Caring for our families: the Liberal plan for homecare in Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing
Liberal candidate for Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing, François Cloutier
ALGOMA-MANITOULIN-KAPUSKASING – “In order to highlight to Canadians that a caring and compassionate alternative to the Harper government exists, the Liberal Party is talking about its plan to provide new support for family caregivers,” said Liberal candidate François Cloutier today.
“Homecare is an intrinsic component of our health care system, yet the Conservatives have done nothing to acknowledge the crucial role of unpaid, family caregivers,” said Cloutier. “A Liberal government would change this, especially with an aging population placing greater pressure on our frontline health care system.”
Currently, some 2.9 million Canadians – mostly women – provide care for a family member with long-term health problems or age-related illness, accounting for 80% of homecare services. Many of these caregivers are forced to leave the workforce, creating financial stress for them and their families and harming the economy.
By freezing the Conservatives’ planned $6-billion corporate tax cut, a future Liberal government will be able to provide fiscally responsible support to caregivers through longer compassionate leave and financial supports that relieve the costs of leaving the workforce to provide homecare.
“Canadians have an average debt of $41,740 each – the worst amongst the 20 advanced countries in the OECD,” said François Cloutier. “As interest rates rise, Canadians are coming under increasing financial strain to pay for the costs associated with caring for a family member. Meanwhile, Stephen Harper has no plan to help families, preferring to fork over $6 billion more in tax cuts to wealthy corporations.”
Liberals will to do things differently, by diverting that $6 billion to help ease the pressure on hard-working middle-class families. Our plan will help caregivers cope while enabling their loved ones to receive care in dignity at home instead of in a hospital, which for many rural Canadians means receiving care outside the communities they helped to build.
“Homecare at a lower cost to taxpayers, without financial hardship to families, adds up to a net benefit to the economy,” said François Cloutier. “Liberals believe in personal responsibility; we believe in family responsibility. But what distinguishes us from the Conservatives is that we recognize no family can do it alone.”
