So the Seniors Advisory Committee of St. Albert would like input from St. Albert seniors! Using a written survey may seem like an acceptable idea, but this particular questionnaire leaves a lot to be desired – therefore the results may suggest general trends but will not provide meaningful data!
This is a closed ended questionnaire using a 1 to 10 system and yes or no answers. I suggest this will not enable room for thought and opinion. Further, putting NU for not used does not provide room for explanation. Precluding seniors who own their own homes presently from answering questions about future rental accommodation needs seems a little short sighted also! If the SAC of St. Albert want real input – then actual meetings with seniors are the answer.
Living on a fixed income in this city for many seniors is getting more difficult – costs rise and our incomes do not! Often the criteria used for providing help do not keep up with the realities of the financial situations that are encountered.
Transportation for seniors in St Albert is not adequate, just to get around the city using transit may mean getting on and off of buses – there is no circular route. When Coun. Hughes suggested that to fill up empty transit capacity, enabling youth to get free passes might help – this was not allowed for seniors and for some this might have been a blessing. Parking is becoming a serious problem, particularly at the Seniors Centre. Membership has grown exponentially from approximately 500 to 1,500. The Curling Club also shares this lot. There is a section for the City of St. Albert which is rarely fully utilized – tempting parkers when over crowding occurs to get parking violation tickets! Yet there is a newer road that runs passed the Centre but we cannot have a bus stop! As I have said, using a bus to go around the city, that would stop at well used locations by seniors, the library, recreation centres, the seniors centre – shopping locations could well curb the parking problem!
If the Advisory Committee wants input of value, let seniors provide face-to-face information. But perhaps the SAC realizes that the results will not be used by the City of St. Albert!
Elizabeth Allchin, St. Albert
