'Keep fighting' for change in flawed public trustee system, says Manitoban who spent years in guardianship
CBC
Manitobans placed under the control of the province's public guardian deserve more than a week to fight for their independence — and a better way to appeal the decision.
Those are among several recommendations experts and those in the system say would improve Manitoba's flawed public guardian and trustee agency.
"We can definitely do better as a province," said Lisa Engel, an associate professor in the University of Manitoba's department of occupational therapy.
The Public Guardian and Trustee of Manitoba is an arm's-length government agency that makes the personal and financial decisions for more than 2,700 Manitobans deemed mentally incompetent by a doctor.
A recent CBC News investigation found Manitoba's public guardian and trustee system is full of gaps, leaving many inside it feeling they have no way out.
Winnipegger Lorne Kiss, 58, was under the public trustee for over two and a half years. His experience illustrates how a person can fall through the cracks, he said.
"If someone told me this story, I would not believe them. I would say, 'You're crazy. There's no way that could happen to a human being. Not in Canada, anyway,'" said Kiss.
He was working full time as a forklift operator, but fell on hard times and was living at Siloam Mission's shelter, struggling to find housing and spending all his money gambling.
In 2018, one of his support workers asked him to see a psychiatrist. That doctor decided he was mentally incompetent, signing what is called a Form 21, or certificate of incapacity — which indicates a person is "incapable of managing his or her property or of personal care."
Kiss said he had no idea that was the reason for the appointment.
WATCH | 'There's no way that could happen to a human being,' says Lorne Kiss:
Documents provided by Kiss show concerns were raised by Siloam Mission staff about his compulsive gambling, arguing he was incapable of managing his own money and had threatened suicide.
After the psychiatrist signed the Form 21, it went to Manitoba's chief psychiatrist for final approval.
By the time Kiss learned he'd been deemed mentally incompetent, it was too late to object.
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