Ottawa - Mayoral candidate Jim Watson today announced that he would host a city wide senior’s summit within one year if he is successful in the October 25 election.

“The summit would be an opportunity to address a number of both challenges and opportunities that a growing seniors population pose for our community”, Watson said.

“The number of senior citizens will grow significantly in our city”, Watson added, “Those 65 and over will double from 12% to over 24% in the next few decades, according to City of Ottawa projections”.

The summit would help the city better plan for a significant increase in the number of seniors living in the city.

Next year (2011) the first wave of baby boomers will begin to retire, and today men and women are also living longer. Watson believes we are not well prepared to tackle some of the challenges an aging population brings with it.

“I see the summit as an opportunity to bring in world class experts to discuss and learn how other jurisdictions are coping with an aging population”, Watson said.

“Traditionally, politicians think long term planning is the next election. We have to start thinking about the next generation”, he added.

Topics that could be addressed at the Senior’s Summit include:

• Begin to work with the Province, Ottawa Housing, not-for-profit housing corporations, hospitals and the LHIN to address affordable housing and long term care bed shortages
• Designing our built infrastructure to better accommodate walkers, wheelchairs etc.
• How to ensure we meet our obligations to the Ontarians with Disabilities Act.
• How to maximize seniors expertise and skill sets in the voluntary sector (i.e. school mentor programs; homework clubs, etc)
• With increased usage of Para Transpo, what will we need to do to ensure we have adequate transportation options for our seniors and physically challenged residents?
• What other initiatives, can we adopt in collaboration with the private and not for profit sector to assist seniors financially, socially etc.
• How do we improve seniors cultural, recreation and social activities at city facilities?
• Can we better market Ottawa as the country’s premier senior’s tourist destination?