Swan River PC MLA Rick Wowchuk spoke on the topic of senior safety in Legislature last Wednesday. One of his constituents - a senior living at Rainbow Lodge Retirement Home - came to him saying she felt unsafe in her community, and Wowchuk relayed that message to Legislature.
"There's absolutely no respect for the existing communities, and especially for the people and the clientele who are already in these homes, some of them have been in there for ten, twelve years...they're feeling very unsafe, and the one individual I talked to really feared for her life, she felt unsafe," said Wowchuk.
Wowchuk went on to say drugs are one of the chief concerns among seniors in Swan River, and that seniors and their safety should be a higher priority for the Government, saying the ones who built Manitoba deserve to be looked after.
"This is their home, and if you can't feel safe in your home, then where can you feel safe...these are people who built our province. All they want to do is have a peaceful retirement, they want to have that feeling of being secure, being looked after, and that's not happening with this NDP Government," said Wowchuk.
Wowchuk's questions were responded to by Bernadette Smith, NDP MLA for Point Douglas, and Minister of Housing, Addictions, and Homelessness. She said Wowchuk has a lack of social responsibility, and he should look to former colleagues who previously removed the 55+ age requirement for seniors housing. Wowchuk said these kinds of remarks, as well as laughing and heckling from other NDP MLAs, were uncalled for.
"[Premier Wab Kinew] really doesn't care about the safety of the people, that's the feeling I get, and my constituents, listening to that type of question period and knowing that there's heckling and laughing going on when I am asking a very, very serious question...we got to work together, and we got to take things seriously, especially when it becomes an issue of safety to people within Manitoba," said Wowchuk.
Wowchuk posted video of the question on Facebook, saying his constituents deserve better when they speak up for issues that affect them.
