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Results: 46 - 60 of 1662
Michelle Porter
View Michelle Porter Profile
Michelle Porter
2021-06-01 16:00
Your question was around whether this whole situation has created more problems in terms of anxiety and mental health. Yes, certainly.
I wouldn't say that's across the board. I think it's a bit of a stereotype to think that all older people have fared poorly during the pandemic. I think we have some very resilient older people who have actually done quite well during this. They've had life experience. They've potentially gone through scenarios like this. I know a 96-year-old woman. She's not happy with the situation as it has been, but she has been quite resilient. She's had a lot of struggles in her life.
Certainly, there are older people who have suffered, particularly those who are on low incomes, who are disconnected from their communities or who are living in apartment buildings. They don't feel safe even leaving their rooms.
Yes, dealing with the mental health challenges that the pandemic has posed certainly will be a reality going forward as well.
View Wayne Long Profile
Lib. (NB)
Thank you, Chair, and good afternoon to my colleagues.
Thank you so much to our witnesses this afternoon. Again, your advocacy is very much appreciated.
I want to touch on isolation and mental health for seniors. Certainly, as politicians during campaigns, we all go door to door and we have one-on-one direct conversations. I would say without question that when I would leave the doors of seniors who were alone, who were isolated, was when I was the most shaken and concerned.
Certainly, as a government, we came forth with some things. We raised the GIS for low-income single seniors. We lowered the age of eligibility from 67 to 65. We're going to now raise the old age pension for those age 75 and older by 10%.
With respect to COVID, however, the pandemic itself has created challenges and exposed increased levels of need for direct government support during crisis for all Canadians but especially for seniors. We want to make sure and recognize the importance of ensuring that seniors are equipped with the mental health supports to combat the social isolation of being away from family and loved ones.
Can you both touch on the issues that have become more pronounced due to the COVID-19 pandemic with respect to mental health and isolation for seniors?
We'll start with you, Ms. Boscart.
Veronique Boscart
View Veronique Boscart Profile
Veronique Boscart
2021-06-01 16:17
No problem.
The second component, and Ms. Porter can talk more about this, is to really get serious about providing financial, mental and health support for the caregivers. They provide the majority of care in our communities. In order for them to balance everything else, they will need support.
Michelle Porter
View Michelle Porter Profile
Michelle Porter
2021-06-01 16:18
Absolutely. We certainly hear all the time about how burdened caregivers are, and when we've done consultations around the province of Manitoba, we've certainly heard that there's a lot of need for respite care. There just isn't enough respite care, and one can only imagine how challenging that has been because respite programs were closed during the pandemic.
In looking at the Canadian longitudinal study on aging, some of their data and some of the anxiety and mental health issues, it was actually some of the younger seniors who were experiencing some of the larger challenges. Part of that might be because of caregiving issues.
Caregiving is a huge issue, so on this whole idea of aging in place, we can't just be thinking about the older person. We have to do more to be thinking about the caregivers and coming up with inventive ways that others can help.
We're starting to try to find a home sharing program, where we can have students living with older people in their own homes and taking some of the pressure off of caregivers, not by replacing home care, not by replacing caregivers, but by providing caregivers with some peace of mind, both that there's someone in the home who could be helping the person and that they have someone that they can be talking to on a regular basis.
Rose-Mary Thonney
View Rose-Mary Thonney Profile
Rose-Mary Thonney
2021-06-01 16:36
Good afternoon.
The introductions have already been made, so I won't repeat them. I'm here today on behalf of the Coalition pour la dignité des aînés, a group of six associations representing over 150,000 seniors. My colleagues Lise Lapointe and Pierre Lynch, whose associations have already been mentioned, are here with me. They can answer your questions.
We're here to advocate for the priorities that seniors widely agree on.
The pandemic's toll has been particularly hard on the members of our associations. During this period, a number of them have experienced physical and mental health issues, but also significant financial pressure. The pandemic, coupled with a lack of action prior to this period, has left many seniors in a vulnerable situation.
The lack of health transfers to the provinces has resulted in an under‑funded health care system. The impact on seniors' care is felt on a daily basis.
The coalition believes that increased health transfers to the provinces are necessary to improve the living conditions of seniors. Only 25% of the money allocated to long‑term care is spent on home support. Only 3% of seniors in Quebec live in long‑term care facilities. The rest live at home or in seniors' residences. In Quebec, 18% of seniors live in seniors' residences, compared to 6% in the rest of Canada. Seniors deserve more and better than this.
