ACER-CART has been in existence since 1991. It is the national voice of retired teachers. It is a national bilingual association of member associations representing over 128,000 retired teachers from Canada’s ten provinces and Yukon Territory. It holds an annual meeting in Ottawa in early June. For more information, visit www.acer-cart.org
At the ACER-CART annual general meeting, as a member organization, RTAM sends both a voting Director and an Observer appointed according to policy who may speak to discussions. The Director is responsible during the year to keep the RTAM Board of Directors informed on national issues, and to report to ACER-CART on issues of current importance to RTAM.
Committee Chair & Member/s
OCTOBER 2021 HIGHLIGHTS
The ACER-CART Executive and the Executive Director have provided superlative support to the ACER- CART membership in terms of retired teacher advocacy during the recent Federal election campaign. You will have had access to the excellent brochure available to all members through KIT, the RTAM website, the ACER-CART website, and the capable distribution by our Chapter Chairs to chapter members personally. You will have been made aware of the current topics of utmost concern, the rationale behind them and the suggestions for implementation. This model design will be used by RTAM in its ongoing political advocacy work.
Of particular note is the capability of ACER-CART’s “NEW MODE” software which facilitates letter writing campaigns to pertinent recipients and for which RTAM contributed funding.
Respectfully submitted by,
JoAnne Hoyak, RTAM Vice President, ACER-CART Director.
TIME FOR A NATIONAL SENIORS PLAN
ACER-CART members attending the virtual June 3rd Retiree Health event learned more about a National Seniors Strategy from one of Canada’s strongest advocates for seniors, Dr. Samir Sinha. (https://acer-cart.org/june3event) But for many other Canadians, the question may be What is a National Seniors Strategy?
ACER-CART Report for the 2021 RTAM AGM
ACER-CART Report for 2020 / 2021 to RTAM members
ACER-CART represents over 160,000 retired teachers in ten provinces plus the Yukon.
As the national voice of retired teachers, ACER-CART focuses on priorities evolving from issues affecting the well- being of seniors all across Canada. This past year, the organization advocated for the development of:
- The implementation of a National Seniors’ Strategy.
- The monitoring of the Federal Government’s progress toward establishing a national universal pharmacare plan including a Canada drug agency and a national formulary.
- The monitoring of the effects of COVID19 on the Canada Health Care Act and on bilateral funding agreements including the challenging of privatized for profit aspects.
- Advocating for a health care system that prioritizes care for seniors in their OWN homes for as long as possible.
- Advocating for regulations governing Long Term Care Facilities that would guarantee improvement of standards in all relevant sections.
- Monitoring impacts of the pandemic on the defined benefit pension plan assets held in the various retired teachers’ allowances funds.
- The elevation of ACER-CART’s profile.
- The extension of our relationship with the Canadian Teachers’ Federation.
In terms of relating ACER CART to our RTAM membership:
- The Minister of Seniors, Deb Schulte, provides regular and timely updates through ACER-CART, on topics like travel protocol [DON’T], tax information [ALWAYS FILL OUT A FORM], LTC and vaccine scams, staying safe during COVID and other pertinent issues. These are shared with RTAM members through Chapter presidents and the RTAM website.
- ACER-CART provides a list of like- minded associate partner organizations that may be found on their website.
- RTAM provides regular reports to our Western cohorts that are shared at ACER CART board meetings.
- In preparation for an anticipated election call, RTAM has provided ACER CART with a one- time additional 50 cents a member for the development of a brochure outlining our issues.
- The ACER-CART virtual AGM will be on June 5th, 2021 and will be attended by JoAnne Hoyak as Director and Bill Cann as observer.
Respectfully Submitted,
JoAnne Hoyak, RTAM Vice President and ACER CART Director
ACER-CART 2021 National Annual General Meeting
ACER-CART AGM Report 2020/2021
On Friday, June 4, 2021, V.P. JoAnne Hoyak—ACER-CART Director and Pres. Bill Cann—Observer, virtually attended the ACER-CART national Annual General Meeting. Directors from all ten provinces plus the Yukon were present, with the group being technically facilitated from Ottawa by Executive Director-Roger Regimbal and with CTF support.
Besides housekeeping issues that had the Bylaws and Policies updated and the Budget presented, the agenda included reports from the committees as well as from the Directors of each attending retired teachers association.
The slate of officers, due to the extraordinary pandemic year just past, remains the same: President- Gerry Tiede, BCRTA; Vice President-Martin Higgs, RTO/ERO. Regional Reps: Eastern- Margaret Urquart, NBSRT; Ontario-Martha Foster, RTO/ERO; Western-Marilyn Bossert, ARTA; Past President-Bill Berryman, RTO-NSTU; And the Executive Director-Roger Regimbal in Ottawa.
