Seniors talk about making impact in local elections
They represent the strongest local demographic in numbers and in election participation — but, just in case, Windsor’s seniors sent out a reminder of their political power on Monday.
“We’re very good at voting,” said Larry Duffield, a local representative of the Canadian Association of Retired Persons, who spoke at a downtown flag-raising ceremony held to mark Canada’s National Seniors Day and the UN International Day of Older Persons. “We’re doing this so they can get an idea of what is important to us,” Duffield told about 70 people, mostly seniors, assembled outside the old city hall on a chilly, grey day. The flag raised, those assembled moved inside to a reception area at the adjacent All Saints’ Anglican Church for a meet-and-greet with the candidates.
Each ward had a table, but a number of them remained empty. Only one incumbent, Ward 6 Coun. Jo-Anne Gignac, attended. Lee Bjorkman was disappointed nobody appeared from Ward 3, where she recently moved from Ward 9. “I like to have an informed vote — I always vote.”
Duffield, who also sits on the city ’s seniors advisory committee, said affordable housing, healthcare services and delivery, and continued efforts to make Windsor a more “age-friendly” community are three top-of-mind issues for local seniors.
On the latter, he said Windsor this year received a provincial award for actions taken on the World Health Organization’s agefriendly communities model. But while the city has made progress, much remains to be done for local seniors, he said.
For example, public transit remains too expensive for some, and some neighbourhoods need better and more frequent bus service, said Duffield. And he cited ElderCollege, where the focus is on “lifetime learning that is fun, friendly, accessible and cheap,” as an example where the city doesn’t provide ongoing support, including charging the hosts for use of public library space for classes made up of seniors. Duffield said he’d like to see an ombudsman or similar position created so that, during budgetmaking, “someone is there to see this through a senior’s lens.” He said about 17 per cent of Windsor residents are over age 65, with about a quarter of the local population over the age of 55. “Most seniors are pretty healthy and active. They want to contribute and to volunteer ... they ’re looking to stay engaged,” said Duffield. Windsor’s seniors will certainly be engaged when it comes to the municipal ballot box on Oct. 22. While “the rest of the city” has an election participation percentage rate in the 30s, Duffield said the rate for seniors is double that figure.
Gignac was the only sitting member of council to attend Monday’s event. Commenting on the cool fall weather, she told her peers: “We are a hearty group.”
Ward 1’s Bill Van Wyck, another resident who attended, said he’s “on the buses a lot” and would like to see more work done on city roads, even if it means “we raise taxes to pay for the things that need to be done.”
One of his former students from the 1980s was also at the event, Matt Marchand, a mayoral challenger.
Asked who he’s voting for, Van Wyck replied: “I don’t know yet.” Bjorkman, a retired nurse, said she’s happy to see lights going into back alleys.