Betty Eaton's mother, 83-year-old Ursula Stumpf, was mostly immobile and unable to speak but her eyes and face told a disturbing story.
"My mom was trying to tell me something bad was going on, and it sure was," Eaton said.
With her mother's nodded consent, Eaton installed a "nanny-cam," a secret camera to video record everything that happened in her mother's room. Within hours, the live-in foreign care worker who had looked after Stumpf for a year was fired.
What the video showed was the aide ripping adhesive tape off a chronic open wound, which was against medical instructions for tending to Stumpf's painful sore and the brittle skin around it. Also against medical instructions were the incorrect dressings the aide used to cover the wound up again.
The video also showed multiple instances of the aide using a moist disinfectant towelette to wipe Stumpf's mouth, then in the same motion use the same towelette to wipe the wound.
The aide was also seen putting on latex gloves, cleaning the garbage can, then immediately turning her attention to Stumpf's mouth and wound wearing the same gloves.
In one instance, the caregiver took the used gloves off and put them back in the box of unused gloves.
Other clips captured the worker roughly changing Stumpf's clothes after she was specifically told not to do that without a second person helping, whipping a pair of pillows out from behind Stumpf's head without bracing her neck and pulling her arm forcefully from Stumpf's grasp as the old woman tried to fend off a spoon being shoved in her mouth.
The final straw for Eaton was an instance where the worker put pillows under Stumpf's head. After she tucked them into place, the aide placed her palm in the middle of Stumpf's forehead and shoved the elder's head down hard, apparently to create a pillow cleft in which to rest more comfortably.
"That was over the line. It was abuse, and I consider it assault to someone frail, delicate, who can't cry out," Eaton said. "That, and the yanking of the arm, and the force feeding, any of it could have hurt her and we would never have known. And this was all filmed in just a day. What else was going on? We talked about filming more to gather more evidence, but this was my mother. I couldn't let her suffer any more of this."
Eaton had hired the aide after unsuccessfully looking for a Canadian care-worker. Using an international employment agency, the Brazilian (who claimed to be qualified there as a nurse) was moved to Prince George to be Stumpf's primary caretaker in the home they all shared. The aide had already done such contracts in England, Alaska and California, according to the agency.
"I didn't check into her nursing credentials, but I wasn't hiring her to be a nurse," Eaton said.
The conduct caught on video gave Eaton reason to wonder if she was indeed medically trained, but it was the Canadian government's conduct following the aide's firing that upset Eaton most. The aide was not sent back to Brazil or even prevented from holding another similar care job in Canada. Eaton is now worried that someone else's elderly loved one is getting the same treatment.
The aide moved out of the house immediately following the firing.
She came back to get her things and her final cheque and never argued, according to Eaton. She did send a follow-up letter, however, asking for forgiveness. She pleaded confusion and expressed her deep love for Stumpf.
Eaton said she believed that. In one instance, the video also showed the worker kissing Stumpf's head.
Once informed of what the video showed, however, the medical professionals and part-time care aides also involved in Stumpf's care urged Eaton to report the live-in worker to authorities. An assault file was opened with the RCMP but was not investigated before Stumpf passed away soon after the video was made.
Eaton brought the care-worker into Canada under the supervision of Service Canada, but this department referred her to the Canada Border Services Agency for action. The CBSA sent Eaton directly back to Service Canada.
Following up through mutual acquaintances, Eaton has information that the care worker is now employed again, caring for seniors elsewhere in the province.
The Citizen contacted Service Canada to ask why the aide was allowed to carry on in Canada and in the profession. After a short email exchange, an unsigned message was issued from the department's media relations office.
"Our apologies - our program experts have indicated that Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) is better suited to respond to your enquiry," it said. "While Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) is responsible for issuing Labour Market Opinions (LMOs) to employers, CIC is responsible for issuing work permits to temporary foreign workers."
Bill Brown, a CIC spokesman, said the matter could not specifically be discussed because of privacy laws protecting the care aide.
"In a situation such as the one you describe, CIC would take note of any information received and put it in the applicant's file," said Brown. "This information would be taken into consideration when assessing applications for temporary or permanent residence in the future."
