Report from retiree Jack Maley
Brothers & Sisters of 298
It is now over one year since Friday the 13th of June 1997 when I retired and last saw your handsome, beautiful and witty selves.
I now live in sunny Penticton, B.C. where some 10,000 other pensioners also reside: - indeed we are one third on the total population and one half of the voting population. Yesterday I was directing Willie Chong and family to climb trees at a nearby orchard. They filled buckets full of cherries within a few minutes. I myself picked a pail of cherries and paid $2.50 for them. Not bad eh!
I have been studying pension statistics and am now active in championing senior citizen rights and share of the public purse. There is much to do. My training as shop steward, safety captain etc. has been useful and has enabled me to bargain with the local big shots. Only one in ten of you elect to retire in Kitimat: - so I expect to see flocks of your down here soon. This place needs some 298 T.L.C.
Last winter I used a broom half a dozen times to sweep snow from our sidewalk and flowers bloom nearly all year round. They tell me that there are banana trees growing 60 kilometer South of Penticton at Osoyoos. The warmest lake in Canada with a normal temperature of 24 degrees Centigrade is also located at Osoyoos. Hundreds of people are now on the Penticton beaches swimming in the same lake as the Ogopogo.
Last week there were 2,000 people from all over America here playing bridge. Next week we expect 5,000 square dancers and at the end of August we shall have 1,700 people here in a Triathlon. They will come from all over the world to compete and will swim over 2 kilometers, bike 120 kilometers and run over 26 miles. Some will come back in as little as 9 plus hours: - others will take 15 hours to complete that Triathlon. Local citizen volunteers will throng the routes and will assist where they can. This sight is unbelievable. Women do not seem to be the weakest sex at all. Body shape seems inconsequential. You would not believe the types you see crossing the final finishing line. Some ladies are so intent on finishing that modesty becomes unimportant.
Penticton dies in the Fall and regains its vigor only in the late spring. Young people cannot find good jobs here unless they work in unionized areas like education and the hospitals. This means accommodation costs stay low and affordable. This means that they scratch hard here to find things to work at. We have a lot of training classes here.
In Conclusion:
I received Employment Insurance benefits: - but will be taxed heavily for doing so.
The Old Age Security money is receivable only if you have reached the age of 65: - and in my case is completely taxed away. I never get even a penny of it.
Employment Insurance gives courses to recipients: - so I took: -
· A 90 hour Computer course for free.
· A 120 hour course on how to start a business: - market that business: - and understand Business Accounting. I will soon be in my own Plumbing Business: - and could get some further financial help if my Business Plan meets requirements.
The Union Early Retirement option taken here by some people does not allow them to retire without seeking some other source of income to meet their expenses.
If your spouse has not reached the age of 60: - he or she will not receive the Spouses allowance until they do reach the age of 60.
If you yourself have not reached the age of 65: - you will not receive a Gold Card entitling you to reduced prices for, travel meals etc.
I suspect many of you are contemplating retirement soon. It is nice to not have to smell a pulpmill, Methanol gasses and Fluorides. It is lovely here in Penticton. There is much organizing to do!