Under trustee, 'suddenly your identity is gone and you are no longer a person': friend of Paul Cameron Miller
by Kristin Annable, Caroline Barghout
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| Paul Cameron Miller, a former music teacher, has been under public guardianship since January and is on the verge of losing his home. (Jaison Empson/CBC) |
A Winnipeg musician has no access to his bank accounts, can't collect a paycheque and can't access his medical records because he is under the guardianship of Manitoba's public trustee — and he's on a mission to end that.
Paul Cameron Miller, 65, has been under guardianship since January of this year after he froze his feet and ended up with a diagnosis of dementia while hospitalized.
"I'm angry, and I'm not an individual who angers easily," Miller told CBC. "I am very, very upset at the way my last year has gone."
His home in Winnipeg's Earl Grey neighbourhood will be seized by the bank or sold in a public auction in December. There's nothing he can do about it, because the bank isn't legally allowed to talk to him about the matter.
"They have absolute control over his life," said Kris Olafson, a lifelong friend and advocate for Miller.
"When the [public trustee] takes over, they take over everything," she said.
"Suddenly your identity is gone and you are no longer a person."
A person is placed under guardianship and given a trustee if medical professionals deem them mentally incapable of making financial and personal decisions, and the person has no other friends or family able to help them.
A provincial special operating agency — the Public Guardian and Trustee — is responsible for providing the service. Currently, it's in charge of the affairs of nearly 4,000 Manitobans and almost $200 million worth of their assets.
A trustee will pay a client's bills and collect their wages, such as pensions or disability payments. The trustee is legally responsible for making financial decisions on how and where that money is spent.
Olafson and Miller say they're speaking out because they want people to know what happens when someone is under public guardianship and how difficult it is to get out.
They also want to get Miller out of his guardianship so he can sell his house to a close friend instead of losing it through foreclosure.
'A suffocation of your rights'
Miller's saga began last December, when he walked to the drug store to pick up a prescription and inadvertently froze his feet after spending too long outside talking to friends.
His memory of his time in the hospital is foggy. Miller believes the mixture of painkillers he was given and his anti-seizure medication led to a diagnosis of dementia, and then to his affairs being signed over to the trustee.
Miller has requested his medical records so he can piece everything together, but the guardianship means his records go straight to the public trustee, which has not given him access to them.
"It's a suffocation of your rights," he said.
"I've asked many a time for all of the paperwork … anything referencing me on it and referencing any of my medications and all of that stuff. [I get] absolutely nothing."
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| Paul Cameron Miller, 65, has been under the care of the Public Guardian and Trustee of Manitoba since January, and is now trying to get out. |
Although Miller gave the agency permission to discuss his case with CBC, a request for an interview with anyone at the public trustee to do so was denied. A spokesperson said because Miller is under guardianship, he cannot give consent.
In a prepared statement, the spokesperson said people are only placed under guardianship when there is demonstrated need for decisions to be made for their benefit.
Guardianship is the "last resort," the spokesperson said, and the agency fully supports a client being reassessed if they feel they are competent.
'Wasn't at the point of losing everything'
Once a working musician and guitar teacher, Miller was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. Before he was hospitalized, he was already facing financial difficulties and owed over $85,000 to banks, according to land titles records.
"He had some financial problems, there's no doubt about that," said Olafson.
But "he wasn't at the point of losing everything. There were things that he could have done, things that he could have sold or whatever to make ends meet."
Neighbours say during his hospital stay, word got out that Miller's house was empty and it was broken into multiple times. Eventually, it was boarded up.
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| Kris Olafson is a lifelong friend of Miller and is trying to help him get out of his guardianship, so he can take back control of his life and start working again. (Jaison Empson/CBC) |
When Miller was finally ready to leave the hospital, he wasn't released to his home. Instead, he was sent to the Salvation Army — a decision that confounds Olafson to this day, especially if the hospital staff thought he had dementia.
"How could this happen?" she said. "They took his ID, they took his phone. He had nothing."
Olafson said she called multiple hospitals before finding him at the Salvation Army shelter. When she saw how he was living, she took him home to live with her — hoping together, they could sort out the mess.
Two months later, nothing has changed.
Miller's life remains under full control of the public trustee. Since the trustee has all his identification, he doesn't have access to his social insurance number, which means he can't get a job. He is unable to collect benefits or any other income — every dime goes to the trustee.
Since coming to live with her, Miller hasn't received any money from the trustee, Olafson said.
