“The urgency is real and we must act now”, launched Tuesday the president of the Quebec Association for the defense of the rights of retired and pre-retired people (AQDR), Pierre Lynch, who calls for the end of “systemic ageism” in Quebec.
The AQDR unveiled a manifesto on Tuesday that it sent to the main provincial parties which will be called upon to compete with electoral promises in the coming weeks, in anticipation of the October 3 election.
At the heart of the association’s concerns is the issue of seniors’ income, the evolution of which is struggling to keep up with the rise in the cost of living, particularly in the current inflationary context. “Quebec seniors are getting poorer. It is essential to rethink incomes so that they are kept out of poverty, ”insists Mr. Lynch, at a press conference Tuesday morning in Montreal. To do this, “the solution lies in establishing a viable income for seniors,” he adds.
In Montreal, the “viable income” defined by the Institute for Socio-Economic Research and Information is just over $29,500 per year for a single person. However, one-third of seniors receive less than $21,000 a year to meet all their basic needs, deplores the AQDR.
“The impoverishment of seniors is not a new phenomenon, but it continues and it is accelerating,” observes Mr. Lynch, who fears that a growing proportion of seniors will find themselves in a situation of poverty in Quebec. “Inflation, all it does is accelerate a process that was already in motion. »
sense of urgency
The situation is such that elderly people find themselves forced to “sell their house” or even their car to make ends meet, deplores the head of the association’s income and taxation committee, Pierre-Claude Poulin.
“The urgency is real and we must act now,” adds Mr. Lynch, who blames “systemic ageism” in Quebec society and within the Quebec government to explain the lack of “structural measures” put in place to improve the living conditions of seniors in the province. “We are sidelined, we are the forgotten ones,” he adds in an interview.
However, he recalls, people aged 65 and over occupy a larger part of the Quebec population. They should represent 27% of the total population in Quebec in 2066, against 20% in 2020, according to forecasts by the Institut de la statistique du Québec.
“We can’t go on like this. There will be significant consequences in terms of mental health, in terms of isolation, in terms of many other things, ”he worries.
The question of the lack of affordable housing for the elderly, at a time when private residences for seniors (RPA) are closing their doors at a frantic pace, also concerns the AQDR. “When you have an income of 21,000 [dollars par année], even a big-hearted entrepreneur who wants to open an RPA is no longer able to arrive, is no longer able to raise the rent, ”raises Mr. Poulin. Thus, we find ourselves in a situation “where there are more and more seniors and RPAs are closing,” he laments.
The AQDR, which will make more specific demands during the election campaign, is also calling for measures to improve the accessibility of public transit for seniors, in particular by making it more affordable for seniors.
“We are asking for a radical and immediate improvement in the conditions of seniors. It’s not a question of political partisanship, it’s a question of actions,” concludes Mr. Lynch.