The prime goals for which ACER-CART will advocate in the coming year are as follows:
- Advocate for the development and implementation of a National Seniors Strategy including using the information from “A Declaration Concerning A National Strategy for Seniors”.
- Monitor the Federal Government’s implementation of a universal pharmacare program including the establishment of a Canada Drug Agency and implementation of a national formulary.
- Monitor effects of COVID-19 on the Canada Health Act and on the Bilateral Funding Agreements with the provinces and territories.
- Advocate for a health care system that prioritizes care in seniors’ own homes for as long as possible.
- Advocate for regulations governing Retirement and Long Term Care Homes with emphasis on improving patient respect, working conditions, staff training and staff wages. As an aside, RTAM’s position statement was requested to be shared with the AGM participants.
Also, ACER-CART will monitor effects of the global pandemic on defined benefit pension plans’ assets and liabilities as solvency funding obligations could be affected.
ACER-CART will seek to continue elevating the profile of our national association in our own province’s associations and at all levels of government and beyond. Our relationship with the Canadian Teachers’ Federation is valued and it is hoped to be maintained and extended.
On a personal note, on reading our collegial groups’ reports, it must be noted how similar are our issues of concern as well as our strategies in terms of dealing with them. It is reassuring to experience the support of this exemplary association, the connections made through it with dozens of other senior stakeholders groups, and the fine people who volunteer their time, energy, and expertise.
Respectfully submitted,
JoAnne Hoyak, RTAM Vice President, ACER-CART Director
ACER-CART Redesigned Website
WELCOME TO OUR ACER-CART REDESIGNED WEBSITE
https://acer-cart.org
We invite you to familiarize yourself with the website at your own leisure, or to explore it using the ACER-CART Website Treasure Search.
Our aspirations in this redesign were guided by ACER-CART Objectives, as we focused on facilitating easy access to Advocacy information, to AGM approved Priorities that have evolved from issues affecting the well-being of seniors, and to Member websites and publications all across Canada
It may be a long winter with COVID numbers rising once again. Let’s use that time to become more familiar with the thirteen Members through their websites and publications.
Our predominant colours now are red and blue. If the banners are still showing yellow, refresh your computer. If that does not work, delete cookies and temporary files.
Stay safe, everyone, and believe that this too will pass.
Marilyn Bossert
Chair Communication Committee
BIENVENUE SUR NOTRE SITE WEB ACER-CART RÉNOVÉ
https://acer-cart.org
Nous vous invitons à vous familiariser, à votre guise, avec le site Web ou à l’explorer à l’aide de la recherche de trésor du site Web ACER-CART.
Nos aspirations dans cette refonte ont été guidées par les objectifs de l’ACER-CART, alors que nous nous sommes concentrés sur la facilitation d’un accès facile à l’information sur le plaidoyer, aux priorités approuvées par l’AGA qui ont évolué à partir de problèmes affectant le bien-être des aînés, et aux sites Web et publications des membres partout au Canada
Avec le nombre de COVID qui augmente à nouveau, l’hiver peut être un long. Profitons de ce temps pour nous familiariser avec les treize Membres grâce à leurs sites Web et à leurs publications.
Nos couleurs prédominantes sont maintenant le rouge et le bleu. Si les bannières sont toujours jaunes, actualisez votre ordinateur. Si cela ne fonctionne pas, supprimez les témoins (cookies) et les fichiers temporaires.
Restez en sécurité et croyez que cela aussi passera.
Marilyn Bossert
Présidente du Comité des communications
News of Interest
RTAM is one of 29 organizations which have already endorsed this Declaration:
A Declaration Concerning a National Health Care Strategy For Seniors (English)
Une Déclaration D’Accord National Sur Les Soins De Santé Pour Les Aînés (French)
Endorsement of the Accord to October 3, 2016
As part of our New Horizon for Seniors Grant, we allocated some funds for a research study to help us determine the effectiveness of our program. We recently were matched with a U of M Masters student to be our researcher. Andrew Augustyn is very excited to do this research as he is interested in the theme of mentoring for his M.Ed. thesis. RTAM has sent out letters of invitation to hold interviews on his behalf to those who have signed up for the program. He will be doing two interviews this fall as part of his Qualitative Research Course and then completing our research with eight more interviews in February in order to meet our Grant Report requirements due in March. Enjoy reading his biography below.