Susan Walsh says 1/3rd of seniors in NL can’t afford the necessities of life, are cutting pills in half and not eating nutritious food.
According to NL’s Seniors Advocate, “seniors in this province have the lowest incomes in Canada and they are struggling. This week, Susan Walsh released her office’s annual Status Report on Recommendations 2023-2024. Walsh says some recommendations go back to 2019. The greatest advancement of the OSA recommendations are from the 2019 report Long May Your Big Jib Draw with 72 percent implemented. Meanwhile, there has been less progress on the What Golden Years? Report which came out last year. Walsh says it’s very important to get these recommendations completed since they will address the financial challenges seniors are facing. She says 1/3rd of seniors in NL can’t afford the necessities of life, are cutting pills in half and not eating nutritious food. The province increased the seniors benefit by 15 percent in 2022-23, but haven’t put any money into the program since 2016. Walsh says there has been a 22 percent increase in cost of living so seniors buying power has been eroded by 7 percent behind. Walsh says seniors are getting poorer annually while the costs of living continue to rise.