Raquel Dancho, Kildonan—St. Paul
“I want the House to pass this bill to committee. It sets up a plan for the whole country to send emergency phone alerts when older people with dementia go missing. When these seniors wander off, they often get hurt or die if they are not found within 12 hours. We already have the technology to send alerts to nearby phones, but provinces need a coordinated plan so they work the same way everywhere.”
“moved that Bill C-263, An Act to establish a national framework for silver alerts, be read the second time and referred to a committee. She said: Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise today to speak to my bill, Bill C-263, an act to establish a national framework for silver alerts. This bill is deeply personal to many in my community, especially the Moberg family of North Kildonan in Winnipeg. In December 2023, Earl Moberg, who suffered from advanced dementia, disappeared from his home. Again, this is in the middle of a Winnipeg winter. Despite extensive search efforts, he was never found and is presumed deceased. Mr. Moberg was a real person. He was a husband. He was a father. He was a grandfather. He was a teacher. He was a veteran in the Canadian air force reserve. He was a man who was deeply proud of his Swedish heritage. He was a man who spent decades serving northern Manitoba communities. He was a man who loved long walks, gardening, hiking, swimming, learning and spending time with his wife and kids. Even into his later years, he remained very physically active and intellectually curious. His daughter, Britt Moberg, described him as the person she always went to for advice, until, of course, the dementia progressed and those roles were reversed and she started to have to care for him. Like so many families that are dealing with dementia in someone they love, the Moberg family watched someone they deeply cared for slowly disappear. Then, they physically lost him as well. They were dealing with, really, two losses over a fairly short period of time, only a few years. I think that is one of the hardest realities for families living with someone they love with dementia. They lose someone in stages. It is not just overnight. At first, it is small things. There might be repeated questions, maybe some confusion, maybe getting lost very briefly. Then, over time, safety concerns grow very serious. One day, they may be fine to be left alone or even drive their car like normal, and then the next day, it is not fine anymore. Eventually, a walk around the block can be very unsafe. Earl’s family, like all families that deal with dementia, tried their very best to adapt to a really impossible situation. They used trackers. They would redirect him when he wanted to do something that was no longer safe for him, like go for a walk by himself. His wife became a full-time caregiver for him. They sought medical assessment after medical assessment. They sought all the supports that were available to them. However, for many families that are dealing with this, it can be incredibly overwhelming. It can be scary. It can be tremendously exhausting, emotionally, physically and mentally. While they are dealing with all these changes, their heart is breaking because they are losing someone they love, someone they used to go to for advice. Then, in the Moberg household, one winter evening, unbeknownst to his family, Mr. Moberg walked out the front door and never came home. I think what made this tragedy really difficult for me to stomach, personally, was that someone may have seen him but just did not know he was missing. One woman later reported that the day after he went missing, she saw a confused, older gentleman in a local lab clinic, one that he happened to frequent. He appeared a bit disoriented. He was able to say that his phone was dead, but she did not know that he was missing. She did not find out that there was a person missing until she saw, days later, a public alert online. It was only online in Manitoba. That man happened to match the description of Mr. Moberg. In fact, she went to help in the search to find him, but of course, by the time she put two and two together on this, it was far too late. She later shared with the family, as well, that she had this gut feeling that something was just off, that maybe this man needed help. We all often get these gut feelings, but we often also ignore them. We do not really have the confidence or enough information to act on that gut feeling. That is the precise moment this bill is looking to deal with, to solve. I keep imagining that if she had received a silver alert on her phone that morning, with a description of a man who was missing, and then she also had a gut feeling when she saw a man of a similar description, maybe she would have acted. Maybe she would have called someone. Maybe she would have called emergency services. Something may have happened. Mr. Moberg, if that was him, might still be alive today if this had been in place. That is really the core motivation for this bill, for those moments when we see someone and we also have that alert. That is when there is action. It is when those stars align that we need all the