Groups irked by lack of consultation over seniors advocate role

The NDP is being accused of failing to live up to its commitment to consult organizations that lobby on behalf of seniors about the role and powers of the incoming seniors advocate, whose office is expected to open Nov. 1.

The advocate, who will operate independently of government, will advise it about policies and programs related to home care and health care, for example. The name of the person who will assume the role is still under wraps.

“We don’t want a toothless seniors advocate,” said Tom Simms, who is involved in a coalition of Manitoba seniors groups. The office should have the same investigative power as the provincial advocate for children and youth, he said.

“We’re very concerned that we haven’t heard anything about that,” Simms said.

The coalition is also concerned that there hasn’t been any public consultation since the law that created the office of the seniors advocate was tucked into an 89-page budget bill last year, which doesn’t require a hearing at a legislative committee in which the public can give feedback.

“This legislation has never been vetted by the community,” he said.

“This legislation has never been vetted by the community.”

The Seniors Advocate Act establishes an officer of the assembly “to identify, review and analyze systemic problems or concerns important to the lives of seniors” and collaborate with service providers and organizations to address them.

Now, seniors groups — including the Manitoba Seniors Equity Action Coalition, the Manitoba Federation of Union Retirees, and the Manitoba chapter of the Canadian Association of Retired Persons — are calling for the creation of a seniors advisory council to oversee the incoming seniors advocate office.

They want a review of the impact and cost of for-profit and non-profit long-term care facilities, a review of the supply of housing options for seniors — including independent living, assisted-living and supportive housing, and a review of the home care system to ensure older adults have the required supports to age in place.

A news conference set for Monday will outline their priorities for the seniors advocate, said Simms who lobbied for elderly tenants, including his mother, when the non-profit Lions Place apartment building downtown was sold in 2023 to a real estate company.

In response to criticism about a lack of consultation, the provincial government said it’s not too late for Manitobans to weigh in.

“The advocate can hold public consultations (and) have a public engagement model once they’re officially appointed,” principal cabinet secretary Emily Coutts said.

Seniors Minister Uzoma Asagwara was not available to comment Thursday, Coutts said.

Simms said the coalition assumes the office will want to work “in an authentic partnership with community groups and seniors organizations.”

He said he looks forward to seeing the report submitted by retired justice William Burnett to Manitoba Health in December. It explores how to replace the Protection for Persons in Care Office with an independent investigation office that reports directly to the legislature.

Scathing report

The former Progressive Conservative government appointed Burnett to the task in 2023 following a scathing report by the auditor general about the PPCO failing to protect vulnerable Manitobans, including those in personal care homes.

Kelvin Goertzen, who was justice minister at the time, pointed to “serious problems that have existed within the oversight, leadership, investigative policies, and legislation governing the PPCO for over a decade.”

“We are taking decisive action to address the shortcomings of the PPCO, while moving forward with a new foundation built on legislative changes, greater independence and accountability,” Goertzen said.

Since forming government, the NDP hasn’t replaced the PPCO or released Burnett’s report for which he was paid just over $1 million, provincial contract disclosures show.

The government is reviewing his report “and planning to release it soon,” Coutts said.

“Seniors organizations are very concerned about the lack of investigatory authority in the act for the seniors advocate,” Simms said. The health minister has often said “We’re a listening government,” he noted.

“If it is a listening government, it should listen to the voices of seniors organizations who for the past year have been calling for the government to amend the Seniors Advocates Act to ensure that it’s not toothless.”

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca