Seniors' advocate legislation introduced in N.L., office to open in spring

Newfoundland and Labrador will have more seniors per capita than any other province by 2026, and the government is setting up an office to advocate for them.

The Office of the Seniors' Advocate was announced Tuesday by Premier Dwight Ball and Minister of Children, Seniors and Social Development Sherry Gambin-Walsh.

The core mandate of the office will be to address "systemic issues facing seniors in the province" rather than individual complaints and to make recommendations to the provincial government about policy involving seniors, said Ball.

These are statistics we simply cannot ignore.- Sherry Gambin-Walsh

"When you consider the fact that almost30 per cent of our population will be aged 65 years or older within 10 years, we need to ensure seniors have a powerful and independent voice," he said.

Liberals heard the request for a seniors' advocate during public consultations in 2014, and made it part of the party's election platform the following year.

"I am proud today that we are taking action," said Ball.

Greyingpopulation

Legislation received second reading in the House of Assembly on Tuesday.The office should be open by the spring of 2017, and will have an annual budgetof $500,000.

• 'Just a ghost town, that's all': The Northern Peninsula and its population predicament
• Drastic population declines forecasted for southern Labrador and Northern Peninsula

British Columbia and Alberta have similaradvocates.

Gambin-Walsh said 19 per cent of the province's population is over 65, and that will grow to 27 per cent by 2026.

"These are statistics we simply cannot ignore," she said.

The office will work with the citizens' representative and the Seniors Resource Centre, she said, with the resource centre tracking calls to help identify issues that should be forwarded on to the advocate.