Liberals unveil $155M 'seniors' strategy'

With an election looming next spring, Premier Kathleen Wynne has unveiled a new $155-million "seniors' strategy."

Thestar.com
Nov. 7, 2017
By Robert Benzie

With an election looming next spring, Premier Kathleen Wynne has unveiled a new $155-million "seniors' strategy."

The Liberal government is pledging to improve services for older Ontarians with a slew of measures packaged together in a campaign-ready initiative dubbed "Aging With Confidence: Ontario's Action Plan for Seniors."

It includes a website for seniors to access information easily on drug coverage, recreation programs, volunteer opportunities, tax credits and powers of attorney, among other things.

Health Minister Eric Hoskins said Tuesday there would be a new free high-dose flu shot especially for the elderly starting next fall.

The government will also spend more than $15 million over the next two years to upgrade apartment buildings that have emerged as "naturally occurring" retirement communities because so many seniors choose to reside in them.

Speaking at Hamilton's Sackville Hill Seniors Recreation Centre, Wynne drew upon her own experience coping with aging parents.

"My mom ... just turned 89, my dad's 91 and ... they're determined .. to stay at home and continue to take care of each other as long as they can," the premier said.

"My sisters and I - luckily there are four of us - so we have the privilege of being able to be their support team. But not everybody has that and I think we need to recognize that," she said.

"We can't assume that people have the support that they need."

Some $155 million will be spent over three years on the improvements.

Finance Minister Charles Sousa is to release further details in next Tuesday's fall economic statement.

Sousa told a Toronto Region Board of Trade luncheon that his fiscal update would confirm that the budget is still balanced.

The treasurer said he would use next week's statement to unveil "a whole set of new comprehensive initiatives to help small businesses in Ontario reduce costs and become even more competitive."

Such measures are to offset the impact on small businesses of raising the $11.60 hourly minimum wage to $14 in January and $15 in 2019.

The moves come as Ontarians get ready for an election on June 7, 2018.

Seniors Affairs Minister Dipika Damerla said the new funding would help create 5,000 new long-term care beds over the next four years and add 15 million hours annually of personal support work, and therapeutic and nursing care for residents of those homes.

Damerla said the government hopes to open more than 30,000 new long-term care beds over the next decade to help Ontario's aging population.

"Seniors have spent a lifetime contributing to their communities and to the economy. It is our collective responsibility to ensure that their changing needs are met," she said.

It's expected the number of seniors in Ontario will double to 4.6 million over the next quarter century, which will put a huge demand on services that are already stretched.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath noted "seniors and their families have been let down for 14 long years by Wynne and the Liberals.

"The Liberals have amassed a wait list for seniors' care that's more than 32,000-people long. Now, on the eve of an election, Kathleen Wynne wants us to believe she'll do things differently."