Ministerial Statement – Provincial Government Recognizes June as Seniors Month

  • Children, Seniors and Social Development

June 12, 2019

The following statement was given today in the House of Assembly by the Honourable Lisa Dempster, Minister of Children, Seniors and Social Development:

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize June as Seniors Month. We have seniors to thank for building our communities and creating this place we call home.

Mr. Speaker, we value our strong collaborations with community partners that support seniors throughout the province. I extend my sincere appreciation to the Provincial Advisory Council on Aging and Seniors, SeniorsNL, the Newfoundland and Labrador 50+ Federation and the Seniors Coalition, as well as the many 50+ clubs and other local seniors’ organizations.

As our population continues to age, we are creating new ways to ensure that older adults continue to be full and active participants in their communities. We have allocated funding in Budget 2019 for a new social inclusion initiative to help seniors in 50+ clubs participate in activities supporting healthy aging, and promoting mental health and well-being.

This new program is in addition to the many steps we’ve already taken to support our province’s seniors to age in place including the Age-Friendly Communities Program, the Community Transportation Program, and the Seniors Benefit and Income Supplement.

More than 80 per cent of clients served by the Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Corporation are seniors. Recently, we signed a $270 million Housing Agreement with the Federal Government and seniors will be one of the priority areas of this historic agreement. In 2019-20, the Home Energy Savings Program, will provide $4.1 million. This program funds energy efficiency upgrades, helping to lower heating costs for many seniors.

We are proud to have established an Office of the Seniors Advocate – the third of its kind in Canada. The Advocate is a strong independent voice for seniors in our province, and is currently meeting with seniors across Newfoundland and Labrador to learn from them.

This month, I encourage everyone to celebrate seniors for the tremendous contributions they have made and continue to make in our communities.

Thank you.

2019 06 12 2:25 pm