Quebec seniors minister says employees with bad attitudes in long-term care homes should leave

Quebec Minister for Health and for Seniors Sonia Belanger responds to the Opposition during question period, Thursday, May 9, 2024 at the legislature in Quebec City. (Jacques Boissinot, The Canadian Press)

Employees who "don't belong" in long-term care facilities should leave, said Seniors Minister Sonia Belanger on Thursday.

"My message this morning is that employees who don't have the necessary attitudes to work with people who are losing their autonomy, with seniors, well if they don't fit in, they should just leave," she said in a press scrum.

The minister was reacting to a report published in La Presse on Thursday, alleging abuse at the CHSLD Robert-Cliche in Montreal.

Several "inappropriate" gestures were said to have caused "pain and distress" to vulnerable people.

Workers were said to have ignored residents, served cold meals and refused to perform certain tasks requested by nurses, according to a January report by the CIUSSS de l'Est-de-l'Île-de-Montréal complaints commissioner.

"What happened at the CHSLD Robert-Cliche is 'unacceptable,'" said Belanger, who nonetheless spoke of "isolated cases."

She pointed out that the law on abuse, which was updated in 2022, provides for penal sanctions.

"There are employees who have been laid off, employees who have been suspended, there are labour relations investigations underway, training has been provided, there have been changes in management," she said.

The minister has not ruled out going further; the case could be referred to Crown prosecutors, the Directeur des poursuites criminelles et pénales (DPCP).

"Everything is on the table," she said. "As for what happens next, whether it's criminal sanctions or referring a file to the DPCP, it's all taking its course."

On Thursday, the opposition parties criticized the emergence of other cases of abuse in CHSLDs, despite the fact that the Legault government ammended the law precisely to give it more teeth.

"We have to admit that the government is not using its famous teeth in the law,” said Liberal MNA Linda Caron.

Quebec Solidaire MNA Christine Labrie pointed out that several steps must be taken before sanctions or financial penalties can be imposed.

"When the CIUSSS or CISSS deals with a complaint, they must first decide for themselves whether to escalate it to the ministry and, at the ministry, they will decide for themselves whether to escalate it to the DPCP," she said. "That's two levels of filtering. It's two levels where it's to their advantage that it doesn't end up in a possible fine. So, for me, that's not the right system."

The Parti Québécois recalled that the Legault government had promised that there would be a "champion" of abuse prevention in each of Quebec's CHSLDs.

"Where are we with that? Was there this champion, this person duly trained to ensure that practices were applied at CHSLD Robert-Cliche?" asked MNA Joël Arseneau. "I think there's still a lot to be done."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on June 6, 2024.