The letter from J. Canaday, (Progress, April 30, 2020) was extremely well-written and factual. Many seniors live on minimum CPP and old age pension and if they qualify, maybe some supplementary assistance which is still not enough for them to make ends meet month to month.
• READ MORE: LETTER: Seniors being stiffed by government as subsidies flow to others
All one has to do is follow the rising cost of living over the past five years, which has made it further impossible for seniors. In this country and specifically in B.C., there should be no one clearing below $24,000 annually. Even that would make existing touch and go. During the last election, nothing was provided for seniors, and when they do go all out and award a 50 cent or dollar increase seniors are expected to be elated. Back to COVID-19, and once again all kinds of relief is being provided for every entity except seniors who experience great difficulty with increased costs. Not only during the COVID-19 pandemic, but also in normal everyday living, seniors in this country are struggling.
Seniors are a large majority in Canada and British Columbia, one of our greatest resources and most wasted. How many times do we hear daily on the news, “We are in this together?” But while our leaders open up the rivers of dollars, not even a stream flows to the aged, so I am guessing, seniors are not part of the “we.”
There are many suffering during this added crisis of which we are all sympathetic, but someone needs to stand up and be counted by not only acknowledging the seniors as a viable part of society, but by putting money where their mouth is. Well written J. Canaday, but don’t hold your breath!
Len Powell