Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The issue of what we term as "elder abuse" has been going on for years. It seems that there is no end in sight. That is, if we can actually do something about the situation the elders are facing regarding elder abuse, whether it be financial or caregiving. My question to the Minister responsible is: can she provide the resources required to stop this elder abuse, and I term it as a pandemic? Mahsi.
Thank you, Member for Deh Cho. Minister responsible for Seniors.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Elder abuse is a real and frightening problem in our territory. We are very concerned about it; all of us are concerned about it. What to do about it is not as easy as putting money into a program. It is a set of attitudes that people have towards elders, in which they are neglected and exploited, as the Member said in his statement. We have been having discussions about whether we could strengthen our regulatory environment around elder abuse so there are real consequences for failing to protect elders and for taking advantage of them. At the moment, what we're doing is all of the run-up steps of a jurisdictional scan and whether we need regulation change or legislation change. In this work, we're working with the NWT Seniors' Society, who are the lead organization on the Network to Prevent Abuse of Older Adults. We are working with them on the potential to provide regulation and/or legislative change which would provide for real consequences for people who are engaged in elder abuse. Thank you.
I thank the Minister for that and the steps that the NWT Seniors' Society is taking, but that society, I rarely hear of them in my community. I was speaking with an elder in my community. They were stating that there was a meeting last fall in Fort Providence, an elder abuse awareness session, but there were no elders in attendance, especially the ones being abused financially and mentally. No one even went out of their way to gather them up or, at the very least, have sessions with them one-on-one at the senior's home or another location. Can the Minister responsible for Seniors provide resources to ensure that every elder is interviewed in total confidence regarding elder abuse?
As I mentioned, the NWT Seniors' Society is the lead on the Network to Prevent the Abuse of Older Adults, and they offer a number of workshops called Creating Safer Communities for Older Adults throughout the NWT. The community of Fort Providence invited the NWT Seniors' Society to present this workshop in September of 2020. The workshop was attended by five elders, I'm told; a home support worker; a justice worker; and the elder coordinator. Both the chief and the RCMP also attended part of the workshop. What they tried to do in these workshops is emerge with a plan for how they are going to address the specific elder abuse that exists in their community, and it's my understanding that that plan is now in development and that it will be taken back for the elders to review to ensure that it is meeting their needs. That's the plan for Fort Providence.
Thank you for that. I know I keep hearing the NWT Seniors' Society. I believe the government puts money towards their organization. Like I mentioned, I don't know how much involvement they have with many of our seniors in the small communities. We never see representatives in those communities. There are serious problems here. I have been talking to people in my community this past week, and there are people who work on the ground with them. They have serious reservations about what anybody is actually doing to help the seniors because they are facing them almost on a daily basis, and they don't know where to go or who to turn to to help them address these issues of elder abuse, especially the finances and everything because everything is getting more complex, now. People are starting to set up e-transfers and stuff like this and those kinds of mechanisms and withdrawing. That's the stuff I'm starting to hear, and it's almost like we need someone. I'm just wondering if the Minister can provide an advocate or an official position in the communities to assist elders to combat this elder abuse syndrome.
As I say, the department has been funding the NWT Seniors' Society to provide these workshops, and those are ongoing. I have to tell you that elder abuse is like intimate partner violence in that the victims are often shamed, not willing to come forward to say that they have been taken advantage of. It can be difficult to have victims of violence come forward and say that they are, in fact, victims of violence, let alone to then reach out for help. One of the things that we've been doing with our health staff is to train them to look for signs of elder abuse and to support seniors and elders to access all those same services that we provide in the case of intimate partner violence. That would include family violence shelters, court orders, emergency protection orders, social worker assistance, restorative justice, and counselling. All of those things are available to elders to cope with their situation.
The bottom line here, as it is with intimate partner violence, is that we need to change attitudes, that we value our elders. We're not just talking about it, but we are walking that talk in saying that we value our elders and that we won't put up with exploitation and neglect.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Deh Cho.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Minister's replies that the NWT Seniors' Society is looking to address the situation and that it's not an easy fix. That's why I ask if we can get someone to go out and actually interview the elders with a translator or one of the caregivers because I understand that social services has been approached in my community and they refused to assist in this regard because they are dealing mostly with child and family services, that is, taking children away from families, but they refused to help in any regard. We've got two positions like that in my community, and we've got nobody there to advocate for the seniors in the small communities. This is a serious issue, and I would like to have some resources into our communities to assist in interviewing the elders. Let's make a positive step forward in trying to address this issue. I would really appreciate that. Mahsi.
I am shocked that social workers have refused to provide service to elders who are experiencing different forms of abuse. That's certainly something that I want to follow up. There are services available now. For example, the Office of the Public Guardian is a place that elders can go to get services to protect them and their decision-making ability. That exists only in Yellowknife, but it is possible to make a call to the Office of the Public Guardian and ask them for help. We have, in Yellowknife and somewhere in the Deh Cho, adult social workers. Social workers perform a variety of functions not only limited to children. There are a couple of things that I am going to follow up to assist the Member in understanding what available help there is in his community. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Great Slave.
