On this edition of Journal: the complexities and needs of our aging population.

I’m a baby boomer and to this day, I am astounded that institutions never saw us coming. With at least five years’ warning before this population boom hit the school system, it seemed to be a surprise when we all arrived – not enough desks, not enough classes, not enough schools.

But that bureaucratic “miss” is nothing compared to what we face today, as these same baby boomers age. Who knew?

Who knew boomers would need more and more complex healthcare as they got older?

Who knew that it would become harder and harder for some seniors to pay rising rents on a fixed income, leading to an increase in homelessness for those over 55?

Who knew that, along with longer lifespans, there would be a commensurate demand for those not able to take care of themselves – a demand for long-term care beds and assisted living services?

Well, here we are – and now we know.

According to British Columbia’s Seniors Advocate, we need at least 5,000 new long term care beds, as the waitlist for seniors needing these beds has grown by 200% in the last ten years.

And this shortage becomes a chokepoint for our entire healthcare system. Hospital beds are often occupied by someone ready to be released from acute care, but can’t until a long-term care bed is available. Then the E.R. gets backed up because a patient that should be admitted to a hospital bed has to stay in the hall of the emergency department because there isn’t an open bed upstairs.

Sounding the alarm on this issue, as well as ageism, is Dan Levitt, our province’s Seniors Advocate.

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On this edition of Journal: an in-depth look at the recent federal budget with one of Canada’s top economists, Jock Finlayson.

You know, a lot has changed recently in how budget information is released. It used to be considered a major failure if anything was leaked before the minister stood up in Parliament and officially read the document into the record. This was to prevent insiders from using information for their own benefit.

In 1983, Marc Lalonde found himself in hot water because he had let a television crew into his office while the yet-to-be-released budget lay on his desk.

In 1989, Michael Wilson took responsibility when a leaked copy was handed to a reporter from a recycling plant. Michael didn’t resign but this was recognized to be a serious misstep.

Not anymore. Now, prereleasing budget initiatives is regarded as performance art. In the weeks leading up to Budget Day in Parliament this year, minister after minister would discuss initiative after initiative that would be included. Housing? We’ve got something for that. Critical minerals? We’ve got that covered.

Prime Minister Mark Carney even gave a speech promising the budget would be transformational, generational – whatever that means.

So while politicos probably regarded all the early positive stories to be a successful manoeuvre, it kinda backfired when Budget Day headlines said: “Over promised, under delivered” or “Big day wasn’t quite as advertised” or “Carney’s budget misses the mark.”

So what should we really be taking away from the government’s financial blueprint in 2025? Jock Finlayson has some warnings we should pay attention to.

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On this edition of Journal, we examine the issue of retail crime and street disorder, and how they are changing the cities we live in.

Last year, Caren McSherry, owner of the Gourmet Warehouse on East Hastings, told her story of how retail crime and intimidation is making her reconsider her business after more than 20 years. Broken windows (that she has to pay for), open theft where three big guys come in and simply take 3 very expensive juicers from the shelves, drugs and disorder on the street, even staff intimidation by one man who came in wearing a garbage bag and stripped. Is it worth it?

Another recent headline featured the owner of the Aura Nightclub on Granville Street, Allan Goodall, talking about how his business has been affected by the move to replace the Howard Johnson Hotel above him with supportive housing in 2020. Since that time, there have been more than 900 calls to the fire department and police say they have received thousands of calls. So, closed business for costly repairs – repeatedly – and intimidation of customers who really don’t feel safe coming into the area. How long can he keep going?

So many small businesses have given up – just look at the boarded-up “For Lease” signs.

John Clarides is the owner of Marquis Wine Cellars on Davie Street. Even though he is not in the direct hit of the Downtown Eastside, his business is also suffering from disorder on the street, vandalism, and shoplifting. His worry is that this is not just hurting his business; the long-term danger is that people are discouraged from coming downtown at all. He says, “When a street dies, a city dies.”

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