Senior collecting bottles to pay for spouse’s funeral

Eric Hamill president of the P.E.I. Senior Citizens’ Federation photo - Charlottetown Guardian

Charlottetown Guardian –  P.E.I. seniors are being let down by this country’s social safety net, says the president of the P.E.I. Senior Citizens’ Federation.

Eric Hammill says some seniors have had to resort to picking up bottles and cans on the side of the road to pay for a partner’s funeral arrangements while others have no other choice but to shut off part of their homes because they can’t afford to heat the whole house.

Hammill told P.E.I. MLAs Wednesday improvements need to be made to provide more money to low-income seniors and to offset costs for home repairs.

“I pretty near cried,” said Hammill as he recounted a recent conversation with a close friend.

“His wife had passed away. He was out picking bottles on the side of the road. He wasn’t much younger than I was. It wasn’t easy work for him. I stopped and asked him why he was doing this.

“He said, ‘Eric, to tell the truth, I’m trying to pay my wife’s funeral expenses’.”

Island MLAs are reviewing the programs and services delivered under the Social Assistance Act.

On Wednesday, MLAs heard from the P.E.I. Senior Citizens’ Federation, the P.E.I. Working Group for a Liveable Wage, P.E.I. People First and ALERT, an Island-based anti-poverty group.

Next week, the committee hopes to hear from Community Services Minister Janice Sherry.

Hammill said Island seniors over the age of 65 have an average income of just under $25,000 — not far above the low-income cutoff of $18,000. Women over the age of 65, he added, have an average income of less than 40 per cent of their male counterparts.

The federation president said the federal government could solve this crisis by increasing the transfers to seniors, even by $100 per month.

The federation also wants changes to the seniors emergency home repair program. The old program offered $5,000 to eligible low-income seniors and they were not required to match that grant. The P.E.I. government canceled that program.

The current government initiated a new program but it requires seniors to match the funding to a maximum of $1,500 each or $3,000 total. But Hammill said many seniors cannot afford to come up with their half of the program and the $3,000 is not enough to cover the costs of most repairs, including a new roof or bathroom.

“I know of seniors who are on medication and they’re waiting for their cheques to come in the mail. They run out of drugs before they get the next cheque and they are doing without those drugs.”