The Security Our
Seniors Deserve
Our seniors built this country, the farms, the businesses, the institutions, the communities, and they deserve to age with dignity, in the place and manner of their choosing, with the support they need to do it. Instead, one in five Canadian seniors lives at or below the poverty line today, forced to stretch CPP, GIS, and OAS cheques further than they were ever designed to go, as average food and housing costs have nearly tripled over the last forty years.
Families across our riding cannot find in-home care workers, forcing seniors out of their homes. Our increasingly privatized long-term care facilities fail to provide the security, decency, and dignity our seniors have earned, because politicians in Ottawa, generation after generation, have chosen corporate tax cuts over the people who built this country; that ends now.
Invest In The CPP,
OAS, And GIS
Too many seniors in our riding are living in poverty, forced to choose between groceries and medication, between heating their home and paying their rent. The CPP, OAS, and GIS payments our seniors depend on are being eaten up faster than they were ever designed to handle by rising housing and grocery costs that have nearly tripled over the last forty years. The GIS, which is supposed to support the poorest seniors, has been increased incrementally over the years, but with rising living costs, and for seniors living on their own, the boost in income from the GIS and OAS just isn’t enough. New Democrats are demanding a 10 per cent increase to the Guaranteed Income Supplement and calling for the temporary increase proposed by the Liberals to be made permanent, because a temporary top-up for seniors living in poverty is not a solution; it's a delay. New Democrats are also fighting to strengthen Old Age Security and the Canada Pension Plan to ensure every senior in Mission—Matsqui can afford to live with dignity regardless of their work history, family situation, or immigration status. No senior who spent a lifetime working and contributing to this country should spend their retirement choosing between a prescription and a meal.
Take Profit Out Of
Long-Term Care
During the first wave of COVID-19 in Ontario, four out of five deaths occurred in long-term care facilities, and for-profit nursing homes had four times as many deaths as city-run homes. That is what happens when elder care is treated as a revenue stream rather than a public responsibility. The profit motive and the care motive are not compatible, and continuing to pretend otherwise is costing seniors their lives. New Democrats will bring long-term care fully into the public and non-profit system, and remove private for-profit operators from the sector entirely. New Democrats are also calling for the establishment of national staffing ratios, permanent wage increases for care workers whose labour is among the most essential and most undervalued in our economy, and the use of the federal government's constitutional spending powers to establish a 50-50 cost-sharing program with provinces for long-term care infrastructure and staffing. No senior in Mission—Matsqui should spend their final years in an understaffed, under-resourced facility because it wasn't profitable enough to staff properly. And no care worker should be paid poverty wages to do some of the most demanding and dignified work in our society.
Provide In Home Care For Seniors
Long-term care facilities are necessary for many seniors, but they're not right for everyone, and they shouldn't be the only option. Across Canada, seniors and their families are advocating for new forms of elder care that allow people to age in their communities rather than being removed from them, from home care and adult day programs to non-profit intergenerational housing and reimagined long-term care facilities that are beautiful, social, and integrated into the communities they serve. According to the Fraser Health Authority, most seniors want to live in their homes for as long as possible, and in fact, 80 per cent of seniors who are over the age of 85 live in their homes. And the cost of care for seniors with moderate needs, those who need between 10 and 40 hours a week, is substantially lower than institutional care. Yet in-home care remains chronically underfunded and inaccessible: in B.C., home care waitlists regularly stretch to months, and many seniors who qualify for home care receive only a few hours of support per week, not enough to live independently. And in communities like Harrison, Kent, and the rural parts of our riding, home care is even harder to access because workers are scarce and distances are long. New Democrats are calling for federal investment in the full spectrum of these options, because there is no one-size-fits-all approach to aging, and every senior deserves the right to age in the place and manner of their choosing. For seniors in Harrison, Kent, and the more rural parts of our riding, where long-term care options are already limited, and distances to services are already long, expanding community-based care isn't just a preference; it's a necessity. No senior should be forced into a facility they don't want or need. Every senior should have the right to remain at home if they so choose, with the support they need to do so safely and with dignity.
End Seniors' Poverty
Today, one in five seniors lives at the poverty line, more than one and a half million Canadians whose retirement savings, CPP, OAS, and GIS are being eaten up each month by housing and grocery costs that have risen far faster than their fixed incomes. Over the last forty years, the average cost of food and housing has nearly tripled. For seniors on fixed incomes, this inflation has been catastrophic: a senior receiving an average CPP/OAS/GIS combination has seen the real purchasing power of that income fall by tens of thousands of dollars over twenty years. The poverty rate among senior women living alone is nearly double that of senior men, a direct legacy of the gender pay gap, career interruptions for caregiving, and a pension system designed around full-time, continuous employment. Canada has the wealth and resources to ensure no senior lives in poverty. New Democrats will create a new benefit for low-income seniors that ensures everyone above 65 has enough to cover their basic needs with dignity, building toward a Guaranteed Liveable Basic Income framework that catches everyone who falls through the gaps of our existing programs. Seniors have earned dignity, decency and security, it’s time Ottawa started treating it that way.
Pharmacare For Seniors
Seniors are among the Canadians most dependent on prescription medication and among those most likely to be rationing pills, skipping doses, or going without entirely because they can't afford them. As of 2021, a quarter of Canadian seniors had no insurance coverage for their prescriptions. In British Columbia, that figure was a third, meaning thousands of seniors right here in Mission—Matsqui are making impossible choices every month between their medication and their groceries. Universal pharmacare would make an immediate and concrete difference in the lives of seniors across our riding. New Democrats are committed to building a pharmacare system that covers every Canadian regardless of age, income, or employment status, because the principle that care should be based on need, not ability to pay, applies just as much to a prescription as it does to a hospital visit. As part of New Democrats' commitment to rebuilding Connaught Laboratories as a public pharmaceutical manufacturer, New Democrats are also committed to driving down the cost of the drugs seniors depend on most, because universal coverage means little if the drugs themselves remain unaffordable.