THE PRESIDENT

This year we continued our focus on health and environment issues, affordable housing and the economy.

The issue of poverty and how it relates to the work of each committee was important this year as we awaited Ontario's Poverty Reduction Plan. A Forum on Poverty was held in North Toronto in conjunction with People and Organizations in North Toronto (POINT). A position statement A Working Strategy To End Poverty in Canada was submitted to the Ministry of Children and Youth Services.

With great energy and commitment from board members briefs have been submitted, letters written, and many meetings of other community organizations attended, plus a number of opportunities to set up a table at fairs where seniors were the focus.

The state of our economy is on everyone's mind: its impact on employment, fear of losing jobs, people not being able to pay the rent nor put food on the table or pay for transportation if job searching. Seniors worry about their pensions and wonder how long will this recession last. Last year's hot button election issue, concerns about the environment, seems to have slipped off the radar.

Last June, the Older Persons Mental Health and Addictions Network (OPMHAN) held its last conference and, sadly, had to close because of lack of on-going funding. This group, in its few short years, did a lot to heighten awareness regarding mental health and addiction issues related to seniors. CPC will continue the Speakers Bureau that OPMHAN had begun.

Viewpoint, which is published four times a year, continues to focus on up-to-the-minute issues that we at CPC are concerned about. To all of you who submit articles, who read and sometimes respond, we thank you for your continuous interest.

We value our relationship with the Ontario Seniors' Secretariat. CPC representatives attend the quarterly meetings of the Liaison Committee, the Housing Advisory and the Long-Term Care Committees. These meetings are informative and help us keep up-to-date with changes, raise concerns and have on-going contact with the other provincial seniors groups.

I invite you to read the reports of each of the committees where you will be informed about the focus of this year's work.

This is the end of my term. I have appreciated the dedication, hard work, ideas, disagreements, future thinking, good humour and opportunity to learn that members have brought to the table. As well, I have enjoyed the opportunity of meeting and working with members of other organ-izations. A big thank you to our Office Manager, Margaret (Peggy) Gunhouse. You are the glue, you keep us on track and I don't know how you can keep on working with all the racket that sometimes happens when a number of us are in the office.

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE TREASURER

The Statement of Revenue and Expenditure shows revenues slightly larger and expenditures less than budgeted in most categories so that the annual deficit was less than anticipated. Nevertheless it is larger than in 2007 and left us with much less "cash on hand" at the end of 2008. Although deficits may be fashionable now, this is obviously not a trend that can continue for organizations such as CPC. The Board is working hard to develop new sources of revenue.

We appreciate the continued support of our major corporate donor, the Canadian Generic Pharmaceutical Association. A most welcome grant from POINT (People and Organizations in North Toronto) enabled us to produce a new membership brochure.

We still need the ongoing support of our members through their membership fees and the generosity of those members who are able to provide additional contributions. It is this support especially that encourages the members of the Board and Committees to continue their efforts on your behalf. I am sure that they would also welcome the participation of more members in their activities including suggestions and assistance in fundraising.

As Treasurer I am well aware of the determination of the Board and Committees to minimize our costs while accomplishing so much on such a small budget. When I consider our meagre finances, I continue to be amazed at all the work and achievements of the Division, as shown by the reports at this meeting.

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE HOUSING COMMITTEE

This has continued to be an active year for the Housing Committee of the Ontario Division of Canadian Pensioners Concerned. The Committee has had seven meetings during the year. We have been reviewing our current activities and are aware that our Mandate provides a broad base related to housing concerns that must still be addressed.

At the last annual meeting we outlined a follow-up plan resulting from the experience gained from the partnership of five organizations working together on a research project (Holding on to Housing: A Participatory Inquiry into Homelessness among Older People in Rural Areas of Simcoe County, May 2007). We were most fortunate in having the co-operation and experience of the partners in doing the work required in a project of this nature.

This experience led us to explore the formation of a partnership of counties interested in working together to form a network of individuals and organizations concerned about housing issues and homelessness in rural areas. This project would apply to issues of housing for all age groups.

Six conference calls have been made with representatives from the counties wanting to explore the possibility of sharing information and experiences to encourage local efforts to develop programs to improve concerns related to housing and homelessness problems in their counties. The counties involved are Simcoe, Haliburton, Peterborough, City of Kawartha Lakes and North Durham.

