Non-Governmental
Sites |
See these related Canadian Social Research Links pages also: -
British Columbia NGO Links (D-W) PovNet - my friends and kindred spirits in BC, comprehensive site - highly recommended! | Media (HINT:
Try clicking each media link below and searching their archive for specific words,
e.g., welfare) |
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Ground-breaking
study follows BC welfare recipients for two years
Reveals
welfare rules and rates cause disturbing harm to most vulnerable
News
Release
April 22, 2008
Vancouver - A ground-breaking study that for two
years followed British Columbians living on welfare paints a disturbing picture
of how people are forced to make ends meet under new welfare rules and low rates.
(...) Living on Welfare in BC: Experiences of Longer-Term Expected to Work
Recipients followed 62 people from Vancouver, Victoria and Kelowna.
(co-published
by the CCPABC office and Raise the
Rates)
Living on Welfare
in BC:
Experiences of Longer-Term Expected to Work Recipients
April
2008
By Seth Klein and Jane Pulkingham
With Sylvia Parusel, Kathryn Plancke,
Jewelles Smith, Dixon Sookraj, Thi Vu, Bruce Wallace and Jane Worton
"(...)
"Only a small fraction of the participants in this study left poverty. Those
who remain on assistance remain very poor, even if re-categorized. Those forced
off even more so. And while those who shifted from income assistance to the labour
market were better off, most are now counted among the working poor.""
Complete
report (PDF - 2.7MB)
Summary
(PDF - 1.1MB
CCPA Reports and Studies - links to 800+ reports
Source:
Economic
Security Project <==== incl. links to 25 related studies
Canadian
Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) - British Columbia Office
[ CCPA
National Office ]
Related links:
Poverty
Built into BC's System
Two-year study looks at welfare policies'
effects on people.
By Andrew MacLeod
April 22, 2008
- incl. links
to three related Tyee articles and more resources
Source:
The
Tyee
Related Web/News/Blog links:
Google
Search Results Links - always current results!
Using the following
search terms (without the quote marks):
"CCPA, BC, welfare report"
-
Web search results page
- News
search results page
- Blog Search Results
page
Source:
Google.ca
More BC reports from CCPA - this link takes you further down on the page you're now reading
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|
Action
Committee of People With Disabilities
"The Action Committee of
People with Disabilities, or ACPD, is a charitable cross-disability society located
in Victoria, British Columbia. ACPD serves all people, regardless of disability
type: physical, psychiatric, developmental, sensory and/or emotional. We are operated
by and for people with disabilities. Whenever possible, our programs and services
are offered by consumers."
Programs include : Assisted Independent Living
Program - Consumer Card Program - Individual Advocacy Program - Public Advocacy
Program - Office Volunteer Program
- Email
Advocacy ("Ask an Advocate")
|
Anti-Poverty
Committee (APC)
"The Anti-Poverty Committee is an organization
of poor and working people, who fight for poor people, their rights and an end
to poverty by any means necessary. The poor face constant attack under the capitalist
system and these attacks have only intensified under the BC Liberal government.
APC is committed to fighting the brutal policies of the BC Liberals through direct
action, mass mobilization, and casework."
- incl. links to : Home | Campaigns
& Issues | Publications | Calendar | Archive | Links
APC
CAMPAIGNS:
Safe Streets Act - Welfare Campaign - Housing Campaign - Police
Brutality - Skwelkwek'welt Support - Immigrant and Refugee Solidarity - Legal
Defense - Harm Reduction - Cheam Solidarity
|
BC
Association for Community Living
"The BC Association for Community
Living is a provincial association dedicated to promoting the participation of
people with developmental disabilities in all aspects community life. We also
support activities dedicated to building inclusive communities that value the
diverse abilities of all people.."
- incl. links to : About Us - Self-Advocacy
- Social Policy Positions - Government Relations - Special Projects - COmmunity
Living Month - Calendar - Resources - Issues
|
British
Columbia Association of Social Workers
"BCASW is a voluntary,
not-for-profit membership association that provides support and professional development
services to its members and a strong voice for professional and social advocacy.
