LIBERALS AIM TO DELICENSE FACILITIES FOR SENIORS, ADDICTS

Thousands of vulnerable British Columbians are in danger of getting
substandard care under a provincial proposal to delicense a wide range of
community care facilities, critics say.

Local governments and community groups believe frail seniors, recovering
drug addicts and others will suffer under the B.C. Liberals' draft
Community Care Facility Act, known as Bill 16, because many assisted-living
residences and recovery homes will no longer need to be licensed under the
proposed law.

The Liberals say the change will reduce "unnecessary regulation" of
facilities serving people with "a greater level of independence." Only
those needing help in following direct instructions from a doctor, such as
drug prescriptions, would qualify for a licensed facility under the new
rules. Currently, any facility providing care or supervision to three or
more people must have a license, which requires the facility to meet
provincial standards.

Opponents say Bill 16 is a step backward, likely bringing back the days of
vulnerable individuals being jammed into overcrowded facilities where they
receive inadequate attention.

"People won't have any idea how important this is, until they're trying to
find a place for their aging parent," said Val MacDonald, executive
director of the New Westminster-based Seniors' Housing Information Program.

MacDonald said the delicensing move is particularly troubling because it
comes at a time when the B.C. population is aging, and when the government
is also planning to provide more care for seniors in "supportive living"
arrangements rather than conventional nursing homes.

Because of the potential for local impacts, the Greater Vancouver Regional
District's board of mayors and councillors has unanimously called on
Victoria to put the brakes on the bid. The local governments say it will
dump problems in their communities that they have no tools and resources to
deal with.

Surrey city councillor Judy Villeneuve said unregulated facilities such as
recovery homes have in the past generated numerous complaints in the
community. Homes would be overcrowded, clients would not be fed properly,
and they would at times be spotted wandering the streets due to a lack of
supervision, she said.

"It means anyone can open up a support-service home . . . (and) the city
has no power to regulate these facilities," Villeneuve said. "It's a real
backwards step as far as I'm concerned."

New Westminster Mayor Helen Sparkes said the province intends for its
regional health authorities to oversee the care facilities. But those
authorities are already overburdened, she said, because their funding has
been frozen for the next three years. "(The province is) so gung-ho about
reducing what they call red tape, they've just barrelled ahead with this,"
Sparkes said.

After repeated requests for an interview, a spokesperson for Katherine
Whittred - the Liberals' minister for community care - said she would have
no comment until after the law is passed, expected some time this fall.