Possible death investigation in NURSING homes: Quebec continues its reflection

The government Legault is still not ready to decide, namely whether or not to order an independent public inquiry on the carnage that occurred in the spring in residences for seniors.

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July 31, 2020 0h13

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Possible death investigation in NURSING homes: Quebec continues its reflection

Jocelyne Richer

The Canadian Press

QUEBEC — After almost five months of a pandemic, the government Legault is still not ready to decide, namely whether or not it is necessary to order an independent public inquiry on the carnage that occurred in the spring in residences for seniors.

Thursday, at a press conference on another topic, the minister of public Safety, Genevieve Guilbault, has indicated that the government was pursuing its reflection on this subject, but that no decision had been taken to date.

The idea of creating a commission of public inquiry is circulating for months, in order to understand why thousands of seniors have lost their lives, often in tragic circumstances, after having contracted the virus of the COVID-19 in a residence for seniors, particularly in the region of Montreal.

Questioned about this in may, when the media reported every day many of the deaths in NURSING homes and private residences for seniors, the prime minister François Legault had not closed the door to the holding of such a commission of inquiry, without taking commitment in this sense.

The reflection is still underway in the government on the timing and the form that such an inquiry might take, said the deputy prime minister, on Thursday.

Moreover, the reflection around the idea, which was launched in April by the prime minister Legault to nationalise private residences for seniors, to ensure better management, there has been little progress.

Le Soleil