ACER-CART Report to Members – April 2015
INTRODUCTION
The new ACER-CART website is almost ready and the Executive has been asked to test it for anomalies. It will be launched officially at the ACER-CART AGM in June 2015.
The Executive is made up of President JoAnn Lauber (BC), 1st Vice-President Brian Kenny (ON), Past President Dr. Thomas Gaskell (NS) and three Regional Representatives: East, Dr. James MacAulay (PEI), Ontario, Norbert Boudreau and West, George Georget (SK).
HIGHLIGHTS SINCE OCTOBER 2014
- The ACER-CART Executive met via teleconference on January 15th, 2015 and April 2nd, 2015. The next two Executive Meetings will be held at the Southway Inn in Ottawa on June 4th, 2015 at the pre-AGM and on June 6 at the completion of the AGM.
- The ACER-CART AGM will be held at the Southway Inn in Ottawa on June 5th and 6th, 2015.
- Richard Harrison, Vice President, Plan Benefits, Central Region, Johnson Inc. along with two colleagues, Jeff Bennett from the Edmonton office and Bob Dowden, Vice President Newfoundland/Labrador office will be the guest speakers at the ACER-CART’s AGM Saturday morning session.
The pre-AGM forum will feature presentations to the AGM delegation by each of the four main federal political parties. As of April 2, the following have confirmed their intention to be in attendance: Irene Mathyssen, NDP Critic for Seniors; Bruce Heyer, Deputy Leader of the Green Party; and Hedy Fry, Liberal Party Critic for Health. It is expected that the Prime Minister’s Office will soon be naming a representative to speak on behalf of the Conservative Party of Canada.
- ACER-CART’s new Political Advocacy Committee along with the Communications and Pensions & Retirement Committees met on numerous occasions (by phone and email!!) to prepare a NON-PARTISAN pre-election brochure called a Vision for Canada, the theme of which is “Working to achieve a caring, consultative, and committed Canadian Parliament.” A few printed copies of the brochure (two separate language versions) along with a PDF version will be forwarded to the ACER-CART provincial and territorial directors and presidents. The brochure could be posted on the Member Associations’ websites and distributed to members. Contact Executive Director Roger Régimbal, should you want more copies.
- On February 22, 2015, under the leadership of Pat Kerwin, President of the Congress of Union Retirees of Canada (CURC), two ACER-CART representatives, Brian Kenny and Norbert Boudreau, participated in a meeting of like-minded seniors to prepare a brief to the Federal Government and to organize the 25th anniversary of the UN Day of Older Persons on October 1, 2015. A follow-up meeting at the Canadian Association of Retired Persons (CARP) headquarters was held on March 5. Many retiree organizations including RTO/ERO and the BCRTA are signatories to a common letter from seniors’ organizations to the federal political parties concerning housing, financial security, health care and income inequality. Susan Eng (CARP) has agreed to share her advocacy skills at the ACER-CART AGM.
- ACER-CART has engaged as well with the National Association of Federal Retirees (NAFR) formally (FSNA). They are doing some powerful advocacy work around protecting defined benefit pension plans and resisting Government’s intention to introduce legislation permitting the shift by employers from defined benefit pension plans to shared risk plans – defined contribution pension plans and Target Plans. They are the Canadian Coalition for Retirement Security.
- In March, ACER-CART joined the Canadian Medical Association’s (CMA) “Alliance for a National Seniors’ Strategy”,
- to advocate to the major political parties at all levels of government to commit to a national seniors care strategy, with the federal government taking the lead;
- to request that the next elected Parliament bring together provincial/territorial governments with the federal government within six months of the election to start to engage key stakeholders and to put a seniors care plan into place by 2019.
- The generous support by RTO/ERO for the establishment of a Chair of Geriatrics at the University of Toronto has been noted and applauded by ACER-CART. Consequently, ACER-CART has been seeking to raise awareness among its member associations of the shortage of geriatricians in Canada and the need to increase the number of hours devoted to geriatric training in the medical curricula of Canadian universities. A research report is being circulated to all ACER-CART member associations who can choose to use the documentation in their pre-federal election advocacy.
As of March 27, 2015, ACER-CART’s membership totalled 127,689.
Respectfully submitted
Norbert Boudreau
Communications Committee Chair
April 2, 2015
