By Joel Goldenberg
The Suburban
D’Arcy McGee MNA Elisabeth Prass has tabled Bill 790, a proposed law to expand protections of seniors and people in vulnerable situations against abuse in facilities by enabling them to install cameras in their rooms.
Prass, who is the Official Opposition critic for People living with a disability or with Autism Spectrum Disorder, was joined at a National Assembly press conference by representatives of the Quebec Autism Federation and the Association des ressources intermédiaires d’hébergement du Québec, who are also calling for the proposed bill to be passed.
Prass told the press conference that the adoption of Bill 790 “would make it possible to extend the measures already provided for in the Act to combat mistreatment of seniors and any other adult in a vulnerable situation, which currently apply only in CHSLDs.
“Faced with cases of mistreatment of people with physical or intellectual disabilities, we wish to extend these protection measures to continued assistance residences (RAC).”
The MNA said that in the past year, “we have been made aware of several cases of abuse and neglect of residents living with disabilities.
“We were all devastated to learn the story of the nine-year-old autistic boy with an intellectual disability at the Laval Youth Centre, who was mistreated and whose parents were unable to access their child’s room. For the families of these vulnerable people, many of whom are non-verbal, they can have the choice of placing cameras in their rooms for security reasons.”
The MNA said her proposed bill is an important step in protecting the vulnerable.
“It’s a bill grounded in human dignity that fills a gap that can be easily closed with a little political will. It’s a simple solution to combat abuse in all its forms with all possible means. I hope that the CAQ government will recognize the urgent need to act and will be open to moving Bill 790 forward.”
Simon Telles, of the Association des ressources intermédiaires d’hébergement du Québec, thanked Prass for her initiative.
“I can testify to the application of the regulations already in force in intermediate accommodation resources since 2018, which works very well. The possibility of having cameras in residents’ rooms has been well received by residents, their families, residence owners and employees. This helps reinforce the feeling of security in our environments, and we welcome the fact that this possibility this could be extended more widely to other environments where there are vulnerable people.” n