By Charles Lefebvre

Seniors Week launches in Medicine Hat

Jun 3, 2019 | 4:57 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB — The Alberta government officially launched Seniors Week in Medicine Hat on Monday.

Josephine Pon, the Minister of Seniors and Housing, stopped at the Veiner Centre Monday morning to bring greetings on behalf of the province and celebrate the work and contributions of seniors.

“It’s such an honour and privilege to bring the greeting on behalf of Premier Jason Kenney as well as our government colleagues,” Pon said following her remarks.

In addition to the praise for seniors, Pon spoke about the challenges that are facing Alberta, especially as the population ages. The government is projecting the population of people aged 65 and older in Alberta to hit one million within the next 20 years.

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Pon says affordable housing for seniors is one of her ministry’s focuses.

“That is something we’ll be focusing on, right now,” she said. “How to take care of our seniors, and how to make sure they’ll live comfortably, and have a place that they call home.”

Health care has also been a topic people have been asking Pon about.

Pon says she will be travelling through Alberta and speaking with seniors to find out what they desire.

“I want to make sure we listen to seniors, and what they really need, and also the partnership with the associations and the private sector who are focused on seniors -either the care or the housing- and get that feedback and then we put an action plan together, focusing on what is the obstacle and the challenge,” she said.

Pon says she’s hoping to have a plan for seniors in place when the budget is tabled in the fall.