Shields steps up

By From the office of Martin Shields

Martin Shields, Member of Parliament for Bow River, has been appointed Deputy Shadow Minister of Seniors and elected Vice Chair of the Conservative Alberta Caucus.
As Vice Chair of the Conservative Alberta Caucus, MP Shields will stand up for Alberta in Ottawa and work to represent our province’s interests in parliament.
“I am honoured to have been appointed to these new roles” said Shields. “The Trudeau Liberals have provoked a national unity crisis through their reckless disregard for our western economy and interests. Our Conservative Alberta Caucus will be standing up for our province at every opportunity.”
As Deputy Shadow Minister of Seniors, MP Shields will work to ensure the needs of Canadian seniors are being met, and that the programs and services they rely on are developed responsibly and effectively. He will also scrutinize initiatives across government that impact seniors.
“Under this Liberal government, far too many seniors are suffering from income insecurity, lack of access to affordable housing, and insufficient care options. I am pleased to join the Hon. Alice Wong, Shadow Minister of Seniors, in working on this important file.”
Prime Minister Trudeau has issued a mandate letter to his Minister of Seniors, the Hon. Deborah Schulte. The letter identifies the Liberal government’s priorities for seniors. Shields will be carefully scrutinizing the implementation of these initiatives, and pressing the government to ensure seniors receive the best possible support under this minority parliament. The Prime Minister’s priorities:
• Increase the Old Age Security pension by 10 per cent for seniors when they turn 75, indexed to inflation thereafter.
• Support the Minister of Finance to increase survivor benefits in the Canada Pension Plan and Quebec Pension Plan by 25 per cent.
• Work with the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada to strengthen Canada’s approach to elder abuse, including creating a national definition of elder abuse; investing in better data collection and law enforcement related to elder abuse; and establishing new offences and penalties in the Criminal Code related to elder abuse.
• Lead work within Employment and Social Development Canada on seniors programming, including the New Horizons for Seniors Program, benefitting from the work of the National Seniors Council.
• Support the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry and the Minister of Finance in the implementation of further efforts to enhance consumer protections, such as the creation of a new Canadian Consumer Advocate, to ensure they respond to the unique needs of seniors.
• Work with the Minister of Health and the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development on initiatives to promote healthy aging. This includes learning from and building on federally supported programs that support the needs of seniors and their families, as well as ensuring the government’s investments in home care, palliative care and community care are well coordinated and are having the intended impacts.
• With the support of the Minister of National Revenue and the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, lead a review of the government’s capacity to connect seniors to benefits and programs for which they are eligible.
• Support the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development to ensure seniors’ housing needs are reflected in the implementation of the National Housing Strategy.
• Represent the Government of Canada at the Federal, Provincial and Territorial Ministers Responsible for Seniors Forum.
• Support the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Health as they move forward with the implementation of national universal pharmacare.
• Support the Minister of Health in the delivery of health care commitments of relevance to seniors and aging, including ensuring that every Canadian has access to a family doctor or a primary health care team and setting national standards for access to mental health services.