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Victoria’s Raging Grannies to demonstrate against public funding of for-profit senior homes

Group says COVID-19 has revealed ‘sad state of extended care’ in B.C.
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Victoria’s Raging Grannies, pictured here in 2016, will be gathering at the BC Health Ministry Office on Thursday to comment on the state if extended care in B.C. and Canada. (Black Press Media file photo)

Victoria’s Raging Grannies are still raging – this time at what they call the “sad state of extended care in B.C. and Canada.”

The satirical grassroots group, composed of older women, says the COVID-19 pandemic has brought to light that “institutional safety, comfort and care for seniors is in crisis.” The ‘Grannies’ are saying no to public funding of for-profit senior care homes.

The demonstration is in response to a report by the Seniors Advocate of B.C., which found that care homes in the not-for-profit sector spent more on direct care and less on building, while for-profit care homes generated 12 times the amount of profit – $34.4 million versus $2.8 million.

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“These sorts of things bother us, we don’t want it to just flare up during COVID-19 and fade away,” said group member Charlene Simon. “Everyone is going to age, everyone is going to become old, so this isn’t just an old people’s issue.

“We want to keep it in the public eye [and] hopefully make changes because these are actually people’s homes.”

Simon said the group will practise physical distancing and wear masks, which will be removed only for singing performances.

The Raging Grannies will demonstrate outside of the B.C. Health Ministry office (1515 Blanshard St.) on July 9 from 11 a.m. to noon.

nina.grossman@blackpress.ca


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