technologies, all the supports in place, to ensure that we are bringing people home safely. Missing person cases involving seniors living with dementia are unique because of the specific vulnerability they have. They may appear normal, just a senior going for a walk. They may not even know they are in danger. They may not know they are missing. They may not be able to verbalize it. They may not remember where they live or whom to call in an emergency. They may not even know that they are dying of dehydration and hypothermia, just that they are in pain, but they cannot verbalize it. These are uniquely time-sensitive scenarios. Public Safety Canada has stated that if a person living with Alzheimer’s disease goes missing and is not found within 12 hours, they have a 50% chance of being found deceased or severely injured, notably with hypothermia and dehydration, or having drowned. Therefore, every minute matters and every hour matters. Every moment matters when we are searching for seniors with dementia who have gone missing. However, in Canada today, whether the public is rapidly notified or not really depends on geography. Some provinces have explored silver alerts. Some have pilot programs. Some have legislation on paper, such as Manitoba, or online alerts, such as Manitoba. Some really have no operation at all. Meanwhile, Canada already possesses the technological infrastructure capable of delivering rapid geo-targeted alerts directly to mobile devices, to televisions and to radios. We already use this infrastructure for Amber Alerts and other emergency notifications such as weather alerts and tornado warnings. I have gotten a few of those over the years. Therefore, this is not an issue of technological capability limitations. It is an issue of coordination, standards and consistent implementation across Canada. That is why the bill was intentionally drafted as a framework bill. It would not create a federally controlled emergency alert regime, just to be very clear. We already have one of those with provinces. Instead it would recognize the constitutional reality that provinces and territories oversee policing and emergency management, while asking the federal government to provide a real national leadership role and coordination. Specifically, the bill would require the federal government to work with provinces and territories, police, emergency management officials, care providers and other experts to develop a national framework for silver alerts. The framework would include things like harmonizing risk thresholds, improving interprovincial coordination, establishing privacy guidelines, supporting geo-targeted notifications and ensuring that alerts are issued responsibly. I want to really emphasize that last point, because the bill is not proposing an alert for every missing person. Every missing person does matter, but it is the specific vulnerability of a senior with dementia who goes missing that is critical. The window to find them is so short. Families understand the sensitivities with issuing these alerts, and the importance of dignity and respect for the individuals. Ms. Britt Moberg spoke very movingly about this tension to me, saying that for people living with dementia, it is difficult. Things such as “You cannot drive anymore, Dad” are difficult discussions that need respect and dignity, and that needs to be a core frame for establishing the silver alerts. We put a lot of thought into that when drafting the legislation. In fact, Canada’s existing alert infrastructure already allows alerts to be targeted with quite remarkable precision. They can be targeted to within a few city blocks, so that just the cellphones in a specific area would get an alert. That matters, because it would help reduce unnecessary disruption and reduce alert fatigue, while still mobilizing public support when someone is truly vulnerable and at imminent risk of peril. Those are really some of the key principles here: proportionate, targeted, responsible public notification for time-sensitive cases involving vulnerable people. Importantly, this issue is becoming more urgent. By 2030, nearly one million Canadians are expected to be living with dementia. By 2050, that number is going to hit 1.7 million. People are more likely to get dementia as they age, so as our population ages, more Canadian families will, unfortunately, face what the Mobergs have faced. In the past few years, there have been some very tragic cases, including Mr. Moberg’s. In British Columbia, for example, there was a news headline the other day that said that search and rescue teams are warning that missing seniors with cognitive impairments are becoming a growing trend. In Saskatchewan, an 86-year-old man with Alzheimer’s wandered out of a care home unnoticed and was later found deceased. Also in Saskatchewan, just a few weeks ago, an 82-year-old grandmother living with only mild dementia, which is difficult to deal with, vanished and was found deceased nearly two weeks later. In Nova Scotia, a 79-year-old woman with dementia disappeared from a seniors residence. Luckily, the alert went out in some way and helped find her in time. Another Nova Scotia senior living