While the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge pay tribute to Canada’s military at a wreath-laying ceremony at the Rotary Challenger Park, 29 seniors, including many war veterans from the Colonel Belcher Seniors residence in Calgary are facing eviction.
At this point, the Alberta Government is still following through with the complex private health deal that allows Chartwell Seniors Housing REIT the option of converting affordable seniors accommodation units into expensive private condos.
According to Chartwell’s corporate mission statement, the publicly traded corporation (TSX – CSH.UN) “is a real estate investment trust focused on generating sustainable, stable and growing cash distributions from owning and managing a complete range of seniors housing communities.”
The Belcher deal is consistent with their goal “to maximize the value of its existing portfolio of seniors housing facilities.”
Friends of Medicare is calling up on the Provincial Government to publicly disclose the terms of the private health contract with Chartwell Housing REIT to determining if this sort of arrangement is an appropriate and efficient use of public dollars.
“Our province is desperately short of affordable seniors’ care,” says David Eggen, Executive Director of Friends of Medicare, “We can’t let these sorts of expensive and murky private health contracts slip by without close public scrutiny.”