(OTTAWA) - Green Leader Elizabeth May (Saanich – Gulf Islands), unveiled the Green Party’s National Seniors Strategy, calling for better support programs including Guaranteed Liveable Income, Pharmacare, and Homecare.
“Reports from the OECD have shown the rate of seniors living in poverty is climbing. We support the Canadian Medical Association in their call for a National Seniors Strategy that lets seniors stay in their homes, allows them to remain active, and ensures their quality of life,” said May.
Developed and implemented through our proposed Council of Canadian Governments, the Green Party’s National Seniors Strategy will:
• Implement a Guaranteed Livable Income, which supplements pensions and will ensure no Canadian lives in poverty;
• Create a national Pharmacare program so that all seniors can afford to fill their prescriptions;
• Create a National Housing Plan with affordable and predictable home care;
• Support a national “Aging in Place” approach to ensure every Canadian can live in their own home and community safely and comfortably;
• Increase the Canada Health Transfer to account for the age of a province’s population, so they can afford to provide health care with a demographic that is weighted with seniors;
• Amend and expand the Canadian Pension Plan (CPP/QPP), phasing in over 5 to 7 years a doubling the Year’s Maximum Pensionable Earnings (YMPE); and gradually increasing the maximum CPP benefit from 25% of the YMPE to 40%;
• Create a National Dementia Strategy, which includes more long-term care beds in neighborhood facilities and improved supports for family members;
• Promote intergenerational programs to develop relationships that have proven benefits for all;
• Increase convenient and safe public transportation to support independent living;
• Provide access to home equity to support day-to-day living expenses; and
• Address the Supreme Court’s decision to allow physician assisted death.
“On any given day, patients approved for hospital discharge who cannot access appropriate post-hospital care occupy about 7 500 beds across Canada. A hospital bed costs the taxpayer 6 times what a long-term care bed costs, and about 20 times what home care costs,” said Bruce Hyer, Deputy Leader of the Green Party of Canada (Thunder Bay – Superior North). “An astonishing 13 million Canadians already provide some kind of home-based care for their own family members or friends with long-term illnesses. My Senior’s Bill of Rights, which I will reintroduce after the election, supports informal caregivers and helps Canadians to age in their homes with dignity.”
“Taking care of the needs of our aging Canadians is one of our very top priorities. Our seniors have contributed immeasurably to this country; they have raised us, built our economy, and invested heavily in our social programs. It is therefore completely unacceptable that so many of our seniors are living in poverty and the federal government is missing in action,” added Mary Lou Babineau, Green Party candidate (Fredericton). “I am very proud of the Green Party's plan to help aging Canadians thrive, provide a Guaranteed Liveable Income, create a national Pharmacare plan, and improve the Canada Health Transfer to account for age, so that our seniors can live with autonomy, dignity and security.”
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For additional information or to arrange an interview, contact:
Julian Morelli
Director of Communications
Green Party of Canada
cell: (613) 614 4916
office: (613) 562 4916 (224)
[email protected]
Or
Kirsten Strom
Executive Assistant to Director of Communications
t: 613.562.4916 (200)
Toll Free 1.866.868.3447
[email protected]
