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SPEECH TO SENIORS

This year, 2011, a very important milestone is happening. This is the year when the first lot of baby boomers, born in 1946, will reach 65 years of age and become what is commonly defined as "SENIOR CITIZENS". For the next 20 to 30 years, increasing numbers of BABY BOOMERS will continue to mellow into the golden years of the seniors, a stage that Quebecers call "LE TROISIEM AGE". BABY BOOMERS are the large number of people who were born after World War 2 and grew up in the 1960's and 1970's. In Quebec, 90,600 people are turning the big Six Five this year - more than a quarter of the 344,000 in Canada.

According to a Gazette article of August 2, 2011 entitled "65, but who's counting", Canada had the biggest BABY BOOM in the western world - and Quebec was the province with the biggest BABY BOOM in Canada.

Would you like to take a guess about why Quebec had so many baby boomers? I think that religion had something to do with it. According to some older folks, the Roman Catholic church used to have a lot more influence in Quebec. Quebecers could have been convinced that birth control was a sin, so they had more children. As time progressed, the birthrate decreased because of Feminism, the introduction of the birth control pill and the economic reality.

The impending increase in the number of seniors is causing a lot of concerns. Governments are taking steps to accommodate the increasing costs of pensions and health care. Seniors and soon-to-be seniors are concerned about getting old, being unable to work, ill health and reduced income.

What I would like to say today is that we seniors should not allow these concerns to intimidate us into a passive state of inactivity and lack of action; we should optimistically embrace the fact of old age and enjoy it as much as possible. Even though it is true that we senior citizens spent all of our lives earning the right to do whatever we want to do, I want to suggest that, for our own good, we seniors should work on convincing ourselves that we need to stay strong and fight for our rights.

Here are some ways in which we seniors can play a part in making this stage of our lives as comfortable and useful as possible.

The first and most important thing that we seniors can do is to TAKE CARE OF OUR MENTAL AND PHYSICAL HEALTH. We can take fairly simple and effective steps to prolong the wellbeing of our bodies and minds, with physical and mental exercises and activities. By doing this, we will be happier, and we will reduce the increases in health-care costs that Governments and administrations are predicting as a by-product of aging.

Everyone can benefit from regular exercise. Many municipalities have fitness sessions for seniors, including aqua-fitness in their swimming pools. There are many free ways to keep fit. Go for a walk. Whenever we go shopping, it is a good idea to consciously take a fitness walk around before, during or after we do our shopping. While watching TV, we can get up and stretch or walk on the spot. While sitting, we can bend from side to side and from front to back. Let's all stand now and practice what I am preaching.

We should develop and maintain social interaction with as many family members, friends or others as possible. We can try to make new friends and set a "new friend target" for ourselves; it could be one new friend a day, or one new friend a year, as long as it is positive. Why? Because we need friends, and they are so precious that we need as many as we can get, and it is not good for us to be lonely.

Another excellent objective is to work at having a pleasant disposition, because it is very difficult to like someone if they are miserable and cantankerous. Be genuine; smile often; say "hello" first, instead of waiting on the other person to say hello; be interested in the person you are talking to and let them see that you are interested. Call people on the phone now and then to touch base, find out how they are doing and to update them about yourself. Try to be part of a group that does things together, and remember that a group means two or more people. This could be a games group that plays one or more games together; a food group for regular group breakfasts, lunches or dinners; a movie group that goes to movies together; a soap opera group that discusses soap operas together; an exercise group that goes to the gym together; a cooking group; a dance or party group; a travel group; a church group; a voluntary organization, etcetera.

Volunteer to give something back to the community. We should set a target time per week or per month for the amount of time we will volunteer. Even one hour of volunteering per month is better than zero time. Here are some ways of volunteering: Go to your neighborhood school and offer your services as a volunteer. You may end up doing something you enjoy, like reading with a child for 15 minutes. Check with your local YMCA, Library, hospital or Town Hall. Check the phone book for Voluntary Organizations and offer to volunteer in ones you like. Note that you could have a problem if the administration starts to treat you like another employee, even though you are not paid, so you may choose to move from one to another to prevent them from getting to rely on you too much. On the other hand, who knows, you may find that you want to make a commitment and like being needed; as long as you make it your choice.

Find out how you can visit those who are confined to their homes by sickness or who are in hospital, and commit some time to this. Many of these seniors would love to get a home-cooked meal to break the monotony of institutional food and TV dinners that are probably not rated near to the top of the scale of delicious foods. When I was a boy back home, every Saturday, my mother sent me to take a bowl of home-cooked soup to Miss James down the road. She was always ready and waiting, and obviously very happy to get the soup.

There are more ways of volunteering than we can imagine; here are some examples of requests for volunteers that I saw in this week's West Island Gazette:

1) Volunteers are needed to help prepare sandwiches and baked goods for our monthly Seniors' café. Ingredients provided and prepared at our kitchen. One Tuesday a month from 1 to 4 pm.

2) Volunteers needed to help at a fundraiser on August 20 at Calistoga Grille in Pointe Clair. Proceeds go to the Lakeshore Hospital.

3) Volunteers needed to help with grocery shopping and/or dishwashing at various Meals on Wheels kitchens in the West Island.

