Spirited Commitment by MacLeod Roderick;Abrahamson Eric John; & Eric John Abrahamson

Author:MacLeod, Roderick;Abrahamson, Eric John; & Eric John Abrahamson [MacLeod, Roderick]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press
Published: 2010-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

BUILDING A NATIONAL ORGANIZATION

In early 1984, the SSBFF began the process of establishing a framework for a national seniors’ organization. Working with St Thomas University, the foundation began discussions with the New Brunswick Senior Citizens’ Federation with an eye to addressing the concerns of seniors in the four Atlantic Provinces. In March, the university hosted an exploratory meeting, with representatives from British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba as well as New Brunswick. The group agreed to push ahead with the idea to create a national coalition. In May, the university and the New Brunswick federation submitted a joint proposal for a “national consultation on networking for seniors in Canada.”12 This emphasis on consultation reflected Hobday’s view that successful groups had to come from the grassroots, however much a body such as the SSBFF might facilitate the process. Grassroots organizing gave an institution the weight and legitimacy it needed in order to become a national body.

Two-thirds of the 100 delegates to the consultation were to be senior citizens representing each of the provinces and territories in Canada. The other third would be professionals and government officials. Major topics of discussion would include networking, community development, public relations, advocacy, fundraising, and self-help. “The eventual outcome of this Consultation,” the applicants wrote, “will be one strong voice for seniors on all major issues.” They hoped that by 1985 the group would be able to open a national office in Ottawa.13 At their June 1984 meeting, the SSBFF board supported Hobday’s recommendation to invest $53,000 in a national steering committee with a mandate to develop the consultation.14

Unfortunately, the consultation was delayed as seniors’ groups debated how their interests would be represented and how they would be served by a national organization. Despite much involvement at the local level, many elderly people had difficulty appreciating the purpose and function of a national body. As Hobday remarked, “Our involvement in this area continued to pose many challenges – the seniors challenging us and us challenging them!”15 He remained convinced, however, that a national network would prove the only effective way to capture the attention of either governments or the private sector. The SSBFF continued to promote the idea of a consultation, meeting with various provincial federations and with Canadian Pensioners Concerned, an organization with a national scope but whose members came mostly from Ontario. Ivan Hale, who had been helping coordinate the SSBFF’s Learning Disabilities program, also spent long hours negotiating with seniors organizations. Establishing these sorts of relationships, Hobday noted, was far more effective than simply providing money.16

The attention of seniors across the country was immediately riveted in the summer of 1985 when the federal government announced it planned to de-index old-age pensions. With no real history of collective political agitation behind them, seniors voiced their protest loudly and clearly, much to the surprise of nearly everyone, including the seniors themselves. As a result of this clamour, the government backed down. The protest had the effect of raising seniors’ political consciousness and sense of themselves as a potential powerful lobby group.

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