A member with a local seniors organization is disappointed that the proposed seniors' advocate for B.C. will not be as independent as expected.
Carole Kaye is a member of Voices of Burnaby Seniors, a local group that advocates for seniors' interests.
"Everybody requested that it be an independent position, and it's not," Kaye said.
The provincial government tabled the Seniors' Advocate Act on Feb. 20, but Kaye has concerns that the advocate will not be established as an independent office of the legislature. Instead, the advocate will report to the Ministry of Health, something she also takes issue with.
"We are wondering why they chose the Ministry of Health. Seniors have concerns and issues beyond health. We're not a bunch of sick and dying people," Kaye said.
According to the act, the lieutenant governor would appoint a seniors' advocate responsible for a number of items, including monitoring seniors' services, advocating for seniors' interests and identifying systemic challenges faced by seniors.
Prior to the act's introduction, Voices of Burnaby Seniors had been calling on the government to enact legislation bringing in a seniors' advocate. Kaye said the group has not had a chance to form an official position on the new advocate, and that she was speaking on behalf of herself only, not Voices of Burnaby Seniors. Still, she called for a truly independent seniors' advocate.
"On this one key point, which we consider to probably be the most important point, they let us down," she said. "We'd like them to change that aspect. . It's not too late for them to change their mind on that."
Ralph Sultan, minister of state for seniors, dismissed the concerns in an interview with the NOW.
"To quote Humphrey Bogart, 'It doesn't amount to a hill of beans,'" he said. "This person is going to be cut loose to do whatever they damn well please, and we'll say, 'Hold your hats, fasten your seatbelts, cross your fingers, good luck.' That's how it works."
Sultan told the NOW the advocate's duties and responsibilities include health care, non-medical personal care, housing, transportation, and income support.
"That's a pretty broad mandate in terms of cutting across lots of different silos," Sultan said. "The mandate of the advocate extends far beyond government into all private institutions dealing with seniors, as well," he added. "It's both public and private."
As for why the position is not as independent as, for example, Mary Ellen Turpel Lafond's job as B.C.'s representative for children and youth, Sultan replied that the advocate will report to him, not the health minis-ter.
"My responsibilities cut across all ministries, not just health," he added.
Furthermore, Sultan listed the independent things the advocate will be able to do, including establishing her own work priorities; setting up her own council of advisors; gathering information, protecting those who assist the advocate, so whistleblowers will not be punished. According to Sultan, the advocate will also make independent recommendations and will be compensated in a "grand manner."
"This is not some junior clerk in the back room. This is a big, well-paid job that should attract very capable people. It will be on par with the deputy minister of government," he said.
Sultan also expects the Seniors' Advocate Act to pass during the current legislative session, which ends March 14.
