda to separate political decisions from public health decisions before the coroner.

“It's always nebulous," said Arseneau. “It's always been hard to get clear answers as to whether decisions were always, or sometimes, or largely based on science.”

“That was always the big flaw in the pandemic, that there was no complete transparency about the process that led to action.”

WILL LEGAULT AND BLAIS SPEAK?

Next week, the coroner will also hear from the former health minister, Danielle McCann, and the former deputy health minister Yvan Gendron.

Premier François Legault has not been summoned to testify, but should have been, according to the PQ.

“Can we go back to the most tragic element of the crisis without hearing from the man who was the commander-in-chief? It seems to me an incomplete exercise," said Arseneau.

The three opposition parties have the same wish: that the Minister responsible for Seniors, Marguerite Blais, who is currently on sick leave, can eventually come and explain herself as well.

Her summons is cancelled for now.

--This report was first published in French by The Canadian Press on Nov. 10, 2021.