Posted: Thursday, 12 December 2013

http://www.canadianlabour.ca/national/news/now-time-expand-cpp-new-clc-research-shows-enhancements-affordable

OTTAWA ― Ken Georgetti, president of the Canadian Labour Congress, says that the time for action has arrived on expanding the Canada and Quebec Pension Plan (CPP/QPP).

“Retirement security is one of Canadians’ biggest concerns and rightly so,” Georgetti says. “There’s no big secret why we should expand the CPP – it simply makes sense.” Georgetti’s comments come as Canada’s finance ministers plan to meet in Ottawa and at Meech Lake on December 15-16. CPP reform will be uppermost on their agenda.

The CLC has been advocating since 2009 for improvements to the CPP-QPP which  would guarantee income security for Canadians when they retire. Georgetti says, “Some vested interests in banks or financial institutions that make huge profits from RRSPs and PRPPs are saying it’s not the right time and that the economy is too fragile to allow for improving the CPP. They are dead wrong and our research shows that.”

The case of an elderly Toronto-area man left by an ambulance service in an empty house was an outrageous mistake, patient advocates say. But it is probably also a harbinger of what Canadians can expect in an overcrowded and uncoordinated health-care system struggling with an influx of seniors.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/elderly-patient-tadeusz-czubak-discharged-to-empty-house-not-a-one-off-case-1.2470920

B.C. seniors advocacy groups warned Wednesday that the cuts will be hard on elderly residents. Many of them are frail and have mobility issues, and getting to a community mailbox will be challenging for them, said Art Kube, president of the Council of Senior Citizens of B.C.He said many seniors are also not computer-savvy and rely on the mail to pay their bills.“People will have to walk certain distances to get their mail and some of our members won’t be able to do that,” he said. “Most seniors 75 and older wouldn’t do their banking online. They’re used to paying their bills the old-fashioned way.”

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Canada+Post+cost+cutting+will+seniors+mail+carriers+hardest/9275888/story.html