The upcoming issue of Maclean’s Magazine features an article on resident-to-resident aggression in care homes. The article stems from the first BC Care Providers Association Care to Chat speaker session which took place on November 7, 2013. The article draws quotes from keynote speaker, the Hon. Suzanne Anton, QC, Minister of Justice and Attorney General, as well as the panel of experts.
“The grey tsunami presents unique challenges to our communities, our health care system and our justice system,” Suzanne Anton, B.C.’s attorney general and a former Crown prosecutor, told a symposium on elder abuse in November. In B.C., Crown attorneys have the latitude not to charge if prosecution isn’t in the public interest. “Cases such as these difficult ones involving people with dementia, you can be sure the Crowns gathered the evidence and then they applied their experience and a real sense of compassion and restraint in deciding whether or not to proceed with the charge.” Even if charges proceed, the accused must have the mental capacity to appreciate they have committed an offence, Anton said. “Canadian criminal law recognizes that the morally innocent should not be convicted.”
To read the full article, please click here.
