Question Period Notes
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In accordance with the Access to Information Act, the government proactively publishes the package of question period notes that were prepared by a government institution for the minister and that were in use on the last sitting day in June and December.
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• Home care services help people receive needed care at home, rather than in a hospital or long-term care facility, and to live as independently as possible in the community. Home care usually includes professional services at no cost to the client (e.g., physiotherapy, nursing, and occupational therapy) and home support/personal care (e.g., personal hygiene, dressing, feeding, and toileting), which is income-tested in most PTs.
• There is evidence that COVID-19 had a negative impact on access to home care services during the pandemic, including both professional services and home support/personal care. This situation increased social isolation of seniors and led to a higher burden for family caregivers.
• Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government has been working collaboratively with provinces and territories to protect vulnerable Canadians in long-term care. The federal government has responded in a number of ways, including through key investments made to support residents and staff.
• Work is underway to implement a number of federal commitments as a result of new legislation on medical assistance in dying that passed in March 2021. The new law removes the eligibility requirement for a person’s natural death to be reasonably foreseeable and includes additional safeguards for these new types of requests. The law also mandates a Parliamentary Review of the legislation and an independent review of MAID for persons suffering from mental illness.
• Some dental care stakeholders and the New Democratic Party have called for a universal dental care program.
• In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government of Canada put in place a range of digital supports to help Canadians get the information, resources and care they need.
• The ongoing management of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to impacts on the health care system, such as the cancellation of elective surgeries. There are also concerns about the health care system’s capacity to cope with the current wave of the virus.
• The government continues to work collaboratively with provinces and territories (PTs) to strengthen Medicare and provide funding through transfers and bilateral agreements to improve health care. In addition to the Canada Health Transfer, the Government provided over $19 billion to provinces and territories last fiscal year to help them manage the pandemic, and directly invested another $19 billion in health to support the fight against COVID, including public health support and the purchase of vaccines and tests. This is in addition to targeted funding provided to the PTs to support specific health care priorities, such as home care, mental health, substance use, long term care and virtual care.
• The Liberal platform committed to providing PTs with additional support for backlogs of procedures, immunization, primary care, virtual care, long-term care, palliative care, mental health, and problematic substance use.
• The Government of Canada recognizes that primary care plays a critical role in the delivery of healthcare services for Canadians and is the backbone to high performing healthcare systems.
• In 2020, the Prime Minister committed $240.5M to help Canadian health systems to support access to health care services, including primary care, through virtual approaches and digital tools.
• The Government of Canada is committed to improving access to high-quality primary care and continues to work with provinces and territories in this regard.
• Our Government is concerned about the impacts that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the mental health of Canadians, which continues to be a source of stress, anxiety and isolation for many Canadians.
• Health Canada funds research that could inform future changes to blood donation policies. This funding supports blood operators to generate the scientific data required to support a submission to Health Canada for regulatory authorization.