|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
3
AGING IN
CANADA
|
|
|
How our
society deals with aging is an
issue of particular interest in the
Senate, and not only because many
senators have excellent perspective
on the topic. The elderly are some
of the most undervalued
contributors to our society - and
in some ways, one of its most
vulnerable groups. With the "baby
boom" generation nearing
retirement, how seniors fit into
the social scheme will have a huge
impact on us all.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Work and
Finances
In
recent years, the Senate
has been notably interested
in seniors' financial
stability and the impact of
retirement on the labour
market.
Access
to federal financial
benefits
Federal
income security programs,
such as the Canadian/Quebec
Pension Plan (CPP/QPP), Old
Age Security (OAS) and the
Guaranteed Income
Supplement (GIS) - are
designed to help seniors
after retirement. Several
senators, however, have
been examining whether
those entitled to these
benefits are actually
receiving them.
CPP
This year, a Senate inquiry
introduced by Senator
Catherine Callbeck in
October 2007 suggested that
a possible 70,000 eligible
seniors were not claiming
CPP. It also pointed to the
fact that claims are
retroactive only one year,
meaning that those who
apply late may lose
hundreds or thousands of
dollars they had been
entitled to. She called for
a Senate committee to
investigate further.
The Senate National Finance
Committee took up this call
in late 2007 and delivered
its report in March 2008.
It found that 26,430
seniors over 70 alone were
not collecting their CPP.
It made two simple
recommendations: one, that
the federal government
engage the provinces in
talks on expanding the
retroactivity period for
late CPP claims; and two,
that the government find
ways of making more seniors
aware of the benefits
they're entitled to.
|
|
|
|
|
THE SPECIAL
SENATE COMMITTEE
ON
AGING
|
|
|
|
|
|
On November 7,
2006, the
Senate struck
the Special
Senate
Committee on
Aging, the
second such
committee in
its history.
(The first
tabled its
final report in
1966.) The new
committee had a
broad mandate
to study
Canada's aging
population and
report on what
seniors need to
remain active,
healthy and
dignified in
the final phase
of life.
The committee
issued its
first report in
March 2007,
laying out a
statistical map
of aging in
Canada and its
repercussions.
Its discussion
paper "Issues
and Options for
an Aging
Population"
came one year
later.
The committee
gathered
information
through
roundtable
discussions,
formal hearings
and an on-line
feedback form.
It also
traveled across
the country in
the first half
of 2008 to hear
directly from
seniors. Its
final report is
expected in
late 2008 or
early 2009.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
GIS
The Guaranteed Income Supplement
is a benefit offered by the federal
government to low-income seniors.
In 2004, Statistics Canada reported
that 147,475 seniors eligible for
the supplement weren't receiving
it. Charlottetown Senator Percy
Downe is particularly concerned.
"The federal government spends a
lot to ensure that Canadians pay
their taxes," he has said, "and it
should make an equal effort to
ensure it pays the money owed to
citizens." Senator Downe drew
attention to the issue by
initiating a Senate inquiry into
the matter, and has called on
Auditor General Sheila Fraser to
audit the GIS's administration.
Senators saw a step forward in the
government's Bill C-36, which came
before them in late March 2007. To
fast-track the bill, aimed at
making access to the GIS easier,
the Banking, Trade and Commerce
Committee took the unusual measure
of holding committee hearings while
the Senate Chamber was in
session.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Keeping seniors involved in
national productivity
The Senate's interest in
the way our changing
demographic profile will
affect our workforce goes
back at least as far as the
first special Senate
committee on aging, which
tabled its final report in
1966. Recent Senate
reviews, however, have
shown that a lot of federal
policy is still based on a
stale demographic model -
and that that needs to
change, fast.
The Senate Committee on
Banking, Trade and Commerce
recently studied these
issues. In 2006, the
committee reported that,
coupled with current
barriers to employment,
declining population growth
could stall improvements in
Canadians' standard of
living. As Canadians are
living longer in better
health, the committee
|
|
Senator
Percy Downe (centre) meets
with representatives of
Prince Edward Island
seniors' groups.
|
|
|
|
reasoned
that policies should make it
easier for seniors to keep
working, contributing to tax
revenues and shoring up Canada's
productivity. Its recommendations
included lowering income tax,
easing restrictions on the amount
of work seniors who are drawing
OAS are allowed to do, and making
forced retirement contrary to the
Canadian Human
Rights Act.
The Special Committee on Aging
has heard from many witnesses on
the situation of older workers,
retirement and income security.
Its first report (March 2007)
gave an overview of Canada's
projected demographics, of
seniors' main sources of income
and of government programs. Its
second report fleshed this out
with possible options to explore,
like changing the Canada Pension
Plan to encourage older workers
to continue working; providing
retirees access to the benefits
they need; and supporting seniors
in active aging. The committee
planned to bring these
recommendations to Canadian
seniors for consideration during
consultations in early 2008.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Health Issues
Many public policy issues
that touch seniors are
related to medicare access
and support, and this is
reflected in Senate work.
