Sudbury council sticks to its definition of older adult: 65

Morning North6:30Are you a senior at age 55 or 65?

A group of seniors asked Greater Sudbury city council to reconsider its definition of an older adult, but council said no. The CBC's Marina von Stackelberg spoke about the issue with one of the city's Senior Advisory Panel members.

Sudbury city council has rejected a last ditch plea to reverse its decision on seniors discounts.

Council decided in November to change its definition of an "older adult" from 55 years old to 65 years. The change saves the city $170,000 dollars each year, according to city staff.

Senior Mary Michasiw, a member of the city's Seniors' Advisory Panel, asked council to reconsider that decision Tuesday night.

"We have heard countless stories and concerns expressed over the affect your decision has had on our most vulnerable seniors," she told councillors.

Michasiw said the change means someone aged 55 to 64 now has to pay $400 more each year for a bus pass, and about $100 more in membership fees at city facilities, like pools.

"That might not seem like a great deal of money to many people. But for many of our seniors it's a fortune," she told councillors.

"Many of our seniors, after they pay their rent and their basic expenses, have $45 left a week for groceries. Now they have even less."

'I made a mistake'

Councillor Evelyn Dutrisacalsoasked council to reconsider its original decision.

"I voted for this. I made a mistake ... I made a bad decision. I've gotten a lot of calls.I have emails frompeople that it's going to create financial hardship for them. "

Dutrisac said the decision was made amidst numerous cuts city councillors brought in to save the city $6 million.

But councillor Deb McIntosh said it wasn't a good use of council's time to second guess itself.

"This one was another one of the tough decisions we had to make in the last year in order to keep property taxes down," she said.

"We gave all of these decisions our due consideration and with full knowledge of what we were doing."

McIntosh said people of any age can apply for the city's new low-income transit passes.

"We recognize the needs of other age groups as well that do require transit. We've had letters as well from people who are under dire straights in their 30s, 40s, and 50s," McIntosh said.

But Michasiw responded saying many seniors would not apply for a low-income bus pass.

"Seniors are very proud. And many of the seniors just will not ask for help. It's a matter of pride. It's important to give them their dignity."

Frustrated

In the end, councillors voted to uphold the decision, with only Dutrisac, Gerry Montpellier, Robert Kirwan, and Joscelyne Landry-Altmann voting to consider changing it back.

Michasiw said she was frustrated that council did not reach out to her group for input before making the decision.

"We thought that they would be more compassionate," she said outside the council chamber after the vote.

"I wanted to cry. I was very disappointed. Not just because they voted against the motion, but because there were so many that still didn't hear the message. One day they're all going to be seniors."