Three things I want, and might not have, when I get old

Feb 25, 2017 | 8:00 AM

KAMLOOPS — When I get old, I’d like certain things: a bath or shower every day, all my faculties, and a comfortable bed in my own home.

The first is non-negotiable. The second is beyond my control. As for the third, if I can’t be in my own home, I’d at least like to know who my landlord is.

These things don’t seem too much to ask, but this week we were reminded we can’t take anything for granted. This week we’re hearing about seniors who can’t get a bath, and their retirement homes being bought by somebody who lives in Beijing.

Health Minister Terry Lake has been taking a licking in the Legislature over the bath issue, while our local MP has been in Parliament hammering the Liberals over the sale of family owned Retirement Concepts to a company called Cedar Tree Investment Canada, which is owned by a Chinese company called Anbang Insurance.

Judy Darcy, the NDP’s Opposition Spokesperson for Health, was on Lake’s case about “the abysmal record” of the Liberals on seniors’ care, saying seniors care homes are understaffed and below standard.

She talked about a quadriplegic named Lana Turner, who gets by with home support but who couldn’t get a bath for seven weeks. “Well, the reality is that in seniors care homes, there are seniors who are going without baths, sometimes, for two or three or even four weeks.”

Lake fired back on the “dismal record” of the NDP when they were in office.

In Ottawa, Cathy McLeod led the attack on the Trudeau Liberals over the sale of Retirement Concepts.

“Our seniors are concerned about the quality of care, of food, and the credentials of the people caring for them,” she said during Question Period. “Why would the Prime Minister put the care of our parents and grandparents at the mercy of profiteers pulling strings from Beijing?”

Retirement Concepts was started some 30 years ago by a Chilliwack family with a single facility. By last year, the company owned retirement homes in B.C., Alberta and Quebec and had B.C. Health Ministry contracts worth more than $86 million.

The sale of Retirement Concepts, which owns Kamloops Seniors Village among two dozen other seniors facilities, has been in the works for several months.

Since November, it’s been the subject of a federal review under foreign-ownership laws. This week, approval of the sale was announced by the feds.

The Jamal family who developed Retirement Concepts says it will retain a minority stake and continue to manage operations. Now that Anbang is in the picture, Lake’s ministry must do its own review before a license is granted, but that isn’t expected to create any problems for residents.

What’s causing all the concern about the sale is uncertainty over who exactly owns Anbang, and the fact it’s a real estate investor, not a healthcare provider.

In the House, Liberal Innovation, Science and Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains assured McLeod that, “With respect to this particular transaction, the additional financial resources will allow Cedar Tree the ability to expand, provide better service, and create more jobs. This is good for seniors, good for the economy, and good for all Canadians.”

It’s nice that Cedar Tree will now have the ability to expand, etc., but Bains didn’t mention the company is only a few months old and, while it may sound Canadian in name, it’s owned by Anbang.

Recently, my uncle Eric died from prostate cancer. He was 96. I’ve been thinking about him a lot, and one of my thoughts is that it’s a sad thing to make it all the way to 96 only to be overtaken by prostate cancer.

On the other hand, he was in perfect mental health and I think he was at peace. The last time I visited him, he was living in a retirement centre in the Okanagan run by Interior Health. His room was the size of a postage stamp, a big change from the comfortable seniors’ apartment he’d been in before he got sick.

But Eric was a gentle, stoical man. He said the new place was okay and they were giving him a bath once a week.

I’m beginning to think my daily bath or shower might not be as easy to come by as I was hoping when I hit a certain age. But I’d still like to know where my rent cheque is going.