Rally planned to protest seniors cuts
Email
Print
Letter to Editor
Share
Local seniors, politicians and health care providers plan to descend on downtown Maple Ridge next week to protest recent cuts to seniors care by the provincial government and the Fraser Health Authority.
The rally will take place next Thursday, starting at 1 p.m. at Memorial Peace Park. Organizers expect upwards of 200 people to attend.
Vicki Kipps, executive director for Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows Community Services, is helping to organize the rally. She’s concerned local seniors could be at risk after Fraser Health cancelled funding for a seniors’ outreach program her organization operates.
It was one of the dozens of contracts with non-proft service providers the local health authority has cancelled in recent months as it struggles with a $160-million deficit, another casualty of the provincial government’s $2.8 billion deficit.
While Kipps understands why the cuts are being made, she feels they could cost FHA more in the long run.
“I think Fraser Health had to make some extremely difficult decisions with very limited resources,” she said. But by cutting support services, more seniors will end up in residential care facilities, and that will cost FHA more.
“Ultimately, our hope is that funding is reinstated,” said Kipps.
Ray Koob, president of the Ridge Meadows Seniors’ Society, said the provincial government’s cost-saving measures are unfairly affecting seniors.
The Harmonized Sales Tax, he contends, will hit cash-strapped seniors in the pocket harder than most because they live on a small, fixed income and will have to pay increased taxes on their medications, groceries, and strata fees.
“Seniors need to pay attention to what’s happening because it’s going to effect them in so many ways,” he said. “We need to help each other.”
The RMSS has been distributing a petition in recent weeks asking the Legislature and Fraser Health to stop “neglecting” seniors. So far, Koob has collected more than 700 signatures.
“These are the most vulnerable people [in our society],” said Koob. “It’s vital we help them.”
v2
