North Island-Powell River MP, Rachel Blaney, is set to host a zoom meeting spotlighting seniors advocacy.
It’s happening from 4:00pm to 5:00pm this Wednesday, Nov. 4th.
According to Blaney, it will focus on advocacy work for seniors, lessons from the COVID pandemic, how we can bring about changes to home care, long-term care, and healthcare; and how to create age-inclusive communities.
She says that she will take the feedback from the meeting straight to the federal Liberal government.
“This is an opportunity for us to meet with constituents (and) to hear their questions. We’re already getting a lot of call-ins and emails so I’m sure that even before the event starts I’ll have a substantial list of questions to ask these folks and for us to discuss,” Blaney said.
“I’m hoping that this will bring awareness, be an opportunity to share information and allow me to go back to Ottawa to let the minister of seniors as well the Trudeau government know what is happening in our riding.”
Blaney said COVID-19 has had a particularly devastating impact on our seniors.
“We’ve seen the sad incidence of high deaths in different seniors care facilities and the vulnerability that a lot of the elderly in our communities face at this time.”
Blaney will be joined by BC Seniors’ Advocate Isobel Mackenzie and CanAge President and CEO Laura Tamblyn Watts.
Mackenzie has over 20 years’ experience working with seniors in-home care, licensed care, community services and volunteer services.
She led B.C.’s largest not-for-profit agency, serving over 6,000 seniors annually.
In this work, Mackenzie led the implementation of a new model of dementia care that has become a national best practice, as well as the first safety accreditation for homecare workers.
Watts currently teaches at the University of Toronto, where she is also a Fellow of the Institute for Lifecourse and Aging.
You can find out more about the event and register by clicking here.
A Facebook page has been created for the event and can be found here.
