Dear friends of Open Government,
We’re almost at the end of our consultation phase, where we’ve been meeting with hundreds of Canadians to gather their inputs to help us shape our next National Action Plan on Open Government for 2018-20. We still have a few events coming up in the next weeks, so be sure to have a look at our Engagement schedule to see what we’re doing and which topics we’re discussing. You can also participate online by sharing your ideas until March 25th! Continue reading
Close to 17% of Canada’s population is 65 or older. By 2031, Statistics Canada projects that one in four Canadians will be seniors.
With Canada’s population aging, maintaining the status quo for seniors health care is not an option. Our health care system was designed a half-century ago, and it has not kept pace with the issues of the elderly in Canada. Today, seniors need better solutions, services and support.
Faced with that reality, the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) has been demanding that a national seniors strategy be implemented by 2019.
On February 21, 2018, the Cloverdale-Langley City Seniors Group sponsored a Town Hall about Senior Housing Issues. The Town Hall was very successful, more than 150 people attended.
The Town Hall panel was moderated by John Aldag, MP Cloverdale Langley City. The panel members were;
It’s time to vote for the top 30 Resolutions that will advance to the Liberal Policy Convention debate in Halifax!
Early last spring your SLC conducted a national survey of registered Senior Liberals, asking respondents to identify issues important for the 2019 election. Over 23,000 emailed questionnaires resulted in 4,000 of you providing your input. Your top concerns were researched by Working Groups and presented in draft Resolutions.
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom recently appointed one of her ministers, Tracey Crouch, to lead an inter-governmental group tasked with countering a growing epidemic of social isolation and loneliness.
The appointment was made in response to a report published by the Commission on Loneliness, set up to honor the late Jo Cox, a Labour MP who had campaigned about loneliness and was murdered by a right wing extremist in 2016.
In her announcement Prime Minister May said: “For far too many people, loneliness is the sad reality of modern life.” and “I want to confront this challenge for our society and for all of us to take action to address the loneliness endured by the elderly, by carers, by those who have lost loved ones – people who have no one to talk to or share their thoughts and experiences with.”
Before 1994, Health Canada was funded solely by tax dollars; after 1994, Drug Companies paid a fee to Health Canada for the drug approval process and those fees currently fund 50% of this process. Health Canada wants to increase that 50% to 90% and in addition, it will rebate 25 per cent of that fee if it fails to review new drug applications within a specified period of time.
This change how Health Canada is funded creates some issues.
A majority of seniors or soon-to-be retirees are concerned whether their finances will be able to stretch far enough to cover serious future health issues.
Take for example, home care, which is partially covered for those who qualify. Consider the fact 8 million Canadians provide care for loved ones, with 8 in 10 of them finding it a difficult task. Home care is considered an “extended” service under the Canada Healthcare Act and is 80% funded by the Ministry of Health and Longterm Care: the rest is privately provided, with hourly costs ranging from $25 to $125.
WE ARE SEEKING YOUR VOTE FOR OUR SLCBC SPONSORED POLICY RESOLUTION:
“SUSTAINING THE CANADIAN HEALTHCARE SYSTEM INTO 2018 AND BEYOND”
The 2017 Metro Vancouver Homeless Count counted the number of homeless people over a 24-hour period on March 8, 2017.
A total of 380 seniors between 55 and 65 years and another 176 seniors above the age of 65 years responded to the survey on March 8, for a total of 556 seniors. Seniors aged 55 and over represented 23% of the homeless population compared to 18% in 2014. This continues the upward trend of seniors in relation to the total homeless population that has been evident since the 2008 Count. Continue reading
NAFTA re-negotiations may impact Canada’s push for Universal Pharmacare.
U.S. trade negotiators favour the interests of pharmaceutical manufacturers over government and consumers. In the 1980s, the U.S. pharmaceutical industry successfully lobbied the U.S. government to make the elimination of early generic drug competition in Canada part of the Canada-U.S. free trade agreement. In the 1990s, The U.S. made the dismantling of policies favouring Canadian drug manufacturers part of the original NAFTA deal.