New Brunswick's public advocate says system failure led to dementia patient's death

New Brunswick's child and youth advocate Kelly Lamrock speaks during a news conference, in Fredericton, on Thursday, May 28, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Eli Ridder

FREDERICTON — FREDERICTON — New Brunswick’s public advocate says the death of an elderly woman with dementia was due to a systemic failure of the government welfare system.

Kelly Lamrock says in a 15-page report today that the woman died despite senior care workers following procedures and rules.

He says it’s an example of the welfare system prioritizing compliance with rules over proper care for vulnerable people.

The woman, who Lamrock calls Alice, repeatedly wandered away from her specialized care facility.

Five months after the wandering began, Lamrock says the Social Development Department determined she needed a higher level of care.

Lamrock says Alice was on a waitlist for a year before she was found unresponsive after the 12th time she walked away from the special care home.

“There were some, on the front lines, who worried and warned and pleaded for help,” Lamrock wrote.

“And there were others who could have seen it coming but just kept moving the file along the bureaucratic conveyor belt.”

Today’s report is Lamrock’s second in two weeks blaming a death on systemic problems in the welfare system.

Last week, the advocate blamed the overdose of a 16-year-old on a lack of a humanity within Social Development.

Eli Ridder, The Canadian Press

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 3, 2026.