They can. That case that was recently in the media actually did come through our office in a very preliminary way early on. The circumstances could be reported as abuse, but when it's a commercial operator, the chances are the report would go to the police rather than the Public Guardian and Trustee to see whether the transaction was legitimate, and whatever. It's unlikely that we would be involved from the perspective of pursuing the vendor of the vehicle, the commercial operator, but rather protecting the adult.
What we might do in those circumstances is examine the affairs of the adult to determine whether there are supports in place and ways to protect the adult. Does the Public Guardian and Trustee need to become involved on an ongoing basis as a committee, for example, to manage the affairs of the adult?
There are certain types of situations that simply can't be avoided. People who have legal representatives but are incapable may still enter into transactions without the vendor knowing that the person is incapable, and presumably, they've entered into a situation that may not be in their best interests. There are provisions under British Columbian law that would perhaps negate that transaction to protect the vulnerable adult, but there are some things that are really difficult to protect. Our office would be involved only from the perspective of protecting the adult, not necessarily undoing the transaction or pursuing a vendor.