BCRTA Representative	Jo Ann Lauber	604-523-1653	jlauber@shaw.ca
ACER-CART Committee Member

ACER-CART

ACER-CART, Association Canadienne Des Enseignantes Et Des Enseignants Retraités.

The Canadian Association of Retired Teachers, represents more than 157,000 retired teachers in 14 associations found in all of Canada's provinces and the Yukon.

It is one of the BCRTA's most important affiliations ~ a voice for us at the federal level.

ACER-CART REPORT

In the past year, the endeavours of ACER-CART resulted in the successful realization of the 2007-2008 objectives related to these concerns:

1. We lobbied to have the Government of Canada restore funding for the Status of Women; and on March 7, 2007, the budget received an increase of $5 million or 42% to a level of $15.3 million, its highest ever.

2. We had concerns about the process, the appointments, and the geographic distribution of appointments for the newly established National Seniors' Council. At the time of the June 2007 AGM of ACER-CART, there were still 3 vacancies on the Council. These were filled on September 24th. In response to an enquiry by ACER-CART, Senator Marjory LeBreton informed us of those latest appointments and of the areas they represented: BC, Saskatchewan & Newfoundland/Labrador. The appointments were somewhat more representative of the geographical areas of Canada than had been the case previously; and the Council, its slate complete, has now released its first report. For the time being, ACER-CART will take no further action regarding these appointments.

In other 2007/2008 objectives, ACER-CART wished to see the restoration of funding for literacy, the establishment of a seniors' fitness tax deduction, and reimbursement to pensioners related to the error in calculation of CPI by Stats Canada. To achieve these changes, the Executive lobbied in its official capacity, but in March, sought also the active support of all individual ACER-CART members. Federal ministers were contacted and made aware of these requests, but here our efforts have not as yet translated into real changes.
However, your voice was important and continues to be important to ACER-CART’s endeavours.

The goals for the coming year, set at the June 2008 AGM, were based on member organization priorities brought to the table at that time and on the work of ACER-CART’s standing committees. These committees did extensive research and received member organization input on the effects on seniors of escalating property taxes, the availability and costs of pharmaceuticals, elder abuse, and the Cost of Living Adjustment determination in each province. From committee work, from conference attendance, from discussion and deliberation came decisions for action and recommendations for policy.

 Here is a summary of ACER-CART’s intended focus for the coming year:

*     To adopt as policy the position that the Cost of Living Adjustment be protected, funded and guaranteed as part of the pension plans of educators across the land;

*     To make seniors aware of their rights and options related to property assessments, and to encourage sustainable funding for municipal infrastructure projects and upgrades;

*     Along with kindred organizations, to lobby the Federal Government to establish a national drug plan and a national formulary;

*     To voice objection to the privatization of health care, and to seek from provincial governments an accounting of how health fund transfers are utilized;

*     To continue to push for the reimbursement to pensioners of losses stemming from the error in calculation of CPI by Stats Canada, and to pursue the elimination of the income-based OAS clawback and reduction in Age Credit;
 ·     To urge member organizations to lobby to have a provincial ombudsman appointed for seniors, and to establish a trained corps of seniors’ advocates in each province;

*     To lobby the Federal Government to develop national strategies to inform seniors of their rights to safety and services with respect to elder abuse, and to reach out to victims and potential victims of elder abuse, empowering them to take action;
 ·     To urge the Federal Government to review and amend the Privacy Act to ensure that private and personal information is respected; and 
 ·     To lobby the Federal Government to establish a national childcare program that is affordable, accountable, and accessible.

More detailed information about ACER-CART’s objectives for the coming year and about the activities of the June 08 AGM may be found on the organization’s website and in the June 23, 2008 ACER-CART report to BCRTA Directors. This report, which contains also the summaries of the 2006/2007 activities and aspirations of ACER-CART’s fourteen member organizations, may be requested from the BCRTA office.

On behalf of the ACER-CART Executive and the thousands of members across the land, I extend sincere appreciation for the actions of all of you who contact government decision makers in support of the organization’s objectives. Clearly, it is the issues that MPs and MLAs find in their mailboxes, their e-mail messages, and in their conversations with you that become their legislative business and part of their political platforms for coming elections. Your support and involvement are essential to the success of this organization as it strives to make life better for its members and for other seniors across the country.

 

Respectfully submitted,
Jo Ann Lauber, ACER-CART Rep