Victoria seniors stage protest on vacant school lot, seeking park space for seniors – B.C.

Dozens of seniors in Victoria, British Columbia, staged a rally on a former school grounds to demand more age-friendly park spaces, contrasting their situation with the facilities available for young people, including a new nearby skateboard park.

About 100 seniors, many using walkers and motorized scooters and carrying signs, took part in the protest near land owned by the Greater Victoria School District and say they are being barred from green spaces near their homes .

The vacant lot was on the grounds of a former high school, and protester Terry Dance-Bennink says turning it into an age-friendly area would give the neighborhood’s more than 1,000 seniors a place to work out. exercise, socialize and enjoy nature.

Dance-Bennink says the seniors approached the school district to turn the area into a temporary seniors’ park, but got no response.

The Greater Victoria School District was not immediately available for comment.

Last week, BC Seniors Advocate Isobel Mackenzie released a report saying the province ranks last in Canada when it comes to providing key financial supports to seniors.

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