All of the registered political parties will have their say on seniors issues at a Provincial Election Town Hall on Monday, for a head start on the election which hasn’t been officially announced yet, but is mandated to happen before or on October 28th. The town hall is hosted by the Saskatoon & Area Branch of the National Association of Federal Retirees and the Saskatoon Council on Aging.

Shawna Murphy, advocacy officer for the local branch of the National Association says there are three priorities for the two organizations. They will be asking party representatives about whether they agree with having an independent seniors advocate who reports directly to the Legislature. “Secondly, after the COVID-19 pandemic, I think everybody is pretty much aware that there was a big problem in long term care and personal care facilities. There was a national study undertaken. It made some recommendations and one of them is to have mandatory standards for these types of living environments.” The third is expanding and funding resources to enable older adults to age in place rather than having to move to a care facility. She explains that this is a problem everywhere but more so in smaller communities, where if a home care type of service isn’t available, the senior has to move to a larger centre. Murphy adds that it’s a lot less expensive to help people age in place than it is to commit them to a care facility.  She considers it a win-win.

The town hall will give each party a chance to give their positions on these three issues. Murphy says six of the seven registered parties are coming and they are working on the seventh. She wouldn’t say which party that is. The event is Monday afternoon from 2 to 4, followed by a networking opportunity from 4 to 5 to meet the representatives, but the final day to register for a free ticket through Eventbrite is tomorrow (Thurs). You can register by clicking here.