CANADA: Seniors Get $5.34 a Day for Food - Less Than Inmates

STONEY CREEK, Ontario (Stoney Creek News), May 26, 2006: With Mother's Day just behind us and Seniors' Month right around the corner in June, now is a good time to reflect on Ontario's senior citizens - to honour their contributions to our province, to recognize the important role they continue to play in our everyday lives and commit ourselves to doing everything we can to guarantee them a bright future. Ontario is home to about 1.5 million senior citizens, 40 per cent of Canada's seniors. They came from different places and from many different walks of life. But together, they built this province and forged the vibrant, prosperous and free Ontario all of us enjoy today. Some people call this generation of senior citizens the greatest generation. And with good reason - just think how many ways they have made our province a better place. They are our neighbours and family, our mothers and fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers. They raised us. They worked hard. They dreamed no small dreams. Many grew up in the Depression, spent early adulthood at war, then built many roads, schools, universities and hospitals over the next three decades, all without public borrowing. They built this province and passed on the prosperity and Canadian institutions like Medicare, public education and the social safety net we take for granted. But seniors aren't done building a great Ontario. To this day, they continue to make a big difference. Seniors have a zest for life like never before. As coaches, mentors and volunteers, they inspire our young people and continue to make contributions to our province. Every Ontarian owes our senior citizens a huge debt of gratitude. They've been there for us. So when they reach their golden years, we should be there for them when they need our help. That means making sure that when the time comes, they can retire in dignity. Regrettably, across Ontario, we're seeing a troubling pattern of neglect in long-term care homes. Many seniors are being forced to live out their golden years in squalor instead of the dignity they deserve. Chronic government under-funding of nursing homes means we don't have enough of the dedicated, hard-working, caring staff in those homes, depriving seniors of the care they need. Here are two examples of many. Residents at five Sarnia-area nursing homes have gathered thousands of names on a petition demanding action, because they are only getting $5.34 for food a day - half what a provincial prison inmate receives. In Niagara Region, concerned citizens sounded the alarm about seniors in long-term care only receiving one bath a week. Seniors deserve better. Premier Dalton McGuinty promised to make life better for seniors in long-term care. He promised to provide $6,000 in new funding per long-term care resident, to improve the quality of personal care and services for seniors. The premier should honour that promise and honour the seniors who built the province he now has the privilege to serve. Andrea Horwath M.P.P. Hamilton East Copyright 2005. Brabant Newspapers. All rights reserved.