COMMITTEE REPORTS
Concerns In Portage la Prairie:
On Day Of The Older Person
Rae Hathaway, reprinted with permission from Portage Online (Golden West Telecommunications)
The proclamation signing
T
oday is the United Nations International Day
of the Older Person.
It began in 1990, and was marked last Friday
in Portage, at a gathering in a local restaurant,
where Mayor Irvine Ferris signed a proclamation
in support.
It was organized through the Retired Teachers'
Association of Manitoba, and John Sushelnitsky
says this year's theme is equality, meaning seniors
receive the same treatment as younger people.
"Because seniors are generally regarded as
having no power," he says. "Our organization, the
Retired Teachers' Association, basically works in
conjunction with seven other organizations, and in
all cases, we're looking out to improve and maintain
living conditions for senior citizens."
Sushelnitsky adds possible changes to
government pension regulations are a concern.
"The federal government wanting to away from
defined benefits to a defined contribution," he says.
"Right now, the system we have assures us of what
our income will be for the rest of our life. But if they
move to a different system, the income will depend
on the stock market, and there'll be no certainty
8 n
RTAM KIT Winter 2019
John Sushelnitsky, RTAM Board
Member
Mayor Ferris signs the proclamation
what a person's pension will be the next year."
Mayor Irvine Ferris calls supporting seniors
important.
"A large portion of our population here is made
up of seniors," he says. "And the trend is that in
the future we're going to have a larger proportion
of our seniors. Baby boomers are ageing rapidly,
and they'll be joining our existing seniors, so we'll
see a large portion of our population in the senior
category."