Seniors’ advocate listening, but not fully functional until 2027

The province’s first seniors’ advocate is already getting an earful from Manitobans.

Leigh Anne Caron began her duties on Nov. 12 — and started receiving calls from the public that day, she told a legislative affairs committee Tuesday.

“In a small window of time, I continued to receive daily calls, emails and letters from seniors and their loved ones who expressed gratitude for the position but also shared their concerns and hopes that the advocate would make quick change and improvements,” Caron told the committee.

That, despite the fact the office won’t be fully functioning until 2027.

Caron was hired by the legislative assembly management commission after the NDP government passed legislation in 2024 creating the office.

It has a mandate to identify and evaluate systemic problems faced by seniors and make recommendations on a wide range of government services including health care, housing and programs and supports. The annual budget is $1.65 million.

The role of the independent office of the legislature isn’t to advocate for individuals, Caron told the committee.

“Having staff and the ability to distribute communication materials about the role of the advocate and how we can serve seniors in Manitoba will be essential and that is underway,” said Caron who, for now, is a staff of one.

She is in temporary office space and in the process of hiring eight staff, all of whom are expected to be in place by next year. Permanent office space is not expected “for some time.”

Once a communications co-ordinator is in place, the office plans to give Manitobans more information about the advocate and its mandate.

“There is substantial budget for having a campaign and website up and running and a social media channel,” Caron said, noting those channels won’t reach everyone.

Caron also plans to visit Manitoba communities, starting with those furthest from Winnipeg, where there are fewer voices advocating for seniors.

Tory health critic Kathleen Cook asked Caron to describe the process when a senior contacts her office.

“Right now, since I am the only staff in the seniors’ advocate office, I am doing all the jobs including intake and system navigation,” Caron said. “When a senior contacts me I’m no longer answering the phone line. I will let the message happen and then call them back.”

Caron said she’s had to explain to callers that she does systemic, not individual, advocacy.

“Everything that I hear about is not shared but I use the caveat that I will share it with staff when they’re hired so that we can kind of look differently at those issues and how they get into that landscape,” she said. “Then I just spend time talking with them about resources and what they’ve accessed.”

Cook said she was concerned the office wouldn’t be fully operational until next year.

“She doesn’t have permanent office space, she doesn’t have staff, she doesn’t have any performance objectives yet,” said the Tory health critic.

“There’s a lot of work to do to get this office up and running yet. Meanwhile, Manitobans have been led to believe that there’s a seniors’ advocate in place and they can call her if they have issues.”

Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara praised Caron for her work thus far.

“She’s already been doing a tremendous amount of work without even having the staff on her team on board yet,” Asagwara said in an interview.

“We’re going to support them so that, if they need anything to make sure that this moves as quickly as they can, they’ll have those resources to do so.”

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca