VICTORIA – A new report by B.C.’s advocate for seniors details failure upon failure by the B.C. Liberal government to care for and support our province’s most vulnerable seniors, say the New Democrats.

“Three years after the ombudsperson laid out more than 150 recommendations to fix the problems with senior’s care in British Columbia, the advocate for seniors is reporting that the Liberal government continues to fail the elderly in this province,” said New Democrat leader John Horgan.

“New Democrats and other advocates have been pointing out serious problems of abuse and neglect of seniors for the last decade,” said Horgan. “These are systemic problems that can only be fixed by leadership from the provincial government – leadership that is sadly lacking.”

Among the concerns raised by the advocate in her report Tuesday were a failure of the government’s home support program to keep seniors living independently instead of in more expensive residential care, the dramatic overuse of anti-psychotic drugs, and the failure to address vital rehabilitative therapy needs for seniors in residential care.

“The sad reality is that the Liberal government has been failing to live up to its promises to seniors since 2001,” said Maurine Karagianis, the New Democrat spokesperson for seniors. “The key problems highlighted by the advocate today are not new and government has been given solutions, they have just failed to act on those solutions.

“This report is a damning indictment of a Liberal government that has shown no willingness to fix the problems that they’ve caused in seniors care.”