The past year's crisis has also affected the mental health of seniors. The plight of long‑term care facilities and fears about the spread of COVID‑19 have isolated the most vulnerable seniors and led to greater anxiety issues. A number of seniors are suffering from real mental health issues. Services are very difficult to access through the public system and very expensive in the private sector.
The coalition is also very concerned about the financial situation of seniors.
In its latest budget, the government announced a 10% increase in old age security benefits starting in summer 2022, along with a one‑time cheque for $500 for people aged 75 and over. This isn't enough. It covers only a portion of vulnerable seniors. Nearly four out of ten people aged 65 and over rely on the guaranteed income supplement to make ends meet. These people deserve the same consideration as people aged 75 and over. The increase provided by the government must also be available to people aged 65 and over.
The income of a person aged 65 and over who just receives the old age security pension and the guaranteed income supplement amounts to only $18,000. This amount is well below the adequate income threshold. Moreover, there are people who receive only a pension that doesn't fully meet their needs.
We suggest that you establish a new financial allocation geared directly towards seniors who don't have enough income to live on.
The coalition is also proposing that you improve the medical expense tax credit and lower the eligibility threshold from 3% to 1.5% of the income for people aged 65 and over.
The government must do more to provide a decent income for seniors.
The benefits of these types of measures would be felt across the country and would have a positive impact on both the living conditions of seniors and the economy. Government investments in improving living conditions would be redistributed throughout the Canadian economy and would promote an economic recovery that includes seniors.
As you can see in its document entitled “38 solutions for the dignity of seniors,” the coalition provides many concrete and easy‑to‑implement proposals.
We're ready, and my colleagues in particular are ready, to answer your questions. Thank you.
Isobel Mackenzie
View Isobel Mackenzie Profile
Isobel Mackenzie
2021-06-01 16:42
Thank you very much for inviting me to provide my insights on the impact of COVID-19 on seniors. I have to tell you that in my 25-plus years of working with seniors, I can honestly say that nothing has matched this past year for both moments of breathtaking despair and also occasions of spectacular inspiration.
We know that the nation has been focused on seniors in long-term care, and COVID-19 has revealed for all of us to see what life can be like for some who live in nursing homes. Canadians didn't like what they saw and very loudly told their governments that we need to do better. We are starting to see those commitments flow to long-term care from both our federal and provincial governments. That signals a brighter future, hopefully, but a caveat from somebody who's been around for quite a while is that these fiscal commitments need to be followed with expectations, and the expectations need to be able to be measured. Standards are only as good as their monitoring and enforcement.
We also need to remember that the changes are not going to happen overnight, and most importantly, they are not likely to meaningfully affect those who live in long-term care through the pandemic. We need to take stock of both the physical and the psychological damage experienced by current residents that has come from both their being terrified of a deadly virus and their being kept away from their family and friends and their normal routines.
We know that the rate of prescribing antipsychotics increased exponentially over the pandemic here in B.C. We saw an increase of over 10% in the prescription of antipsychotics. That is the highest annual increase that we have ever seen since we've begun measuring this. Here in B.C., we've wiped out all the gains of the past 10 years to reduce their use. We did that in a single year.
There are also going to be emotional scars on family members that may never heal. The pain for some of these family members from forced separation from their loved ones cannot be overstated, and we really do need to reflect on how our actions were inconsistent with our words and devalued the importance of connections with our loved ones in the last years of our life.
Perhaps most important as we focus on the future of long-term care is that we cannot forget that most seniors not only wish to live at home for the entirety of their lives but they do, and I'm following up on much of what Rose-Mary has spoken to very eloquently. Less than 20% of people over 85 live in long-term care in Canada. The vast majority of frail seniors need to be supported in the community, and those living in the community were also profoundly impacted by the pandemic. The rate at which a person is likely to live alone multiplies by a factor of four once you reach your eighties. The important human connections are found less at home than they are at the library, the recreation centre, the seniors centre, the bank or the grocery store. All of these were closed for long periods of time during COVID, and many struggled before COVID to be able to provide these connections. Staying at home was much more likely to mean being alone for those over 65, and it has revealed for us the importance of these community connections going forward.
The virtual connections that kept many of us going proved elusive for some seniors for a variety of reasons. For some, it was too difficult to become tech savvy at this point in their lives during COVID, but for many it was a cost issue. What COVID has highlighted, and Rose-Mary spoke to this, is how many seniors need to use their community supports because they don't have the income they need. A third of our seniors in Canada are living on the guaranteed income supplement, the GIS. In British Columbia, that means less than a minimum wage job. They are really struggling. This pandemic revealed that the $1,000 a year it costs for the Internet is just too much, so many found themselves cut off because they couldn't go to those recreation centres and seniors centres and get the access that they needed.
