The future care and comfort of our seniors is a growing issue for the whole country, and particularly important for those living in the rural areas.
While senior issues are getting some attention during the federal election campaign, it’s not nearly the hot-button issue it should be for the party leaders.
Our seniors – especially those who are single or widowed and on low and fixed incomes – are worried about having food, shelter and heat from one month to the next.
As they age and have more health issues, most will not be able to afford to live with comfort and dignity on their fixed incomes and paltry pensions.
Many seniors are relying on food banks to supplement their groceries.
Seniors are sitting in their cold, dark homes because utility costs have skyrocketed.
The list of concerns and issues goes on and on.
Currently, the three main parties – Conservative, NDP and Liberal – are promising to throw some money at seniors – in the form of tax breaks and changes in the Canada Pension Plan (CPP), Old Age Pension (OAP) and Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) plans.
The Conservatives are promising a tax credit to reduce income tax for single and/or widowed seniors who have private pensions beyond CPP and OAP.
Meanwhile, the NDP and the Liberals have promised to increase GIS for lower income seniors.
Both parties have also promised to kill Stephen Harper’s plans to raise the eligibility Old Age Security from 65 to 67 years.
These parties also state they would unwind Mr. Harper’s increased contribution limit for Tax Free Savings Accounts to $10,000 because it “only benefits the rich.”
However, both would preserve income splitting for seniors.
While these promised changes may sound pretty good today, they are paltry monetary increases when they are costed out over four or five years.
The real issue for low or fixed income seniors is how will they be able to afford housing to live independently and/or semi-independently in the future.
As they age and require more medical care, they will need to be able to afford low-cost or co-op housing close to service centres where doctors, hospitals, pharmacies and home care are available.
Seniors who live in rural areas are going to need public transportation service to get to and from the service centres.
These are issues that can only be successfully resolved if there is collaboration and partnerships between the federal and provincial governments.
Electors should be looking to see which parties are willing to co-operate with the provinces on these issues and vote accordingly.
