From left, Huronia branch president Chris Auger is flanked by branch vice-president and advocacy director Leo Brooks and John Brassard, MP for Barrie–Innisfil.
With a federal election on the horizon, volunteers are continuing to focus on meeting MPs to ensure Federal Retirees' priorities are top of mind as parties move towards campaigning.
Thunder Bay and Area branch meets Singh
Branch director Judith Monteith-Farrell and branch president Lisa Lovis maximized an impromptu meet-and-greet one evening with New Democratic Party (NDP) Leader Jagmeet Singh.
“We had an opportunity to discuss the priorities of our association and provide Singh an overview of our demographic area and number of members with the Thunder Bay and Area branch," Lovis reports.
"We also provided him with a copy of Sage magazine, Federal Retirees’ 2024 budget brief and our advocacy pamphlet,” Monteith-Farrell adds.
Singh was in Thunder Bay for a variety of reasons, including an informal meet- and-greet BBQ. Monteith-Farrell saw this as a great opportunity to say hello and speak with Singh about Federal Retirees’ priorities. She invited Lovis to join her.
“Judith has been an enormous asset to our branch in her ongoing outreach to all of the parties within our area,” Lovis says.
“It is gratifying to see the efforts branches are making on behalf of Federal Retirees,” says Linda MacDonald, Ontario advocacy program officer (APO).
This is a wonderful example of volunteers finding every opportunity to get in front of MPs and ensure members’ voices are heard on an ongoing basis.
APO meets minister of labour and seniors
Marilyn Best, APO for Newfoundland and Labrador, met with Seamus O’Regan, then-minister of labour and seniors, and Joanne Thompson, member of Parliament (MP) and chair of the National Seniors Caucus. This meeting was made possible by Federal Retirees’ participation in The Newfoundland and Labrador Coalition of Seniors’, Pensioners’ and Retirees’ Associations (NL Seniors’ Coalition).
Discussion topics included the need for a national seniors strategy; the status of pharmacare; the need for a Safe Long-Term Care act and national standards for long-term care; ageism and an older workers strategy and the importance of defined benefit pension plans, both federally and provincially.
Best reports that the need for accountability tied to long-term care standards and the Safe Long-Term Care act was stressed. “It was also stressed that improvements to programs are needed to improve the quality of life for seniors and hopefully alleviate some of the financial burdens.”
Huronia branch targets MPs
This year, the Huronia branch set a target to meet with all of its MPs.
Branch president Chris Auger and branch vice-president and advocacy director Leo Brooks met with Doug Shipley, MP for Barrie–Springwater–Oro-Medonte, at his constituency office in Barrie, Ont. Errin Dickins, operations manager for Shipley’s constituency office, also attended the meeting.
“We began by introducing ourselves and the role of Federal Retirees,”
Auger says. “We explained that the Huronia branch has 1,550 members and comprises six federal ridings, and that his riding included 373 of our members. We continued by identifying the four Federal Retirees priorities: a national seniors strategy, retirement income security, veterans' well-being and pharmacare.”
“We began with the national seniors strategy and expressed our concerns about lack of housing and long-term care, which is at a critical point in this country.”
A meeting with Terry Dowdall, MP for Simcoe–Grey, who sits on the Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs, was also held at his constituency office and attended by Auger, Brooks and Dowdall’s executive assistant Jennifer Armstrong.
“For this meeting, we began with our priority of retirement income security and our concern over fixing Phoenix, pensions and income security,” Auger reports. “Then we spoke about the priority of a national seniors strategy and about long-term care and housing.”
Auger and Brooks also met with John Brassard, MP for Barrie–Innisfil, at his constituency office.
“We discussed retirement income security, a national seniors strategy, long-term care and housing. MP Brassard mentioned that in his riding, several seniors are moving or selling their houses because they cannot afford [them] anymore,” Auger says.
Calgary branch persisting in MP meetings
Calgary and District branch volunteers have been hard at work trying to arrange meetings with reluctant MPs. Their hard work paid off in the form of three successful meetings this year.
Branch advocacy volunteer Bonnie Pratt secured a phone meeting with Ron Liepert, MP for Calgary Signal Hill. This meeting focused on the quality of care provided to older adults in long-term care homes in the absence of enforced national standards, as well as the need for an independent seniors advocate in Alberta, which, despite falling under provincial jurisdiction, is crucial to the well-being of seniors in his riding.
Pratt, along with branch directors Gabrielle Simpson and Carr McLeod met with Pat Kelly, MP for Calgary Rocky Ridge. At the time, Kelly was also a member of the Standing Committee on National Defence.
This meeting focused on veterans’ well-being, national long-term care standards, a national seniors strategy and pharmacare.
Branch director Paula Fuerst and Pratt also met with Stephanie Kusie, MP for Calgary Midnapore, and her assistant Tyler Ukrainetz, at their constituency office.
The meeting focused on two specific topics. First, better retirement income security policies for all seniors. For this discussion, Fuerst offered documentation that demonstrated that many seniors — in particular, women who had been stay-at-home mothers or who worked in low-wage occupations — earn low amounts of income from the Canada Pension Plan (CPP), Old Age Security (OAS) and the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS), leaving many under the poverty line.
Second, they discussed the need for a seniors advocate position that could address a variety of concerns, in particular, long-term care, elder abuse, housing and transportation.
Previously, Alberta led the country with the creation of a seniors advocate position. That role was particularly effective and moved Alberta to the forefront in Canada on a variety of critical seniors issues. Unfortunately, this role was not retained as a truly independent advocate and was amalgamated with the health advocate at the end of 2019.
Calgary and District branch volunteers — and all our volunteers — are commended for their persistence and dedication to advancing Federal Retirees' advocacy priorities.