New Year, New Challenges
NOBODY LIKES CHANGE, but they demand it of others, as in: “Somebody oughta …” or “There oughta be a law ….” CARP has taken up the challenge and has changed some laws and even some minds. The way forward however, requires an even sharper focus.
Maybe our recent successes have just been harvesting “low-hanging fruit.” Who wouldn’t increase sentencing for elder abuse? Who wouldn’t help Canada’s poorest seniors by topping up their GIS? Of course, legislated age discrimination in the form of mandatory retirement is wrong. Of course, family caregivers need some financial relief. And everyone knows that Canadians are not saving enough and need some kind of pension reform to help them.
Well, nobody had picked that fruit before CARP added the concerted voice of 300,000 members – among Canada’s most prolific voters – in an election year. To be clear, there is a multitude of advocacy groups and service agencies supporting elder abuse victims, helping the poor, providing respite for caregivers and helping older workers to keep their jobs or find new ones and lobbying for better retirement security. CARP altered the landscape in which they have been working – by changing the laws and by shaping the public discourse.
The headlines now abound with stories of people afraid of outliving their money. Surveys conducted by financial institutions and thinktanks tell us how unprepared we are for retirement. Business com- mentators cover pension deficiency scares and the minutiae of the government’s proposed target benefit plans. Indeed, “retirement” can now be said in polite company – a “meme” even. The Ontario premier ran and won an election with pension reform as a major platform plank.
A few years back when CARP called for a supplementary universal pension plan (UPP) to help Canadians save for retirement, the government turned it back, denying there was a pension crisis. But the aftermath of the Nortel meltdown and the GM bailout had people thinking about not even having a pension plan to worry about. Many media cycles and a few elections later, with incremental changes to the pension landscape, including an Ontario plan indistinguishable from CARP’s UPP, we now have a more educated public and a less forgiving electorate.
Unsurprisingly, all parties heading into the next federal election have clear positions on pension reform. The latest was Justin Trudeau’s promise at the CARP AGM in October to work with the provinces to enhance the CPP – something that had been questioned in the media leading up to the first major policy pronouncement on retirement security by the Liberal leader. He added to rousing applause that he would return the eligibility age for OAS to 65 and to leave pension income-splitting alone.
So, what next? If everything is heading your way, you could be heading in the wrong direction! Time to face forward again. The terrain behind us and around us has already changed. People are ready for a sharper focus.
Vague promises of more help for caregivers are not enough even with a welcome bit of tax relief and workplace job-protected leave. We need national standards of access and care with sustained funding. Dementia care requires specialized training and an institutional overhaul of how and when care is provided. Not only should palliative care be much more available but there should be a legislated right to palliative care as set out in Quebec’s Bill 52.
Not everything can sustain a headlong dash – medical assistance in dying is top of mind given
“People are ready for a sharper focus”
the Supreme Court challenge and a seeming barrage of media stories of personal challenges and choices. We need to make room for personal reflection on the quintessential question of our generation. CARP started the “adult conversation” with its recent forum; families must continue it.
The path forward is clearer than ever before since so little is in the way – except maybe political intransigence. And we have an app for that – older voters.