Adam Prudhomme
Editor
Fixing Canada’s long-term care health system is among the top priorities Shelby Kramp-Neuman aims to address in her new role as shadow minister for seniors.
The Hastings-Lennox and Addington MP was handed the responsibility by Conservative leader Erin O’Toole when he unveiled his shadow cabinet on Nov. 9.
“I was thrilled that Erin O’Toole had the confidence in me and that he has invested so much confidence in me,” Kramp-Neuman told the Beaver. “The conversation that I had with him was very open and forthright and he thought that I exhibited all the necessary traits and qualifications to have earned this role.”
Kramp-Neuman says the pandemic has been particularly challenging for seniors and exacerbated already existing problems.
“COVID-19 to be honest has been devastating for all Canadians but seniors, to be more specific, the government has fallen short of our long-term care system,” said Kramp-Neuman. “We have such an aged population. Coming from financial services I can recognize that Canadians are living longer and there’s shortage of long-term care beds. That’s something I think is really important that the federal government has a responsibility to work collaboratively and support the provinces in their efforts because it is definitely a relationship there. Fixing the long-term care system is huge, there are concerns with the GIC eligibility. With so many seniors collecting CERB, it was a financial lifeline for them. That has to be addressed. I think the question of helping seniors stay in their own homes, that’s another area. There’s so many areas whether it’s additional support for personal support workers and just protecting people’s pensions.”
Kramp-Neuman’s counterpart is the Liberals’ minister of seniors Kamal Khera.
“I have full intent to take the partisan hat off and approach the minister of seniors and work across the board with my colleagues, with the Liberal minister and see how we can move forward with this because seniors is not a political agenda,” said Kramp-Neuman. “I think it’s for the best interests. I’m quite excited to get going on it.”
“Hastings-Lennox and Addington is among the top with seniors per capita,” added Kramp-Neuman. “The seniors here will be represented, there’s no question. I think when (O’Toole) was selecting his shadow critic for this particular role I think perhaps that was something he took into consideration with demographic of our riding. That being said, I’m looking forward to representing from coast to coast to coast with all the different seniors because it’s a huge part of our population. There’s a tremendous task at hand there’s no question, but I’m trilled to be part of the team.”
Following her election win in September, Kramp-Neuman says she’s been busy meeting with constituents while setting up her office. Coming from a background in local politics before running federally, she has experience with the transition of taking office.
“I’m not new to this. Yes it’s a learning curve. Yes I’m drinking from a fire hose, but on the same token I’m very familiar,” she said. “I’m not waiting for our offices to get set up because there is that transition time and it’s easy to get frustrated with it. I’m not necessarily waiting for our offices to get set up even though it will be really nice when that happens. We’re going to have an office in Napanee and in Ivanhoe and then different mobile offices throughout the riding at different times. It’s been a great month, I’ve been out to all parts of the riding, continuing to meet with people and to hear their concerns. I’ve been on the go from Day 1 and we’re organizing an amazing team and I think we’re going to knock the socks off our local constituents with our service.”