Parti Quebecois will table a bill to ensure the autonomy of seniors

A caregiver helps a senior. (Credit: Matthias Zomer/pexels.com)

On Tuesday, the Parti Québécois (PQ) will table a bill to guarantee the right of seniors to live in their own homes for as long as possible, with the necessary services and care.

The PQ's aim is to follow up on the demands made at a major summit on home care held in Quebec City last May.

In particular, the bill would guarantee the right to affordable and adapted housing, which was also one of the four main priorities set out at the end of the summit.

The bill also refers to the implementation of a government strategy to maintain the autonomy of the elderly.

“Basically, it aims for greater social participation by seniors,” said PQ spokesperson on seniors' issues Joël Arseneau in an interview with The Canadian Press.

“We have to stop infantilizing seniors and stop seeing them solely as ‘sick people’ and recipients of care,” he summarized.

The framework bill proposed by the PQ establishes a certain number of principles and calls on the various ministries - Transport, Social Solidarity, Housing and Municipal Affairs - to contribute to ensuring the autonomy of seniors.

At the end of May, Seniors Minister Sonia Bélanger presented an action plan with a long list of actions to be taken, but according to Arseneau, the results are not up to scratch and we need to go further with legislation.

All parliamentarians can table bills in the National Assembly.

However, when they are tabled by elected members of the opposition, it is highly unlikely that they will be called to be debated and studied in parliamentary committee, because it is the government, through its House Leader, who decides which bills will be studied.

The Rendez-vous national sur le maintien à domicile, which took place last May, resulted in four recommendations.

Among these recommendations was an intersectoral law on maintaining autonomy, which would enshrine access to home care as a right, as well as the right to affordable and adapted housing.

There was also a recommendation to make CLSCs the main gateway to home care and services.

Another recommendation was to ensure better coordination in each region between the various organizations involved in homecare services.

Finally, it was recommended that the role of homecare and homecare services be strengthened in the organization of the healthcare network, in particular with the new Santé Québec agency, which came into operation on Sunday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Dec. 3, 2024.