As we look to the future, we need to make sure that a person who goes into long-term care only does so after all community supports have been exhausted. If we use British Columbia as an example, we have tremendous work to do. In B.C., seven out of 10 admissions to long-term care were people who had no community home supports 90 days prior to their admissions.
We have a long way to go to maximize the potential of our home support and home care program in Canada. This is in part because it's fragmented in our federated model of delivery and looks very different in provinces.
Cost is a big factor. In my province we are subsidizing people in long-term care to the tune of about $60,000 a year, yet we are giving nowhere near that amount of money to assist people to live independently. Many of the costs that some of us don't associate with health care when people are in their forties, fifties and sixties become health care costs for people in their eighties and nineties.
I'll just conclude by saying that balancing the heartache of the past year has been the brilliant display of care, compassion and concern that Canadians have shown for seniors throughout this pandemic. We put up a number on a website for people to call if they wanted to help seniors and it crashed as thousands of British Columbians came forward to help. We saw that across the country, so we're not indifferent to the needs of those who are in the last years of their life. It's quite the opposite.
We need to find a way to harness this tremendous goodwill of Canadians to support aging with dignity. Hearings such as the ones you're holding today are an important first step.
I thank you for inviting me. I look forward to your questions.
Peter Holt
View Peter Holt Profile
Peter Holt
2021-05-28 14:27
As I said, we need to have an open mind when it comes to standards. Let me repeat that what matters is mental health.
I see soldiers with whom I have worked for many years who are not the same as they were 10 years ago, before they were deployed to Afghanistan or wherever. So it is important to consider the mental health aspect.
We are looking for a good dog, who can follow commands and all that, but I think you have to balance the mental health of the veteran with the behaviour of the dog in terms of obedience.
View John Brassard Profile
CPC (ON)
Thank you, Phil. Good to see you again, by the way.
In the minute I have left, Colleen, and perhaps Darlene, do you see a need for accessibility standards apart from training standards?
Colleen Anne Dell
View Colleen Anne Dell Profile
Colleen Anne Dell
2021-05-28 15:23
I'm going to answer that with what Philip was saying. Staff need to be trained in mental health. With our SUAP grant right now, we've trained 30 service dog organization staff in peer support with mental health innovations. We've been evaluating that. We've had them all take mental health first aid from the Canadian Mental Health Association.
Those are the types of things. I don't know if this is answering your question, but that has to be part of that standard process too. It's not just about training that dog and handing that dog over. It's about that veteran being part of the peer support group.
You heard of the fire buddy earlier. A different term may have been used. We use fire buddy a lot. That is what that dog becomes, as well as the group that the people are with. We have seen the ability to do that now online, which has been really challenging during the pandemic, but we've also been able to go online and do some of that.
View Kate Young Profile
Lib. (ON)
View Kate Young Profile
2021-05-25 16:07
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to the minister for spending time with us this afternoon to talk about our important study.
I want to read something to the minister from a recent pamphlet the United Way Elgin Middlesex distributed in my area. The pamphlet is actually called “The #LocalLove Letter”. It outlines some of the amazing programs the United Way and other agencies have been able to provide to our seniors during this obviously challenging time. Specifically, I'd like to read about program funding through your department's new horizons for seniors program. It reads as follows:
Since the start of the pandemic, the Canadian Mental Health Association [Middlesex] has seen a 43 percent increase in calls to The Support Line, many coming from seniors who are feeling scared, vulnerable, lonely....
Lori Hassall, the director of crisis and short-term interventions at CMHA, says, “It was an issue even before the pandemic. We were already hearing from a lot of seniors who would call every day just to talk to someone.”
A $10,000 grant from United Way, through the Government of Canada's seniors response fund, helped CMHA launch “Friendly Callers”, a new outreach program matching trained volunteers with seniors across Elgin and Middlesex counties.
The weekly call was a chance to check in and connect seniors to local services, such as Meals on Wheels, neighbourhood-based resources or the City of London age friendly network, to ensure that they were getting the support they needed.
Hassall says:
There's so much research now about the impact of loneliness on physical and mental health.... Social connection is the antidote....
I want to ask the minister if this story reflects some of what she has heard about how our government funding through this pandemic has helped seniors across the country.
