moved:
That, in the opinion of the House, the government should rectify decades of underfunding of seniors programs by: (a) creating a Seniors Charter that recognizes older Canadians as creative, active and valued members of our society, and that this Charter shall enshrine the right of every senior living in Canada to the following: (i) income security, through protected pensions and indexed public income support that provides a reasonable state of economic welfare; (ii) housing, through secure accessible, and affordable housing; (iii) wellness, through health promotion and preventative care; (iv) health care, through secure, public, accessible, universal health care including primary care, dental care, homecare, palliative and geriatric care, and pharmacare; (v) self-development, through lifelong access to affordable recreation, education and training, (vi) government services, through timely access to all federal government services and programs, including family re-unification; and (b) creating a Seniors Advocate to: (i) conduct public education and awareness initiatives on the rights of seniors; (ii) ensure that all new or revised policies and programs affecting seniors receive public input from older persons; (iii) require that all new policies and programs affecting seniors are announced with specific timelines for implementation; (iv) act as an Ombudsman for seniors with respect to all government services and programs making recommendations as appropriate and that this Seniors Advocate publish and report annually to Parliament on government policies and programs affecting seniors, including the effectiveness of federal funding related to the needs of older persons.
Mr. Speaker, let me begin this morning's debate on my opposition day motion by thanking my leader, the hon. member for Toronto—Danforth, for providing me with this amazing opportunity to speak to the importance of seniors to Canada's socio-economic fabric.
As members in the House will know, opportunities for opposition members to propose and actually debate their policy positions are rare. In fact, in this entire first sitting of Parliament, New Democrats only have two opportunities to bring forward opposition day motions. For my leader and the entire NDP caucus to agree that seniors' issues were so important that they needed to be discussed in one of these rare opportunities, speaks to the profound commitment that our party has to ensuring that the concerns of older adults are being heard and addressed in the single most important democratic institution in our country, in the House of Commons.
Let us be clear, while we may be thinking about these issues today in terms of our parents and grandparents, our handling of their concerns will affect not just them, but also our generation and that of our children.
As UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said, at the launching of the International Year of Older Persons on October 1, 1998, we must move toward “a society that does not caricature older persons as pensioners, but sees them as both agents and beneficiaries of development”. Eight years later, we still have a long way to go in achieving that goal in Canada. I am hopeful that my motion will move the yardstick in a meaningful way toward realizing that international objective.
Let me begin by explaining the details of my motion, the rationale behind its key components and the desired effect of adopting the motion today. Unfortunately, my time to do so is limited, but since our party recognizes the importance of seniors' issues in all aspects of policy-making, my colleagues will continue to speak after me about the motion in the specific context of their own critic portfolios as well as their own legislative initiatives that will live up to the commitments we make to seniors through the charter today.
First and foremost, the motion builds on the incredible work done in the last Parliament by my colleague the member for Windsor West in recognizing that seniors have the right to a fulfilling life with dignity, respect and security. Moreover, the motion recognizes that it is the responsibility of government to protect those rights and freedoms of the aging in our society.
To that end, my motion begins by advocating for the adoption of a seniors charter for Canadians that would enshrine six specific rights into law.
First, every senior in Canada has the right to income security. In a series of polls conducted by the Canadian Labour Congress in 2004, 73% of Canadians polled said they worried about not having enough income to live after retirement, up by almost 20% from two years before.
Canadians are worried about the solvency of their private pensions, the adequacy of both CPP and public income support and their ability to cope with what Statistics Canada confirms is a higher inflation rate for seniors and for the average Canadian, and those fears are well founded.
Since the middle 1990s, the income of seniors has reached a ceiling and the gap between the revenues of seniors and those of other Canadians is now increasing. According to the government's own National Advisory Council on Aging, between 1997 and 2003, the mean income of senior households increased by $4,100, while the average income of other Canadian households increased by $9,000. The situation is even more pronounced for seniors living alone.
In total, over a quarter million seniors live under the low income cutoff line or, as we more commonly say, live below the poverty line. In my home town of Hamilton, the poverty rate for seniors is a staggering 24%. For unattached seniors, that rate rises to 45% among men and an unbelievable 58% of women.
It should further be noted that private retirement savings are concentrated in a small percentage of families. According to Statistics Canada, 25% of families hold 84% of these assets, while three out of ten families have no private pensions at all.
While income security for seniors thus needs to include pension protection, the real solution lies in an indexed public income support system that provides a reasonable state of economic welfare. Our seniors' charter enshrines that right in the law. Our charter also recognizes, however, that economic vulnerability is not only about insufficiency of income, but also about the loss of dignity and social inclusion.
There are few definitions of economic vulnerability, but its opposite, economic security, has been defined by the Canadian Council on Social Development:
Economic security refers to an assured and stable standard of living that provides individuals and families with a level of resources and benefits necessary to participate economically, politically, socially, culturally, and with dignity in their community's activities.
In other words, security requires not just a sufficient income, but also a level of dignity and social inclusion. Thus, our seniors charter also addresses issues of health and wellness, housing, self-development through lifelong learning, and access to government services and programs. Let me briefly touch on each of these.
