Human Resources committee  One of the key things that can be done by the federal government is to fix the poor wording in subsection 7(3) of PIPEDA, which makes the reporting of financial abuse very, very challenging. Again, if the committee likes, I can provide additional information. The CSA, IIROC, MFDA and the Canadian Bankers Association are all moving to install trusted contact people as part of the “know your client” principles.

Human Resources committee  Thank you.

Human Resources committee  Thank you for your question, Mr. Lauzon. We have taken some steps forward. However, as an example, the money given to domestic violence was $350 million off the bat, followed by another $157 million. When we compare that with the zero dollars for elder abuse and neglect, we see a stark difference between how government responses have been thinking about older people.

Human Resources committee  Stanley called us at CanAge. Our phone numbers are available and our email is available. We have people reaching out to all kinds of services, and 211 is a good service. It's being rolled out across the country now, but it works better in some places than in others. It is another type of resource that can be helpful, but people need to be trained on it because it is for information and referral.

Human Resources committee  I agree as well. In 1987, when we created the Canada Health Act, we only lived until 76.4 years old. We didn't really have long-term care. If we had designed it thinking forward and if we had a seniors advocate telling us we needed to be thinking about these things, we would never have done anything but not-for-profit care.

Human Resources committee  The 1-800 number is a simple solution, and it's already being run by the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. That existing resource could have its mandate expanded. In fact, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre has been quite open to this conversation for some time. People call when they need to know who to turn to, and there is expertise in each province and territory.

Human Resources committee  Thank you, Ms. Chabot. We were pleased to see the increase at 75. It was a very long time coming. We think these increases should be broadly brought up to standards with regard to seniors' poverty, and that there needs to be support for those most in need, so a differentiation between what everybody gets and what those who are particularly in need get.

Human Resources committee  Aging in place and making age-inclusive communities have to be our priority. We will always need long-term care, because as we live longer and are more fragile, there will always be some people who need 24 hours of nursing care. However, about 20% of the people in long-term care could move home if services came to them.

Human Resources committee  We have NORCs that are very well established in a network across this country. I can provide the committee with more detailed information about an entire association of naturally occurring retirement communities—where they live, how they work, and what the best standards are—as a follow-up piece of information.

Human Resources committee  Prior to COVID-19, we saw that social isolation could take up to eight years off the life expectancy of an older person. That was prior to COVID-19. We have seen untold levels of social isolation. Active, healthy 75-year-olds now locked in their own homes, unable to see family and friends, have had profound problems with the physical ability to move around.

Human Resources committee  One of the reasons we put forward the recommendation for a national adult vaccination strategy is that we let epidemics come to seniors every single year in the community and in long-term care, and we do very little about them. It's so simple to vaccinate, but we leave it up to provinces and local health units to order the seniors-specific flu vaccine, the pneumonia vaccine and the shingles vaccine.

Human Resources committee  We think national standards are not the only solution. They need to be backed by supports embedded in law and money and investment. However, they will provide, I think, a clear minimum set of standards across this country. They help to obviate some of the concerns we have around public versus private long-term care, which is a bigger debate.

Human Resources committee  As we have seen in comparator countries, having a federal seniors advocate allows a nation to plan. It can make sure that we are thinking about meeting the needs of our aging population and can hold departments to account in making sure that mechanisms and budgets are being allocated appropriately.

Human Resources committee  —but we feel there's an opportunity for incentivized grants; training and education supports; immigration, with the immigration priorities in these areas; and setting out different incentive-based capacity-building programs.

Human Resources committee  Very briefly, yes. I don't want to speak over Miranda—