A CARP Chapter that deserves accolades for its popular touch and heartfelt advocacy is the long standing one in Mississauga. Spearheaded by the veteran leadership of Chair Murray Etherington and Vice-Chair Rose Bilak with backing from long-term Board members Barry and Shirley Everatt, this is one Chapter that has sustained itself through the doldrums of COVID with energy and aplomb. While Etherington handles the advocacy and administration, the dynamic Bilak puts together barbeques, wine tastings, trips and amazing dinners dubbed “CARP-a-licious” that are treats, which attract members new and old from Mississauga and beyond.

 

CARP Mississauga’s most recent event, coordinated by Bilak, was a barbeque at the Amica Senior Lifestyles City Centre, sponsored by iProRealty, which took place on June 18. She laughs when recalling it. “It was going to be beautiful outside. But it stormed like you wouldn’t believe on Wednesday night. So, we were indoors and it was air conditioned. It turned out very well.” Bilak becomes serious as she continues: “What I’m finding is CARP members are inviting friends. This is also a membership drive opportunity. It’s been resonating like you would not believe.”

 

Only ten days earlier, Bilak had created one of her signature CARP-a-licious events at the Baton Rouge Steakhouse in Oakville. CARP members signed up to enjoy a four-course dinner with wine plus a swag bag with “goodies and discounts,” entry into a wine club, coupons and raffle prizes. It was, unsurprisingly, a roaring success.

 

Having been on the Board of the Mississauga Chapter for 14 years, Bilak knows what the members want. “I get calls from people saying they don’t want to golf, but they want to go for dinner. They tell me, ‘I feel that CARP is my family. I don’t want to go on my own and I don’t really know that many people. I live in a retirement residence, and I know that Fridays I have fish and Wednesdays I have meatloaf. I want to go and just enjoy life and try different things and meet people.’”

 

Bilak is characteristically effervescent when talking despite having to deal with personal losses over the past year. If anything, her own situation has spurred her on. Speaking of her event program, she says, “It’s about people fighting loneliness. They love socializing. You can’t take that away from them. They are at the stage in life where they don’t need a toaster, they don’t need a blender and they don’t want a TV. They just want to be social, enjoy life and try something different.”

 

CARP’s veteran Chair for Mississauga Murray Etherington is full of praise for his Vice-Chair. “Rose is at the core of what we do in many of our events and activities. She is very well connected and gets things done. She seems to have boundless energy.”

 

Etherington is good humored and modest when describing himself. “I’ve always been associated with seniors’ things since way back when I was helping my parents. I had a general interest, as well.”

 

He was able to achieve a personal goal, to advocate for seniors, when he joined CARP. “In 2009, I learned that CARP was opening a chapter in Mississauga. Unfortunately, I didn’t hear about it until after it had already opened in the fall. But I went to their first meeting in January 2010 just to attend. There were a few people there and it was all very interesting.

 

“At the end of the meeting, I found myself in charge of the Chapter. You see, the recently elected Chairperson’s father had become incapacitated. He lived in Owen Sound, so she had to move there. All of a sudden, she handed it off to me, the old engineer who likes to get things done.”

 

He smiles while recalling how he was able to build the Chapter. “We managed to recruit a few people. I think we started with about 20 people. We started to have meetings and invite all our members to come out to them. Most of the meetings took place in retirement homes. There were several in Mississauga then and a lot more now.”

 

Soon, things came together for Etherington and the Chapter. “We were able to connect to some valuable folks who helped us along the way. Most kind of come and go after four or five years. Rose is one of the exceptions. She’s hung in for a long time. Barry and Shirley Everatt have been around since the early days as well.

 

“We found that we like to get together socially and have a little bit of fun. So, we started with special events other than just meetings. Rose has been handling most of that.”

 

Etherington has been working on advocacy over the years. He’s interested in helping seniors with health issues and is also concerned with the plight of the poor who often find themselves hungry. He’s a great believer in the efficacy of food banks.

 

“In order to advocate,” he says, “we had to start by getting to know the government people who could help to make things better for seniors. We started with the city council.

 

“Hazel McCallion was the mayor, and we got to know her well. She was invited to come and speak at our meetings. Hazel ended up coming to every one of our Christmas events for decades. Through her, we got to know many of the city councilors. It gave us a base for our advocacy. We worked on getting a food bank. Everybody can be hungry — including seniors. And a lot of kids in the city need breakfast.”

 

In recent times, Etherington has focused CARP’s concerns on issues of health, a prime concern for seniors. “We’ve always tried to work through our local MPPs and MPs,” he says. “That’s how we first ran into Carolyn Parrish, our mayor now. She had been an MP and so was Bonnie Crombie, our previous mayor. Good politicians always seem to find a way to get themselves elected or re-elected.”

 

It’s clear that Murray Etherington knows how to work the administrative system in Mississauga to the benefit of seniors. To know Mayors McCallion, Crombie and Parrish well is no simple feat. And he knows others.

 

Last year, CARP Mississauga helped in the creation and passing of a bill on dementia, a key issue for seniors. Etherington’s political savvy is obvious when he explains what happened. “We got to know Laura Smith, the MPP who had put in a private members bill along with another member of the community. Another MPP in Ontario, Natalia Kuzendova-Bashta, the Minister of Long-Term Care, helped her with a lot of support.”

 

Bill 121, Improving Dementia in Ontario Act, was passed in 2024. It is intended to determine what changes can be made to improve treatment of dementia in the province. Etherington says, “The government allotted nine million dollars to educate people who work in long-term care with dementia patients. I’m not sure they’ve implemented anything yet, but we’ll keep an eye on it.”

 

Etherington is a big supporter of the Ottawa CARP Chapter’s work on health issues. He backs them through the Mississauga Chapter whenever possible. He points out that, “We try to help the other chapters. I regularly connect with Halton and Brampton, our neighbours, and visit their meetings. I invite them to come to see us and chat about things we can do to improve the whole situation at CARP Chapters.”

 

He’s keen on the monthly meetings, the bulwark of CARP Chapters. “We usually have a backlog of people who want to talk to us. In the fall, we plan the speakers we’d like to have for the next year and book those that we can. If something changes, we fit somebody else in. Some talk about health, others about home care or wills and powers of attorney. We always learn something in our talks.”

 

Presently, the Mississauga Chapter has a grant application out for a special program. Before COVID, they used to apply — and were often successful — for grants for events like a Seniors’ Job Fair. The current file is “to have professionals teach older adults how to use the internet.” It’s a project that Etherington is sure will help seniors.

 

Though modest, Murray Etherington is willing to talk about his profession and how it helps him in navigating his work at CARP. “I’m still an engineer, still practicing. We look after warehouse safety. We provide a pre-start health and safety review. We look at the structures, the loads, the movements, the lights, the exits and the sprinklers.”

 

His methodology as an engineer helps Etherington to be an effective CARP Chapter Chair. “I’ve learned that you can’t get things done by yourself. You have to work with others. I got that from engineering. When you start working with people on projects, it can benefit the group. Being smart as an organizer is getting other people to be smart.”

 

Murray Etherington is sanguine about his Chapter’s future. “The Chapter has a solid basis. We’ve developed a lot of relationships in the community. At CARP, we participate with other seniors’ organizations of which there’s about 50 in the city. We’re on a good footing going forward.”