THE MiX
Every day, women accessing our Centre are making difficult decisions about whether to stay or leave their difficult, and sometimes abusive, intimate-partner relationships. knowing they were not alone in their experiences and that community resources were out there. As follow-up to the workshop, The Foundation grant further assisted us to access additional funding to launch a more in-depth 8-week separation-support group where participants benefitted from presentations; the value of shared understandings and support was highlighted. One woman said, “Hearing other women’s stories made me feel less alone and is giving me help to stay strong with my decisions. There are more resources out there than I knew.” Every day, women accessing our Centre are making difficult decisions about whether to stay or leave their difficult, and sometimes abusive, intimate-partner relationships. They often feel daunted by a family law system that can be confusing, impersonal, and costly. With our developing Women’s Wrap-Around Family Law Clinic, we hope to provide a supportive space where they can receive relevant legal information and advice in concert with the emotional, financial, and practical supports that reflect the realities of their lives and will make a substantive difference in outcome for themselves and their children. We thank The Notary Foundation of BC for giving us the opportunity to further assist and empower women in our community in this way. s
Michelle Dodds is Executive Director of the North Shore Women’s Centre and chairs the North Shore Committee to End Violence Against Women in Relationships.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Valerie Le Blanc
INCLUSIVE INVESTING
Respecting the Rights of Vulnerable Investors through Supported Decision-Making Introduction
F
unded by the Law Foundation of Ontario Access to Justice Fund, the Canadian Centre for Elder Law (CCEL) continues its work on a project that focuses on how vulnerable investors1 are using supported decision-making in their lives. These investors include adults with a range of cognitive impairments arising from a variety of circumstances, including adults with intellectual disabilities and people living with dementia. The project will focus on how to facilitate supported decision-making during the investment process to maximize an investor’s access to investment options while minimizing the loss of autonomy and unnecessary intervention through Court-ordered guardianship. The key research question is how can Canadian investment advisors, adults with cognitive and decision1
Some individuals, however, are particularly vulnerable to losing the right to make their own decisions… making challenges, and supporters incorporate supported decision-making into the investment decision-making process, while guarding against undue influence and financial abuse?
Rationale for the Project At law all adults are presumed to be capable of making decisions that affect their legal and financial affairs, as well as decisions about personal and health care matters. The right to make our own decisions is a fundamental entitlement in a free and democratic society. Some individuals, however, are particularly vulnerable to losing the right to make their own decisions, due either to genuine cognitive challenges or (sometimes discriminatory) assumptions about their capacity to make investment decisions. If a person is incapable of making investment decisions and decisions must be made, a formal supported decision-making relationship may be
ulnerable/Vulnerable Investor: An investor may be vulnerable for a number of reasons. V For purposes of this project, references to vulnerable/vulnerable investor refer to adults who have a supporter assisting them to make investment decisions.
The Society of Notaries Public of British Columbia
Volume 27 Number 3 Fall 2018