"What has the [public trustee] been doing? Where has his money been going? We have no idea," she said, adding phone calls to the trustee have gone unanswered.
According to the province's public trustee client guide, a case worker will open an account in the name of a person who is under guardianship, and use that to collect their income and pay expenses.
The caseworker prepares a budget for the person and "may provide money" to the client from that account, the guide says.
Facing foreclosure
Miller is locked out of his house. He can't even pick up his winter coat or reading glasses, he said. He has no idea if the public trustee has his collection of guitars or if they were stolen.
He and Olafson learned earlier this month Miller has defaulted on his mortgage and it is now facing foreclosure. They have no idea what options the trustee has looked at, or whether there are alternatives to foreclosure. Miller's credit union can only discuss the matter with his trustee.
The public trustee makes "every effort to make the best decisions in the interest of their client," according to the agency's spokesperson, but can only use money available from the client's assets — the trustee can't provide new funds. Sometimes that means there is little the trustee can do to save assets such as someone's house.
Winnipeg musician Paul Cameron Miller is trying to get out from under the Public Guardian and Trustee of Manitoba, after he was deemed incapable of looking after himself.
After CBC made inquiries about Miller's case, he got a call from the public trustee. He and Olafson are set to meet with the trustee on Monday to go over his finances, including looking at options for his house.
For now, they're still working to get him out of his guardianship.
"It's a slow process and it's probably going to take a couple more months," Olafson said.
"It's just been so frustrating."
She and Miller tried to get help from Legal Aid, but were told no one was able to take on such a complicated case.
Miller's guardianship can only end when a psychiatrist or doctor agrees he is mentally capable of managing his own affairs.
They must fill out a form and send it to the province's director of psychiatric services. If the director agrees, they can cancel the guardianship.
Alternatively, Miller or Olafson can apply to the Court of King's Bench to cancel the guardianship or appoint someone else to replace the public trustee.
"Once he's released, that's fine," Olafson said. "But in the meantime, his house is looking very close to being under foreclosure right now, and he has no way of making money."
Agency understaffed: CBC analysis
A CBC analysis of annual reports found the public trustee has been understaffed for years, despite the growing number of clients it serves.
In 2013, the agency had 75 employees serving 3,200 Manitobans under guardianship, with the agency in charge of over $152 million of their assets.
A decade later, the number of people under guardianship has increased by 800 — 25 per cent — but staffing levels have only increased by five per cent.
There are now 79 full-time staff members in charge of over $187 million worth of assets. From 2019 to 2022, the agency had only 73 full-time employees.
The agency "continues to be impacted by [staff] vacancies," according to its 2022-23 annual report, which has not yet been posted online, but which CBC obtained a copy of.
Its 2021-22 annual report acknowledged the increase in clients, stating year-over-year, client numbers and assets under its management increased "both in volume and complexity."
The report also said caseworkers "cannot possibly meet with or get to know all of these clients well."
A 2020 report from the Manitoba Association of Rights and Liberties said the non-profit, which provides human rights education, found anecdotal evidence that caseworkers for the public trustee had as many as 300 clients — most of whom they never saw in person.
Manitoba's public trustee is independent, but reports to the minister responsible for consumer protection and government services minister. The ombudsman can investigate public complaints about the trustee. The agency's accounts are also audited each year by the auditor general.
In a prepared statement, Consumer Protection Minister Lisa Naylor said the public trustee "makes every effort to act in the best interest of their clients."
But Doug Surtees, a professor in the law department at the University of Saskatchewan who specializes in guardianship, said there are many gaps when it comes to upholding the rights of people under guardianship.
There is no right to counsel for someone facing guardianship. However, someone who is charged with a crime does have the right to a lawyer, he noted.
"We have a justice system in this country that doesn't allow the state to take away liberties or impose a sentence on somebody accused of crimes unless that person has the right to be represented by counsel," he said.
"But we do it with guardianship all the time."
Across the country, public trustees are "wildly underfunded," Surtees said, adding more staffing and resources are needed.
"If we're asking if decisions are being made in accordance with the adult's wishes, somebody has to have the time and expertise to communicate with the individuals to see if, and how, their wishes are being communicated."
A Winnipeg man, who was placed under the control of the public guardian and trustee of Manitoba, is warning others that this could happen to them. Paul Cameron Miller has been fighting for the past year to get control of his own life.
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Winnipeg musician fights for 'control over his life' after being placed under public trustee guardianship
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