A letter from CARP Member, Jinty Stewart

Posted on by Anthony Quinn

jinty-stewart

Hello fellow ‘BOOMERS’

I attended a very informative session about CARP in Huntsville last week.  It made me acutely aware of how important this organization is.

It is a powerful advocacy voice for us seniors.  As a ‘non-profit’ association, it devotes 100% of its efforts to advocacy.  As such, CARP can, and DOES, lobby BIG time on our behalf.

It was pointed out that ~98% of CARP members are active voters, so governments at all levels listen.  The down side of this is that there are only 300,000 members.  That’s a big number, but it should be considerably more!  CARP is undertaking a program to increase their numbers. The March to 1,000,000.

Shouldn’t be that hard!

For the first time ever, we over 65’s are the largest age demographic of the Canadian population.  At 5.9 million, we are 16.9% of the population.  The next group is teens, at 16.8%.

Imagine the force CARP would have if it had 1,000,000 members.  There’s POWER at the ballot box!  

‘Not for profit’ organizations consider themselves successful if they accomplish one or two of their goals. Exerting continual pressure on politicians, CARP met 5 of their goals in 2016.

CARP puts action behind intentions, and we’re the benefactors!

  • CPP enhancement increased from 25% to 33%
  • Returned old age eligibility to 65
  • 3 Billion $ committed to home care programs
  • + $1000 guaranteed supplement for poorest seniors
  • Provincial government rolled back increased cost for drugs

CARP’s top 2 priorities for 2017 are focused on improving health care and financial security for older Canadians.  This is based on CARP surveys that asked seniors what they are most concerned about as they age.  Needless to say, these 2 topics top the list.

I’m sure glad I’m not trying to do this all by myself.  There are other priorities, such as aging in safety and with comfort, eliminating physical and financial abuse, reducing probate costs, instituting a ‘silver alert’ to operate like the ‘amber alert’ for missing children … and so much more.

We ‘Boomers’ have impacted policy changes in areas such as women’s rights, same sex marriages, employment equity, to name a few.  Health care and financial security for seniors may be the final and most important focus for our generation.

I’m a CARP member.  I hope you will be too!  Or maybe you’re already a member?  If so, good for you!  It’s a bargain that’s working for us all! And a subscription to ‘Zooomer’ is included in your membership.  Such a deal!

Cheers,

Jinty Stewart

Join CARP to claim this benefit and help us become the biggest advocacy group for aging Canadians.

CARP_BenefitsLandingPage_JoinBtnBecome a member today.

CARP has great benefits and amazing deals on travel, insurance and much more!