North Bay & District Chapter Fall Newsletter 2010
Message from the Board Chair; Since our last newsletter your board has been busy monitoring municipal election candidates and their understanding of Zoomer issues. We’ve also reviewed the last Annual General Meeting and conference feedback and are well on the way to holding “Zoomer 2011”. Next year our event will be May 14 at the Clarion on Lakeshore Drive in North Bay and we expect a similar large turnout. Mark your calendar and stay tuned for a pending announcement of next year’s program and outstanding speakers! We’ve already lined up Arthur Black, renowned author and humourist and will announce more as time goes on. Anne and I attended the national Zoomer conference in Toronto at the end of October where I made a presentation on behalf of our chapter. There many new benefits on the way and we have captured the attention of politicians at all levels. Locally we will continue advocating for attention to Zoomer issues in our communities. For example, did you know that Hydro One increased your bill by more than 20% in September? Many of us Zoomers are on pensions and I haven’t heard of anyone getting a 20% pension increase! We’ll make sure our politicians know how we feel about this and other issues. If you have issues you think we should know of feel free to send them on. Your participation is welcome all year, not just at the conference.
R.M.(Ron)Farrell President & Board Chair North Bay & District Chapter CARP – for Zoomers Tel. 705-497-0482 www.carp.ca/northbay
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You are Invited to the Open House for North Bay’s New Hospital
Our new North Bay Regional Health Centre, (our new hospital) which is located on Highway 17 just past Goremanville Road, will have an Open House on Saturday, December 4th, 2010, and the public is welcome to come and see what the new facility is like. This will be your opportunity to explore the new hospital, and understand where the various departments are located, like the maternity ward, the emergency department, the x-ray areas and MRI facility, etc. The Opening Ceremonies will commence at 10:00am near the front entrance. Following these ceremonies, the public will be welcome and encouraged to take a self guided tour of the new health centre.
Please mark your calendar for this special day. Hope to see you there.
Everyone Benefits from Age Friendly Cities
Municipal leaders are in the spotlight less often than provincial and federal counterparts yet city services affect people in the most intimate and tangible facets of their everyday lives. City governance is particularly important for older people since seven out of ten Canadian seniors live in urban areas. The rising importance of urban life for ageing populations was reflected in the World Health Organization’s (WHO) development of an Age-friendly Cities guide that identifies eight essential dimensions that constitute an age friendly community based on what seniors around the world deem important. The WHO guide lists specific proposals for the improvement of these eight areas for older Canadians. While the suggestions in the WHO guide provide a useful road map for cities to enhance their Age-friendliness, the guide is most noteworthy for its definition and legitimization of the concept of Age-friendly cities and its revelation of Age-friendliness as a major contributor to the collective strength of urban societies.