with dementia disappeared and was unfortunately later found deceased. In Alberta, a missing 79-year-old woman with dementia was fortunately found again within the 12-hour window. Particularly tragic, in January, Quebec’s coroner was investigating the death of a 90-year-old woman found outside her seniors residence after wandering out in the cold. It was reportedly the fourth similar death involving a Quebec senior in roughly one month. These stories are happening across Canada, in every neighbourhood and in rural and remote areas. It does not matter where. There is no discrimination with this issue. It is everywhere. It is in care homes, in hospitals and in our own backyards. As our population ages, we have the responsibility to do something about this effectively and efficiently. I want to make clear that this is not a partisan bill, not a political bill and not a left-wing or right-wing issue. This is a human issue. We have the technology to make a difference. It is in the palm of our hand every day, all day. We have it right there. We just need to mobilize it. I want to acknowledge members from different parties, including the Liberal Party, who have reached out to me, including the Minister of Emergency Management. They have engaged in thoughtful and constructive dialogue with me on this. I am very encouraged by that. I also want to recognize there may be amendments at committee talking about provincial jurisdictions, certain operational thresholds and various implementation details. I welcome that conversation very much, because ultimately the goal here is to save lives, and this is a tool that we can use. If this legislation helps push Canada forward toward a more coordinated, medically informed and operationally workable system that allows communities to respond faster when vulnerable seniors disappear, then this bill would have accomplished something very meaningful. At its core, this legislation is asking a simple question: When a vulnerable senior with dementia disappears and we already possess the technology capable of notifying nearby Canadians immediately, should we use it more effectively? The Conservatives believe that the answer is resolutely, yes, we should. I do want to dedicate this bill to the Moberg family for their courage, resilience and resolve in turning an unimaginable tragedy into meaningful action. It has been an honour to work with them and to get to know them, and we hope, together, today will be one more step toward saving lives of vulnerable seniors in Canada. Today, the House of Commons will debate at second reading my private member’s bill, Bill C‑263, an act to establish a national framework for silver alerts. This legislation is rooted in the tragic disappearance of Earl Moberg, a Winnipeg man with advanced dementia who left his home in December 2023 and never returned. His daughter, Britt Moberg, is with me here in Ottawa today. Like so many Canadian families grappling with dementia, the Mobergs went through the extremely painful experience of watching a loved one slowly slip away even before their physical passing. The purpose of this bill is to save other families from having to experience the same tragedy. Canada’s population is aging rapidly. By 2030, nearly one million Canadians are expected to suffer from dementia. According to Public Safety Canada, about 60% of people with dementia will go missing at some point. If they are not found within 12 hours, there is a 50% chance that they will be found injured or dead from hypothermia, dehydration or drowning. This problem affects every region of the country, including Quebec. Over the past few months, Quebec coroners have investigated a number of tragic deaths involving vulnerable seniors who wandered outside in winter. This story reminds us that people with dementia can appear to be fine, like any other senior taking a walk alone, when they are actually confused, lost and in imminent danger. Quebec has already recognized the importance of silver alerts and has an alert system. However, the bill seeks to work in collaboration with the provinces, including Quebec, to improve national coordination, the criteria for issuing alerts, privacy protection and the responsible use of existing alert technologies. The bill also seeks to fully respect provincial jurisdictions and not to create and impose a federal system on the provinces. Rather, it calls on the federal government to collaborate with the provinces, police, emergency preparedness officials and medical experts on establishing a flexible, coordinated national framework. Canada already has the technological infrastructure needed to quickly issue geotargeted alerts to cellphones over the same system used for amber alerts and weather alerts. The problem is not technological. The problem is a lack of coordinated, common standards across the country. I would ask all parties from every corner of this country to seriously consider supporting this bill to go to committee for further study, and ultimately getting it over the finish line so that, as a country and as a House of Commons, we can ensure we are using the power in the palm of our hand to save lives of vulnerable seniors.”
