Take the Tin Cup Challenge & Write or Email a Letter
We have received permission to publish the following letter of support (see below) that was recently sent to Dan Levitt, the Provincial Advocate for Seniors by one of our Tin Cup supporters.
Every voice counts! We ask that you also write your own letter/email, to send to the Prime Minister, your local Member of Parliament, or the Minister responsible for Seniors, and/or your local MP or MLA in your Province.
We have provided a sample letter for downloading, but you can also copy and paste from the examples below. Use these letters for inspiration, add your own stories, or write your own. We are very grateful for all of the support we have received from different communities, businesses, individuals, etc, for this very important cause. Make your voice count!
EMAIL:
- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau justin.trudeau@parl.gc.ca
- Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance chrystia.freeland@parl.gc.ca
- Steven MacKinnon, Minister of Labour & Seniors Steven.MacKinnon@parl.gc.ca
- Full List of Cabinet here to Contact your local MP
- Dan Levitt, BC Provincial Advocate for Seniors info@seniorsadvocatebc.ca or visit their website
SNAIL MAIL:
(add Name of Contact)
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario,
Canada
K1A 0A6
If you are unable to download either of the form letters, please copy and paste from this letter:
The Honourable ___________________
I am a member of Seniors Tin Cup – a movement that hopes to draw attention and improve the pensions that Canadian Seniors receive. You can find out more about us by viewing the website: www.seniorstincup.org .
Too many Canadians who are seniors, are living in poverty. Some have actually lived in their vehicles – due to inability to pay high rent on their meagre pensions. Some still are in that horrible circumstance. Even those with their own housing are having a difficult time surviving in Canada these days.
We want the Canadian Pensions raised to the poverty line. That sentence alone is a sad one. This would allow seniors to live with dignity and respect. In BC, if a young person worked at a fast food restaurant full time, she would earn more than her Grandmother who was living on OAS, CPP and GIS. A Heartbreaking fact.
Please take this matter seriously. Seniors across this Country are angry to have to live
with such low incomes.
Sincerely,
(Your Name Here)
Another Sample letter from one of our followers:
Dear Dan,
I would like to draw your attention to a new group of senior activists (Seniors Tin Cup) who are putting their energy toward changing the current dissatisfactory retirement situation for 30% of seniors, but especially women. We held one rally in several locations in BC in July that received considerable attention from the public as well as the local media outlets.
In your capacity as seniors advocate, you are already familiar with the relevant statistics.
To drive home the point, we are asking politicians to take the ‘Tin Cup Challenge’ and to find out if they could live on what many seniors receive for 1 month.
As the advocate for seniors in this province, we would like to invite you to provide us with information that will help us negotiate and navigate the complex bureaucratic channels so that our group can reach the seniors who are affected by below-the-poverty-line pension payouts and are struggling to make ends meet. Whom should we try to access to get our demands heard, who would be interested in supporting our efforts, and who is in a professional capacity to help disseminate announcements of meetings and events? Financial aid/support would be of course very welcome considering the cause. Whom would you suggest we contact?
Your assistance in this matter would be greatly appreciated.
For more information about the group, please go to https://www.seniorstincup.org/
Tincup also has a presence on Facebook (search for Tincup).
Seniors Tin Cup will be rallying again on Saturday, October 5 at 11:00 am
(in Kamloops they will rally on Sept 21 at 11:00 am).
In Vernon, they will be at the Liberal MP’s office (Mel Arnold) 3105 – 29th Street Vernon, British Columbia at the train station.
(Carole Fawcett is a freelance writer, retired Counsellor and Provincial Coordinator for the Seniors Tin Cup).
We look forward to your response.
Kind regards,
(Name withheld for privacy)
7 Comments
Glen Hudson
I am a senior living below the poverty line in BC. Yes it is a disgrace. So I urge seniors to NOT vote conservative both federally and provincial as they want to CUT our pensions. And anything else that benefits the lower income. So please do not vote conservative. Thank you.
Carole Fawcett
I couldn’t agree more.
Petrine Paquette
Greetings,
I contacted Dan Levitt, Provincial Advocate for Seniors, regarding the Petition for a Living Income for Seniors and mentioned that I had been speaking with MLA, Harwinder Sandhu and a Member of Vernon City Council who also suggested to contact him. I didn’t hear for a while so I send another communication. I never heard back from him. Which I found very disappointing considering his position.
I mentioned this to Harwinder Sandhu and she was going to email him. Hopefully, the posted letter will get his attention.
Petrine
Carole Fawcett
Seniors Tin Cup has contacted Dr. Levine’s office on several occasions and did receive a reply. In fact, he was invited to the Rally in Vernon on October 5th. His office let us know that he is unable to attend. MLA Harwinder Singh will be in attendance at the Rally.
Randi
I am one of the many seniors living way below the poverty line and it seems each year the government finds a way to eliminate more from me and I don’t know why. They think we should get less than half of minimum wage why do they think we can live on that? I can’t afford to fix my teeth or buy my meds. I want to see the seniors who can afford $250-$300 for groceries a month, I allow myself up to $100 a month and sometimes not even that. I am behind in my hydro, utilities, and taxes. I would come to the protest in Vernon but I live in Sicamous and can’t afford to drive there.
On April 1, 2024. I sent a letter to Premier Eby, Prime Minister Trudeau, and Leader Jagmet Singh, I knew there was no use going to the Conservative leader as he doesn’t care. I also sent it to all the TV stations and I have not heard back from one of them and you would think heading into an election someone would contact me but they don’t care. They believe we are nothing and deserve to live this way but would not ever want their parents to live this way.
Carole Fawcett
Randi, I am sorry to hear you are unable to attend the Rally due to financial challenge. I agree with what you say and it is difficult to exist when you live below the poverty line. I do believe you may qualify for dental work. I just had some done and didn’t have to pay anything. Perhaps there is a Dentist in Sicamous, or somewhere close that would provide this. Have you applied for the Dental coverage?
Carole Fawcett
Oops – Dr. Levitt.