I have often questioned over the last 40 years why governments in P.E.I. did not prepare for senior housing. All the governments who have been in power over the last 50 years knew that many citizens born in the 1940s would need low-rental housing.
Some seniors do not have higher education. They were not able to choose a vocation that paid higher wages or lifelong benefits. Most seniors did not have government jobs with all the perks. The middle class most often were pushed into low-wage jobs with few if any benefits. Some people depended on tips to meet living costs or put themselves through college courses. Now, government even wants part of their tips. People in the lower and middle classes paid big taxes — unlike the upper classes who could avoid taxes with loopholes and off-shore accounts.
The other side to this issue are the seniors of tomorrow and your everyday hard-working citizens.
Most of the people who make decisions in governments have the perks, such as cars, housing, vacations to exotic places and pensions. They were lucky enough to be educated and do not need tips or low rentals to survive.
I want you to think of the people who were not as lucky. It is time you got off your butts and do something for the very people who have fed and clothed you for the best part of your lives with the tax dollar.
Flora Jean Thompson,
Charlottetown
