Prepared with notes from Micheline Lefrançois, Interim Advocacy Program Officer for Quebec
Maurice Dupont, President of Réseau FADOQ
and Micheline Lefrançois, APO for Federal Retirees
As part of the provincial election on October 1st, a debate on seniors’ issues with representatives of four political parties was held on September 5 at the Cégep de Limoilou in Quebec City, where more than 300 people attended. The event was organized by the campaign « for a Quebec worthy of its seniors », which has been endorsed by the National Association of Federal Retirees.
Participants in this debate included candidates François Paradis (Coalition Avenir Québec), Harold Lebel (Parti Québécois), Francine Charbonneau (Liberal Party) and Sol Zanetti (Québec Solidaire).
Four themes were addressed in a question-and-answer format: health, caregivers, retirement income and housing.
In addition to the themes raised, attendees were invited to write their questions upon arrival. The exercise was of great interest and a number of questions were submitted. One of the questions submitted by Federal Retirees was asked to the candidates by the APO for the province: What preventive measures will your party put in place to support the health of seniors?
Prevention was an issue that seemed to be of interest to the attendees, as it had not been discussed prior to the question. Among the candidates’ responses, the following measures were noteworthy: “create an environment that facilitates seniors’ mobility, physical activity; avoid isolation and boredom; pursue initiatives to identify vulnerable seniors; start prevention early in life through education; etc.”
The full discussion will be available on FADOQ’s website (in French only).