With inflation wreaking havoc on the cost of living in Canada, some seniors are particularly feeling the squeeze.
Bernie Larusic went out shopping with his wife Thursday morning and came home talking about the prices.
“Well, according to my wife, they are not exactly low,” said Larusic.
He says prices at the grocery store have sent their food bill through the roof.
"Looking through them and saying, 'My goodness, my goodness.' She’s not like me. She says, 'My goodness.’ I might use stronger language," Larusic said.
At Loaves and Fishes, a food bank and soup kitchen in Sydney, N.S., general manager Marco Amati says they're seeing a big uptick in seniors coming in for a hot meal.
Amati says with the recent cold weather, higher home heating costs are putting older clients in a financial dilemma.
“They have to pick between feeding themselves and heating themselves. So, we're glad we're here to give them a meal anyway. But yeah, it's disheartening to see this,” said Amati.
Bill VanGorder is with CARP – a national organization that advocates for seniors.
He says with COVID-19 restrictions in Nova Scotia set to end March 21, seniors are eager to get out and socialize. However, he adds the price of gas doesn’t make it easy.
“It's really going to create a problem, probably in terms of mental health and satisfaction, quality of life for these people. Governments have to realize that they can't continue to ignore the plight of seniors in this way," said VanGorder.
Larusic hopes, as restrictions ease, it will get easier to spread the word about the current cost of living.
"Seniors clubs are just starting to come back in. And I certainly want to visit with them and push that, speak to the MLAs that are in your area," said Larusic.
