Innisfail-Sylvan Lake MLA Kerry Towle spoke with seniors at the local seniors drop-in centre on Oct. 8 on seniors' advocacy and hot button issues, including the controversial driving tests SIMARD MD and DriveABLE.
A feisty crowd of nearly 30 seniors at the drop-in centre asked questions on the two tests seniors believe are mandatory to keep your driver's licence, which the province denies.
“We have to make sure that patients understand that they have options for cognitive testing,” said Towle. “You don't have to take the SIMARD MD test, and when you take the DriveABLE, you hand your hard licence over and you do not get it back unless you pass.
“If you don't, you have to find a way home, with or without a licence,” added Towle. “There are also different costs for the same test with some people paying $250 or even $350.”
She pointed out the testing is both discriminatory and age dependent, adding many of the questions and testing methods may not be second nature to seniors not familiar with computer technology.
“My father had a stroke four months after my brother passed away and I had to fight to have his licence taken away,” said the MLA, who feels that cognitive testing of some sort would have made her fight easier with her father and also her brother, who was in the throes of Huntington's disease and still driving when he should not have been.
Sundre resident Trudy Paterson, who contacted the Province last week, has not yet had to take the SIMARD MD but was wondering what she could do to prepare.
“I have a couple of years left before I take the test and I don't want to go through what the man (Gerald Ohrn) experienced,” said Paterson. “I want to know my options before I get to that stage.”
Innisfail's Marie Gibbon was one of the attendees who was concerned about driver testing.
“I lost my licence and I don't even know why and how,” said Gibbon, who expressed interest in seniors' driver testing issues. “It affected my life.”
The MLA discussed other issues such as AISH cut-offs for seniors at age 65, centralization of ambulance dispatch services, hospital waiting times, and long-term/acute care wait-lists.
“It's not just about being a senior,” said Towle of her senior advocacy role. “It's about all of us, any Albertan who could enter the health system at any time for any reason at any age. I'm here to make a difference in the lives of people,” said Towle.
