An Open Letter To Premier Tim Houston from Abused Nursing Home Residents

Susan Charlton, MN, and I are members of ACE (Advocates for the Care of the Elderly). We wrote an open letter to Premier Houston which was sent to the media, MLA's and party leaders today from ACE. Both Susan and I had much loved parents who were badly abused in Nova Scotia nursing homes. We wrote the letter from the perspective of abused residents because they are invisible - unseen and unheard. Here is the letter:

July 10, 2025

Open Letter to: Premier Tim Houston, CC Minister Barbara Adams

From: Abused Nursing Home Residents*

Dear Premier Houston,

Did you know that reports of abuse to the provincial government’s Protection for Persons In Care have tripled in the last ten years, now reaching over 600 per year? That the percentage of abuse reports investigated has been cut in half? That confirmed abuses noted in the Act have been denied an investigation?

It breaks our hearts to let you know that this is just the tip of the iceberg. Our abuses are horrific. We’ve been left screaming in pain and begging for help for days. We’ve been pushed to the floor by staff and died, without police involvement. We’ve experienced the agony of bone deep pressure sores, almost always preventable, and told there was no neglect. Tragically there are many more incidents.

We have tried looking for help in the conventional places, Police and Protection for Persons In Care, but it isn’t working. There are virtually no consequences for abusing us, even for facilities with yearly and even more frequent confirmed abuses. The Protection for Persons In Care Act, passed in 2004, enables fines of up to $30,000 for corporate abusers. Can you guess how many fines have been levied? None. Protection for Persons In Care (PPC) has claimed in the media that abusing us doesn’t contravene the Act. PPC’s director, Robert Lafferty, wrongly claims that NS’s legislation is the strongest in Canada. Do you understand how painful this is to us? Abusing us doesn’t contravene the Act and the director of the division responsible to protect us proudly touts it as the strongest in Canada.

Our children, no longer young themselves, have researched all of the Canadian provincial and territorial protective legislation related to nursing home residents. They’ve also acquired a legal brief challenging PPC’s interpretation of the Act and outlining it’s problems. Our legislation is weak. There are holes in it you can drive a truck through. Sadly, even this weak legislation is further watered down by failure to use the tools that are provided. Dieticians are investigating physical abuse and writing reports with irrelevant information about what victims did or didn’t eat, while screening cuts, preventable falls and medical negligence out of the investigations. Our children who witnessed our abuse and suffering were denied their right, established in policy, to be included in investigation interviews. There’s more, much more and we beg you to give us the legislation that will protect us.

Adding to the problem, one police department told us that Protection for Persons In Care lets them know if potential criminal activity has occurred. Protection for Persons In Care tells us that Police decide whether criminal activity has occurred. The result? We can’t find any records of criminal charges related to the hundreds of confirmed abuses that are on the record. We suffer in silence, invisible, no justice or closure. We desperately pray that you will see the need for better legislation to protect us. Legislation equal to Nova Scotia’s Animal Protection Act would be a huge improvement for us.

Please consider, “The quality of society is judged by how it treats its elderly”. Pope Francis 

Our children are advocating and researching for us. They’ll present their full report in the fall of 2025. Please direct that staff prepares stronger protective legislation and correctly implements the legislation we have. Here are some of the research findings comparing Nova Scotia’s legislation to other provinces and territories:

Legislation	Some Canadian Provinces and Territories	Nova Scotia PPC Act
Clear definitions - what abuse is and isn’t, included in the ACT. Clearly defined Offenses.	Yes	No
Description of when and how police are involved in cases at the Inquiry Stage	Yes	No
Appeal process	Yes	No
Mandatory fines for repeat offenders	Yes	No
Minimum qualifications for investigators required	Yes	No
Transparency, a degree of independent oversight	Yes	No
Licenses can be revoked if noncompliance**	Yes	See note

*Written for abused residents by Susan Charlton, MN and Carol Macomber, BDes

** Nova Scotia currently has the ability to revoke licenses, but won’t, saying they can’t close nursing homes. Other jurisdictions do this by naming a temporary administrator until the issues are resolved.