Oct 04/10 - Pt 3: History of Age

History of Old Age - Pat Thane

Last year, Canada spent just over 183-Billion-dollars on health care. That's nearly 12 per cent of our gross domestic product. And according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, we're not going to be able to sustain that kind of spending. In its latest report on Canada's economy, the OECD says an aging population will strain both our health care system and our economy. That sounds ominous.

But the thing is, we've heard this before. In 1938, a British economist said his country was creeping towards "national suicide" because of increased life expectancy and declining birth rates. And in the mid 1990s, the World Bank weighed in with a report called Averting the Old Age Crisis. We aired part of what it said.

Pat Thane is the author of Old Age in English History and the editor of The Long History of Old Age. She teaches contemporary History at the University of London in the UK. She was in London this morning.

Centenarian - Ted Broostad

Ted Broostad is a good example of someone who does not conform to the expectations of old age. He's 100 years old. He lives on his own in an apartment in Northwest Calgary. And as our Calgary producer Michael O'Halloran found out, he has embraced every form of technology he can.

Last Word - Alan Duffet

And we ended the program with another word from Gilbert Penny from Hickman's Harbour, Newfoundland. We heard from him earlier in the program ... as he gave The Current's Lara O'Brien a tour of Random Island. Gilbert also took Lara to Britannia and to the spot where 80-year-old Alan Duffett was standing when he was swept out to sea at the height of Hurricane Igor.

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