Thank You to Isobel Mackenzie, BC's first Seniors Advocate

The BC Health Coalition Steering Committee extends our best wishes and deepest thanks to Isobel Mackenzie after 10 years as British Columbia's first Seniors Advocate. 

Dear Ms. Mackenzie,

We join with seniors, their loved ones, service providers, health care workers, and advocates across the province to recognize the significant mark you have made in BC in your time as our first Seniors Advocate.

The BC Health Coalition is a democratic, non-partisan, and consensus-based community of over 800,000 individuals and organizations that span the province of British Columbia. Over ten years ago, our Coalition participated in a community-driven effort to successfully advocate for the creation of the Office of the Seniors Advocate. The Seniors Advocate Act, passed in 2013, was a milestone for systemic advocacy for seniors, raising the public’s expectation for change.

You have met these expectations and set a high bar for those who will follow after you.

Throughout your ten years as Seniors Advocate, we have enjoyed a positive working relationship with you. We commend the ways you prioritized hearing directly from seniors and the public. Your work has been a unifying force for all working to improve health care for seniors. Equipped with your recommendations, our Coalition has been able to bring together seniors, senior-led organizations, health care workers, and allies around a common understanding of issues and solutions.

Our public advocacy for improved accountability in long-term care, more access to home-support, and improved conditions in assisted living, will continue to be strengthened by the quality of the data, reports, and recommendations you have brought forward.

We will miss your presence in our movement and wish you the very best for your next chapter of life. We hope you can be encouraged knowing that we will continue to advocate to bring your recommendations into action and to hold your successors to the standards you have set.

On behalf of the BC Health Coalition’s Steering Committee, we thank you for your years of service.

Tuesday Andrich, Labour Co-chair	Stacy Ashton, Community Co-chair