Carmen Nedohin brings energy and focus to a room. Speaking to Nedohin about her public-spirited work in Manitoba is an uplifting experience. The chair of Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI), former Chair of Manitoba’s CARP chapter, and one of a trio of chief instigators behind the creation of her province’s new Seniors’ Advocate position, she appears to always be looking for challenges. Talking of the Advocate position, she sees that the accomplishment is “only at 95%. We need to give the Advocate more power to intervene for seniors if they’re abused.” Whether that happens right away is still being discussed—and that gives Nedohin something else to achieve.
To be clear, Nedohin couldn’t be happier that Manitoba will have a Seniors’ Advocate. It’s something that she has been working on diligently at CARP since the chapter was reinvigorated in 2020. When Carol Ann Borody-Siemens and her husband, Peter resurrected CARP Manitoba and Marnie Strath (now the Chair) and Carmen joined along with what she calls “a ragtag crew of volunteers,” they agreed to concentrate on one thing at a time. “And that was getting a Seniors’ Advocate for the province,” she recalls. “It took five years, but it happened.”
Nedohin is one of the Chairs of a triumvirate of socially conscious individuals who led a group that forged the path that made the Advocate role possible in Manitoba. The others—all very accomplished in their own ways—are Lucille Bruce, President of the Indigenous Seniors Research Project, and Tom Simms, Executive Director of the Community Education Development Association. They represented a coalition that Carmen Nedohin estimates at being at least 50,000 strong. The group shows a remarkable diversity: Canadian Association of Retired Persons – Manitoba Chapter, Social Planning Council of Winnipeg, Aboriginal Council of Winnipeg, Indigenous Seniors Research Project, Immigrant Partnership Winnipeg, the Community Education Development Association, Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives, Rainbow Resource Center, Manitoba Health Coalition, and Cerebral Palsy Association of Manitoba.
Placing the Seniors’ Advocate role to the point of true visibility in a provincial election took time and a forceful strategy. When the idea of an Advocate was proposed to the previous provincial government, CARP’s representatives and others were “shooed out of the room.” But when the next campaign was happening, Carmen and others “made it an issue.” They created a photo op where leading provincial politicians were asked to sign a document stating that a Seniors’ Advocate role would be created if they were elected. Not every party signed but the NDP did—and they won.
The coalition reacted with carefully controlled happiness. “We sent a letter to the new premier (Kinew) saying congratulations, you promised us to meet, and let’s get going.” It took more than a year, but the position has been created and Nedohin is quite happy with many aspects of the arrangement. “The role is genuinely independent, which is important to us. The Advocate reports to the legislature, instead of a minister, who could say ‘thanks,’ and put it on a shelf. It also means that if a different government comes into power and wants to change the Advocate position, they would have to go to the legislature to make it happen.”
Nedohin is pleased that the Advocate will be able to look into problematic situations that can occur to seniors. “The role means that you can do all kinds of investigations. They can advocate, as they’re supposed to, on behalf of those who can’t speak for themselves.
“There are seniors who are being financially abused by family members. They’re afraid to say anything to others because they may get physically abused. Most are afraid to say something to the police because they don’t want to get their family members involved. But if somebody finds out this is happening, then the Seniors’ Advocate can do an investigation and make sure that they’re safe.”
Nedohin wants to go further than dealing with individual cases. She cites the case of Lions Place, a former non-profit housing complex, which was sold to a Calgary firm that is intent on “upgrading” the flats and raising the rents. This is causing distress to the seniors living there.
A formal letter the coalition sent to the Premier states:
“The University of Manitoba, in collaboration with the Manitoba Research Alliance, will be releasing a report…that will be a case study of the sale of Lions Place. The report will be focussing on the need to expand the definition of elder abuse to move beyond individual incidents and to address the structural dimensions of abuse which involves the concept of institutional/organizational elder abuse. We look forward to working with the provincial government to enact legislation to incorporate this institutional form of abuse for older adults both living in care and in the community.”
Nedohin and the coalition are vitally concerned with the Lions Place situation. Clearly, she and CARP are still working hard on dealing with elder abuse even though a Seniors’ Advocate will soon be in place. She comments, “I’m still doing a lot of stuff behind the scenes for CARP. But I just don’t have the bandwidth to do everything that needed to be done. The transition (from being the Chair) has been fine because I’ve known and worked with Marnie for years. Our board is becoming very robust. We’ve got a lot of people who are willing to step up and say, ‘I’m willing to do that.’”
Carmen Nedohin is enjoying her role as Chair of MPI (Manitoba Public Insurance) but had to give up her position in CARP. “I did not anticipate quite how many hours it was going to take, and so I just felt that in the best interest of CARP and my sanity and my blood pressure, that I had to let something go.” She is still amused by what happened to change her career path, after she thought that she had retired.
“When the premier of your province comes to you and says, ‘I really need help because there is a mess in MPI and I think you’re the person to do it,’ how do you say no? I was the first person that Premier Kinew appointed. Mind you, the province was dealing with a strike, so they really needed to resolve it.”
When asked to describe her role, Nedohin replies: “I’m chair of a governance board, where we’re making all the decisions. When we went in, we found out that MPI didn’t have a strategic plan. We’re talking about a multi-billion dollar corporation. So, there was a lot of planning and work that had to go into transforming the organization.
“With MPI, we’re accountable for any vehicle that’s registered in Manitoba. Whether it’s a car or a boat, it has to be insured with us. We oversee billions of dollars of investment. It can be very intimidating at first. I’m finally, after 18 months, feeling like I know what’s going on fully. MPI is a crown corporation, and we report to the Minister of Justice and the Cabinet. I am the liaison between the government and the minister and our board of directors and senior staff.”
She smiles as she summarizes her attitude towards her role. “There’s a lot of independence in what I do, but you do have to answer every year to the government. It’s tricky. But here’s the thing: you’re not going to get any bullshit from me. If you don’t like the truth, well, I’m sorry, but that’s the way it is. I’m not going to hide anything. What you do with the information I give you is entirely up to you.”
Before Nedohin joined CARP, she had been an event planner. “I had the largest firm in Manitoba for 27 years. We did conferences, conventions, etc. We did between 35 and 50 events a year, so it was a very large company, and it was great. Then just before I turned 60, I thought, I’ve had enough of this. It’s not an older person’s game, so I sold it and have lived happily ever after.”
As a sideline, during many of those years, she also chaired the Manitoba Liquor Control Commission, a job that wasn’t as demanding as MPI though it undoubtedly had its challenges. As an event planner, she worked with many organizations. “Name a body part of profession or a disease and we’ve probably done a conference on it. One of the largest we did was the world conference on breast cancer and that one had 5500 women from around the world. We did indigenous and multicultural policing conferences, school trustees, you name it.
“We did a wedding with a gay couple, which was so over the top that people in Winnipeg still talk about it. There was a speakeasy theme and everybody came in in old zoot suits or their grandfather’s military outfits. The women were in vintage clothes. It was wonderful”
When asked if she has a thought she likes to share with seniors, Carmen Nedohin is ready with an answer. “It doesn’t matter what your age is; It doesn’t matter what your history has been. You can still make a difference. Getting involved with CARP is one really good way to meet other people and to make a difference in a community.”
