ManitobaLeigh Anne Caron officially started her new role as Manitoba’s first ever seniors’ advocate on Wednesday, after the Manitoba government hired her last month, following through on a 2023 election campaign commitment. Leigh Anne Caron officially started her new role Wednesday as Manitoba’s first seniors’ advocateDave Baxter · CBC News · Posted: Nov 12, 2025 9:50 PM EST | Last Updated: 5 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 4 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.Leigh Anne Caron, who has worked in community health as the director of the Women’s Health Clinic and as the executive director at the Sexuality Education Resource Centre, is Manitoba’s first advocate for seniors. (CBC)Manitoba’s new seniors’ advocate says she’s never been afraid to break the rules, if she believed that was what was best for the seniors she was caring for. Leigh Anne Caron officially started her new role as Manitoba’s first seniors’ advocate on Wednesday, after the Manitoba government hired her last month, following through on a 2023 election campaign commitment. In an interview with CBC Radio’s Up to Speed on Wednesday, Caron said she first started working with seniors as a teenager at a long-term care facility in rural Alberta. The time she spent there taught her the importance of listening to seniors, rather than telling them what they should be doing, she told host Faith Fundal.When she would go for walks with the seniors at the home, some asked if they could go see the homes where they used to live, but her bosses at the time didn’t think that was a good idea. “I was told not to take them by their old homes because it would be upsetting,” Caron said. “But once we were out for walks, it was pretty hard for me to not take them where they wanted to go.”So we would go by their old homes and just spend some time talking and reminiscing, so that was kind of breaking those rules.”Caron said she noticed that taking seniors to see their old homes often lifted their moods. “It wasn’t a rule that really held up,” she said, given the joy it brought to the residents.”It seems pretty simple now just going to your old home, but it was a big deal at the time for them.”Caron said she hopes to bring that same commitment to listening to her new role, but also a commitment to take action if she believes changes are needed. “I want to have good processes in place, so it isn’t just listening and not doing anything with it, but that we have a way to listen and then find a way to move forward about the concerns people are bringing forward.”Independent officeThe 49-year-old more recently has worked in community health. She was director of the Women’s Health Clinic from 2011 to 2019, and has also worked as an executive director at the Sexuality Education Resource Centre.When it announced the new office in March, the provincial NDP government said the advocate will set up an independent office of the legislature to examine individual complaints, as well as systemic issues faced by seniors and elders, similar to the provincial advocate for children and youth.The seniors’ advocate will also be required to make reports and recommendations to the legislature in a public manner and recommendations could be on a wide range of government services, including health care, housing and government programs and supports.At the time, the CEO of CanAge, a Canadian seniors’ advocacy organization called the move “a huge victory for Manitoba seniors.”In other provinces that already have seniors’ advocates, “real change has started to happen,” Laura Tamblyn Watts told CBC in March.Caron said there is now a lot of work to do to get the office off the ground, including hiring the staff that will work with her. She said she hopes the office gives more of a voice to seniors in Manitoba and what their needs are. “There’s been a lot of work done around advocating for seniors prior to this position, and I think having someone in a position that can make recommendations and has a little more power is going to help amplify those voices that have already been present here,” Caron said. “I think it’s important, because it complements that work that is already being done, and brings it forward a little more.”ABOUT THE AUTHORDave Baxter is an award-winning reporter and editor currently working for CBC Manitoba. Born and raised in Winnipeg, he has also previously reported for the Winnipeg Sun and the Winnipeg Free Press, as well as several rural Manitoba publications.With files from Faith Fundal
New provincial advocate hopes to amplify voices of Manitoba seniors
