National Seniors Day is October 1

Two boys sit outside a train station in front of the Alqonquin Moose, a striking metal sculpture created by their grandfather and displayed as public art.

Christian, the oldest brother: "It's just, it's very special to know that, like, one of your grandparents made something like a public art piece."

Simon: "My name is Simon Brascoupé. I'm from Kitigan Zibi, and I do artwork. This is one of the pieces that I did here at Pimisi Station."

Simon lights herbs in a small bowl as part of a smudging ceremony.

Christian: "It's very impressive and something you get to remember him for, you know?"

Simon: "I have pride. I have pride for my family because they've been involved in it. My grandsons have been involved in some of the art projects that we've worked on."

Viktor, the younger brother, gently wafts the smoke over each person using a feather.

Christian: "I think it does have impact on the community, because it's a way for him to share all of the stories that his grandparents passed on to him, and now he's passing it on to the community."

Simon, standing in a circle with the boys, says a prayer.

Simon: "You know, I think we've got to look at our own seniors and our own elders and all the communities a little bit differently, because they've really lived and have experience that could be passed on to the next generation, and it's just there for the taking."

Simon stands in front of the Algonquin Moose, embracing his grandsons, who stand on either side of him.

The two grandsons look at Simon and say together: "Meegwetch, Grandpa!"

[Text on Screen] Let's thank the older adults in our lives!

Canada Word Mark

Goats bleat on a farm. A teenage girl sits in the barn with a baby goat in her arms.

Rosalie: "I really love my grandmother, who has a great retirement project with this little farm. I'm learning a lot and I enjoy being here."

Rosalie feeds grass to the goats in the field. Rosalie and her grandmother collect eggs in the chicken coop.

Ginette: "I like that the grandchildren have the opportunity to see what a real life is, and that meat and milk don't just come from a package at the grocery store. For me, it's important to pass that on to them."

Rosalie plays with the baby goats in the barn. Ginette brings the sheep into the pen. They feed the sheep.

Ginette: "What do you want to do when you retire? Because I think that a lot of people who don't have a retirement project, they don't age well and they get sick. In my opinion, it's really, really important to have a retirement project."

Ginette kisses a baby goat in the barn.

Rosalie, looking at her grandmother: "Thanks, grandma, for letting us join in on your retirement project. I really appreciate it, and I love all the animals and everything you're doing."

Ginette, smiling at her granddaughter: "I love you."

Rosalie: "I love you too."

Ginette hugs her granddaughter.

[Text on the screen] Let's thank the older adults in our lives!

Canada wordmark

Denis plays the piano and sings in the lounge of a retirement home.

Denis: "What inspires me the most is the fact that my mother suffered from Alzheimer's and that I played music at the residence where she lived. And I've never stopped doing this, because I find that music in the community brings a sense of well-being. It touches people's hearts."

Retirement home residents gathered in the lounge to listen to the concert. Some older women are rocking in chairs. One older man is reading the newspaper.

Older woman: "I think that it allows the people who come down to be together. I'm really thankful that someone like Denis comes here to share his talent."

Older man: "An activity like this one today brings joy to the residence and creates bonds between the residents."

Denis sings.

Denis: "When we were younger, we were all touched by music in some way or another. We all have an association with music. Deep, deep, deep down in our memory, even if we're no longer there mentally, music is still there, music remains."

About ten residents gather around Denis.

[Text on the screen] Let's thank the older adults in our lives!

Canada wordmark

Music with birds chirping and ambient sound.

Text appears in an animated blue sky: Rethinking Aging.

We pan down from the sky to the facades of brightly coloured single-family homes, in front of which a green car moves from left to right.

We zoom in to the window of one of these houses. A black and white cat is sitting at the left side of the window.

Narration: Ageism is a socially tolerated and widespread form of discrimination.

A tracking shot from left to right shows a wall covered with framed photos of a man named Pedro, in his sixties, with a tan complexion and grey and white hair.

Narration: Take Pedro, who lost his job because he was considered "too old to keep up."

Pedro can be seen in all the photos on the wall, and in a variety of scenes: outdoors doing physical activities with his friends, in a community garden growing tomatoes, around a campfire playing the guitar, and in portraits with various people.

Zooming in, we plunge into the photo of the community garden, where Pedro digs in the ground and a woman picks a red tomato. A video effect shows the scene being photographed on a cell phone. The photo on the cell phone is the same one displayed on the wall when we zoom out.

Narration: Judging someone based on their age is a bias that leads to discrimination, exclusion and unfair treatments. Without realizing, it's easy to accept ideas that are ageist, depicting older adults as fragile, incapable, and disconnected. This leads to social isolation and robs them of dignity.

We return to the photos on the wall, and we continue to pan from left to right.

Narration: But Pedro is an important member of his community. We need to change how we view Pedro and older people.

Next, we see Pedro seated at a dining table, accompanied by a man and a woman, chatting and sharing a meal.

Narration: To overcome ageism, each of us, no matter our age, must learn to recognize and challenge our own biases. Let's encourage the participation of older people in all areas of society, and value their experience and skills.

We go back to an outside shot of the house facades, in front of which a woman walks from right to left, pushing a stroller.

Narration: Together, we can build a Canada in which everyone, whatever their age, feels respected.

A vertical pan upward leads us back to the blue sky from the beginning of the video. The screen fades to white, and the Canada wordmark appears.