British Columbia’s population of seniors has perhaps never been so large, lonely or precarious.
In 2012 there were 2,553 Metro Vancouver seniors seeking affordable accommodations through B.C.’s housing registry. By 2016 that number jumped 38 per cent, likely exacerbated by skyrocketing housing costs and vacancy rates below one per cent across the North Shore, according to a joint study by University of Victoria, the Centre for Addictions Research of B.C. and the Union Gospel Mission.
The B.C. Liberals have taken a “piecemeal approach” to seniors’ issues, according to Richard Warrington, Green Party candidate for North Vancouver-Lonsdale.
It behooves B.C. to make a big investment in home care, according to Warrington.
“We want to go out and spend money,” he said. “Taxes are not an evil thing.”
Keeping seniors in their homes will save hospital costs, Warrington added.
The provincial government is already working to help seniors stay in their homes, said West Vancouver-Sea to Sky Liberal candidate Jordan Sturdy. Seniors can defer property taxes and apply for rental subsidies. “We’ve tried to help with a variety of programs to keep seniors in their homes,” Sturdy said.
The province needs to demonstrate a “political willingness” to support public services that aid seniors, according to Mehdi Russel, NDP candidate for West Vancouver-Capilano.
In West Vancouver, many cash-poor seniors are forced to sell their homes and leave the community, he said, suggesting the provincial government support affordable housing.
The next provincial government must address the situation in seniors care homes, according to Russel, who noted a SafeCare B.C. report that found 90 per cent of Canada’s front line care workers have suffered physical violence on the job. The resulting burnout has left seniors facing insufficient care, according to Russel.
“They’re facing the shortage in staff. (Seniors) see the shortage in funding.”
Homeless shelters are turning away more seniors than in previous years, noted Lookout Society North Shore manager Bailey Mumford earlier this year.
Warrington noted that seniors facing homelessness would be helped by the Green Party’s poverty reduction plan, which includes plans to work with the federal government to provide $205 each month for low-income families.
Approximately 1.4 million Canadians report feeling lonely, according to a recent Statistics Canada survey.
Isolation tends to be particularly acute in terms of senior men, according to Sturdy.
“Women are better at communicating than men are, I think we all recognize that.”
Sturdy touted the Men’s Shed, a Squamish spot where senior men can swap tools and stories.
“You’d sit around that table and you’d be there with people you wouldn’t otherwise necessarily be with. You’d have a chance to create friendships.”
The province has been successful in supporting projects between developers, municipalities and non-profit groups, according to Sturdy. “I think that’s where our strength has been.”
Both Russel and Warrington called for more interaction between generations.
Warrington envisioned putting seniors care centres in the vicinity of elementary schools and daycares. Russel, a medical doctor, noted seniors face long waiting lists on the way in to hospital and hasty discharges on the way out.
The government must ensure “every single dollar needs to be spent in a way that the patient gets the most benefits,” he said.
Warrington suggested the government remove any ambiguity in B.C.’s legislation around assisted dying.
Currently, a patient must ask for medical help in dying without external pressure, give informed consent after being told about means that may relieve their suffering, and have a “grievous and irremediable” condition.
Any uncertainty must be removed, according to Warrington. “It has to be done ethically. I think it’s brave of us as a society to go there.”
British Columbians with strong social connections tend to be “twice as likely” to have good or excellent mental and general health, according to Dr. Mark Lysyshyn, medical health officer for the North Shore.
“We do have a little bit of a problem here because of issues like affordability of housing,” he said. “The parents can afford to keep their house here on the North Shore that they bought many years ago, but the young children can’t afford to live here.”
The result is that children aren’t around to support their senior parents, he said. Rather than investing in seniors programs, it would likely be “more meaningful” to support young families, he suggested.
“Make sure that the North Shore is a child- and family-friendly environment so that families can support each other.”