-
A repeated line
“Nearly one million Canadians are expected to be living with dementia.”
Said 3 times by 2 members since April 29.
Every time it was said
moved that Bill C-263, An Act to establish a national framework for silver alerts, be read the second time and referred to a committee. She said: Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise today to speak to my bill, Bill C-263, an act to establish a national framework for silver alerts. This bill is deeply personal to many in my community, especially the Moberg family of North Kildonan in Winnipeg. In December 2023, Earl Moberg, who suffered from advanced dementia, disappeared from his home. Again, this is in the middle of a Winnipeg winter. Despite extensive search efforts, he was never found and is presumed deceased. Mr. Moberg was a real person. He was a husband. He was a father. He was a grandfather. He was a teacher. He was a veteran in the Canadian air force reserve. He was a man who was deeply proud of his Swedish heritage. He was a man who spent decades serving northern Manitoba communities. He was a man who loved long walks, gardening, hiking, swimming, learning and spending time with his wife and kids. Even into his later years, he remained very physically active and intellectually curious. His daughter, Britt Moberg, described him as the person she always went to for advice, until, of course, the dementia progressed and those roles were reversed and she started to have to care for him. Like so many families that are dealing with dementia in someone they love, the Moberg family watched someone they deeply cared for slowly disappear. Then, they physically lost him as well. They were dealing with, really, two losses over a fairly short period of time, only a few years. I think that is one of the hardest realities for families living with someone they love with dementia. They lose someone in stages. It is not just overnight. At first, it is small things. There might be repeated questions, maybe some confusion, maybe getting lost very briefly. Then, over time, safety concerns grow very serious. One day, they may be fine to be left alone or even drive their car like normal, and then the next day, it is not fine anymore. Eventually, a walk around the block can be very unsafe. Earl’s family, like all families that deal with dementia, tried their very best to adapt to a really impossible situation. They used trackers. They would redirect him when he wanted to do something that was no longer safe for him, like go for a walk by himself. His wife became a full-time caregiver for him. They sought medical assessment after medical assessment. They sought all the supports that were available to them. However, for many families that are dealing with this, it can be incredibly overwhelming. It can be scary. It can be tremendously exhausting, emotionally, physically and mentally. While they are dealing with all these changes, their heart is breaking because they are losing someone they love, someone they used to go to for advice. Then, in the Moberg household, one winter evening, unbeknownst to his family, Mr. Moberg walked out the front door and never came home. I think what made this tragedy really difficult for me to stomach, personally, was that someone may have seen him but just did not know he was missing. One woman later reported that the day after he went missing, she saw a confused, older gentleman in a local lab clinic, one that he happened to frequent. He appeared a bit disoriented. He was able to say that his phone was dead, but she did not know that he was missing. She did not find out that there was a person missing until she saw, days later, a public alert online. It was only online in Manitoba. That man happened to match the description of Mr. Moberg. In fact, she went to help in the search to find him, but of course, by the time she put two and two together on this, it was far too late. She later shared with the family, as well, that she had this gut feeling that something was just off, that maybe this man needed help. We all often get these gut feelings, but we often also ignore them. We do not really have the confidence or enough information to act on that gut feeling. That is the precise moment this bill is looking to deal with, to solve. I keep imagining that if she had received a silver alert on her phone that morning, with a description of a man who was missing, and then she also had a gut feeling when she saw a man of a similar description, maybe she would have acted. Maybe she would have called someone. Maybe she would have called emergency services. Something may have happened. Mr. Moberg, if that was him, might still be alive today if this had been in place. That is really the core motivation for this bill, for those moments when we see someone and we also have that alert. That is when there is action. It is when those stars align that we need all the technologies, all the supports in place, to ensure that we are bringing people home safely. Missing person cases involving seniors living with dementia are unique because of the specific