Geezers unite!

[grammafreddy]

Nab ... show me an ad with pics for these $400 a month places, please.

[Captain Awesome]

...if you can't tell the difference between the wanna-haves who are earning the bucks but blowing it all on wishy-washies and Timmies and toys and expecting government to cover their arses because they find their cash flow a tad hampered by their stupidity and a senior citizen who has no other options but to live in poverty through no fault of their own and really is a victim of time and circumstance and may have lived a totally thrifty life...

I find it amusing gramma how you portray younger people totally irresponsible and deserving what happens to them through their actions (wasting money by buying toys) and hence not deserving any help from anybody especially our govt (since taxpayers pay for it), yet suffering seniors are all victims of circumstances, not responsible for the outcome, and are of course in that situation through no fault of their own.

Just sayin'...

[grammafreddy]

...if you can't tell the difference between the wanna-haves who are earning the bucks but blowing it all on wishy-washies and Timmies and toys and expecting government to cover their arses because they find their cash flow a tad hampered by their stupidity and a senior citizen who has no other options but to live in poverty through no fault of their own and really is a victim of time and circumstance and may have lived a totally thrifty life...

I find it amusing gramma how you portray younger people totally irresponsible and deserving what happens to them through their actions (wasting money by buying toys) and hence not deserving any help from anybody especially our govt (since taxpayers pay for it), yet suffering seniors are all victims of circumstances, not responsible for the outcome, and are of course in that situation through no fault of their own.

Just sayin'...

You are easily amused. While I have always credited you with some intelligence, I feel quite hurt that you discount and misinterpret my posts the way you do and insult my intelligence. I have never said "ALL". Have a good evening.

[Glacier]

It's funny, my mother recently hit 65, and she thinks she has won the lottery because her OAS and GIS is far more money than she has ever made. Mind you, she lives in the central part of the province where land is dirt cheap and wood heat is the standard fare.

[Urbane]

From the Human Resources and Skills Development website:

Almost all of today’s seniors receive income from Canada’s public pensions: the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and Old Age Security (OAS). Together, the CPP and OAS provide a modest base upon which Canadians can build their retirement income. Basic financial support is also available to survivors and to people who become too disabled to work and their children.

Yes, a "modest base" on which to build retirement income is what what the CPP and OAS are intended to be.

[Captain Awesome]

... I feel quite hurt that you discount and misinterpret my posts the way you do and insult my intelligence. I have never said "ALL". Have a good evening.

Well, if that makes a difference, let it be that way.

Good night.

[grammafreddy]

It's funny, my mother recently hit 65, and she thinks she has won the lottery because her OAS and GIS is far more money than she has ever made. Mind you, she lives in the central part of the province where land is dirt cheap and wood heat is the standard fare.

And I presume her health is good enough that she is able to do her own snow clearing, gardening, and wood gathering, cutting and splitting herself, too? As she ages, who will do this for her and what will it cost her to hire someone?

Does she live in an urban area? If wood heat was banned, could she afford other means of heating her home?

If she lives alone, if she fell and broke her leg, would she have enough money to pay for extra care help for herself and additional prescription costs? Can she afford to have her dentures fixed or to go to a dentist if she needs one? Is she able to buy new eye glasses as her eyes age and change?

Am not wishing bad things on your mom and I'm happy she feels so rich, but for some these are very real concerns, and there is no additional money for anything sudden or unexpected. Your mom may also be fortunate to have family close by to help her, but not all do.

[NAB]

Nab ... show me an ad with pics for these $400 a month places, please.

I will take some pictures of examples for you gramma at my first opportunity, but there are no ads. The City knows how to zone for them, the "community" knows where they are, and makes sure those who really need them get them as they become available. The problem with Kelowna IMO is that it is not a community that knows how to come together and provide decent housing for its own marginalized seniors without it having to be a major commercial mega-profit making enterprise. Seems greed always prevails there.

Edit to add: I wish I had taken some pictures of a community approach used in England the last time I was there. It integrates seniors accommodation with all other sectors of society (young and old, families, couples, and singles) in a wide variety of residence sizes. We instead generally tend to segregate our lower income seniors and infirm and disabled from the rest of society like they were lepers. My area is rising above that idiocy. Basically, it takes a quantum shift in thinking, starting with City Hall and Council.

By the way, we put our seniors residences at the core of the community, mostly downtown and close to all amenities, and not in stacked shoe boxes for the most part. Access to parks and gardens (and mixing with people of all ages) is very important to most seniors, particularly those living alone.

Nab

[grammafreddy]

Thanks, Nab.

It sounds like your community has a very sensible approach to how they treat seniors. I agree, here in Kelowna they are treated like lepers and low income anything seems to get shunted off and segregated. The city's "affordable housing" practices thus far have failed miserably because they allow a developer to buy them out and none get built or integrated into the development plans in the end.

Kelowna is not alone in ignoring the issues surrounding the aging of the Boomers - and fails to recognize the problems that aging people in general have. It's not just the poor ones - all aging people have increased costs attached to them.

[Tacklewasher]

Looks like Mr. Layton is ready to buy the geezer vote. Of course he knows he can promise the world without having to actually follow through, but Layton promises to double public-pension payouts

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/pol ... le1969630/

[I Think]

If harper gets a majority, the geezers can kiss their butts goodbye, he will squeeze us till we are bone dry, already there are seniors eating pet food, and who cannot find accomodation, let alone pay for medications they need. Go to any big city downtown core, it is not just the druggies and loco's who are pushing shopping carts, there are seniors with all their belongings on wheels on the sidewalks.

harper is allowing public health care to be eroded by "for hire" clinics, which only the top 5% income bracket can afford.

Cotton heads typically let the government roll over them, because they do not have the energy to fight back, they generally are too polite to kick at the pols and bureaucritters.

[grammafreddy]

Actually, Nibs, I think that's the provincial government doing that - health care is a provincial jurisdiction.

[albertabound]

Nibs you like to think that you are poor and complain about health care , but you can afford to go south for the winter that you needto spend a small fortune for insurance.

[I Think]

GF: The provinces run the system, but i believe the feds make the rules, and the private clinics are against the rules, which neither the feds or the provinces are enforcing.

[Urbane]

Actually, Nibs, I think that's the provincial government doing that - health care is a provincial jurisdiction.

Indeed, but apparently police brutality is Harper's fault. From today's Courier:

The "bullying" nature of the Harper government is a contributing factor in police brutality, a federal NDP candidate says.
The Conservative Party sees citizens as the "enemy," a mindset that filters down to police departments and makes it more
likely that individual officers will engage in acts of violence against citizens, Tisha Kalmanovitch said Sunday in Kelowna.
"This is coming down from the top," Kalmanovitch, the NDP candidate for the riding of Kelowna-Lake Country, told a crowd of about 60 people who gathered on the steps of the downtown courthouse to protest against police brutality.