As rising costs and inadequate supports continue to frustrate seniors in the province, Newfoundland and Labrador NDP Leader Jim Dinn released a series of policies aimed at bettering the quality of life of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians – including raising the seniors’ benefit 25 per cent, tying the rate to inflation thereafter.
“I’ve heard countless stories of seniors who, after retiring from lifelong careers, now have to take on one – sometimes even two – minimum wage jobs just to make ends meet. This should never be the reality for seniors in our province who have spent their lives working hard,” said Dinn. “They deserve to have a government that sees the struggles they are facing, listens to their calls for help, and acts. We cannot continue to let seniors in this province be forced to work just to survive.”
Dinn released a suite of seniors policies, targeted to get a better deal for those who’ve helped build our province:
- New Seniors’ Rights Legislation to Keep Couples Together in Long-Term Care – bringing comfort and compassion back to families;
- Increasing the Seniors’ Benefit for Seniors by 25 Per Cent – ensuring those on fixed incomes are able to live a life they can afford and deserve;
- Increasing the wages and benefits for home support workers, as a first step towards integrating them into the public system – supporting seniors to stay in their homes longer.
Alongside this suite of measures, an NL NDP government is committed to implementing rent and vacancy controls to help seniors stay in their homes without being priced out. New Democrats will also remove the provincial HST from all forms of home heating and maintain the oil rebate, so seniors never have to choose between staying warm and being able to afford to live.
“We can’t afford to not act. Seniors deserve a government that is on their side, ensuring that they have what they need to spend their golden years without stress, without worry, and focusing on spending time with loved ones, not spending time working a minimum wage job just to live. An NDP government is ready to deliver a better deal for seniors.”
This initiative, included in the NDP costed platform, will cost the government $16 million in the first year, with further annual increases tied to the Consumer Price Index.
Last week, the NL NDP released their fully costed, balanced platform – something the Liberals and Conservatives have yet to do. Dinn pointed to seniors on fixed incomes, those who have no choice but to crunch the numbers and balance their budgets every month just to get by.
“Every month, seniors across this province have to look at their budget and decide what they can afford. If they decide to heat their home, are they foregoing food? Medications? They have to find a way to make it work,” said Dinn. “We’ve got two parties that for decades – whether its Liberals or Conservatives – have failed to bring in any fiscal responsibility to our provincial finances.”
“We’re three weeks into this campaign, with hundreds of millions of dollars in promises and no plan. They’re about to do it again. Our platform isn’t flashy but it helps people out immediately and gets our province’s finances back on track.”
For decades, both the Liberals and Conservatives have promised balanced budgets but both drove Newfoundland and Labrador further into debt when elected.
Dinn challenged both leaders to release their platforms and their costing, offering to buy both John Hogan and Tony Wakeham a calculator for the hundreds of millions in promises they’ve made.