Canadian United Nations Ambassador Bob Rae is flanked by Sayward Montague, director of advocacy for Federal Retirees, left, and Federal Retirees president Roy Goodall. The three met at the United Nations in the spring when the association was advocating for a UN Convention on the Rights of Older Persons.
This spring Federal Retirees launched two new advocacy campaigns, focused on ensuring rights for older persons and support for caregivers.
A UN convention is needed
Federal Retirees is advocating for the federal government to support a United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of Older Persons. A convention would:
• Protect the human rights of older persons under international law;
• Encourage greater development of policies and programs benefiting older persons; and,
• Combat ageism.
Why is a convention needed?
As societies continue to age, governments must address the unique challenges faced by older adults. By 2030, adults aged 65 or older will make up 23 per cent of Canada’s population and number more than 9.5 million. By 2050, one in six people in the world will be aged 65 or over.
Currently, there are no international, universally applicable standards to protect the rights of older persons. As a result, millions of older people are living in poverty, without access to the social and health services they need, and facing discrimination based on older age.
A convention would protect the rights of older persons, recognize the valuable economic and social contributions older persons make and provide a comprehensive and coherent framework for a world free from ageism and age discrimination.
The World Health Organization (WHO) Global Report on Ageism indicates that one in two people holds ageist attitudes towards older adults. Ageism is characterized by stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination based on age.
Measures are needed to prohibit discrimination based on age and to enable freedom from violence, neglect and abuse. These measures can also help ensure older persons have adequate income support as they age, opportunities to contribute to — and stay active in — their communities and access to health and social services, including long-term and home care.
Federal Retirees' actions
The association is calling for a UN Convention on the Rights of Older Persons, in partnership with the International Longevity Centre Canada and the Global Alliance for the Rights of Older People.
As part of this work, Federal Retirees president Roy Goodall participated in the 14th session of the UN Open-ended Working Group on Ageing, which the association attended as a founding organization of the Canadian Coalition Against Ageism.
This working group was established by the UN’s General Assembly in 2010 to consider the international framework on the human rights of older persons and to identify possible gaps and how best to address them. In a step forward, member states have accepted a landmark report that includes several recommendations regarding the identification of possible gaps in the protection of the human rights of older persons and how best to address them. One of these recommendations is to establish a UN Convention on the Rights of Older Persons. At a related event hosted by International Longevity Centre Canada, Goodall asked the panellists, including Canada’s UN Ambassador Bob Rae, why Canada has not yet committed to a convention.
“A convention would protect the rights of older persons, recognize their valuable economic and social contributions and provide a comprehensive framework to help eliminate ageism and age discrimination globally,” Goodall said at the time. “Given Canada’s history of supporting human rights internationally, why hasn’t the government walked through the open door to support a convention?”
Later, during plenary discussions on older persons’ participation in public life and decision-making processes, Goodall delivered remarks with a special focus on older persons’ participation in informing health-care policy.
“Recent shifts to virtual health care risk excluding older persons due to financial and other barriers,” he noted. “It is imperative that older persons have agency and dignity when it comes to their health care, and that their voices are included in health-care policy and decision-making. This will help safeguard their fundamental rights of access to, and full enjoyment of, health and health care.”
A recording of Goodall’s remarks can be viewed on Federal Retirees’ website.
What can you do?
Canada’s support is integral to moving this forward. Visit our website to join our campaign.
We need caregiver support
With 1.5 million Canadians over the age of 65 providing care for a family member or friend, Federal Retirees is calling
for better supports for caregivers and meaningful recognition of the important work they do.
Most older adults report a preference to age in place, and caregivers are key to making that happen. The importance of caregivers’ work needs to be understood, recognized and financially compensated.
Governments must work together to achieve this by:
- Revising and standardizing the definitions of “caregiver” and “dependant” to broaden eligibility for benefits, financial assistance and other supports;
- Increasing the value of the Canada caregiver credit by making it refundable and available to all caregivers across Canada; and,
- Investing in tools and programs to assist caregivers, creating awareness of these supports and developing accessible and easy-to-understand resources about these supports for Canadians.
Member caregivers
Caregiving is often unpaid and while it is often selfless, loving and rewarding, those who do this work are usually faced with greater financial burdens and higher levels of stress.
As part of this campaign, members shared their own experiences as caregivers.
Guy Bird remembers the first time he decided he needed help to care for his wife, who’d been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease for 12 years.
“The very morning she was supposed to go into the care home, I called and asked if they’d be mad if I changed my mind,” Bird recalls. “They said ‘No,’ so I kept her home for another two years. She was still sufficiently cognitive that she thanked me for doing that, but the second time, when she did go to a care home for the last six months [of her life], she was way beyond that.”
Brian Hills recounts the lack of access to resources when he needed them. In the daytime, he would be able to call nurses for advice or in-person help, but after 10 p.m., when things invariably got worse for his wife, Sam, he was on his own.
“I just struggled with the whole thing,” he says. “There was no one to call. One night I had to call an ambulance.”
Célyne Houde explains one of the hard things was figuring out what services were available to her parents, whether from the government or from community groups, and what subsidies might exist.
“Once you know these resources exist and you knock on the right doors, things start getting into place. But finding them takes work.”
Geoff Howson reflects on the years after his father had a severe stroke and how he dealt with being his father’s caregiver.
“He always had to use a walker and he hated it because he was a very proud and stubborn man,” Howson says. “That’s another thing caregivers have to consider. For people who have been vibrant and alive, and are hit with a debilitating shortcoming, the caregiver also has to deal with their psychological and emotional needs — to find ways to help them accept what they've been hit with.”
How you can help
Visit us online to:
- Watch the recording of our webinar on caregiving in Canada;
- Read the members’ caregiving stories; and,
- Tell your representatives support for caregivers is needed now.
Email advocacyteam@federalretirees.ca to learn more about these advocacy campaigns.