This demographic shift will present new challenges as demand increases for social services and public infrastructure, and is why CARP has re-affirmed its commitment to advocating for social and political change that will deliver on the values that underpin CARP’s New Vision of Aging for Canada.
Citing the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms as a precedent for Canadian espousal of these values, Ms. Eng stated that quality of life as we age depends on financial security, fair and equal access to high quality healthcare, social inclusion and personal well being. This statement comes at a time where many older Canadians have seen their retirement savings decimated by this year’s economic turmoil. CARP has stressed the importance of initiating reform that would address retirement security for older persons today and for generations to come.
“Fortunately, this generation is also characterized by its high level of political engagement – 70% of older Canadians vote regularly. The opportunity exists, therefore, to both raise the issues that resonate with a growing proportion of the population and to make those issues a condition of our political support.” added Eng.
23. October 17: Chubby Checker Concert: CARP members were able to avail of a special offer for the Chubby Checker concert at Mile One Centre on October 17. Ticket prices at more than a 60 percent discount from regular box office prices were available for any member with a CARP membership card. The concert promoters select two community organizations for this benefit and CARP was selected to the delight of many members.
24. CARP 25th Anniversary: CARP is celebrating its 25th Anniversary this year. Two initiatives have been set up to mark this event: 1. 25 Contributing Canadian’s Award
2. Scholarship fund for Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology
25. CARP Travel: Carlson Wagonlit is CARP’s new Travel provider and interested members should seek information on the travel benefits offered to CARP members.
26.. Electronic Newsletters: The national office of CARP no longer has a mail out capability and so is no longer able to mail out Chapter newsletters. Instead, CARP National is moving toward communicating with its members by email. It is now possible to communicate electronically using an e-mail blast to all members for whom we have an email address. An electronic newsletter can be delivered to a member for whom we have an email address for about one cent, paid for by CARP national, compared to the cost of traditional mailing. Recently, as an experiment, we were successful in sending out our first e-newsletter to 477 members. It is far from perfect since there are many members for whom we do not have an email address and others for whom the address we have is incorrect. However, it is the way of the future and we now know that it works
27. October 29-31: CARP National Annual General Meeting: The 2009 CARP Conference and AGM was held in Toronto, October 29-31. Representatives from all Chapters attended . As Chairman of the Chapter, I attended and participated in this AGM All members will notice some changes in CARP as it seeks to grow in membership with a goal of one million members. by the end of 2009.
