One Bermuda Alliance Leader, Craig Cannonier yesterday promised that his party would eliminate age discrimination in the workplace, and ensure affordable and equitable health insurance and financial assistance for seniors.But according to the ruling party’s Anthony Richardson, one of Mr Cannonier’s opponents in the upcoming Devonshire South Central by-election, voting him into parliament is the best way to deliver such benefits to senior citizens.And he advocated policies which would prevent adult children of senior citizens from abusing their homeowning parents.And independent candidate David Sullivan stressed that including senior citizens in the life of the country is key.Seniors advocacy organisation, Age Concern, had invited the three Devonshire South Central by-election candidates to speak with senior citizens. About 40 people showed up for the lunchtime forum at the Peace Lutheran Church Hall.In the final part of the wide-ranging discussion, the three were read out a summary of the findings of a recent focus group discussion during which seniors highlighted their vision of a senior friendly Bermuda.Seniors had called for a healthier interaction with young people, human contact with service providers such as banks as opposed to automated answering machines, safety measures such as footpaths and sidewalks and inclusion of homeowners in Government’s financial assistance scheme.The seniors had also called for the ability to continuing working despite their age and for society to “value seniors as participants and contributors in the workplace.”“If you wish to continue to work after 65, that option should be available to you without any ramifications for that,” Mr Cannonier said. “Work never killed anyone. But it certainly will keep you alive, and I’m sure that at 65 you want to continue doing what it is that you do.”He said the OBA will make it a priority to eliminate age discrimination, adding that the issue had been bounced around but Government “hasn’t moved on it”.“We’re going to move on it immediately, to eradicate it. It must be done.”Turning to healthcare he said the current system was “another form of discrimination” and should be reviewed to “ensure that it is affordable and equitable so that everyone is paying the same price for the same care”.On financial assistance, Mr Cannonier said that seniors should not be denied financial assistance because they own a home. “Here you are, you have provided a home that your family, in future days, will be able to take advantage of.“Yet, us as a people, Bermuda and the Government are saying you don’t have any cash, you can’t pay electricity, nothing I can do about it. And you’ve paid your dues to society. That can no longer go on.”He said: “It would be a dire shame if we continue to allow these kinds of things to be on the law books of Bermuda without eradicating them. That must be done now. We cannot wait any longer to eradicate them because you are too valuable a resource to be on the sideline as if you are a cheerleader and you’re not a part of the game. You are a vital part of the game.”Anthony Richardson said that there was a misunderstanding about the Government retirement age.“The Government Pension scheme talks about retirement at the age of 65. But there is no law that I am aware of that makes any other private employer require the employees to go at age 65.”Mr Richardson noted that, historically, insurers denied health insurance to people over 65. “It’s about respect. It’s really about saying the seniors themselves are requesting for us to go beyond 65. Do it right away,” he said. “As of tomorrow, it can be done.”He told the gathering that there was an advantage in putting him in parliament.“If I am successful on Tuesday, the Government, Bermuda, has to wake up and pay attention,” he said. “What it really means is that you are prepared to make a change” and there would be a recognition by the Premier that the administration would have to immediately respond to changes demanded by the voters.Mr Richardson advocated a policy whereby adult children who took control of their parents’ homes were prevented from abusing them.“As people get older, sometimes they pass their houses to their children. And the children themselves abuse the parents by putting them into a snooze home. That has to be stopped,” he said.He said such practices could be stopped through a policy preventing people from putting their parents out of their own homes. “I can assure everyone in this room that, no matter who you are, no matter what your family circumstances are, if you pass your house on too early, children themselves do not always react appropriately. We need to have a policy for that.”Mr Sullivan said that the fact that many organisations had abandoned a human interface and turned to technology to handle customers was a symptom of the fact that “we have not encouraged the business community to consider people who are experienced to have a small job, just to do something every day”.“It gives an opportunity for experienced members of the community to come out, have a reason to get up in the morning and go out and create an environment of friendliness which is what our island is famous for. We are a friendly island, a friendly people,” Mr Sullivan said.“The opportunity we have before us, I think, is about inclusion.”