- by Norah Beatty

A few weeks ago, Bob Avis, a retired pharmacist from Flesherton, contacted me after reading a newspaper article about the Grey Bruce County Health Coalition and the current campaign.

He was keenly interested in the campaign and very alarmed about the privatization of our public hospitals by increasing private for profit clinics.

Bob and his wife are residents of Central Place Retirement Community, on 3rd Avenue East, in Owen Sound. His wife is very ill, but Bob took it upon himself to become an active supporter of the campaign to stop privatization.

He took the initiative to speak to fellow residents and distributed the Ontario Health Coalition (OHC) leaflets to them. At the same time, he met with the manager to see if it was possible to have a voting station inside the residence because he knew that going outside to a polling location was not possible for most of his senior friends. The manager was agreeable to providing the space but no staff could be involved in organizing or facilitating the vote. Bob was not deterred.

Bob's commitment to involving the residents was remarkable.

He contacted me to arrange a date for an advance poll at Central Place. It was scheduled for Saturday, May 13, 8:45 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

He made and posted signs advertising the date and time and made sure every resident received a leaflet about the issue. He wrote and sent emails with information to the residents. He volunteered to organize groups to insert polling station lists into 500 OHC leaflets, to be distributed by our local coalition volunteers in the broader community.

My role was to bring materials and conduct the vote according to the OHC guidelines. Bob had a few volunteers who presented residents with the pledge sheet and their ballot, then directed them to put it into the ballot box.

In all, 49 voted on site and some came by to comment that they had already voted online. All were appreciative of their opportunity to participate.

It was inspiring to see these seniors still engaged in current events and taking action to follow their beliefs.

Many were extremely worried about the thought of privatization and the negative effects that they perceived it would have on their children and grandchildren's lives. They personally knew the value of Canadian medicare.

It is my hope that people of all ages will follow the example of these seniors, become informed about the issue of privatization and exercise their democratic right to vote their conscience on May 26 & 27.

Bob is an excellent example that you are never too old to volunteer to serve your community.