4) A 65 year old woman in Lachine who is experiencing an intellectual disability would like a female volunteer to accompany her to a restaurant on occasion. She also enjoys going to the movies, cats and watching Doctor Oz.

5) An elderly couple in Pierrefonds with no family nearby would like a volunteer to help them with grocery shopping once in a while.

Ads for volunteers to help individuals are usually processed through established volunteer services and organizations.

Seniors need to forget about petty differences and learn to care for and look after each other. We are in the last stage of our lives and we need to make the most of it. Try your hardest to forgive and forget.

Defend and fight for our rights as seniors. Although Canada is a bilingual country with both English and French as its two official languages, there is no active Quebec governmental policy to maintain documentation and services in English for citizens in Quebec and the Canadian government does not seem to be doing anything about it. In 1974, Bill 22 made French the only official language in the province of Quebec; it was expanded into law with the current Bill 101, The Charter of The French Language. Since then, the Quebec government actively promotes only French, one of the two official languages of Canada, as per Canada's constitution. We are getting less and less English documentation and services from the Quebec government and Quebec businesses, as expressed in an article in Montreal's Gazette of July 20, 2011 titled "I'm bilingual, but I want to discuss my health in English" and a subsequent Gazette editorial on August 8, 2011 titled "Accessible health care in English is everyone's right". Services in English in Canada is our constitutional right; if nobody remembers this and nobody mentions it and nobody asks for it, this right will continue to fade away in Quebec. If you are an English speaking person in Quebec, you need to be aware of this and you need to be prepared to take steps to ensure that your English rights are respected and preserved.

When we have taken the necessary steps to prolong our own mental and physical wellbeing, we will be best equipped to take advantages of all the services that our governments and administrations are setting up for seniors.

In the past 50 years, targeted research and developments in longevity have resulted in the addition of 20 more years to our life expectancy.

Governments have sponsored and are sponsoring many research projects about the needs of seniors. As a result, there are several programs for seniors. We are now seeing new resources and facilities for seniors such as Municipal activities, Store Discounts, Transportation discounts, Travel discounts, Entertainment discounts, discounts for meals and even Seniors' Dating Services.

Quebec is a leader when it comes to concern for seniors. Quebec was the first jurisdiction in North America to abolish mandatory retirement in 1983. Three other provinces and three territories now have abolished mandatory retirement as being discriminatory: they are Alberta, Manitoba and Prince Edward Island, plus the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Yukon. Canada is working on this. Canada's Bill C-481, which will prevent mandatory retirement in all of Canada, has passed the second reading in parliament and could become Canadian law before the next federal election.

There are financial subsidies from the governments that provide regular money to seniors who are having difficulties in covering basic living expenses with their pensions. Subsidized housing is also available. Check with the Federal and Provincial government agencies to find out more.

The STM will convert all of Montreal's buses to the low-floor type by 2012.

There is a plan to install elevators in all of Montreal's Metro stations, starting with 5 stations on the orange line.

The time given for pedestrians crossing at traffic lights is being increased so that slower walkers can cross safely.

Seniors are in a privileged position. The Governments want to keep us happy, possibly because our numbers are increasing and our voting strength is becoming more significant. Let us stand tall. Be proud, keep in touch and stay informed about what is happening and let us enjoy our golden years.

August, 2011

The World's 10 Richest People, 2011 (net worth)

1) Carlos Slim Helú & family, Mexican telecom mogul (US$74 billion)

2) Bill Gates, USA, Microsoft (US 56 billion)

3) Warren Buffett, USA, Berkshire Hathaway (US$50 billion)

4) Bernard Arnault, France, LVMH (US$41 billion)

5) Larry Ellison, USA, Oracle (US$39.5 billion)

6) Lakshmi Mittal, India, Steel (US$31.20 billion)

7) Amancio Ortega, Spain, Zara (US$31 billion)

8) Eike Batista, Brazil, Minining, oil (US$30 billion)

9) Mukesh Ambani, India, Petrochemicals (US$27 billion)

10) Christy Walton & family, USA, Wal-Mart (US$26.5 billion)

Reference: Forbes Magazine, http://www.forbes.com/2011/03/09/billionaires-20-richest_slide.html

The World's Richest Black People, 2011

1) Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Nigeria, US$13.8 billion, owner of the Dangote Group, which has operations in Nigeria and several other countries in Africa, including Benin, Cameroon, Ghana, South Africa and Zambia.

2) Mohammed Al Amoudi (US$12.3 billion)

3) Patrice Motsepe, South Africa, gold magnate (US$3.3 billion)

4) Oprah Winfrey, USA, (US$2.7 billion)

5) Mike Adenuga, Nigeria, (US$2 billion)

6) Mo Ibrahim, UK, (US$1.8 billion)

Reference: Forbes Magazine, 2011

The 10 happiest countries

According to Forbes Magazine's Christopher Helman - Thu Jan 20, 4:22 PM, five years ago researchers at the Legatum Institute, a London-based nonpartisan think tank, set out to rank the happiest countries in the world. But because "happy" carries too much of a touchy-feely connotation, they call it "prosperity."

Here's the list:

1. Norway

2. Denmark

3. Finland

4. Australia

5. New Zealand

6. Sweden

7. Canada

8. Switzerland

9. Netherlands

10. United States

Posted 1-23-2011

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