Many seniors have been looking for a place of their own since programming ended at the Moncton Lions Community Centre.
Since 2021, the seniors have been using various centres throughout the city including the Kay Crossman Arena, YMCA and East End Pool for activities. This was after the Moncton Lions Community Centre was reopened as a drop-in and emergency centre for the homeless.
Royal Canadian Legion Branch 6 President Robert Dupuis says they expanded their opening hours in February for the seniors.
“Line dancing comes in every Tuesday night. They have three classes and each class is usually around 30 people. Then we started having seniors on Wednesdays. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are open and Thursday also. we also have lots of veterans, we run seniors activities for our veterans and it’s open for anyone to go. There are legion activities where the bar is open on Friday and Saturday. Other than that, we don’t make any money,” Dupuis says.
He adds the Legion needed to partner up, and the seniors asked if they could do something. He made a schedule and he is now able to accommodate around 400 seniors, but to continue offering the space and services, he says they needed some financial assistance.
“The Legion is wide open. The exercise room is one thing. There is a nice Lounge there that they could sit down and just chat and cool off and have a bottle of water. We have a great games room for those who want to stay, and we don’t make any money because the bar isn’t open. It would be available that we could do a lot more socializing for our seniors,” Dupuis reinforced.
After several revisions, City Council voted on a motion that read, “That Moncton City Council approve funding in the amount of $49,000 for operational costs incurred by the Branch 6 Royal Canadian Legion Veterans Avenue for provision of seniors activities from February to August 2024 and that administration return to council at the September 19 regular public meeting with other options for future programming partnerships.”
Councillor Charles Leger felt it was great to be having
Councillor Paulette Theriault was the only one to vote against because she had concerns about the number of senior groups in the city, “We haven’t done the inventory. Should we give money to all of the seniors groups? Which one do we identify that we give money to? Do we have a policy on this? The Legion is great, but we also met with Aberdeen, and they were also great. We need to rethink this whole process before funding any group.”
The funds will be taken from $130, 000 that was allocated for seniors in the 2024 budget.