View Deb Schulte Profile
Lib. (ON)
Thank you very much for that question. Absolutely, these are the amazing inspirational stories that I've been hearing all across the country in every corner, of how people have stepped up to support each other, especially seniors. They are very grateful that the government also stepped up, enhancing the funding.
The new horizons for seniors program had already launched in January. When the pandemic hit, we allowed organizations to change their programming very quickly. Whereas before they would have brought people together in a facility, now they had to try to find a way to support them in their own homes and virtually, and that is exactly what happened. That happened because we allowed them to transform their programs and to use the money in another way.
We also enhanced the program with another $20 million, in addition to the money this year, to provide 5,000 projects that have been supporting seniors from coast to coast to coast in urban, rural and remote areas. This is something I'm especially proud of. The government did recognize very early where the challenges were. They were listening to the groups and found a way, through enhanced funding and changes in the program, to get those organizations to step up and support seniors across the country.
Thank you very much for that. I've heard really inspirational stories. We didn't just do it with new horizons. We did it with funding through the United Way. We did it through emergency community support funding. There was half a billion dollars provided to community support organizations to help vulnerable Canadians across Canada. We should feel very proud of the work that's been done. I'm certainly proud of the organizations that have stepped up to offer those services.
View Leah Gazan Profile
NDP (MB)
I have just one last question.
We know that the pandemic has been horrific in long-term care homes. I'm wondering if there are any supports that will be provided to seniors who have survived and have suffered, for example, and who, going forward, may be experiencing post-traumatic stress from their experience in long-term care.
Are there any supports that are planned for seniors?
Annette Gibbons
View Annette Gibbons Profile
Annette Gibbons
2021-05-25 17:47
There are a couple of things that come to mind. Certainly, the things that we're doing under the new horizons for seniors program and the new age well at home initiative will be looking at supports—though perhaps not dealing with PTSD. There were some measures in the budget, as well, under Health Canada that deal with mental health supports to Canadians. Of course, the government did introduce some measures during the pandemic, and there are other measures in the budget.
I certainly would encourage you to, perhaps, invite Health Canada for further discussions on that as we're not really in a position.
Deb Stark
View Deb Stark Profile
Deb Stark
2021-05-25 15:49
Great. Thank you very much.
I am pleased to accept the invitation to appear before this committee as you consider Bill C-205, an act to amend the Health of Animals Act.
I want to start by emphasizing that I'm here because I was invited and I wish to be helpful. It's very important to me that it's clear that my comments do not represent the view of any of the organizations that I'm involved with now or have been involved with in the past.
When I received this invitation and I asked why you wanted to talk to me, I was told it was because of my long-standing experience in various organizations. With that in mind, I thought I might take a minute and share some of my background.
I am a veterinarian by training. I spent most of my career in the Government of Ontario, including serving as Ontario’s first chief veterinary officer and, at another time, the deputy minister of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Also, at various times, I was the manager of the ministry’s animal welfare programs and the assistant deputy minister in charge of the food safety programs. I'm now serving on several not-for-profit boards, including the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute, or CAPI; the University of Guelph; and Ontario Genomics. I'm also the chair of the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada departmental audit committee.
I would stop here, but I assume your first question might be, “What do you think about the bill?” I offer the following comments.
First, I want to thank you for your due diligence. Conversations on issues around animal diseases, farmer mental health and protecting the welfare of both people and animals are all important. Canadian agriculture plays an important role in global food security, in mitigating the impacts of climate change and in contributing to our economic success. Study after study has concluded that having an effective and efficient regulatory framework is important to this sector, so it's very good that you're closely scrutinizing these proposed changes.
I know some of your members have asked if the problem is truly about a gap in the legislative or regulatory framework, or if it's more about the application of the existing rules. I confess that I have that question as well. I don't know the answer, but I think it's important to think about that.
I also know that some members have asked about the ability to enforce the provisions in this bill, and I think that's another important question. Farmers expect to follow rules. They expect others to do the same and to suffer consequences when they do not. I don't think it's going to help any farmer's mental health if expectations rise because this bill passes and then nothing really changes.
I think it's important to acknowledge that the activity this bill is trying to prevent stems from a core tension. In its 2020 survey of Canadians, the Canadian Centre for Food Integrity reported that one-third of those surveyed were concerned about the humane treatment of animals. Perhaps most of those people just want to be reassured, but I know some of them are concerned with specific practices on the farm. I know others are completely against any kind of livestock and poultry production.
