Thank you, Mr. Cooper. I very much appreciate that.
Without strong whistle-blower protection, there will be no existing or proposed judicial proceedings because complaints will not be made and charges will not be laid.
Many older adults are afraid to make complaints about inadequate care because they fear retaliation from their caregivers. Any criminal offences concerning failure to provide adequate care and supervision would be meaningless in the absence of strong whistle-blower protections that would give care home residents, their families, their substitute decision-makers, their friends and other loved ones assurances that interference with their right to make complaints will be respected and upheld.
The criminal responsibility should extend not just to individuals and organizations in general, but specifically to those who own, govern and operate care homes.
One of the many difficulties in prosecuting offences such as failure to provide the necessaries of life and criminal negligence causing death or bodily harm is identifying which, if any, of the individuals associated with the operation of a home should be held personally responsible for criminal sanctions, where the home has profoundly failed to provide adequate care and endangered a person's health and safety, even to the point of bodily harm or death.
Those who own, govern and operate care homes are fundamentally responsible for committing resources, setting budgets, establishing operating procedures, recruiting and maintaining adequate staff, and ensuring that enough well-qualified staff are on site at all times to provide essential care. If a home is not managed properly, it's foreseeable that registered staff such as nurses, social workers, occupational therapists, and unregistered staff such as personal support workers will be placed in highly compromised situations in which they are completely unable to provide the care that's needed for want of adequate resources.
Responsibility for the overall operation of the home rests at the highest levels of ownership, governance and management. Those occupying these positions should have personal criminal responsibility for ensuring compliance with the Criminal Code of Canada in respect of the caregiving functions of the home. Otherwise, a systemic criminal justice response would not be provided to a systemic issue of elder abuse and neglect.
Finally, in view of the fact that elder abuse and neglect in long-term care homes, retirement homes and other congregate living facilities is a systemic issue that largely derives from inadequate resources and poor management of a home, it would be fit and just to extend liability for custodial sentences to the owners, governors and operators who are in a position to provide the systemic responses that are necessary for the good and safe operation of the home.
I thank you for allowing me the extended time.