Options Newsletter, Winter 2006
Happy New Year!
It seems most appropriate to start off this 2006 year with our best New Year wishes to you. May everything good that you seek come to pass!
ACER-CART Activities to Date
Canadian Seniors Partnership Teleconference
A new design of the Seniors On-line Canada website has been completed. You are invited to take a look at it. See it by connecting via this site’s Links page or click on http://www.seniors.gc.ca/index.jsp. And express your views as to its usefulness by completing the short survey (www.acer-cart.org/English/solc_survey.pdf).
Note: Surveys linked with this newsletter and on the ACER-CART website require Adobe Acrobat software. You can get a free version at: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html.
Canadian Caregiver Coalition – October 17-18, 2005
ACER-CART has begun to participate in the Canadian Caregivers Coalition, a national body of 35 organizations representing and promoting the voice, needs and interests of care givers with all levels of government and the community. ACER-CART representative Pierre Drouin attended a Canadian Seniors Partnership conference on October 17-18, meeting with Federal officials from the Ministry responsible for families and care givers, and the Ministry of Social Development Canada.
Congress of National Seniors Organizations Meeting November 1-3, 2005
Among the topics discussed were medicare principles and access, grants available to CNSO, formation 
of a constitution, strategies for the federal election, and access to the Seniors Secretariat. It’s been stated that 130,000 seniors are still not getting the benefits (OAS, GIS,…) to which they are entitled as they have not applied! ACER-CART was one of six organizations elected to the Coordinating Committee. An ACERCART past president, Val Alcock, is our official representative. Executive Director Pierre Drouin also attended as an observer. On CNSO’s sub-committees we are represented by Val Alcock (Healthy Aging) and Pierre Drouin (Governance) with meetings to be held via teleconferencing. A survey on Health Care and a Two Tier System has been developed to provide data. See it at www.acer-cart.org/English/health_care_survey.pdf
National Round Table on Seniors Meeting November 29, 2005
ACER-CART was represented by Pierre Drouin at this meeting where issues of particular importance were identified: economic well-being during retirement; health and health care including 
home care and long term care; supports for independent living; accessible services and programs; personal security; elder abuse; flexible work-to-retirement options; combating ageism; social inclusion; active participation. A survey on Seniors Priorities has been developed to gather opinions from retired teachers. See it at: www.acer-cart.org/English/seniors_priorities_survey.pdf
From The Committees:
COMMUNICATIONS – Vaughn Wadelius
Website
On November 4, 2005 the website registered its 1000th visitor since the official startup of 2004. This year the focus has been on updating and expanding current information. 
Standard features of the website were updated, such as the 2005 AGM summary report, and the website photo gallery. The work of enhancing the website continues. To develop and maintain the web site the web master uses a blend of an XHTML editor, FrontPage, Adobe Acrobat and Dreamweaver.
Downloadable ACER-CART forms in pdf (Adobe Acrobat) format have been added at the bottom of the AGM Report page. The forms available are: a) AGM Report Form; b) Expense Claim Form; c) Fee Invoice Form; d) Nominating Form.
Another addition was the full text of the October 6, 2005 “Brief to the Standing Committee on Finance”.
Efforts to ensure the correctness of the listing of member organization Presidents and Directors is ongoing, and updates are requested from members. Finally, the “What’s New?” section that has lanquished in the past, has been receiving more contributions from the member organizations this year.
Newsletter
The first edition of the ACER-CART newsletter, OPTIONS, was produced in September, and this Winter 2006 edition of the newsletter will be the last before the 2006 AGM. Some member organizations have made use of the newsletter as ACER-CART updates in their own organization newsletters.
Media Releases
Two releases, initiated by Pierre Drouin and Pat Brady, have been produced to date this year to respond to specific items of interest (October 6 – ACER-CART brief, and October 14 – BC Teachers’ Strike). Further refinement of the process is being considered, with one objective being to allow for releases in both languages.
HEALTH SERVICES AND INSURANCE – Fred Ripley
The committee has developed a survey questionnaire on Health Plans for retired teachers and has distributed this across the country. We presently have a comparison that was done in 2001-02 and one of the most important aspects of research done at that time was omitted. We need to know not only what coverage the retired teachers have but most importantly what that coverage is costing them. Among the questions that will be asked in the current study are what are the premiums for these programs and what percentage do retired teachers pay for these programs.It is very obvious that members in some provinces get assistance with their health plans while members in other provinces get very little or no assistance with their health programs. The committee is attempting to collect data that will show a good comparison for the entire country. See the survey at www.acer-cart.org/English/long_term_care_survey.pdf.
