Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to have the chance and the opportunity to speak to Bill C-263 today.
First, I want to thank my friend, the member for Kildonan—St. Paul, for proposing a bill that is not only meaningful to the Moberg family, and I want to salute the courage of the Moberg family who were in Ottawa today, but could make a real difference in the lives of seniors living with dementia.
I think all of us in the chamber know at least one person, have grown up with one person or, as adults, have run into one person who has dementia. Sometimes they are in our families. Sometimes they are close friends. To watch their decline over time is one of the scariest and one of the most difficult psychological things one could possibly have happen.
First of all, the individual, as they are aware of their decline, which is often the case, is terrified. Their family members are also terrified. As the hon. member said in her speech, one day the person could be watching television, conversing, having dinner with their family, and the next day they could be in a state where if they walk out the front door, they will not know how to find their way back home.
I cannot even tell members how many cases, over the course of the last 10 years that I have been a member of this place, I have heard from families with a loved one with dementia who has had a serious incident happen, and the fears that have been expressed. It goes beyond touching my heart.
The fact that the hon. member took this opportunity to hear a tragic story and use it to come forward with a piece of legislation that could improve the lives of Canadians is deeply appreciated.
As she said, this is not a partisan bill. This is not a bill that is left, right or centre. This is a human bill. The proposal of a national framework to support a coordinated silver alert system, to utilize our existing national public alerting system to issue geo-targeted notifications when a vulnerable senior disappears, would be a collaborative effort. It would be a collaborative effort between federal government, provincial government and territorial government. It would alert the public, through TV, radio and wireless devices, to a life-threatening situation. We do that right now for tornadoes, fires or Amber Alerts. The goal is to include this type of vulnerable senior in that system.
The system is very busy. In 2024 alone, 855 emergency alerts were sent out across Canada. They contained vital information during extreme storms and other critical events.
I would also note that this file is being actively worked on by the government. In budget 2025, we committed to renewing the NPAS model to better support emergency alerting throughout Canada.
Indeed, the federal government is in discussion with provincial and territorial counterparts to promote more consistent use of public alerting systems, including guidance for consistent alerting for missing vulnerable people. As such, it gives me pleasure today to say that we, as a government, intend to support the bill with targeted amendments at the committee stage. We want to ensure that some of the drafting concerns that we hope to address will be considered by the committee. Hopefully, we can find a means so that everybody in the House will be comfortable with the bill.
First, any framework must be developed in consultation with our provincial and territorial counterparts across the country, to ensure that it complements, rather than complicates, existing local protocols.
As the member mentioned, provincial and territorial governments are referenced in the bill. Perhaps there is another way that we would like to reference them. Measures proposed in the legislation do relate to an area that is in provincial jurisdiction, as the member recognized. We just want to make sure that everyone is onside.
Search and rescue operations are led, almost always, by local police services in coordination with provincial agencies and volunteer organizations like Search and Rescue Canada. We were honoured to welcome Search and Rescue Canada on the Hill this week as part of our humanitarian workforce program, for which we just announced $108 million in new funding.
When a senior goes missing in a rural township or dense urban core, the response must be immediate and tailored to that specific area or community.
In addition, many provinces have already taken steps to adopt silver alert systems for missing seniors. Quebec's non-intrusive alert system, which was announced in February 2026, aims to inform police services.
This evidence-based program also uses non-intrusive means like social media, television and radio programs to alert the public. As my colleague said, these alerts are not sent out on cellphones at the moment.
We want to make sure that we co-operate. One of the things the member mentioned is the privacy and dignity of the senior. We want to make sure that how we coordinate this under the proposal involves something that will respect the privacy and dignity of seniors and their families. I am sure that, as we understand, a silver alert would broadcast the name, photo and medical condition of an individual to possibly millions of people, depending on the area. We want to streamline this to make sure the right cases are the ones brought forward. In extreme and dangerous cases, that probably is the case. Perhaps there are other cases where it might not be, so we have to discuss that. For example, seniors who live with early-stage dementia often maintain independent lives. In some cases, their families may prefer that their medical privacy be protected as they engage in the search in the early stages. We will discuss this as part of the notification system, and I am sure we will find a collaborative solution that will work for everybody in this House.
One of the problems I wanted to mention, which I have heard from our provincial counterparts, some municipal counterparts and police, is the concern over alert fatigue. Through discussions with the provinces and territories, we want to make sure that alert fatigue does not happen. I often get complaints from people in Montreal asking why they get alerts about a child who is missing in Trois-Rivières, given the unlikelihood of the child from Trois-Rivières being in Montreal, with the phone buzzing at three o'clock in the morning. Part of this must be to figure out where the alert target area should be and what the alerts should be.
I also want to talk a bit about dementia care, because this bill brings up an important issue about dementia. The Alzheimer Society provided recommendations in its landmark study released in 2022. The Government of Canada's “A Dementia Strategy for Canada”, released in 2019, looks at not only prevention, medical treatment and cures, but also improving the quality of life of dementia patients. Many stakeholders have expressed stronger support for programs such as dementia-friendly communities led by the Alzheimer Society of Canada, with financial support from our government. This initiative supports localized efforts to implement and adapt dementia-friendly practices, including promoting awareness and strategies on how to effectively communicate with people living with dementia. For example, exactly as the member said, when we see a senior who we think might be lost, confused and scared, how do we approach them? Should we approach them? These are all things we need to teach our communities. It has to be more than just alerting family members of people who have dementia as to how to deal with dementia patients.
In January 2026, our government announced $4.7 million in funding to fund six projects under the dementia community investment program, bringing the total number of projects we have supported to 36.
Our government often talks about our commitment to ensuring the safety and dignity of all Canadians. Seniors built the communities we live and thrive in today. We owe it to them to keep them safe in all of our communities.
In conclusion, I look forward to working with the sponsor of this bill to ensure that a national approach to silver alerts is evidence-based and adequately addresses community needs and provincial concerns.