Major recent Senate studies
on our health care system
and treatment of mental
illness have devoted
sections to impact on
seniors. Current studies by
Senate committees are
addressing these issues
directly, and they are
frequently raised by
senators in Chamber
debate.
Safety of medical
devices:
Bill S-222
Thousands of Canadian
seniors depend on medical
prosthetics or implants.
They are also, however,
statistically less likely
to be comfortable with the
Internet, one of the main
pipelines for advisories
about recalls on medical
devices.
Senator Mac Harb proposed a
solution to this mismatch
with Bill S-222, the
Medical Devices Registry
Act. The bill would require
Health Canada to keep a
national registry of
medical device users and to
contact them if their
devices are recalled. While
manufacturers are
responsible for this under
current law, putting the
onus on Health Canada would
protect device users in a
case where the manufacturer
has gone out of business or
its client information
files are damaged.
Re-introduced from the
previous session, this bill
was debated in the Chamber
through the end of the
fiscal year.
|
|
|
|
|
A SECRETARY OF
STATE
FOR
SENIORS
|
|
|
|
|
|
In 2007,
Senator Marjory
LeBreton became
the Secretary
of State for
Seniors, in
addition to her
responsibilities
as Leader of
the Government
in the Senate.
Senator
LeBreton has
long worked on
health issues
and, as
Secretary of
State for
Seniors, is a
champion for
seniors within
the government.
She is
particularly
concentrating
on combating
elder abuse,
assisting
low-income
seniors, and
rewarding the
sacrifices of
older Canadians
who built
today's Canada.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Palliative care
How our society deals with the
final phase of a person's life
has been a theme in Senate work
for over a decade. The 1995
report of the Special Senate
Committee on Euthanasia and
Palliative Care, for example,
still stands out in research on
the topic. Senator Sharon
Carstairs is well known in the
palliative care community for her
sustained leadership on
end-of-life care. The work of
other individual senators, as
well as vivid Senate Chamber
debate, has kept palliative care
visible in the public eye over
the years, and the Senate
historically endorses expanding
federal support for this health
care sector.
The reports of the Special
Committee on Aging (see sidebar
on page 18) have also paid
particular attention to
end-of-life issues. Its first
report flagged many aspects of
seniors' long-term care situation
in Canada for more study - the
state of paid homecare, the toll
on unsupported caregivers, the
shortage of hospice beds in
certain regions, and the lack of
baseline data to measure
progress. The committee's March
2008 report brought forth four
policy options, to be discussed
with seniors in the next phase of
study:
-
Implement a funded national
partnership on palliative care
-
Implement a public education
program to inform Canadians
about end-of-life services and
the need for advance care
planning
-
Increase training and education
opportunities surrounding
palliative and end-of-life care
for health professionals and
volunteers
-
Apply the gold standards in
palliative home care to
veterans, First Nations and
Inuit, and federal inmates
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Arthritis
Although arthritis affects
all age groups, it
disproportionately affects
seniors; two out of five
arthritis sufferers are
over 65, although this
cohort makes up only 13 per
cent of the general
population. Roughly half of
Canadians over 80 have some
form of arthritis. Despite
being the leading cause of
long-term disability in
Canada, however, arthritis
research gets a fraction of
the research funding of
other serious diseases.
In November 2007, Senator
Gerald Comeau began an
inquiry in the Senate
Chamber on this
debilitating disease,
saying that "an ailment
that directly impacts four
million Canadians deserves
the attention of
parliamentarians,
governments and all
Canadians." The largely
non-partisan inquiry had
drawn nine speakers by the
end of the fiscal year.
|
|
"The Committee views
population aging as a
success story and seniors
as a rich and vibrant part
of our country. As we
increasingly draw on
seniors to meet labour
force requirements strained
by decades of low
fertility, our society has
new motivation to value
seniors as contributing
members of society, and not
as burdens to be
problematized. At the
same time, it is necessary
to provide the services and
supports which will allow
seniors to live with
dignity."
The Senate Special
Committee on Aging
"Embracing the Challenge of
Aging,"
March 2007
|
|
|
|
Each
speaker added the corrective lens
of a different perspective to the
debate. For example, Senator Terry
Mercer contrasted the great worth
of physiotherapy after
arthritis-related joint replacement
surgery with the fact that many
Canadians can't afford it. Senator
Elaine McCoy talked about the state
of research on the disease and
illustrated its importance by
showing its impact on history.
Other speakers, like Senator
Wilbert Keon, described the
disease's impact on our health care
system and on national
productivity. It was suggested that
a Senate study was long overdue;
but what was often repeated was a
call for more public education to
help sufferers get early diagnosis
and proper treatment.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
