Spring 2014 – Supporting Seniors

Spring 2014 - Supporting SeniorsThis issue of my outreach newsletter to you, my constituents, is focused on the issues facing seniors. This is my 60th year (the year in which I will turn 60!) and I have to say, thanks to a successful hip replacement, I feel better and fitter than I have in decades. We have a lot of media coverage of seniors and the way our demographic is described is, frankly, a bit out of step with who we really are.

“Old age is not for sissies,” said Bette Davis. Indeed, it is not, but the images from our childhood of what it meant to be “old” have changed dramatically. As another popular aphorism puts it, “The hardest thing to decide is when middle age begins.”

Thanks to advances in health care and a focus on healthy living, Canadians are living longer. Today’s seniors have different issues and challenges than in our grandparents’ day. While so much in the mass media sees only the negatives of this aging demographic, there is much to celebrate.

The group Moses Znaimer calls “zoomers” are not abandoning their love of tennis or skiing. The aging population is increasingly embracing the benefits of staying involved, especially as they give back to community through the donations of thousands of hours of volunteer work. This is nowhere truer than in Saanich-Gulf Islands.

That is, of course, not to deny the challenges. Today’s seniors want to know that pension and retirement savings are adequate to maintain an active lifestyle. We need to expand the Canada Pension Plan (CPP). CPP is sustainable and reliable. It is time to review whether the Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) is working as a vehicle. Evidence suggests its uptake is very limited, it has a large impact on government revenues and yet it seems to benefit primarily those Canadians who least need it.

Staying active is challenging in a car dominated culture. An aging population increases the need for convenient, accessible, mass transit. As it becomes less safe to drive at night, seniors want access to public transit.

The most extreme challenges of aging are experienced by seniors living in poverty, a disproportionate proportion of whom are women. While the percentage of seniors living in poverty dropped dramatically from a high of approximately 30% in 1976 to a low of 4.7% in 2007, the poverty rates for seniors have begun to move up once again — 5.8% in 2008. We cannot be complacent about the economic struggles of seniors.

In this issue, I will update you on key issues as they apply to seniors.
Elizabeth May, O.C., M.P.

In This Issue…

 “The starting premise lies in being able to create an environment that enables older people to be in control of their future while at the same time recognising that all adults have a responsibility to their own health and well – being.”

– International Federation on Ageing (Current and Emerging Issues, March 2012)