Are you calling me old?

So, Corbett, weren't you the first mate on Noah's boat?
Or, Corbett, didn't you play against Red Grange?
No, to both those questions, Bunky, even if my chest has sunk to a new all-time (low) level.
As I keep telling all these young whipper-snappers, age is a state of mind.
If that is true, where does British Columbia stand as far as "retirement" (sorry, for that curse word) is concerned?
Now, that I've passed the "65" threshold and heading for the Big 70, it would be only right if this province follows Ontario's lead and banned mandatory retirement.
Maybe, the boys and girls in Victoria (where ancients hibernate year long) could give me an answer.
Get Tom Christensen on the phone, Miss Goody Two-Shoes.
"Hey, Tom, Corbett here."
"Hello, Tom." Someone on the other end of the phone spouted that Christensen's constituency office was closed for the day.
Rats, I bellowed, or words to that effect.
Well, us "oldsters" can never give up.
Maybe, a couple of those candidates for Christensen's job will have the answer.
"Hello, Juliette, Corbett here."
Juliette Cunningham, the NDP candidate for Christensen's job back in May, was taken aback by my question.Of course, it was at suppertime, and it was rude of me to call at that time.
Well, what about the Conservatives' Colin Black?
"Hello, Colin, what about this mandatory retirement issue?"
"Let people keep working (for as long as they like)," was his reply.
That makes sense to me, anyways.
Back in late January, the CBC reported that the Certified General Accountants Association of Canada (or $$$, Inc.) had called for Canada's elimination of mandatory retirement as part of a plan to deal with an aging population and rising health-care cost.
"The financial implications of our aging population require immediate attention while our economy can still support such initiatives," said Rock Lefebvre, the CGA-Canada's veep for research and standards.
What was key in the report, entitled "Growing Up: The Social and Economic Implications of an Aging Population," was that Canada should ban mandatory retirement and discourage early retirement incentives "to ensure a productive society."
Then on Tuesday, Ontario's Libs got on the bandwagon and announced legislation to ban mandatory retirement at 65, in fact Ontario's Labour Minister Chris Bentley was quoted as saying, "We are extending the right to choose. You don't have to work if you don't want to, but you will have the right to choose."
Alberta, Manitoba, Quebec, Nunavut, the Yukon and P.E.I. now treat mandatory retirement as "discrimination" and have essentially abolished it, while New Brunswick has indicated plans to ban mandatory retirement in the next few days.
The slow wheels of bureaucracy probably will push both the Ontario and N.B. legislation into next year -- 2006. But it's a start.
Of course, there are exceptions with police officers, firefighters and school bus drivers falling into the "retirement" category because of physical ability or safety factors.
So where does that leave British Columbia, Newfoundland-Labrador, Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan?
Do they have legislative action just stalled in the summer doldrums, or have they decided that older citizens should be put out to pasture, even if they are still in good, or reasonably good, health?
When reporters pressed Ontario Labour Minister Bentley that seniors would be taking jobs from the young, he replied: "The labour market is going to be looking for more and more workers -- workers wherever they can. There will be lots of opportunities for young people."
As someone, who was forced by my organization to retire at age 55 in 1994, there was an immediate rush with the doling out of pension monies and prospect of sun, sand and surf. However, after six months to a year such a prospect dissipated.
The golden handshake became a golden curse.
With a year or so, "bored" people either died or those "retirees" craved to get back in the harness.
A friend of mine, a high-powered newspaper executive, based in Ontario, retired, only to be struck with the "loneliness" of being without a job. When another newspaper came a-calling, he quickly jumped at the chance of un-retiring. A person can only handle so much lesiure time.
Lillian Morgenthau of the Canadian Association for the 50-plus, commenting on Ontario's bold move said: "We have to continue to allow them in the workforce. We look forward to this turning point in Ontario history."
"Excuse me, Miss Goody Two Shoes. Try to get Tom Christensen on the phone again."