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Policy changes no coincidence

The federal Conservatives are contemplating key policy changes for seniors, including eliminating the mandatory retirement age, at a time when the demographic is of growing importance to the party’s future.

OTTAWA — The federal Conservatives are contemplating key policy changes for seniors, including eliminating the mandatory retirement age, at a time when the demographic is of growing importance to the party’s future.

Workers with federally regulated companies must still retire at age 65. Diane Ablonczy, the minister of state for seniors, says the government is looking at wiping that from legislation with the exception of some specific cases.

She also says that the government has its eye on income support for impoverished senior women who have lost their husbands and do not have decent pension income.

And Ablonczy is studying ways to make the labour force more welcoming to older workers, so that seniors have better options for remaining in the workforce if they choose.

“There’s going to need to be some adaptation in the business community,” she said.

Ablonczy points out that Ottawa has already started down the road of significant pension reform, with proposals targeted at soon-to-be seniors and their post-retirement income.

The government has dramatically increased the amount of money seniors can earn without giving up their Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) — a key demand from seniors’ advocates.

But the biggest challenge for seniors’ policy is one of mindset, Ablonczy said in an interview this week after meeting with her provincial counterparts in Fredericton.

For so long, the mentality of policy makers has been that the labour market does not need seniors, and that seniors don’t want to work.

Changing demographics mean that in the future the labour force will need the skills of older workers, and older workers will likely want, and need, to keep working well past the traditional retirement age of 65.

“For decades, our thinking has been completely the reverse,” Ablonczy said.

“We’re going to have to completely rethink a lot of our perceptions of how things work, and how programs are delivered, in light of demographic reality. As you know, people don’t do that overnight.”

Broad increases to seniors benefits such as the GIS or Old Age Security (OAS) are not on the drawing board however, Ablonczy said.

That’s because poverty among seniors has declined dramatically in the past 20 years, and because raising the GIS or OAS is very expensive.

“It’s an issue that has a lot of fiscal consequences at a time when, as you know, fiscal resources are under strain.”

It’s no coincidence that the Tories are beefing up their seniors’ agenda as talk of another election is in the air.

“It’s hugely important,” from an electoral point of view, the minister said.

As Ablonczy points out, the number of Canadian seniors is expected to double over the next 25 years. Between 2015 and 2021, the number of seniors is expected to surpass the number of children in the Canadian population.

For the federal Tories, these trends mean opportunity. Already, the Conservative voting base relies disproportionately on older voters, and the party sees its fortunes improving by tapping into its existing voting base further, said pollster Allan Gregg, chairman of Harris Decima.

“Mobilizing their own base and their own constituency in many respects is as important, and maybe even more important, than expanding their base,” Gregg said.

Indeed, he said many of the Conservative stances on social issues — abortion, gun control, same-sex marriage and legalizing marijuana — are driven by an appeal to seniors, and have little to do with gender or geography.

“Seniors arguably are the most important constituency for the Conservative party.”

If the Conservatives actually take action on the issues Ablonczy is talking about, the party will have a recipe for success, said Susan Eng, vice-president of advocacy for CARP, a large seniors’ lobby group based in Toronto.

She emphasizes that 70 per cent of Canadians over the age of 55 regularly vote. And although that vote is thought to be fairly loyal, even small shifts can make a difference to a party’s electoral fortunes.

“If you actually give them things that they are asking for, you’ve got a pretty good formula for success.”

Ignoring appeals to raise the GIS or OAS is a mistake, however, countered Sylvia MacLeay, who heads up a 70,000-member seniors’ organization in British Columbia.

Because life spans are increasing at a time when savings have been pummelled by fickle financial markets, more and more seniors are finding their savings to be insufficient, she said.

“They thought they’d have enough to live, but now they find themselves getting lower and lower, closer to the poverty level,” she said. For her members, increasing government pension benefits “is a top priority.”