Candidates tackle seniors’ issues

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This article was published 20/09/2019 (2429 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Seniors housing issues and taxes dominated the agenda at a Thursday afternoon federal election town hall organized by Seniors for Seniors.

The debate marked the first time Brandon-Souris residents have had the chance to hear from all candidates at once. All candidates currently running in the riding were present at the debate. Neither a Liberal nor NDP candidate has been nominated yet.

Conservative candidate Larry Maguire pushed his party’s promise on lowering taxes when asked whether he would support implementing a national pharmacare program — stopping short of endorsing the idea if his party forms government.

“We know that drugs are very expensive for our seniors, we know that pharmacare has been talked about as far as a national program but we also know, according to the Conference Board of Canada, that 98 per cent of people today are already eligible today for a program that’s already existing,” Maguire said.

He cited the party’s pledge to cut the carbon tax and take the General Sales Tax off of home heating bills, which would give seniors more money to pay for their medication

People’s Party candidate Rob Lussier said he knows the struggle of paying high costs for medication each month himself, but said pharmacare should not be a federal program.

“(The federal government) can’t manage First Nations communities, they can’t manage veterans’ affairs, they can’t manage anything nationally,” he said.

Instead, he said the party would give GST money directly to provinces to hopefully spend on health-care costs.

Green candidate Bill Tiessen said his party would implement a universal pharmacare program, calling it a “significant” part of his party’s platform. He said with a national pharmacare program the federal government could negotiate lower prices for prescription medication.

Independent candidate Vanessa Hamilton criticized the Conservatives for not supporting the program, saying she would “absolutely” support a national plan if elected.

Christian Heritage candidate Rebecca Hein was non-committal on pharmacare, saying there needs to be more consideration on it.

Both Maguire and Lussier also cited their respective party’s plan to lower taxes when asked how they would help seniors stay in their homes for as long as possible.

Lussier said tax cuts are a big part of how he feels seniors should be helped to stay at home longer. Like the Conservatives, the PPC’s platform also includes plans to eliminate the carbon tax and would also cut the capital gains tax.

“We want you to stay in your homes, stay home for as long as you can before you have to transition to an assisted living, lowing your taxes is a big part of that,” he said.

The Conservatives would get rid of $1.5 billion in corporate welfare, Maguire said, which will allow for more money to go toward affordable housing. Maguire also suggested more co-op housing developments be built for seniors as a way to help them stay at home longer.

“The problem we have is getting the money out the door fast enough to make sure that we meet the needs of the people here in the growth of affordable housing,” Maguire said.

“We all know we’ve got baby boomers coming up and we’ve got more going through that are going to need more housing in the future, but these are extremely valuable units.”

Tiessen said the federal government should work to give people more options to stay in their homes longer, like some programs that pair up seniors and university students as roommates. Hamilton cited her time as a Brandon city councillor working on the Age-Friendly Committee and said more funding is needed for home care.

Access to seniors’ housing came up multiple times over the course of the debate. One person in the audience raised issue with long wait times for moving into assisted living facilities, asking for candidates’ plans to fund their construction.

The problem is red tape, Lussier said, adding that it should be easier for organizations like the Kiwanis Club to operate and build apartment complexes.

Maguire also said red tape is a problem, and that it is a matter of getting federal funds moving so they can go toward building projects.

Tiessen said his party would work with provincial and municipal levels of government to target the local priorities, including seniors’ housing, to make the process of federal funding more efficient.

The federal election is set for Oct. 21.

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