Today, Cindy Lamoureux and Dougald Lamont announced our Manitoba Liberal Party approach to supporting seniors. It is below:
Manitoba Liberals’ Seniors Platform Commits to
Health, Dignity and Independence
Tyndall Park, WINNIPEG – MLA candidate for Tyndall Park, Cindy
Lamoureux, and Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont announced Friday that a Manitoba Liberal Government will complete the
promise that Brian Pallister couldn’t — building
1200 affordable seniors’ units and improving home care programs.
Lamoureux was Seniors’ Critic for the Manitoba Liberal Party and
worked with the Long-Term Care Association of Manitoba before being
elected.
“When you look at the Pallister government’s cuts to health
care and personal care homes, it’s clear that seniors are not a priority for
his government,” said Lamont. “Manitoba Liberals are committed to ensuring that
seniors across Manitoba can live independently with dignity.”
In the 2016 election, Brian Pallister promised to “fast track”
1200 personal care home beds, but immediately backtracked. Today, Manitoba only has 10 more PCH beds than in 2014.
Manitoba Liberals will:
- Build 1200 additional
community-based seniors housing units across Manitoba by 2024 at a cost of
$160-million. This will be matched by the federal government’s National
Housing Strategy that the province refused to sign for almost a year.
- Increase funding to Home Care
by 10% in the first year, or $38-million, in order to improve Home Care
services for all Manitobans — ensuring
greater flexibility within the home care program to adapt to the specific needs
of individuals.
- Invest an additional $5
million annually to enhance and restore seniors programming
while eliminating fees. Studies show that such programs can reduce
incidence of disability by 20%.
Manitoba Liberals will also create an Independent Seniors’ Advocate
who will report and make recommendations on services to seniors — including transportation, health care,
home care, and housing.
Manitoba
Liberals have already announced a number of measures that will benefit
seniors:
- A minimum guaranteed
income based on the tax system to ensure no seniors are living in poverty
- Ending the practice of
“rationing” hip and knee replacements to reduce waiting lists
- Restoring the “Life
Saving Drugs Program” so that no Manitoban has to pay for medications they need
to stay alive, including treatments for cancer, diabetes, and life-saving
devices like CPAP machines
- Empowering personal
care homes
“The PCs have put our health care system and workers through
tremendous stress and difficulty. We want to thank them all for continuing to
provide the best service they can under these conditions,” said Lamoureux.
“Manitoba Liberals are committed to the highest standards of care because we
want the best for our seniors.”
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