Pictured L-R: Bill VanGorder, Halifax Mayor Andy Fillmore and Ron Swan at summer social

 

Free Shingles vaccinations for Seniors is a signal victory for CARP

 

The announcement came like a thunderbolt this May 20th. After a decade of patient and persistent politicking, Nova Scotia’s seniors were finally given access to free vaccinations for shingles. It was a major triumph for the Nova Scotia CARP Chapter, which led the fight for the province’s older adults through the umbrella group the Seniors’ Advocacy Council. With vaccinations costing as much as $200 per shot and with two shots needed, it’s a major benefit for older Nova Scotians, some of whom are living precarious lives financially.

 

Bill VanGorder, Senior Spokesperson & Past President of the Chapter recalls with delight how he found out. “I got an email from the Premier’s office on the Friday afternoon preceding the Tuesday press conference saying, ‘Bill, we want you to come.’ And the first thing Premier (Tim) Houston said to me when I walked over to him was, ‘Well, you finally got your shingles vaccine program.’ After the Premier’s announcement, the government PR folks set up two areas for scrums, one for the premier and one for me.”

 

VanGorder works closely with CARP’s Chapter Chair Ron Swan, who runs a lively, engaged group of dedicated seniors. Swan is proud of CARP’s close association with the province’s current government. “We just finished our AGM, and our keynote speaker was Barbara Adams, the Minister for Seniors and Long-Term Care. She is the Deputy Premier and a past CARP board member, who has been an ally of ours for a long time. Last year we had Tim Houston, the premier, as our keynote speaker. It speaks to the relationship that we’ve been able to earn over time. We’re very forthright in what our positions are, but we’re also very respectful.”

 

The Nova Scotia Chapter has developed a committee system in which board members work with other CARP members on long-term issues that impact the lives of seniors. It’s an effective way to delegate the work, empowering CARP volunteers to use their expertise to make changes occur. Three areas that have been designated for impact are health, the environment and financial security.

 

The Health Advocacy Committee is run by board member Beverley Lawson, a former executive director of Dalhousie Family Health. Her group has created an effective position paper in an area in which she is an expert: long-term care in the province. The paper, which is cogent and effective, argues for family and home centred environments for aging members of the province. (You can read it here: https://carpnovascotia.ca/health/)  Working as part of the Chapter’s free vaccinations project and, in general, for more humane healthcare, the committee is a model of how a group can do effective work, provincially and potentially even federally.

 

The Environmental Committee, run by Dale Smith and James Boyer, is working on a high profile project, getting the Blue Mountain-Birch Cove Lakes district designated as a National Urban Park. It’s an area that starts in the outskirts of Halifax and consists of wetlands, lakes, woodlands, barrens and watercourses. Boyer is positively lyrical when describing the 4000-hectares domain. “It contains lakes that are ideal for a canoe day trip or a summer day swim or picnic. While paddling the waters, it is not uncommon to see otters, beavers and bald eagles soaring overhead. The hiking trails range from beginner to expert and offer a wide variety of terrains and challenges.”

 

CARP’s biggest advocacy issue in the field of financial security is the moderation of the already existing enduring power of attorney legislation, which allows a designated individual to make decisions for another (likely senior) person, to include provisions for accountability. It gives an older adult the power to appoint a “monitor” who can visit and communicate with them, request records from the attorney and apply to the court for direction. 

 

CARP has also worked with the Department of Finance on the indexing of tax brackets. When applied effectively, indexing allows less affluent seniors to pay fewer tax dollars.

 

Ron Swan says, “We’ve got some good committee heads out there. One of them is Reverend Diane Parker. She is an ordained minister and a caring, kind person. I call her the director of community. We don’t have a formal committee called community, but she has a pulse on what’s happening in the community.

 

“My wife, Karen, had worked with Cecil Wright, who is an African Nova Scotian. We had no one of colour on our board at all. I asked Cecil whether he would join the board and be our vice chair. Bill and I had talked about it and Cecil said, ‘I’m in.’ He’s contributed a new perspective to the table.

 

“He set up a meeting with the Black Cultural Centre for us to meet with them and have a conversation about things that are happening in their community. He brought Donalda MacIsaac, who is another member of the African Nova Scotia community, to the board as well. And she’s contributing. She’s our Board Secretary.”

 

With a significant portion of Halifax and the rest of Nova Scotia being of African and Caribbean heritage, CARP has taken a meaningful step forward through the additions of Wright and MacIsaac to the Board. Even more useful is the dialogue that has been initiated by Wright with the Black Cultural Centre. It points to a future for Nova Scotia CARP that will be more diverse and representative of all the voices in the province.

 

Bill VanGorder has been part of CARP Nova Scotia since its beginnings in 2008. “Three of us are still on the board from back then. Roy Hayward has been the treasurer since the very beginning, and Carolyn Boyer, whose husband Jamie is the environmental guy, was the secretary for many, many years. She’s now a member at large. We’ve had a pretty consistent board of about 12 to 15 people throughout the years.”

 

VanGorder says of Swan. “Ron comes from a background where he ran a business that supplied equipment and renovations to help seniors stay in their own homes. His company made everything from elevators to stair lifts to handrails for bathtubs and toilets. He really knows about seniors’ issues. Because of that, he already had great relations with other people who are in that business and government people, before he took on a leadership role at CARP.  He’s such an effective Chair.”

 

Swan is modest about his accomplishments, praising his Board and especially VanGorder. “You couldn’t find a person that stands up for older Canadians more than Bill does. I’ve been very fortunate to be able to work with him and really enjoy doing it. We support one another the very best way we can.”

 

The Nova Scotia Chapter is one of the longest-running at CARP and a shining example of what can be accomplished when seniors work together locally, to make a difference provincially and federally.