There’s strength in seniors numbers

Seniors advocate Suzanne Brake made a persuasive presentation to the Public Utilities Board on Aug. 16 as part of Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro’s general rate application.

She delivered sobering statistics about our aging population, with 21 per cent of people in this province age 65 and older and that number expected to hit 30 per cent in 25 years.

She also articulated the harsh reality of the so-called golden years for some, particularly for senior citizens on low and fixed incomes.

Basic necessities needed to navigate the world, like glasses and hearing aids, have become luxuries, while things like dental care and motorized wheelchairs may be things they dare not even dream of.

Brake said she hears from seniors anxious about the increasing costs of many things — food, gas, transportation — but there is especially widespread trepidation about the rising cost of electricity.

She says 11,000 seniors in the province are living on between $17,800 and $24,000.

“So, you know, sometimes when I see these statistics, I say to myself — like, think about this: if I wake up tomorrow morning and that’s my income, how will I manage?” How, indeed.

We hear a great deal about the importance of supporting senior citizens so that they can age in place, ideally living independently in their own homes for as long as possible.

And Brake pointed out that most senior citizens in this province own their own homes.

But in many cases, the houses are older, and not necessarily energy efficient. And not everyone can afford to do energy upgrades or purchase heat pumps or to convert to wood or oil from electricity.

I’ve heard horror stories from people advocating for those who will be hardest hit by the higher electricity rates coming with Muskrat Falls — stories of people eating half as much as they should or taking only a partial dose of medication, because they can’t afford to do otherwise. We’ve all heard of people who have had to limit heat in their homes to one or two rooms because they can’t afford to do more — and of the subsequent damage that can cause to a house.

I’ve also heard anecdotally that some seniors who are able to live independently at home with some supports are considering moving into long-term care so they can be assured of being warm and fed.

Even selling the family home and downsizing is not an out for seniors in some rural areas where they might not get enough from the sale of their property to live on and there are few options for cheaper accommodations.

In her presentation, Brake made reference to “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs,” a psychology theory expressed in a pyramid representing various human motivators. The bottom level represents the most basic needs — food, water, warmth and rest — while the upper levels represent motivators that are less fundamental, such as the need for self-fulfilment and prestige.

Heck, one of the world’s most famous senior citizens, 74-yearold Keith Richards, has mused about the importance of having our most basic needs fulfilled.

“After food, air, water and warmth, music is the next necessity of life,” the Rolling Stones guitarist once observed (not that he’ll ever have to scrimp to pay his heat bill).

“Yet,” Brake told the PUB, “seniors have consistently expressed to me concern around their financial ability to be able to provide for the most basic physiological need of warmth…

“Seniors are now asking you, the PUB, to recognize the extraordinary burden which would be placed on many seniors if the cost of electricity is increased significantly across the board. They simply cannot afford this cost.

We must take into consideration the vulnerability of people as they grow older and ensure that humanistic values are not lost in the pursuit to balance the books.”

Given the strong contingent of senior citizens in this province, perhaps they should mobilize a letter-writing campaign to protest electricity rates, adding their individual voices to that of the seniors advocate.

Seniors are diligent voters. They’d truly be a force to be reckoned with, come election time.