vulnerability they have. They may appear normal, just a senior going for a walk. They may not even know they are in danger. They may not know they are missing. They may not be able to verbalize it. They may not remember where they live or whom to call in an emergency. They may not even know that they are dying of dehydration and hypothermia, just that they are in pain, but they cannot verbalize it. These are uniquely time-sensitive scenarios. Public Safety Canada has stated that if a person living with Alzheimer’s disease goes missing and is not found within 12 hours, they have a 50% chance of being found deceased or severely injured, notably with hypothermia and dehydration, or having drowned. Therefore, every minute matters and every hour matters. Every moment matters when we are searching for seniors with dementia who have gone missing. However, in Canada today, whether the public is rapidly notified or not really depends on geography. Some provinces have explored silver alerts. Some have pilot programs. Some have legislation on paper, such as Manitoba, or online alerts, such as Manitoba. Some really have no operation at all. Meanwhile, Canada already possesses the technological infrastructure capable of delivering rapid geo-targeted alerts directly to mobile devices, to televisions and to radios. We already use this infrastructure for Amber Alerts and other emergency notifications such as weather alerts and tornado warnings. I have gotten a few of those over the years. Therefore, this is not an issue of technological capability limitations. It is an issue of coordination, standards and consistent implementation across Canada. That is why the bill was intentionally drafted as a framework bill. It would not create a federally controlled emergency alert regime, just to be very clear. We already have one of those with provinces. Instead it would recognize the constitutional reality that provinces and territories oversee policing and emergency management, while asking the federal government to provide a real national leadership role and coordination. Specifically, the bill would require the federal government to work with provinces and territories, police, emergency management officials, care providers and other experts to develop a national framework for silver alerts. The framework would include things like harmonizing risk thresholds, improving interprovincial coordination, establishing privacy guidelines, supporting geo-targeted notifications and ensuring that alerts are issued responsibly. I want to really emphasize that last point, because the bill is not proposing an alert for every missing person. Every missing person does matter, but it is the specific vulnerability of a senior with dementia who goes missing that is critical. The window to find them is so short. Families understand the sensitivities with issuing these alerts, and the importance of dignity and respect for the individuals. Ms. Britt Moberg spoke very movingly about this tension to me, saying that for people living with dementia, it is difficult. Things such as “You cannot drive anymore, Dad” are difficult discussions that need respect and dignity, and that needs to be a core frame for establishing the silver alerts. We put a lot of thought into that when drafting the legislation. In fact, Canada’s existing alert infrastructure already allows alerts to be targeted with quite remarkable precision. They can be targeted to within a few city blocks, so that just the cellphones in a specific area would get an alert. That matters, because it would help reduce unnecessary disruption and reduce alert fatigue, while still mobilizing public support when someone is truly vulnerable and at imminent risk of peril. Those are really some of the key principles here: proportionate, targeted, responsible public notification for time-sensitive cases involving vulnerable people. Importantly, this issue is becoming more urgent. By 2030, nearly one million Canadians are expected to be living with dementia. By 2050, that number is going to hit 1.7 million. People are more likely to get dementia as they age, so as our population ages, more Canadian families will, unfortunately, face what the Mobergs have faced. In the past few years, there have been some very tragic cases, including Mr. Moberg’s. In British Columbia, for example, there was a news headline the other day that said that search and rescue teams are warning that missing seniors with cognitive impairments are becoming a growing trend. In Saskatchewan, an 86-year-old man with Alzheimer’s wandered out of a care home unnoticed and was later found deceased. Also in Saskatchewan, just a few weeks ago, an 82-year-old grandmother living with only mild dementia, which is difficult to deal with, vanished and was found deceased nearly two weeks later. In Nova Scotia, a 79-year-old woman with dementia disappeared from a seniors residence. Luckily, the alert went out in some way and helped find her in time. Another Nova Scotia senior living with dementia disappeared and was unfortunately later found deceased. In Alberta, a missing 