FEWO Committee Report

Ms. Marie-Claude Morin, M.P.
Chair, Standing Committee on the Status of Women
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0A6

Dear Ms. Morin:

Pursuant to section 109 of the Standing Orders of the House of Commons, I am pleased to respond on behalf of the Government of Canada to the recommendations made by the House of Commons Standing Committee on the Status of Women in its report, Abuse of Older Women, presented to the House of Commons on May 1, 2012. 

I would like to thank the members of the Committee, and the many witnesses who appeared before it, for their valuable perspectives and recommendations on the particular challenges facing older women. The Report makes many observations that impact all levels of government, the not-for-profit and voluntary sector, the private sector, and stakeholders who all play a role in addressing elder abuse, and in particular, the abuse of older women.

Elder abuse is a complex and sensitive social issue that can undermine seniors’ sense of dignity, well-being, and safety.  That is why elder abuse has been and continues to be a priority for the Government of Canada.  This response highlights the significant action taken by our Government to combat elder abuse, many of which are well aligned with the report’s recommendations.  The response also acknowledges the important work the Government is doing to end violence against women and to support victims of violence, including older women.

In 2007, the National Seniors Council examined the issue of elder abuse and released a report which recommended increasing awareness, research and knowledge sharing, education and training for frontline workers, and resources for community responses to elder abuse.  In response to these recommendations, the Government of Canada launched the Federal Elder Abuse Initiative (FEAI) in 2008, a three-year, $13 million, multi-departmental initiative involving Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC), the Public Health Agency of Canada, the Department of Justice, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.  The FEAI provided a focused and coordinated federal approach to combat elder abuse, including specific considerations related to the abuse of senior women, by raising awareness and developing resource materials for front line professionals such as nurses, occupational therapists, dental hygienists and legal professionals, who provide supports and services to seniors. The cornerstone of the initiative was the elder abuse awareness advertising campaign, Elder Abuse – It’s Time to Face the Reality, which ran in 2009 and 2010 and included television, print and internet. Public opinion research demonstrated that general awareness of elder abuse in Canada increased significantly from 71% in 2009 to 91% in 2011.

Elder abuse is still largely hidden and, all too frequently, under reported.  That is why our Government has continued to increase awareness of elder abuse and provide Canadians with essential information on the signs and symptoms, as well as how to access provincial and territorial resources and services.  This has included airing the existing elder abuse awareness television advertisement developed under the FEAI, most recently in November 2011 and in February 2012, complemented by a new web component on financial abuse.  The campaign ran on a range of media channels, including ethno-cultural ones. The elder abuse awareness campaigns have been subject to the Government’s communications policy, “Reflecting Diversity”, which ensured that all communications materials developed represent the diverse nature of Canadian society, including gender diversity. 

Our Government continues to combat elder abuse through the New Horizons for Seniors Program (NHSP) which provides funding for pan-Canadian and community-based projects.  One of the NHSP’s five objectives is expanding the awareness of elder abuse including financial abuse.  Budget 2010 announced an increase of $5 million annually to the NHSP, dedicated in part to a focus on raising awareness of financial abuse of seniors.  Budget 2011 also committed an additional $5 million per year to the NHSP to support additional projects, raising the total program budget to $45 million annually. 

NHSP projects have addressed elder abuse through awareness promotion, knowledge-development, networking and information-sharing among organizations and communities.  Many projects focus on senior women, including projects that work to empower and meet the service needs of older women and projects led by organizations whose primary mandate relates to domestic violence.  A number of projects have also targeted ethno-cultural, Aboriginal, and official language minority communities, to develop tools and supports that properly address elder abuse in different cultural contexts.  Since 2005, 290 community-based and 32 pan-Canadian projects have been funded, totalling $12 million.  Networks that have been created or strengthened with NHSP funding have enhanced community capacity to work collaboratively and develop local responses to elder abuse.