The conference calls have created a strong and exciting interest in exploring ways of supporting each of the counties related to their individual needs and ways of identifying and improving the housing in their own county. The group is presently looking at planning a forum that will identify housing concerns and needs from a rural perspective and lead to the development of programs to meet the need. The forum will be held in October in a central location that enables participants to attend from all areas of the counties involved.

As Housing Committee Chair I want to express my thanks to the members of the Committee (Don Bellamy, Joan Berndt, Bea Levis, Christine Mounsteven, Dorothy Rivers-Moore, Malcolm Stewart and Margaret Watson) for their untiring support of the work of the committee. I also want to thank Fay Martin, Nancy Smith, Judy Muzzi, John Bennett, Anne Kewley and Zita Devan for joining with us in developing the Project.

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE

The Committee has been meeting regularly over the past year. Its membership has grown and continues to expand. The committee's top priorities are: seniors' mental health and water. Its committee members are taking responsibility for different issues that are either an interest or an area of expertise

• Water and current provincial policies
• Long-Term Care
• Medications/pharmaceuticals and pharmacists, the MedsCheck program
• Ontario Health Coalition and its activities
• Monitoring media/communications activities in health
• Home care (with a link to Care Watch and its board)
• Seniors mental health - provincial and federal initiatives
• Speakers' project on seniors and depression.

Currently, there is a focus on mental health in Canada which is unprecedented. With an ever?growing senior population, a focus on the mental health of seniors must not be lost as planning and programs are developed.

The most significant work that the committee will be undertaking in 2009/2010 will be the expansion of work which began with the Older Persons Mental Health and Addictions Network (OPMHAN). This organization lost its funding and ceased operations at the end of August, 2008 but there was funding remaining for its Speakers' Project on seniors and depression and that has been transferred to CPC, Ontario Division. That project will train speakers to expand the work that OPMHAN began under former Executive Director, Randi Fine, and raise public awareness that depression is NOT a normal part of aging (see the February 2009 Viewpoint).

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE ECONOMIC CONCERNS COMMITTEE

We have written a number of briefs and made one "in person" presentation: Sylvia Hall and Christine Mounsteven presented our brief to the Senate Committee on Aging in May. They travelled to Welland to make the presentation and I gather it sparked interest in the Committee. We also submitted "pre-budget" briefs to both the provincial and federal governments and then wrote a commentary on the federal budget after it had been presented to Parliament. A copy of that commentary was included in your last copy of Viewpoint. We are continuing to look at the issues of poverty and are planning to link the issues of poverty and mental health and addictions in our work in the coming year. We look forward to receiving ideas and suggestions from our members.

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE

Canadian Pensioners Concerned received funding from POINT Endowment Fund last April to reprint our brochure. The membership committee revised and re-designed it. We are currently creating two more brochures to reach the younger senior as well as organizations and professional associations in order to increase our membership.

Our goal next year will be to strengthen and increase our chapters throughout the province. We plan to create a branch development kit. It is all part of renewing and strengthening our membership.

As Chair of the Committee, I thank Moyra Haney and Barbara Kilbourn for their work on this committee. Joan Berndt, Chair

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE RESEARCH COMMITTEE

The Chair of the Research Committee, in the past year, has continued to be occupied with the Housing Committee, taking part in questions dealing with homelessness and supportive housing. In the coming year, he plans to start inviting members of CPC to contribute their experience and opinions on a variety of social issues through the use of suitable data collection instruments which will take into account the privacy issues involved.

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE EDITOR OF VIEWPOINT

Four issues of Viewpoint were published in 2008. Contributions to the columns Youth Forum, Spice of Life, and Commentary dropped off but there is indication of a revival. There was an addition, however. After two years of pleading, a film reviewer finally came forth.

The editor also took on the monitoring of the website and CPC contracted with a service to count the hits each week. It turns out there are more people consulting the site than was expected. It has been de-cided to start a News Sheet in 2009 in order to make the website even more relevant to users.

My thanks to the Editorial Board, Jean Gordon, Margaret (Peggy) Gunhouse, Ron McKee and to the mailing committee from the Metro Chapter. To those who contribute and to those who read the issues, I extend my appreciation.

