Thank you very much, Madam Chair and members of the committee.
My name is Laura Tamblyn Watts, and I'm the president and CEO of CanAge, Canada's national seniors advocacy organization. We are a pan-Canadian, non-partisan, not-for-profit organization. We work to advance the rights and well-being of Canadians as we age and ensure that older Canadians can live vibrant and connected lives.
With me today is Haley Mason, policy officer at CanAge, with whom I will be co-presenting. I will present the first portion of our oral submissions, and Ms. Mason will conclude. CanAge will divide its comments into the three substantive areas: criminal justice reform, prevention and awareness, and responses and research.
Our first recommendation is to create an elder abuse and neglect specific Criminal Code charge. I have studied the work of criminality in elder abuse for more than 20 years, and there is little that indicates that this is not appropriate. With great respect to my colleague, I do think it is time for a criminal elder abuse charge. Police involvement, charging and the criminal justice system have been minimally involved in elder abuse and neglect. There has, by contrast, been frustration from the public and from officers that they do not have the needed tools to adequately respond to the increasing spread and impact of elder abuse and neglect. There is coverage missing.
It's important to create a Criminal Code provision for ease of charging for types of abusive or neglectful behaviour that do not fall squarely within the commonly existing highlighted provisions of underlying offences. There are, quite simply, gaps in the Criminal Code related to elder abuse and neglect that need to be filled. Although having a charge for criminal elder abuse and neglect is important for the goal of deterrence, specific charges make a clear message that abuse of vulnerable older adults is not just a civil matter and provides scope for multiple charges to be laid.
The oft-cited section 215, failure to provide the necessaries of life, is, in fact, a charge very rarely laid. In the elder abuse and neglect context, this charge is typically only laid in the most extreme and profound circumstances, such as leaving an older person in an unheated garage to die of starvation and sepsis due to untreated wounds. Much abusive behaviour of older adults deals with the blocking or restraining of liberty, the invasion of privacy, and predatory types of tracking, grooming, and coercion.
CanAge has had the benefit of reviewing the materials from the Advocacy Centre for the Elderly and is supportive of considering their suggestions for new charges of criminal endangerment. However, CanAge would like to draw attention to the recently considered Bill C-218 on controlling or coercive contact within intimate relationships which this committee has heard recently.
I'm going to turn now to my colleague, Ms. Mason, to continue.