PENSION AND RETIREMENT INCOME – Helen Biales
Members of the committee continue to review the relevant motions passed at the 2005 annual meeting of ACER-CART.
International Assistance, Book Development Project – Support for this CTF sponsored project was requested at the 2005 AGM and will be considered at the 2006 AGM. Has your organization considered this as a pan-Canadian project of retired teacher organizations? Educational assistance for developing countries is provided to students and teachers alike by the CTF International Fund’s collaboration with the Pan African Teacher Centre’s Book Development Project.
The President’s Comments
Well, we have survived another year – or you wouldn’t be reading this!! I would like to extend my best wishes for an even better 2006.
You will be reading this during the final stages of the federal election campaign. If nothing else, it has been an interesting campaign to observe. I often wonder where the leaders of the political parties get the energy to do what they do. I’m speaking of quantity, not quality.It doesn’t appear that we will have a majority government this time around. However, who can tell?
For the past few months, ACER-CART has made representations to all of the three major parties in respect to issues we would like addressed in the next parliamentary session. We have initiated direct oral approaches to MPs and various federal Ministers; sent a questionnaire to party presidents and party leaders; and written letters/briefs to all outlining federal policies and laws which we believe need to be addressed — in particular, how those policies, practices, and laws affect seniors.
Many of the issues we have been raising have, in turn, been pursued by other seniors’ groups, locally and nationally. I like to think that we have had some influence on policies the parties have espoused during the campaign. For example:
The Conservative party has announced it would increase seniors’ personal pension deductions from $1000 to $2000 (and eventually to $2500); promised the establishment of a Seniors’ Council to advise the Minister responsible for seniors’ issues (something we have been “pursuing” for the past year); indicated that there would be no new taxes on income trusts; would allow income splitting for seniors; and would double the size of the caregiver’s tax credit to cover $7000 of allowable expenses.
The Liberal party has stated that it will increase tax benefits by 2.2% as of January 2006; raise the threshold of $8600 in annual income before taxation to $10,000; increase to $22,000 annual RRSP contributions and eliminate the Foreign Content Rule from investments (the old rate was 30% of a portfolio); increase the Guaranteed Income Supplement to a maximum of $400 (single person) and $700 (couple) by 2007; increase the annual budget for the New Horizons Programme (a programme for activities in the voluntary sector) from $12.5 million to $25 by 2007-2008; spend $13 million over 5 years to establish a new National Seniors Secretariat; commit up to $1 billion over the next 5 years to help provinces implement a family caregiver support strategy; double to $10,000 the amount of medical and disability-related expenses which may be claimed on behalf of a dependant relative; and implement a National Home Care Programme which would provide home care services for post-acute patients, including coverage for medication and rehabilitation services, home mental health care management, and palliative home care services (dedicating $2 billion over 5 years to the National Home Care Programme).
The New Democratic Party has promised it will implement public or non-profit-based home care throughout Canada; review the adequacy of Canada’s pension system to develop more-effective ways for enhancing income security for seniors; phase in a Pharmacare programme to help Canadians afford drugs they need (including those required as a result of a “catastrophic illness”); pay for drugs for home treatment where those same drugs are covered in hospital treatment; implement a national bulk buying programme for drugs; outlaw “evergreen” prescription drugs which delay the availability of cheaper, generic drugs; pay 25% of provincial health care costs from federal revenues; and work with the provinces to establish more community-based clinics to handle health problems.
Of particular note in the foregoing points is the establishment and operation of a national seniors’ advisory committee and a Seniors’ Secretariat within the national government. A national voice for seniors has been of particular interest to ACER-CART and many other national seniors’ organizations. The key element here is the funding of the national committee. If the advisory committee is to be effective, financial support for its operation is of primary importance (perhaps seniors will get grants and services similar to that of the national status of women organization). We continue to work with and within the Congress of National Seniors’ Organizations to promote the funding of the seniors’ advisory committee. For more information on this, please contact the Director for your region or our web site’s “Articles” section (the brief to the Commons Standing Committee on Finance).
Within the past month, our Executive Director (Pierre Drouin) forwarded the ACER-CART “Quarterly Report” to all Directors. I believe that your Director either has or soon will be making much of that information available to the member organizations and will not repeat that data here.
Once again, I wish you all a happy and restful 2006.
President
ACER-CART