Change can be, and has been, driven by the farmers themselves, as research leads to better animal care; by consumers, through the choices they make in the marketplace; and of course by the activism of others. Animal agriculture isn't unique in this regard, and I don't think any of these drivers is going away soon.
These points being made, I want to to conclude with my first comment. I don't think I have to tell this committee that our food production system is a Canadian success story. As long as the world chooses to eat meat, Canada can be a good place to raise animals. Canadian farmers deserve a regulatory environment that protects their animals, them and their assets.
Thank you very much.
Keith Currie
View Keith Currie Profile
Keith Currie
2021-05-25 15:53
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Welcome to the committee members.
The Canadian Federation of Agriculture, or CFA, and its members understand the critical importance of maintaining a safe and reliable food supply and protecting the safety of those who feed us. As such, CFA is in support of Bill C-205, an act to amend the Health of Animals Act.
Farmers and ranchers work hard to provide a safe and sustainable food supply for all Canadians. It is becoming increasingly difficult for farmers and agricultural owners to effectively produce food, fibre and fuel due to ever-increasing trespassing events. Farms and farming operations have come under increasing threat from trespassers and activists who illegally enter property, barns and buildings, which cause significant disruptions to the entire agri-food sector.
Once-peaceful protests have now escalated into trespassing, invasions, breaking and entering into barns and other livestock facilities, theft, and harassment. The issue has now evolved to activities that create potential damage and liability far beyond the traditional, such as biosecurity breaches on livestock operations. Biosecurity breaches of crop production operations often go unnoticed. There is food tampering, damage from people intruding in confined spaces and impacting the welfare of animals; activists moving animals off site; and sit-ins and protests around processing plants. We see the obstruction of trucks and drivers hauling our livestock to and from farm and livestock processing facilities, as well as the release of animals from production facilities for fur bearing animals and hogs, for example. There is trespassing and intrusive behaviour on fish farms.
These incidents distress farmers, their families and employees and threaten the health of livestock and crops. When activists breach biosecurity protocols, this ultimately puts the entire food system at risk. While current trespassing laws, regulations, fines and penalties may have been adequate to deal with nuisance trespassing in years past, the current new era of activism sees well-orchestrated and planned events that result in uninvited and unwelcome trespassers on farm properties, yards, buildings and processing plants. The number of people with a specific focused agenda are increasing at an alarming rate. It's intended to cause economic stress for the producer.
While trespassing laws are typically under the jurisdiction of provinces, often provincial statutes are not enough of a deterrent for people who commit trespass offences. Bill C-205 will complement provincial legislation as an indicator of the severity of these offences and that protecting the agri-food industry is critical. Charges, when laid, are often dropped by the court system as they are considered minor infractions.
While the CFA does support the passage of this bill—and we urge all parliamentarians to get behind it—we do have some suggestions for some changes.
The proposed section 9.1 of the bill currently reads:
No person shall, without lawful authority or excuse, enter a building or other enclosed place in which animals are kept knowing that or being reckless as to whether entering such a place could result in the exposure of the animals to a disease or toxic substance that is capable of affecting or contaminating them.
This seems to indicate that unless you are fully aware that you are willfully reckless, the violation is excusable. A recent incident on an Ottawa-area mink farm where somebody had broke in and entered had the judge acquit them of a mischief charge because, although they entered the building illegally, no harm came to the animals. In the judge's mind, there was no violation.
We would like to see that change, so that it says that no person “without lawful authority, enter a building or an enclosed place in which animals are kept, to prevent the exposure of the animals to a disease or toxic substance that is capable of affecting or contaminating them”. As well, add in anyone “who aids or abets” someone in this should “be considered party to that contravention”.
As you heard Dr. Stark mention, mental health is becoming a big issue around activism. Farmers already face a wide variety of daily stressors that affect their mental wellness, whether it be weather, environment, market fluctuations, farm labour and social isolation, just to name a few. Trespass and activism are now an additional growing source of stress. Continuing to allow on-farm trespassing and barn break-ins to occur is not only threatening the viability of Canadian agriculture, but also posing a serious threat to farmers' mental health and well-being.
Bill C-205 recognizes the mental health crisis in agriculture and aims to support farmers and farming businesses by introducing new protections against trespassing and biosecurity breaches.
I should also add that livestock transporters and processing facilities are also under a similar tremendous mental stress from activism and activists.
I'll leave it at that, and I'll close, leaving more time for our witnesses to ask questions of me. I look forward to the conversation.
Thank you.
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