The final budget of the Trudeau Liberals’ current mandate is being called “a win” for older Canadians by CARP – A New Vision of Aging.

But CARP’s Chief Public Policy Officer Laura Tamblyn Watts also tells Zoomer Radio/Classical FM News, some of the group’s key requests are missing, such as easing up on mandatory RIFF withdrawals.

“We were very surprised to see that that wasn’t there. By contrast, what they did do, is increase the opportunity for deferred annuities. We didn’t see as much on caregivers as we’d hoped. We hope that this is an opportunity to double down in our election platform discussions. So we didn’t get the changes we wanted for caregiver supports, although we did see that there is an investment in things like healthcare, investments in things like disability, investments in things like dementia,” Tamblyn Watts explained.

Finance Minister Bill Morneau also announced that the government is moving toward national pharmacare, by creating a national drug agency to lower medication costs. After delivering the budget, Morneau explained that this is important foundational work.

“Back in the 1960s we didn’t put pharmacare under the healthcare system. No government’s dealt with it since then and we are finally taking action to get us to a national pharmacare system. These are the first building blocks for that approach,” Morneau said.

Listen for more on how the budget affects Zoomers on Fight Back with Libby Znaimer after Wednesday’s noon news.