Dan Levitt has been appointed to be British Columbia\u2019s new seniors advocate <\/i>(photo from Dan Levitt)<\/i><\/p>\n
Dan Levitt is set to become British Columbia\u2019s new seniors advocate. The appointment was announced last month by BC Health Minister Adrian Dix.<\/p>\n
\u201cDan Levitt has championed the rights of seniors for 30 years and with his extensive experience he is an excellent choice for BC\u2019s seniors advocate,\u201d Dix said in announcing the appointment. The Office of the Seniors Advocate is an independent branch of the provincial government, which acts in the interest of seniors and their caregivers.<\/p>\n
Levitt becomes only the second person to hold the role, replacing Isobel Mackenzie, who will retire April 5 from the position she initiated a decade ago.<\/p>\n
Levitt spoke with the Independent<\/i> over lunch in the community centre that is part of KinVillage, the Tsawwassen continuing care retirement community he has headed as chief executive officer since 2021. Over the din of an adjacent bingo game, Levitt spoke of his career, the footsteps of his father and his plans for the new job.<\/p>\n
The role of seniors advocate is unusual, he explained. British Columbia\u2019s was the first in Canada, being created by legislation in 2013. To date, only two provinces, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador, have followed suit, though others are considering it.<\/p>\n
The purpose of the advocate\u2019s office, which has a staff of 17, is to look at systemic issues that impact seniors and make recommendations to government.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe five areas that we look at are transportation, housing, health care, income supports and community services that are geared around older people,\u201d said Levitt. While the office has no authority to force governments to take steps, Levitt said his predecessor, Mackenzie, has recommended many proposals that have found favour with those in power. Not all recommendations will be adopted, he said, but \u201cit usually helps to move the needle in a direction.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere isn\u2019t that power, if you will, to say, \u2018This must happen.\u2019 But, many times, the recommendations are ones that are introduced and taken forward because they are the right things to do,\u201d said Levitt, noting that his predecessor initiated a great range of measures that the government has taken up.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIsobel and the office have been real pioneers in shedding lights on challenges and opportunities with an aging population,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s the purpose of these independent offices. They can reflect, in this case, what matters most to seniors, what are their concerns, and then move that agenda forward in helping to influence public policy.\u201d<\/p>\n The position is nonpartisan and independent from government.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIn the recruitment process, no political official was involved,\u201d said Levitt.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Levitt is not the first in his family to work in the senior care field. His father, Ken Levitt, was a longtime administrator of the Louis Brier Home and Hospital, during a time of significant expansion, including the development of the Weinberg Residence. The elder Levitt is now, among other things, past president of the Jewish Seniors Alliance of Greater Vancouver.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI am following in his footsteps, for sure,\u201d said the son. \u201cAnd I think I am honouring, as he did, our parents by ensuring the health and well-being of older adults.\u201d<\/p>\n As his new position requires he hold no outside affiliations, Levitt recently resigned from roles on the boards of directors of CommonAge, which advances the interests of older adults in the 53 Commonwealth countries, and the International Federation on Ageing. He has also given up adjunct professorships in gerontology at Simon Fraser University and in the school of nursing at the University of British Columbia, and a sessional instructor position at the British Columbia Institute of Technology.<\/p>\n Levitt\u2019s undergrad degree in psychology is from UBC and he graduated from the University of North Texas, Centre for Studies in Aging, with a master of science.<\/p>\n \u201cI need to dedicate 110% of my working time to this role,\u201d he said of giving up his other gigs, which included speaking engagements worldwide on topics of aging and extensive public commentary on related subjects.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The vetting process for the seniors advocate position was a lengthy one \u2013 and Levitt compares getting the final word on his selection with the feeling of elation he gets when he places well in his avocation of competitive running.<\/p>\n \u201cProbably like anybody else who\u2019s been through a job search like this, when you get that nod, it feels pretty good,\u201d he said. \u201cI am a competitive runner in my age category and, when I place well in a race, you are elated. So, when I got the message, I was pinching myself, making sure I heard what I thought I heard. You feel this elation. Soon this wears off and you start realizing the responsibility, start realizing what this means now, and people are depending on you to make their lives better.\u201d<\/p>\n Caring for seniors also means helping the people in their lives, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not just the older people that we\u2019re trying to support, who are directly impacted, but it\u2019s their family members,\u201d said Levitt.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Although he is not yet in the job \u2013 he\u2019ll have to move to Victoria, coming home to Vancouver on weekends \u2013 he already has the first few months scoped out.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m going to be doing a tour around the province of BC [meeting with seniors],\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ll be asking them questions around what are those policies that help or hinder them in those five areas of transportation, housing, health care, income supports and community supports. We\u2019ll be looking at those issues, listening to them, then we\u2019ll come back to the office, synthesize the information and then we will release a report on what we found. That report will give us a mandate of what the biggest concerns are that seniors have and we\u2019ll make recommendations to the government on how we can improve different aspects of seniors\u2019 lives.\u201d<\/p>\n In the statement announcing Levitt\u2019s appointment, his predecessor had kind words for him.<\/p>\n \u201cIt has been an honour and a privilege to serve as seniors advocate for the Province of BC,\u201d said Mackenzie. \u201cOur population is aging and seniors need the ability to live independently at home, knowing the programs and services to support them are easily accessible to everyone. As issues such as dementia, housing and elder care become more complex, it\u2019s crucial to advocate for strengthened seniors services throughout the province. I know Dan is ready to continue the cause and his efforts will make a difference in the lives of seniors for years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI have big shoes to fill,\u201d said Levitt, \u201cbecause Isobel Mackenzie has done a phenomenal job starting the Office of the Seniors Advocate and really setting a very high bar, really pushing forward the agenda of older people, shining a light on some of the inequities and some of the systemic issues that impact older people and making recommendations that have stuck and changed just about every aspect of life for seniors.\u201d<\/p>\n Levitt has spoken out on issues in the past, weighing in, for example, on the controversy around Lisa LaFlamme, whose firing as CTV National News anchor was blamed on sexism and ageism, and in challenging the ageism of birthday cards. While he will be taking on systemic issues on the larger stage of provincial policy, he urges individuals to speak up against ageism in everyday life and to celebrate aging.<\/p>\n Be aware of even subtle language that debases older people and their experiences, he advises.<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t use the language that demonizes or goes into the negative stereotypes we often will see,\u201d he said. \u201cFor example, \u2018I\u2019m having a senior moment.\u2019 No one who is young says they\u2019re having a junior moment.\u201d<\/p>\n He encourages everyone to reject negative connotations around aging.<\/p>\n \u201cEmbrace your own age,\u201d he said. \u201cEmbrace who you are and enjoy those birthdays and celebrate them and celebrate getting older. Don\u2019t hide your age.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Dan Levitt has been appointed to be British Columbia\u2019s new seniors advocate (photo from Dan Levitt) Dan Levitt is set to become British Columbia\u2019s new seniors advocate. The appointment was announced last month by BC Health Minister Adrian Dix. \u201cDan Levitt has championed the rights of seniors for 30 years and with his extensive experience […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":43601,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[6422,22993,7833,3225,22994,3714],"class_list":["post-43599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","tag-british-columbia","tag-dan-levitt","tag-government","tag-health-care","tag-office-of-the-seniors-advocate","tag-seniors"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43599"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43599\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}