Work stoppage possible as WestJet issues lockout notice to maintenance engineers' union
A lockout notice issued by WestJet to a union representing aircraft maintenance engineers could result in a work stoppage next week.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the federal government is talking to provinces and territories about new standards for the quality, design and operations of long-term care homes in Canada.
The Health Standards Organization released updated standards Tuesday that say residents should get at least four hours of direct care every day.
The standards from the panel of experts at the non-profit standards organization also say those who work in those residences must be paid more.
On Tuesday, the prime minister said he recognizes that long-term care falls under provincial jurisdiction, but all Canadians want to see seniors' care held to the highest standard possible.
Experts with the non-profit organization said the new standards will only be useful if the government puts them into practice and makes sure they are followed.
"These standards are only useful if they become the basis of enforcement and accountability measures, not only accreditation measures," said Dr. Samir Sinha, the chair of the technical committee that developed the updated standards.
The organization issued the updated guidance for operating care homes in light of the deadly and tragic toll the COVID-19 pandemic took on Canadian residents and their quality of life.
The authors say the ball is now in the government's court.
"The standards themselves can become the basis of legislation, they could come the basis of policy and other measures of accountability," said Sinha.
Some provinces already require long-term care homes to be accredited according to the organization's standards, while other homes seek accreditation voluntarily.
The Health Standards Organization expects about 68 per cent of long-term care homes will be accredited on a voluntary or mandatory basis using the updated standards.
But Sinha said accreditation will not be enough without enforcement.
Long-term care as a health service falls under provincial jurisdiction, and there is a patchwork of rules across the country that govern how the homes should be designed, operated and maintained.
Typically it would be up to provincial governments to mandate the standards if they choose, but in the 2021 election Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised to legislate safety in long-term care across the country.
The Liberals doubled down on that promise as a condition in their confidence-and-supply agreement with the New Democrats, which would see the opposition party support the minority government through key votes in the House of Commons to prevent an election until 2025.
But so far both parties have been silent about what that legislation would entail.
"As long-term care falls under provincial and territorial jurisdiction, any legislation will be designed in a manner that reflects jurisdictional responsibilities," Health Canada spokesperson Tammy Jarbeau said in a statement.
The government set aside $3 billion in the 2021 budget to help provinces and territories apply standards to long-term care, top up wages, and improve staff to patient ratios.
Much more money will likely be needed to implement the standards, however. In 2021 the parliamentary budget officer estimated it would cost an additional $4.3 billion per year just to expand the number of hours of daily care to the four hours listed by the Health Standards Organization.
Long-term care home employees are also not paid on par with other health workers.
"If you were working in a long-term care home, you're probably making significantly less than you would as a personal support worker, as a nurse, as an occupational therapist, as a social worker working in a publicly funded hospital," Sinha said.
Labour shortages were a key factor in the devastating situation that played out during the early days of the pandemic as staff struggled to provide adequate care, and Sinha said the problem persists today as care homes cope with COVID-19 and flu outbreaks.
New guidelines for the design of long-term care homes and practices to prevent infection were developed in tandem with the updated care standards. They were released last month by the CSA Group, formerly known as the Canadian Standards Association.
The CSA Group standards cover everything from the number of residents who should share a room to the materials used to construct the building.
The CSA Group standards are strictly voluntary at this point, but the experts who developed those building standards hope they will be adopted into regulations quickly.
"Time is of the essence as there are plans across the country, in various provinces and territories, to build new long term care homes," said Alex Mihailidis, who chaired the CSA Group committee.
"Our hope is that they will be looking at our standard for before the shovels are in the ground."
Mihailidis believes if the standards were in place when COVID-19 struck in 2020 fewer things may have fallen through the cracks, but until the new guidelines are in place and enforced, he said it's still a matter of waiting to see.
"It's definitely a big step in the right direction," he said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 31, 2023.
A lockout notice issued by WestJet to a union representing aircraft maintenance engineers could result in a work stoppage next week.
A man accused of arson in a January Old Strathcona apartment fire is expected to be charged with manslaughter after a body was discovered in the burned building late last month.
A man was denied a $5,000 payout from his brother after a B.C. tribunal dismissed his claim disputing how many kittens were born in a litter.
Three bodies recovered in an area of Baja California are likely to be those of the two Australians and an American who went missing last weekend during a camping and surfing trip, the state prosecutor’s office said Saturday.
Almost a week after all London Drugs stores across Western Canada abruptly closed amid a cyberattack, they began a "gradual reopening" on Saturday.
Quebec provincial police handed out hundreds of fines to Hells Angels members and other supporting motorcycle clubs who met for their 'first run' in a small town near Sherbrooke, Que.
Auston Matthews was back on the ice with his teammates Saturday.
Russia has put Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on its wanted list, Russian state media reported Saturday, citing the interior ministry’s database.
According to an X post by the Transportation Security Administration, officers at the Miami International Airport found the small bag of snakes hidden in a passenger's trousers on April 26 at a checkpoint.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.