The Government of Canada acknowledges that improving financial literacy will enable vulnerable Canadians to be more informed, more vigilant against fraud and make the right financial decisions.  Our Government, through the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, has initiated several measures to promote financial literacy, educate financial consumers about their rights and responsibilities, and support the development of knowledge and skills to make decisions that contribute to financial well-being.  We also introduced Bill C-28 in November 2011 to create the position of Financial Literacy Leader to carry out activities in support of financial literacy, as recommended in the Report of the Task Force on Financial Literacy.  In addition, Status of Women Canada (SWC) supports projects to improve the economic security of women, including a two-year project which engages low-income older unattached and immigrant women working in partnership with agencies, to develop, evaluate, teach and share financial literacy tools.

Reliable research and current data on the prevalence of elder abuse are necessary to understand the scope and complexities of this issue in Canada.  That is why our Government has funded a substantial amount of elder abuse research, including an examination of spousal abuse among older Canadians and a gender-based analysis of elder abuse in Canada.  We are also proud to highlight the HRSDC funded research project led by the National Initiative for the Care of the Elderly to develop definitions and survey instruments which lay the foundation for future work to determine prevalence of the mistreatment of older adults in Canada.  The results of this work, which concluded in April 2012, provide the starting point for a three-year national examination of the prevalence, risk factors and causes of mistreatment of older men and women, a project recently approved under the NHSP.  The findings of this study will provide essential information on the abuse of older men and women and will inform the development of evidence-based policies and programs.

In the 2011 Speech from the Throne, our Government committed to propose tougher sentences for those who abuse seniors.  This reflects the Government’s Platform commitment to amend the Criminal Code of Canada to “add vulnerability due to age as an aggravating factor when sentencing those who commit crimes against elderly Canadians”.  We have fulfilled this commitment by introducing Bill C-36, the Protecting Canada’s Seniors Act, in March 2012.  Bill C-36 amends the Criminal Code to better reflect the significant impact that crime can have on older Canadians. This amendment would ensure the consistent application of the established sentencing practice that the abuse or neglect of individuals who are vulnerable due to their age and other personal circumstance should be treated seriously.

There are a number of other Government programs that address violence against or abuse of women, including older women.  The Public Health Agency of Canada leads the Family Violence Initiative, an interdepartmental collaboration of 15 federal departments, agencies and Crown corporations. In addition, SWC, through the Women’s Program, provides funding for projects in the priority areas of ending violence against women and girls; improving women’s and girls’ economic security; and encouraging women’s leadership.  While not the primary focus, SWC funds some projects that directly support senior women. In addition, the Department of Justice administers the Victims Fund which provides grants and contributions to provinces, territories and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) who work with and for victims of crime. Although we have taken decisive action to address this complex issue, we recognize that more needs to be done.  Our Government looks forward to the results of the NHSP funded national prevalence survey to have a better understanding of the risk factors and impacts of elder abuse on women so that future policy and program decisions in this area may be informed by new knowledge. We are also pleased to provide funding over the next three years for other NHSP projects, which will develop more sophisticated tools and resources; advance efforts to reach underserved populations (notably in the north and amongst people with disabilities); and build partnership and network responses that can be adapted for use at the community level.  At the same time, the Government will continue to provide Canadians with information on elder abuse and available resources through www.seniors.gc.ca and 1-800-O-Canada. 

All Canadians have a role to play in addressing elder abuse. Our Government will continue to work closely with other levels of government, and stakeholders to find effective solutions for detecting and preventing the abuse of older Canadians.  For example, we will work collaboratively with provinces and territories in order to build upon the significant work that has been accomplished through the Federal, Provincial, Territorial (F/P/T) Forum of Ministers Responsible for Seniors over the past years. At their June 2011 meeting, Ministers agreed to focus on four priorities, one of which is preventing elder abuse, including financial abuse. The Minister of State (Seniors), as the voice of Seniors for the Government of Canada, will continue to play a key role and meet with a variety stakeholders including seniors themselves to solicit their views on this important issue. 

I once again acknowledge the work of my parliamentary colleagues in studying the challenges faced by older women. The report, Abuse of Older Women, will undoubtedly contribute to the dialogue on this issue in which Canadians are increasingly engaged.

Yours sincerely,

The Hon. Diane Finley, P.C., M.P.