Isleifson’s Silver Alert system bill passes final reading

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The Silver Alert system will soon be a reality, with Brandon East Progressive Conservative MLA Len Isleifson’s private member’s bill passing third and final reading on Tuesday.

Similar to the existing Amber Alert media blitz system that alerts the public when a child has gone missing, the Silver Alert system will let the public know when an adult with a cognitive impairment is reported missing.

The majority of those affected are seniors, hence the “Silver” in Silver Alert.

“Extremely pleased” to have seen his private member’s bill (Bill 214) pass third reading on Tuesday, Isleifson said that the effort exemplifies exactly what he got into politics to do; “To help so many people” and to “give back to the community.”

Enthused to learn that Bill 214 had passed third reading, Alzheimer Society of Manitoba chief executive officer Wendy Schettler said that Silver Alert would be a potentially life-saving tool once implemented.

But she said drafting specifics around implementation would be no easy task, since it’s fairly common for those with cognitive impairments to go missing.

They’re usually found shortly after being noticed missing, so a Silver Alert might not always be necessary, particularly since too many alerts might result in “fatigue” among members of the public, to a point where they might stop caring when a Silver Alert is issued, which Schettler said wouldn’t do anyone any good.

At the same time, pending adequate public buy-in, she said that a Silver Alert program could prove to be a useful tool, particularly since time is always of the essence in finding those who have gone missing.

Schettler also stressed the important role that greater public awareness might carry alongside the Silver Alert program’s rollout.

“We might start looking at people a little differently,” she said, adding that she’d like to see the public at large more readily pick up warning signs that those with cognitive impairment share when they need help.

They might not be adequately dressed for the weather, are crossing the street back and forth, knocking on doors or simply appear anxious, Schettler said.

Whatever form the Silver Alert’s public rollout takes will be hashed out by the government once the bill has received royal assent, which is expected to take place this summer.

Isleifson pledged to “stay on top of it” to ensure the program meets the vision that he and various professionals have created for it.

Brandon Police Service Chief Ian Grant was one of these professionals.

Grant helped draft the Missing Persons Act while seconded to the provincial government in 2011. He was one of the first people Isleifson consulted while drafting Bill 214, which updates the Missing Persons Act to accommodate the Silver Alert program.

While he said police already do all that they can to find missing people as soon as possible, another tool such as Silver Alert will better help engage the public, which can prove “vital” when time is of the essence.

» tclarke@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @TylerClarkeMB