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Private Members' Business

Silver Alert National Framework Act

2026-05-06 Sitting 118 Showing 1–3 of 3

A bill to set up a national 'silver alert' system to help find missing vulnerable seniors, especially those with dementia. The MP behind the bill, a Conservative, spoke mostly to the bill itself and how it could help, comparing it both to existing alerts in some provinces and to the more extensive U.S. system. She expressed openness to amendments. Other members from all the main parties were quick to congratulate her and each other just for introducing the bill and talking about it -- they used over half their speaking time for mutual appreciation and other unrelated topics they found meaningful.

Official Hansard ↗

Ben Carr

Liberal 5:40 p.m.

“I think the bill is a good idea and I'm open to supporting it. But first, we should talk about possible changes to make sure it doesn't overstep jurisdiction or infringe on privacy rights. Let's work together to get this right.”

Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, I would like to commend my hon. colleague from Winnipeg for bringing the bill forward. She has been a tremendous advocate, not only for this family, but for the broader community, for quite a long time now. I am pleased to see that the bill has made its way to the floor of the House of Commons. I am certainly open to supporting the bill to the committee stage. I understand that there are some questions that might have to do with jurisdiction or with privacy. Can my colleague can speak to some of the reasonable amendments she feels we might be able to make collaboratively at the committee stage in order to get the bill back to the House in tip-top shape, in order to make it the law of the land?

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Anthony Housefather

Liberal 6:00 p.m.

“I want you to think I'm nice and I care about sick seniors. This bill might be good for people. I want to make sure it won't bother provinces too much. The government is already working on this too. I want to change the bill a little to make sure it won't send alerts too often or share private information in the wrong cases.”

Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to have the chance and the opportunity to speak to Bill C-263 today. First, I want to thank my friend, the member for Kildonan—St. Paul, for proposing a bill that is not only meaningful to the Moberg family, and I want to salute the courage of the Moberg family who were in Ottawa today, but could make a real difference in the lives of seniors living with dementia. I think all of us in the chamber know at least one person, have grown up with one person or, as adults, have run into one person who has dementia. Sometimes they are in our families. Sometimes they are close friends. To watch their decline over time is one of the scariest and one of the most difficult psychological things one could possibly have happen. First of all, the individual, as they are aware of their decline, which is often the case, is terrified. Their family members are also terrified. As the hon. member said in her speech, one day the person could be watching television, conversing, having dinner with their family, and the next day they could be in a state where if they walk out the front door, they will not know how to find their way back home. I cannot even tell members how many cases, over the course of the last 10 years that I have been a member of this place, I have heard from families with a loved one with dementia who has had a serious incident happen, and the fears that have been expressed. It goes beyond touching my heart. The fact that the hon. member took this opportunity to hear a tragic story and use it to come forward with a piece of legislation that could improve the lives of Canadians is deeply appreciated. As she said, this is not a partisan bill. This is not a bill that is left, right or centre. This is a human bill. The proposal of a national framework to support a coordinated silver alert system, to utilize our existing national public alerting system to issue geo-targeted notifications when a vulnerable senior disappears, would be a collaborative effort. It would be a collaborative effort between federal government, provincial government and territorial government. It would alert the public, through TV, radio and wireless devices, to a life-threatening situation. We do that right now for tornadoes, fires or Amber Alerts. The goal is to include this type of vulnerable senior in that system. The system is very busy. In 2024 alone, 855 emergency alerts were sent out across Canada. They contained vital information during extreme storms and other critical events. I would also note that this file is being actively worked on by the government. In budget 2025, we committed to renewing the NPAS model to better support emergency alerting throughout Canada. Indeed, the federal government is in discussion with provincial and territorial counterparts to promote more consistent use of public alerting systems, including guidance for consistent alerting for missing vulnerable people. As such, it gives me pleasure today to say that we, as a government, intend to support the bill with targeted amendments at the committee stage. We want to ensure that some of the drafting concerns that we hope to address will be considered by the committee. Hopefully, we can find a means so that everybody in the House will be comfortable with the bill. First, any framework must be developed in consultation with our provincial and territorial counterparts across the country, to ensure that it complements, rather than complicates, existing local protocols. As the member mentioned, provincial and territorial governments are referenced in the bill. Perhaps there is another way that we would like to reference them. Measures proposed in the legislation do relate to an area that is in provincial jurisdiction, as the member recognized. We just want to make sure that everyone is onside. Search and rescue operations are led, almost always, by local police services in coordination with provincial agencies and volunteer organizations like Search and Rescue Canada. We were honoured to welcome Search and Rescue Canada on the Hill this week as part of our humanitarian workforce program, for which we just announced $108 million in new funding. When a senior goes missing in a rural township or dense urban core, the response must be immediate and tailored to that specific area or community. In addition, many provinces have already taken steps to adopt silver alert systems for missing seniors. Quebec's non-intrusive alert system, which was announced in February 2026, aims to inform police services. This evidence-based program also uses non-intrusive means like social media, television and radio programs to alert the public. As my colleague said, these alerts are not sent out on cellphones at the moment. We want to make sure that we co-operate. One of the things the member mentioned is the privacy and dignity of the senior. We want to make sure that how we coordinate this under the proposal involves something that will respect the privacy and dignity of seniors and their families. I am sure that, as we understand, a silver alert would broadcast the name, photo and medical condition of an individual to possibly millions of people, depending on the area. We want to streamline this to make sure the right cases are the ones brought forward. In extreme and dangerous cases, that probably is the case. Perhaps there are other cases where it might not be, so we have to discuss that. For example, seniors who live with early-stage dementia often maintain independent lives. In some cases, their families may prefer that their medical privacy be protected as they engage in the search in the early stages. We will discuss this as part of the notification system, and I am sure we will find a collaborative solution that will work for everybody in this House. One of the problems I wanted to mention, which I have heard from our provincial counterparts, some municipal counterparts and police, is the concern over alert fatigue. Through discussions with the provinces and territories, we want to make sure that alert fatigue does not happen. I often get complaints from people in Montreal asking why they get alerts about a child who is missing in Trois-Rivières, given the unlikelihood of the child from Trois-Rivières being in Montreal, with the phone buzzing at three o'clock in the morning. Part of this must be to figure out where the alert target area should be and what the alerts should be. I also want to talk a bit about dementia care, because this bill brings up an important issue about dementia. The Alzheimer Society provided recommendations in its landmark study released in 2022. The Government of Canada's “A Dementia Strategy for Canada”, released in 2019, looks at not only prevention, medical treatment and cures, but also improving the quality of life of dementia patients. Many stakeholders have expressed stronger support for programs such as dementia-friendly communities led by the Alzheimer Society of Canada, with financial support from our government. This initiative supports localized efforts to implement and adapt dementia-friendly practices, including promoting awareness and strategies on how to effectively communicate with people living with dementia. For example, exactly as the member said, when we see a senior who we think might be lost, confused and scared, how do we approach them? Should we approach them? These are all things we need to teach our communities. It has to be more than just alerting family members of people who have dementia as to how to deal with dementia patients. In January 2026, our government announced $4.7 million in funding to fund six projects under the dementia community investment program, bringing the total number of projects we have supported to 36. Our government often talks about our commitment to ensuring the safety and dignity of all Canadians. Seniors built the communities we live and thrive in today. We owe it to them to keep them safe in all of our communities. In conclusion, I look forward to working with the sponsor of this bill to ensure that a national approach to silver alerts is evidence-based and adequately addresses community needs and provincial concerns.

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Hon. Kevin Lamoureux

Liberal 6:30 p.m.

“I'm filling time with kind words and saying nothing anyone could pin down later. I want to look compassionate without making any concrete promises.”

Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise today, as someone who represents an area where a lot of attention has been drawn to the issue because of an outstanding individual in a very sad situation. When we have discussions or debates inside the House, they take many different forms. On this legislation that has been brought forward, there is a great deal of interest. I am anticipating that after today, there might be another hour of debate, but eventually we will see the legislation go to committee. It reinforces something that the government has been talking a great deal about: Working in collaboration, we can do some wonderful things for Canadians. Last week we had Bailey's law. With the support of both sides of the House, we were able to advance that legislation. Today, in talking to the ministry, and the minister in particular, we understand and appreciate that here we have legislation that, in principle, the government can support. We would like to see the legislation go to committee. There are some areas of concern, not only for the government but for other stakeholders, that need to be discussed. I think it was important to hear the introducer of Bill C-263 indicate that she is open to amendments. We will get to some of those shortly. We have seen ideas that can have a very real impact, and there is a sense of collaboration. When we have government and opposition working together, wonderful things can happen, whether it is a private member's bill or a government bill. We have before us an example. Earl Moberg was 81 years old and had dementia. Back in December 2023, he went missing in Winnipeg. It was amazing, in of the bit of research I was able to do while the debate was going on, how the community came together in a very wonderful way to try to support the family. Today, Britt Moberg is on Parliament Hill. She has been an ongoing, strong advocate and is ensuring that politicians at all levels, of all political stripes, will not forget about her dad. I give my best wishes to the family and the community that have been affected. I am thinking of the family and their friends in particular. There was a great deal of energy, and one can only imagine the frustration of not being able to have that final closure. I hope there will come a day when that final closure will be there for the family. Dementia is a very serious health condition. It is one of the reasons that we, as a government, have invested in community involvement. Dementia community investments are something to which the Prime Minister and the government have provided substantial amounts of money, recognizing that we need more community engagement and more awareness on the dementia file. When we think of jurisdictional responsibility, we often hear about provinces and the federal government, but all levels of government have a role to play. There is also the police, in this case. Whether urban or rural, usually law enforcement officers in one form or another will become engaged, along with community volunteers, community groups and, of course, family and friends. We can only imagine the impact it has when a loved one with dementia, whether they are living in a family home or a short-term or long-term care facility, goes for a walk and does not return. There is a certain amount of alert awareness brought to the community, which has already been highlighted, and that is a good thing. What is being proposed about having it go through telephones, for example, in the same fashion as Amber alerts, has a great deal of merit. I am very much interested in hearing what others have to say. I believe the Alzheimer Society of Canada estimated that in the next number of years, close to one million Canadians will have some form of dementia. We had another speaker talk about the level of frequency. Those are some legitimate numbers. As parliamentarians, in particular members of the standing committee that will have to deal with this, working with the department, we should be looking at the numbers to ensure that we put in the very best mechanism we can. As it has been illustrated, a quick and safe recovery is a priority. We all want to see that. There is an obligation for it. The member proposing the piece of legislation has a limited number of questions that can be asked of her because of time limits, but my curiosity is about trying to narrow down how we can work with other jurisdictions in dealing with some of those raw numbers. These are absolutely critical for us to know so we can be as effective as we can in making sure there is a quick and safe recovery of every senior who goes missing. We owe it to the senior, and we owe it to the family and friends. I have had a relatively recent experience with a gentleman I have known for over 30 years, Fred De Villa, a wonderful community member who was cared for in a very big way. In recent months, he sadly has passed. Dementia quickly consumed him and had such a significant negative impact, but the people around him, family and friends, wanted to be there for Fred in a very real and tangible way, as we see from family members who are there for loved ones with dementia, as well as from health care facilities and, more importantly, from the staff, with the caring attitudes and love they express to individuals with dementia. It is important that we recognize and appreciate the efforts of so many who are there to directly support individuals who have succumbed to dementia, and we can support them in different ways. We can support them, as the government has done, financially, by providing supports for dementia community investment opportunities. I think there are three dozen projects out there today from the government. We can also look at legislation such as this one. At the very least, let us see it go to committee. We also need to recognize that maybe there is more that other levels of government can do, and we do need to continue the collaboration. There is more that I would like to express in the second hour of debate.

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