Open letter:
After spending a year in Vancouver I came home to Prince George to hear a bunch of harsh criticisms about our local politicians and I?m thinking whoa, what has happened over this past year. I then attended a Senior Citizen Association meeting and was given a reason to get very angry as well.
Senior Citizens grew up in a time when leisure time was always an activity and thus we became a very competitive lot and hate to be last at anything. We found out at this meeting that we are last, dead last. We found out that B. C. is the only province in Canada that their seniors pay MSP Premiums. The rest of Canada tends to treat their Senior Citizens with a lot more respect for the years of dedication and service and the seniors are exempt from paying MSP premiums. Do our youthful leaders of the era think that they will not get old someday too? Would they not like to be treated like they have done their duty to the province of their choice and be treated with the respect they deserve?
At the September UBCM a resolution that was passed at the NCLGA convention calling for the abolition of MSP premiums by seniors will be brought forward.
With this open letter I urge all Civic Politicians to get behind the Senior Citizens of BC and push to pass this resolution. I would also like to encourage others whether Seniors or not to contact their Civic leaders and tell them that it is important to us and to please support the resolution for you too, God willing, will become Seniors one day.
Gary Dinsmore
Prince George