In a little over 20 years, a fourth of Canadians will be 65 or older.
So something substantial needs to be done now to reverse the growing trend of elderly abuse, and senior advocates say the conservative government's plan to toughen punishment of individual crimes is not what's needed most.
This logic seems sound, especially since a big part of elderly abuse comes from companies who are apparenty immune to such punishment.
Instead of focusing only on individual crimes, what's needed most is an end to drug company corruption, along with prevention of the poverty that keeps senior citizens dependent on stressed family members or nursing homes where they are most likely to be abused.
Tell Canada to get to the root of elderly abuse.
We, the undersigned, believe the Canadian government must get to the root causes of elderly abuse if it is going to solve the problem.
We agree with the Toronto Star in saying that "it will take more than a tweaking of the Criminal Code to do it," as well as the paper's assessment that elderly abuse is more than just obvious physical abuse, that "it can also involve over-medicating older people to make them docile," as well as taking other forms.
In light of the over-medication issues and the fact that the U.S. Department of Justice has at least taken civil action against Omnicare, which serves Canada as well as the U.S., it is surprising, if not disturbing, that Canada has not taken similar action, but is instead focusing only on toughening sentences of individuals who commit crimes against the elderly.
Furthermore, your response to this issue does not address the root cause of poverty that keep the elderly so dependent upon those who find themselves stressed for funds or other assistance while taking care of their older loved ones.
In order to even begin to properly address the problem of elderly abuse, it would be best if you targeted the main causes and the worst offenders first, instead of sidetracking the real issues by focusing on punishment of individuals.
Please take these issues into consideration, and thank you for your attention.
