Taking care of Milton's seniors
Far too many seniors face isolation and loneliness. The situation for seniors has only been made worse, throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The Government of Canada is committed to empowering seniors by supporting new opportunities for older Canadians to stay informed, engaged and connected. Last month, on behalf of the Honourable Deb Shulte, Minister of Seniors, I announced a total investment of $79,416 for 4 projects in Milton that will support seniors’ needs. The funding can now be used to provide immediate and essential support for seniors impacted by COVID-19. We are also working closely with seniors serving organizations to ensure eligibility for the next round of funding, early next year.
The strong and resilient Canada we have inherited is thanks to the hard work of older generations. In Milton, the current round of funding has gone to the Centre for Skills Development, Town of Milton, Halton Gujarati Seniors Samaj and St. Paul's United Church. These four organizations are providing programming and services to our neighbours who helped build this great country. Right now, we need these programs more than ever to help us connect with others in our community.
Our government is also committing to structural changes to the system in order to better support seniors in Canada. This pandemic has shown that the conditions in long-term care and assisted care facilities in many parts of the country has beenunacceptable for decades. COVID-19 had devastating effects on the people living and working in many of these homes, and we must do better.
Included in our effort to control the spread of COVID-19 in long-term care homes, we:
Redirected federal infrastructure funding to upgrade long-term care homes, through the new COVID-19 Resilience funding stream, making them more resilient to keep seniors safe.
Provided $740 million for measures to control and prevent infections in long-term care homes and other vulnerable populations through the Safe Restart Agreement.
Released Guidance for Long-Term Care Homes to prevent and control COVID-19 infections.
Invested billions to purchase personal protective equipment (PPE) for health workers, including long-term care workers.
Launched the new Essential Services Contingency Reserve, which will ensure that personal protective equipment (PPE) and other critical supplies will always be available to those caring for Canadians.
Provided $3 billion to provinces and territories to increase the wages of low-income essential workers, such as long-term care workers.
Our government also provided seniors with direct support to get them through the pandemic. To help seniors during the ongoing pandemic we have:
· Offered low and middle-income seniors a GST Credit top-up—worth an average of $375 for single seniors and $510 for senior couples.
· Provided seniors a one-time tax-free payment of $300 for seniors eligible for OAS and a further $200 for seniors eligible for the GIS.
· Helped seniors and others get essential services and supplies, such as the delivery of groceries by investing half a billion dollars through partners like the United Way, food banks and charities.
· Helped seniors who have lost their jobs access the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, regardless of their pension benefits.
· Reduced the mandatory minimum withdrawals from RRIFs by 25 per cent for 2020 to ease the strain due to market volatility.
· Taken steps to set new, national standards for long-term care to get the best support possible for our seniors.
· Temporarily extended GIS and Allowances payments for seniors who couldn’t file their income information on time.
· Invested an additional $20 million through the New Horizons for Seniors Program to invest in community projects that reduce isolation, improve seniors’ quality of life, and help them maintain a social support network.
· Created a new online portal, Wellness Together Canada (ca.portal.gs), to connect Canadians to peer support workers, social workers, psychologists, and other professionals for confidential support, and to make it easier to find credible mental health help.
There is always more work to do and progress to focus on. As your voice in Ottawa, I am committed to being a champion for the senior citizens in my riding and across Canada. If you have any thoughts or ideas on how our government can do to better support seniors, please reach out to my office through this link. I look forward to hearing from you.