What's new

The Réseau FADOQ is pleased to see an official definition of caregiver at the heart of Bill 56, introduced by Minister of Seniors and Caregivers Marguerite Blais. The purpose of the bill is to recognize and support caregivers and to amend various legislative provisions.

This was a long-standing demand of the Réseau FADOQ, which, in a brief presented to Minister Blais last fall, had stressed the need for a legal definition of caregiver.

“This is a major gain for our organization. We believe that legal status is necessary so that caregivers can obtain certain rights that will make it easier for them to carry out their daily tasks. For example, this will facilitate access to the medical file of the person being helped,” says the president of the Réseau FADOOQ, Gisèle Tassé-Goodman.

The largest seniors’ organization in the country applauds the fact that the passage of this bill will lead to the introduction of a Québec-wide policy on caregivers, a policy that is long overdue.

“The Réseau FADOQ hopes that Bill 56 will be prioritized in the parliamentary proceedings. We will be looking closely at the policy to see what the Québec government intends to offer caregivers in terms of support and programs,” says Tassé-Goodman, who hopes that the policy will ensure a better work/family/caregiver balance, a well-documented necessity.

The Réseau FADOQ points out that Bill 56 creates the obligation for future Québec governments to table an action plan every five years in connection with the future provincial policy. This is a positive aspect since it means that the policy will evolve and adapt to the reality of caregivers, which is constantly changing.

Furthermore, the Réseau FADOQ supports the creation of a committee of partners concerned with the support of caregivers and of a provincial monitoring agency for caregivers. The Réseau FADOQ intends to participate in these structures, provided that they function transparently by informing the public of their work.