On September 13, 2007, I celebrated my 80th birthday. The date of my birth is certainly unremarkable in the history of this country or that of humanity, however, the 13th day of September, 1750 has significance in the history of Canada - long before my birth. On the Plains of Abraham a young British general named James Wolfe led his troops to victory and lost his life doing so. His military opponent on that day, General Montcalm, also lost his life in the battle which decided the fate of our country. Both of these men, the victor and the vanquished, were relatively young - I believe in their 30's. Be that as it may, we are today neither a French nor a British colony. Some would argue instead that paradoxically we are instead an economic satellite of our U.S. neighbour.

I am often asked how it feels to have reached the age of eight decades - as if this is a great accomplishment. It simply means I had the right genes and some relatives who survived into their late eighties and early nineties. I am also a survivor because my paternal and maternal grandparents made the right choices in the early years of the 20th century. They left the Baltic States, escaping anti-Jewish persecution and certain death in the Nazi extermination camps in Poland.

I was born in St. Boniface but raised in Transcona, a suburb of Winnipeg. My late father, Abe, immigrated to Canada in 1914 at the tender age of 14, and five years later participated in an event which became a major element of his life - the Winnipeg General Strike. He never lived to be a pensioner concerned, he died at the age of 59 in 1960. My mother, Helen, married Dad in 1925 and they remained pillars of strength for one another through economic depression in the 1930's, a "Grapes of Wrath" kind of trip to Ontario in 1934, illness and many other kinds of social vicissitudes. She died at age 68 in 1973. Both of my parents were socially concerned citizens and proud of their country, Canada.

What are the thoughts of an elderly man after eight decades? I remain concerned about social injustice as I was in my 20's, I am as impatient as I was as a younger person with hypocrisy in the public forum, whether it comes from a prime minister's office or from a pulpit. I spent almost all my working life as a professional social worker (and married one over 50 years ago). As an employee in a City of Toronto social service office, I saw the sad faces of the poor and heard their stories of want and destitution. The recent reports of thievery, lying and breach of the public trust by corporate executives and former high government officials is an old story going back more than my 80 years. Not one of the names attached to these people is identified as a welfare recipient.

At 80, one might suppose that I have grown cynical. On the contrary, there have been, and still are, people who can make excellent members of parliament, provincial premiers, mayors and all the positions of public leadership. Tommy Douglas would have made an excellent prime minister, as would our own Mae Harman or Maude Barlow. I do not pray for a better day because I have my doubts that there is anybody listening. I may be wrong; but if I am will I experience a permanent heat wave? I don't know and I don't care. I know that as Canadian Pensioners Concerned we can, and we will, do better about the social conditions.