Absolutely. There certainly are campaigns out there to have a UN charter on human rights for older people. The pandemic has bolstered the advocates for this even further, particularly given what happened in long-term care.
Canada did endorse this global strategy and action plan, but I'm not aware that we actually have a full-fledged plan for what Canada is going to do as a country. We see some things happening, as I mentioned, with the National Seniors Council around ageism, but there are other aspects of how we should be shifting our health care system as well. It's not focusing so much on acute demands and having all of our resources put into hospitals, but thinking about the chronic demands, as well as ensuring that people have good, functional abilities, which is what the definition of health is for the WHO.
We do need to have a concerted action through the federal government as well as all the provincial governments, because there are many things that cross jurisdictions. Municipalities are very involved. An age-friendly environment is a big part of this as well, making sure that our environments enable people to age well and to contribute still to their communities.
We have many older people who make great contributions. One thing that was a surprise to many in the pandemic was that older people weren't able to volunteer anymore. Some organizations, like food banks, relied on older people to keep those food banks going.
There are lots of ways we can work toward this decade of healthy aging as a country.