With respect to housing, it is worth noting that the overwhelming majority of seniors live in a private residence as opposed to a health care institution, 93% versus 7%. Contrary to stereotypes, most seniors are active and independent contributors to our society. Paying for shelter is a major expense for seniors. According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, in 2001 more than half of seniors living on their own in rental accommodation were in core housing need. That is to say that 30% of their income or more was not sufficient to pay the median rent for housing of an acceptable size and quality in their location. In fact, many seniors are currently paying between 50% and 90% of their income on housing. After the federal government froze investments in social housing in 1993, the availability of rental units dropped sharply in large cities. As a result, rental costs soared and the quality of lodging decreased.
The United Nations charter of rights recognizes shelter as a guaranteed right. It is time for Canada to act on that guarantee by enshrining into law the right of every senior to secure, accessible and affordable housing. I am pleased to say that our seniors charter does precisely that.
The same is true of health care. All too often politicians pay lip service during election campaigns to the universality of Canadian health care, but then once in office conveniently blame their draconian decisions on the financial burden placed on the system by our aging population. The reality is that health care is not being drained by our seniors. In fact, the consensus of expert opinion suggests that aging will add only 1% to 2% annually to health care costs over ensuing years, an increase that is quite manageable. New drugs and technologies are keeping people healthier longer and there is an increased awareness among people about the benefits of active, healthy lifestyles.
To that end, our seniors charter adds wellness in addition to health care as a right of every senior living in Canada. If we focus up front on health promotion and preventative care, not only will seniors be able to continue to engage in active participation in all facets of life, but the cost on our health care system will also be contained. By keeping people healthier through a cleaner environment, greater food safety, better diets, better home supports and a more holistic approach to health care, we can improve the health of our nation and realize significant savings on the acute care side.
We must ensure that the Canadian health care system as a whole, including primary care, home care, geriatric and palliative care, as well as pharmacare, complies with the five conditions of the Canada Health Act not just in law but in spirit. There should be no back door measures to privatized health care where the size of one's wallet determines when and whether one receives care. Canadian health care must be publicly administered, comprehensive, universal, portable and accessible. These rights are reinforced and detailed in our charter for every senior living in Canada.
Our charter recognizes for the first time the right of every senior in Canada to free dental care. Dental associations right across the country recognize that good oral health is a determinant of good overall health. With the two inextricably linked, it is inconceivable that a charter which enshrines health care as a fundamental right would not also include dental care. I am proud that my motion takes that important step in the health promotion of older adults.
The enhanced wellness of seniors as well as new drugs and medical technologies will continue to enhance their longevity. Already, older adults are continuing to make important contributions to our country's socio-economic fabric for an average of an additional 20 years. We must support and maximize this opportunity for engagement by ensuring that seniors can participate in continuous self-development through affordable recreation and lifelong education and training.
We need to formally recognize that the expertise and experience of older adults is unique and crucial for exchanging knowledge between generations. This is often referred to as intergenerational solidarity. In other words, how much we invest in educational programs and other learning environments for our seniors will directly correlate with how much seniors can give back to the other age groups. Not only is this a benefit to Canada as a whole, but it increases participation among seniors and reduces feelings of being marginalized, a key component of security as I have outlined above.
Last, these commitments made in the charter must be backed up by a commitment to ensure that seniors have timely access to all federal government services and programs.
In the absence of a cabinet minister directly responsible for seniors, it is essential that there be a coordinated system where seniors can learn about and receive help with the variety of income support, health, housing, family reunification, education and other initiatives available to them. If seniors cannot access the programs and services that were designed for them, then those programs and services are not worth the paper they are written on.
That brings me to the last element of my opposition day motion. Rights that cannot be accessed are no rights at all. It is essential that these rights be promoted and enforced. To that end, our motion calls for the creation of a seniors advocate.
Since the government has refused to appoint a minister for seniors, someone who actually sits at the cabinet table and participates in decision making, it is essential that the charter be brought to life by someone else who has the ability to report annually to Parliament and to make recommendations about the adequacy and efficacy of federal government programs and services with respect to seniors. To that end, we are envisioning that the seniors advocate would fulfill five crucial functions.
First, she would conduct public education and awareness initiatives on the rights of seniors. For example, as recently as 2001, over 200,000 Canadian seniors were unaware that they were legitimately entitled to receive the GIS, the guaranteed income supplement. Effective outreach can decrease these numbers dramatically. It would be the role of the seniors advocate to identify these areas and develop strategies for informing seniors of their rights.
Second, it is essential that older adults be directly involved in designing policies and programs that affect them. The seniors advocate would be mandated to ensure that this crucial component of seniors engagement be acted upon by the government.
Third, it is important that all new policies and programs affecting seniors are announced with specific timelines for implementation. After 13 years of broken promises on everything from a pharmacare program to affordable housing and enhanced income security, seniors are tired of election rhetoric. They want and deserve to know that plans are being announced with specific timetables for action. The seniors advocate would ensure that that would happen.
Last, the seniors advocate would act as an ombudsperson for older persons, a one stop access point for seniors to access information and seek redress on all government services and programs affecting them.
The seniors advocate would then report annually to Parliament on all of her advocacy and policy work so that there would be real accountability on the government's agenda for seniors.
Seniors have worked hard all of their lives. They have played by the rules. Now they simply want access to the programs and services that their hard-earned tax dollars helped build. These programs are essential to their full participation in Canadian society. They allow seniors to retire with the dignity and respect they deserve.
As politicians, we have an obligation to make that happen. It is time that we abandoned partisan rhetoric and acted as one to stand up for our seniors. I urge all members of the House to support our motion so that together we can protect the rights and freedoms of the aging in our society.