79-year-old woman with dementia was fortunately found again within the 12-hour window. Particularly tragic, in January, Quebec’s coroner was investigating the death of a 90-year-old woman found outside her seniors residence after wandering out in the cold. It was reportedly the fourth similar death involving a Quebec senior in roughly one month. These stories are happening across Canada, in every neighbourhood and in rural and remote areas. It does not matter where. There is no discrimination with this issue. It is everywhere. It is in care homes, in hospitals and in our own backyards. As our population ages, we have the responsibility to do something about this effectively and efficiently. I want to make clear that this is not a partisan bill, not a political bill and not a left-wing or right-wing issue. This is a human issue. We have the technology to make a difference. It is in the palm of our hand every day, all day. We have it right there. We just need to mobilize it. I want to acknowledge members from different parties, including the Liberal Party, who have reached out to me, including the Minister of Emergency Management. They have engaged in thoughtful and constructive dialogue with me on this. I am very encouraged by that. I also want to recognize there may be amendments at committee talking about provincial jurisdictions, certain operational thresholds and various implementation details. I welcome that conversation very much, because ultimately the goal here is to save lives, and this is a tool that we can use. If this legislation helps push Canada forward toward a more coordinated, medically informed and operationally workable system that allows communities to respond faster when vulnerable seniors disappear, then this bill would have accomplished something very meaningful. At its core, this legislation is asking a simple question: When a vulnerable senior with dementia disappears and we already possess the technology capable of notifying nearby Canadians immediately, should we use it more effectively? The Conservatives believe that the answer is resolutely, yes, we should. I do want to dedicate this bill to the Moberg family for their courage, resilience and resolve in turning an unimaginable tragedy into meaningful action. It has been an honour to work with them and to get to know them, and we hope, together, today will be one more step toward saving lives of vulnerable seniors in Canada. Today, the House of Commons will debate at second reading my private member’s bill, Bill C‑263, an act to establish a national framework for silver alerts. This legislation is rooted in the tragic disappearance of Earl Moberg, a Winnipeg man with advanced dementia who left his home in December 2023 and never returned. His daughter, Britt Moberg, is with me here in Ottawa today. Like so many Canadian families grappling with dementia, the Mobergs went through the extremely painful experience of watching a loved one slowly slip away even before their physical passing. The purpose of this bill is to save other families from having to experience the same tragedy. Canada’s population is aging rapidly. By 2030, nearly one million Canadians are expected to suffer from dementia. According to Public Safety Canada, about 60% of people with dementia will go missing at some point. If they are not found within 12 hours, there is a 50% chance that they will be found injured or dead from hypothermia, dehydration or drowning. This problem affects every region of the country, including Quebec. Over the past few months, Quebec coroners have investigated a number of tragic deaths involving vulnerable seniors who wandered outside in winter. This story reminds us that people with dementia can appear to be fine, like any other senior taking a walk alone, when they are actually confused, lost and in imminent danger. Quebec has already recognized the importance of silver alerts and has an alert system. However, the bill seeks to work in collaboration with the provinces, including Quebec, to improve national coordination, the criteria for issuing alerts, privacy protection and the responsible use of existing alert technologies. The bill also seeks to fully respect provincial jurisdictions and not to create and impose a federal system on the provinces. Rather, it calls on the federal government to collaborate with the provinces, police, emergency preparedness officials and medical experts on establishing a flexible, coordinated national framework. Canada already has the technological infrastructure needed to quickly issue geotargeted alerts to cellphones over the same system used for amber alerts and weather alerts. The problem is not technological. The problem is a lack of coordinated, common standards across the country. I would ask all parties from every corner of this country to seriously consider supporting this bill to go to committee for further study, and ultimately getting it over the finish line so that, as a country and as a House of Commons, we can ensure we are using the power in the palm of our hand to save lives of vulnerable seniors.
