Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley said she would help seniors by expanding services to ensure they can have dignified lives. .“Our plan is all about giving seniors a better future in Alberta,” said Notley at a Monday press conference in Calgary. .“And that means protecting your pension and giving you the supports you need to stay healthy at home as long as possible.” .Notley said an Alberta NDP government would increase spending on home care to provide 20,000 more seniors with it over the next four years. This represents a $100 million increase from Budget 2023. .She said this policy will enable seniors to stay in their homes longer. This funding will go towards covering tasks such as shovelling snow, transportation, meals, minor medical matters, and building more seniors' housing. .The NDP will expand the seniors’ home adaptation and care program to ensure they can make renovations to allow them to live comfortably. It will build more seniors’ housing in independent and communal settings to give them choice. .The NDP leader went on to say it will make the shingles vaccine free to all eligible seniors. She added it will make prescriptions more affordable by bringing spouses and dependents back onto the seniors’ drug benefit plan. .It will reverse the Alberta United Conservative Party’s fees for drivers’ medical exams. It will increase rental assistance and the seniors’ benefit to relieve pressure on low-income people. .Notley concluded by saying she knows what seniors want is “to spend those glorious retirement years at home doing the activities that we love.” .“But should the time come when more support is needed, the point of this is to tell you Alberta’s NDP will be there for you,” she said. .The Western Standard attempted to ask Notley questions during the question part but was blocked by NDP press secretary Mike McKinnon. .“Don’t yell your questions out, OK?” said McKinnon. .“We have a policy with your particular outlet where you have operated in hate speech against our candidates.” .When asked how the Western Standard has violated the Criminal Code of Canada, McKinnon said he has gone over this several times. He said he would be happy to have a discussion with the editors. .UCP candidate Jeremy Nixon (Calgary-Klein) said while the NDP has announced policy ideas for seniors, his party is "already investing to ensure Alberta seniors have a tremendous quality of life." ."Among other things, we increased the benefit rate for the Alberta Seniors Benefit from $286 to $303, maintained seniors' benefits for over 177,000 low-income seniors, and provided over $2 billion in funding to support drug and health benefits, mainly for seniors — a $110 million, or 5.7% increase over the last year," said Nixon. ."The UCP is also providing $600 in affordability payments for eligible seniors who are struggling to cope with costs related to the (Justin) Trudeau-NDP inflation crisis, and we are investing $1 billion over three years to help the public, non-profit, and private sectors work together to build and deliver affordable housing for seniors, so that they can age comfortably in their communities." .Nixon said the UCP will be making some exciting, new announcements for seniors soon. He predicted the NDP will make life harder, particularly for those on fixed incomes, with higher taxes and fees and a 40% increase to power bills.
