The Honourable Yvonne Fritz
Minister of Seniors and Community Supports

Yvonne Fritz was elected to her fourth term as Member of the Legislative Assembly for Calgary-Cross on November 22, 2004. On November 25, Mrs. Fritz was appointed Minister of Seniors and Community Supports. In addition to her role as MLA and Minister, she serves as a member of Treasury Board, and the Standing Policy Committee for Health and Community Living.

Many people have made Alberta a great place. Seniors especially have helped build this province, and they continue to make Alberta a vibrant and progressive place in which to live and work.

As the Minister for Seniors and Community Supports, it was my privilege to announce three new programs for Alberta seniors through the 2005-06 budget.

The Dental and Optical Assistance for Seniors programs provide assistance to low- and moderate-income seniors, to help pay for their dental care and prescription eyeglasses. Through the dental program, eligible seniors will receive up to a maximum of $5,000

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of coverage for dental care for every five years. This new program will help seniors maintain a reasonable level of dental health.

The new optical program will provide up to a maximum of $230 towards the purchase of one pair of prescription eyeglasses every three years. This will encourage Alberta's seniors to share responsibility for their vision care. These programs have been designed to be straightforward and easily accessible for seniors. About 267,000 seniors, or 80 percent of all seniors in Alberta, are eligible to receive some assistance from these programs.

The third new program is the Education Property Tax Assistance program. This program assists all Alberta seniors, regardless of income, with year-to-year increases in the education portion of their property taxes. Based on the property tax assessments over the last few years, it is expected that the average payment for the first year will be around $50. The rebate amount will vary, depending on how much the education portion of a senior's property tax has increased. Seniors can apply to be reimbursed for the difference between the 2004 amount and the 2005 education property tax amount. About 115,000 senior households in Alberta will be eligible for this program in 2005-06.

As with all of the province's seniors' programs, these three new programs will be reviewed regularly to ensure the basic needs of seniors in Alberta are being met.

For more information on the provincial assistance and benefits programs for Alberta seniors, please visit the Alberta Seniors and Community Supports website at www.seniors.gov.ab.ca or call the Seniors Information Line at 1-800-642-3853.