ANNUAL REPORT OF METRO CHAPTER

Participation in three major activities:

1. A Poverty Reduction Forum
   Last year the Ontario government organized consultations on poverty reduction. In order to educate and to build support for planning poverty reduction, the Chapter, in conjunction with People and Organizations in North Toronto (POINT), organized and presented a forum on October 21, 2008 entitled "Poverty in North Toronto?". Each member of the panel presented a different perspective on poverty. An account of what was said by the speakers and the responses from the audience was reported as "Poverty is in "Our Backyard" in the November 2008 Viewpoint (www.canpension.ca Viewpoint Archives).
2. A Deputation to the City Budget Committee
   The City's operating budget was presented to Council on February 10, 2009. To better acquaint ourselves with the budget content and the opinion of community organizations that would be influenced by the monetary decisions in the budget, representatives of the Chapter attended forums organized by Housing Action Now (HAN) and the Community Social Planning Council of Toronto. We presented our concerns to the City Budget Committee on February 18, 2009. The paper can be viewed on CPC's website.
3. An Issue-Based Forum
   Representatives of the Chapter acted as facilitators in the Spring Into Community Action Forum on March 28, 2009 organized by The Community Social Planning Council of Toronto in partnership with Toronto Community Housing (TCH). We participated in the Discussion Circles on Seniors where the purpose was to provide residents of TCH with the opportunity to ex-press concerns and to hear about a range of seniors' advocacy issues they could be involved in.

Involvement in other organizations

The Chapter is a member of The Planning in North Toronto for Seniors' Services (PLANTSS). This Committee is part of People and Organizations in North Toronto (POINT) and is attended by representatives from seniors' advocacy organizations and from agencies which provide services for seniors in North Toronto. Informative presentations have been made to the group throughout the past year. These included presentations about: the Seniors Health Research Transfer Network (SHRTN) which provides educational information for paid caregivers in organizations/facilities that work with seniors in Ontario; the North Toronto Seniors' Housing Directory produced by POINT for local residents; Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre seniors' programs which include Specialized Geriatric Services and Community Psychiatric Services for the Elderly; Toronto Centre LHIN (Local Health Integration Network) where e-health is now a major priority - money spent on the technology and not front-line workers?

We are also represented on Housing Action Now (HAN). This group is a network of community organizations and individuals from across Toronto including faith groups, non-profit housing organizations, tenant organizations, legal clinics, human rights organizations, child welfare agencies, housing organizations, suburban housing networks, women's organizations, seniors groups, newcomer settlement services and Toronto residents. The members of HAN are concerned with the need for stable, affordable housing for all ages in the City. This concern is one that Canadian Pensioners Concerned Ontario, Inc includes in its Mission Statement. CPC "........seeks to ensure the well-being of all Canadians by advocating policies, legislation and services that allow them to reside in safe, healthy and responsive communities." HAN is part of the Ontario Housing Network which has launched a website: www.stableandaffordable.com to monitor the provincial government's consultations on a "Long Term Affordable Housing Strategy".

During the year representatives have attended symposiums and conferences organized by social agencies and by other advocacy groups in the City. Most of these concerned health issues.

The members of the Metro Chapter continue to provide the core of the mailing group which is essential to the delivery of Viewpoint and other large mailings that occur during the year. We have a long list of people who have helped with mailing the Viewpoint over the many years that it has been published. All of them deserve our thanks. The current group includes Josephine Black, Shirley Bush, Grace Johansen, Gina Jones, Jennie Smith, Jennifer Smith and Jean Tice.

BOARD HIGHLIGHTS

Meeting January 19, 2009

• Reported that Christine Mounsteven and Gerda Kaegi attended the stakeholders meeting of the Ethics and Pandemic Planning Research Group. CPC is a sponsor of the project.
• Reported that Christine Mounsteven and Gerda Kaegi met with Doris Grinspun, Executive Director of Registered Nurses Association of Ontario, to discuss issues such as the role of nurses and nurse practitioners and physic-ian assistants, and the re-introduction of man-aged competition in Home Care.
• Motion that Joan Berndt be authorized to purchase the banner and display board.

Meeting, February 16, 2009

• Sylvia Hall reported she had checked with Johnson Insurance and there are no changes to its limitations on travel insurance.
• Letter to be written to Minister Caplan saying more information is needed about the Aging at Home Strategy and requesting an analysis of the LHINs' budgets by the Ministry focusing on the top three priorities: seniors, mental health, and disabilities
• Letter to be written to Minister Caplan and all LHINs asking for information on actual service rollouts / expenditures and notice be given to the Liaison Committee members of the action being taken.