Thank you.
I was very careful to use “victimize”, not “vulnerable”, in my earlier question.
In my riding of Delta—Richmond East in British Columbia we have a large South Asian and Chinese Canadian population. I've certainly heard from constituents that being out of the mainstream in terms of language and culture is a big factor in this issue. It's easy to feel isolated, and even more so if you feel you can't express yourself or you're not sure who it is you're to go to.
I'd like to explore this idea about deterrence and a public sanction by having an amendment to the Criminal Code. I'm aware of a case at home where a son was financially abusing his mother. It came to light because she ended up being hospitalized, and when she was asked questions by hospital staff, it wasn't adding up. Bills weren't being paid and her necessities of life weren't being handled.
In the end I came to find out that there is a special unit within the police force called the elder abuse unit, which I didn't know existed before then. Of course their main concern was her having a more secure situation.
What I found out in being peripherally part of that is that even though the mother did not want to testify against her son—and I think she would have been of an age that it would have been very stressful and she probably would not have been very effective under questioning anyway—the fact that the police became involved and were investigating it deterred that person from doing more damage to his mother. It allowed other members of the family, who had her best interests in mind, to come forward and take over.
This is often how things are resolved. It may not actually be in a courtroom. That public sanction, as you said, I think, Ms. Eng, against this behaviour can evolve into a senior being protected who might not otherwise be.
The other thing that came up was the issue of trust. We heard, certainly in the minister's testimony, that a third of those who perpetrate abuse may be family, a third may be known, and a third may be strangers—something like that.
Having been involved in elder care for my mom, who has now passed away, I know that sometimes even when you are very involved in a senior's life, people can establish a trust with a senior very, very quickly in certain circumstances. I know one time I phoned my mother, and though she didn't have an answering machine, an answering machine came on and a strange man's voice was on the message. When I ran down to her apartment to ask who that was and what was going on, it seemed she had befriended a couple of fellows while going to the grocery store who had helped her with her groceries. She had invited them in, and then they said, “Oh, you should have an answering machine.” They got invited for tea the next day and they put in an answering machine.
I don't know where it was all going, but she was quite angry with me for saying I didn't think that was a good idea.
The fact is that people are sometimes lonely, even when family is around. They're living alone, and that element of trust and the ability to take advantage of it can be established very quickly.
Would you agree with me that these are some of the unique issues with seniors?