Continuing Care Assistants Bill 92 Have your say!

Yesterday (Wednesday, April 7th), Minister of Health and Wellness, Zach Churchill, introduced Bill 92 Continuing Care Assistants Registry Act. If passed, this legislation will require all Continuing Care Assistants (CCAs) in Nova Scotia to register with the Department of Health and Wellness every year. CCAs will have to submit an application to the registry providing their name, current employment status, their employer information and their personal address and contact information on an annual basis. To see a copy of the legislation click here: https://nslegislature.ca/legc/bills/63rd_3rd/1st_read/b092.htm

The government feels this legislation will assist in recruiting and retention of CCAs. Creating a mandatory registry was one component of Recommendation Five on how to improve system performance and optimization by the 2018 Expert Panel on Long Term Care. The panel cited the need for a mandatory registry to address the lack of data to identify where needs existed in the system. A similar recommendation came out of the Health Association Nova Scotia 2014 report Rising to the Challenge: Responding to Increasing Demands in Home Care, where it was recommended that the Department of Health and Wellness improve data on the supply of CCAs by creating a mandatory registry.

Of all the possible steps that could have been taken to address the growing need for CCAs in Nova Scotia, Bill 92 is the smallest one. The real issues that need to be addressed immediately are wages and working conditions. Due to almost constant staffing shortages, many of you are working massive overtime hours and have little access to vacation or time off when needed. While the Minister may claim wages are based upon your contracts with your employers, many of your employers are underfunded by the government, which leaves them without the capacity to provide adequate wages and a stable, standard work schedule. The registry proposed in Bill 92 does nothing to help those of you currently on the front line.

It’s Time for You to Have Your Say.

As part of the legislative process in Nova Scotia, every Nova Scotian has an opportunity to provide input on Legislation via the Law Amendments Committee.

This is a time for each of you to have your say, tell your elected officials exactly what you think about this proposed registry and the actual issues you are facing on a daily basis that needs to be addressed now. At this point we do not know when this piece of legislation will be going to Law Amendments, however, when it does, I will be there using my allotted time to raise your issues and concerns.

If you are interested and able to participate, I urge you to register to speak to Bill 92 Continuing Care Assistants Registry Act, by calling the Legislative Counsel’s Office at 902-424-8941 or email Legc.office@novascotia.ca to register to speak via ZOOM or to provide a written submission.

This is a great opportunity to speak out about the value of the work you do day in and day out. I hope you will join me.

In Solidarity,

Jason MacLean

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