Helping seniors in our community
Ottawa West-Nepean is home to a large proportion of senior citizens. Many seniors have asked Ryan about Conservative policy considerations specific to them.
At the Convention in Quebec City in September 2023, Conservatives debated the merits of possible platform policies specific to seniors including:
- Economic and fiscal policies to ensure an effective, sustainable Canada Pension Plan and Old Age Security
- Tax incentives for trained workers over 60 to stimulate their retention or continued employment
- Tax incentives for non-professional caregivers to look after the elderly or disabled in the home
- Encouraging municipal and provincial strategies to build more multi-generational homes
As part of the 2023 Conservative policy process, Ryan voted for a proposal to develop a National Seniors Strategy that would reflect Conservative policies in the context of the post-pandemic realities facing Canadians today.
In Ottawa West-Nepean, older Canadians are often choosing to work and to stay in their homes longer. Some must consider career re-training and part-time employment to help make ends meet. Some delay retirement altogether to help family members pay for post-secondary education or a home.
Sound policies for seniors must interact with Conservative housing policies, especially in an urban riding like Ottawa West-Nepean where renovation and densification are more common than new developments. In order to build more homes faster, we must necessarily have policies that encourage densification of neighbourhoods and multigenerational homes. Policies that promote young Canadians being able to afford their first home must also take into consideration the needs of older residents. This means help for older residents struggling with Canada's affordability crisis who want to maintain the home they already have. This means having affordable living options for those choosing to downsize, without having to leave the community they call home. By extension, it also requires targeted federal investment in provincial and municipal infrastructure projects so that seniors living in older neighbourhoods have sufficient water, sewage, electrical, heating and internet services. Likewise, it requires federal investment in healthcare so that seniors have timely access to the quality care they need without having to leave their communities.
Most importantly, it requires national leadership from a Conservative government that penalizes gatekeepers and incentivizes getting things done.