Chelsey St. Pierre – The Suburban LJI Reporter
Jacques-Cartier MNA Greg Kelley hosted a town hall recently at Cedar Park United Church to discuss seniors issues and listen to concerns of the public as well as private and public organizations. According to Kelley, some solutions and proposed solutions arose from the meeting, which was also attended by observers from the West Island Health Authority (CIUSSS-ODIM).
“I made a pledge on my campaign trail last year to do my best to bring people together, not divide. I’ve heard a lot of concerns over the last year concerning seniors issues, which is why I felt it was important to hold a town hall,” Kelley told The Suburban.
The reintegration specialist at the West Island Mission (WIM) and program director at the West Island Community Resource Center (CRC), Sandra Watson, voiced her concerns for seniors at the town hall. Working with seniors, addressing issues on the ground covering multiple levels, Watson wore “many hats” as she put it, at the meeting representing seniors voices.
As the food bank has reported a significant increase of clients 65 and over with food prices going up while surviving on fixed incomes, Watson is addressing their concerns as many are looking for solutions such as affordable housing and food solutions while juggling costs associated with their medical needs.
“Going forward, prices are not going down and seniors’ income not going up,” she stated.
According to Watson, waiting times for affordable housing are currently hovering around five to seven years in the West Island. “It is an impossible situation for seniors. The CRC helps seniors navigate resources and accompanies them through the processes of applications, but the long wait lists cause isolation and a degeneration of their overall situation.”
The burden is often heavy on community organization workers. Watson told The Suburban that she has even cleaned bathtubs and changed sheets for clients on home care waiting lists who did not receive services for six months or longer.
“We need to maintain contact in the interim to ensure that while our clients are on waiting lists, their immediate needs are being met. One of my clients got hip replacement surgery and she was sent home alone with no caregiver or support. She had my phone number and called me because she had no food and no follow-up care, she couldn’t even bathe. Even with my intervention, it was two weeks before she received any support.”
One message that really hit home is how new seniors envision their golden years and as it turns out, it is not all like what we see on TV commercials. Rather, they are juggling the cost of living and grocery costs with fixed incomes and limited budgets,” Kelley told The Suburban.
Montreal’s only women’s daytime homeless shelter has reported a significant increase of senior women who have fallen “through the cracks” as they face inflation and increased housing costs while living on a limited budget, which is a clear indicator of systemic failure.
Kelley said to The Suburban that he intends to communicate his findings from the town hall to MNA Linda Caron, official opposition critic for seniors, and when opportunities arise in caucus, he intends to speak out on his constituents’ behalf directly.
“I want to make sure that proposals to the government reflect information picked up directly from the concerned community. My objective is to have at least two more town halls and conduct this same type of exercise with our youth.”