BCASW is one of eleven provincial/territorial social work associations belonging
to the Canadian Association of Social Workers
(CASW)."
- incl. links to : | About us | Join BCASW | Contact us |
News | Home | | Member Benefits& Services | A Career in Social Work | Social
Work Links | Coming Events | The Whistle | Job Postings | Current Affairs | Message
Board | Private Practice Roster | Perspective Newsmagazine
Time
to Open the Door to our Human Rights Obligations,
says BC Association
of Social Workers
Media Release
March 27, 2006
The BC Association
of Social Workers supports a call for an in-depth public review of the legislation,
policies and practices that have closed the front door to welfare in BC. This
call comes after the release of the report Denied Assistance: Closing the Front
Door on Welfare by the Vancouver Island Public Interest Research Group (VIPIRG)
and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).
Source:
BC
Association of Social Workers
|
BC
Blogs
- links to 289 BC-based blogs (yeah, as a matter of fact,
I did count them, on January 15/07 [Reminder to self : gotta get a life.]
Blogs
are organized under the following categories
* Activism * Arts & Culture
* Beyond B.C. * Commerce & Law * Environment & Ecology * Health &
Lifestyle * Politics: Commentary * Regional * Tech & Media * Travel &
Global Culture * Video Blogs & Podcasts
TIP: set some time aside
to explore these blogs at a more leisurely pace --- this list is broader in scope
than just social programs, so you'll find some surprise "pundit nuggets",
like Norman's Spectator: Norm
Spector's own blog, and you'll also find links to some totally irrelevant
but quite interesting blogs like Purl
this!: Life, knitting, and other ramblings from the Okanagan, and many more...
Source:
The
Tyee
|
BC
Child Care Advocacy Forum
Established in the spring of 1999, the Child
Care Advocacy Forum is an alliance of six provincial child care organizations
that brings together over 4000 individuals, groups and child care providers in
BC. While continuing to work on their own organizational priorities, the member
organizations of the Forum work together to advance a Common Vision and Agenda
for Child Care in BC.
|
B.C.
CEDAW
The B.C. CEDAW Group is a group of 12
non-governmental organizations, including: Aboriginal Women's Action Network,
Working Group on Poverty, West Coast Women's Legal Education and Action Fund,
Justice for Girls, Vancouver Rape Relief and Women's Shelter, Canadian Association
of Sexual Assault Centres (British Columbia and Yukon Region), End Legislated
Poverty, Vancouver Committee for Domestic Workers and Caregivers Rights, British
Columbia Coalition of Women's Centres, the Vancouver Women's Health Collective,
the National Action Committee on the Status of Women - B.C. Society, and the Women's
Working Group of the B.C. Health Coalition.
BC CEDAW reports:
CEDAW
Call to Action - PovNet's CEDAW page
Posted May 7, 2003
"The
United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)
issued its Concluding Comments on Canada in April, 2003. It singled out B.C. for
criticism because of the negative impact on women of cuts to welfare and legal
aid, among other things.
Shelagh Day, who represented the B.C. CEDAW Group at the review of Canada's report, says, "The Committee states that it is concerned about the disproportionately negative impact on women and girls of a number of recent changes in British Columbia, including the cuts in funds for legal aid and welfare assistance; narrowed eligibility rules for welfare; the incorporation of the Ministry of Women's Equality under the Ministry of Community, Aboriginal and Women's Services; the abolition of the independent Human Rights Commission; the closing of a number of courthouses; the cut in support programmes for victims of domestic violence and the proposed changes regarding the prosecution of domestic violence."
BC CEDAW group has issued a call to action, asking people to write to the Premier as well as their MLA, to spur the BC Government into changing some of its discriminatory policies."
Canada's
5th report to UN on CEDAW
CEDAW
review of Canada's report - February 6 , 2003
BC
CEDAW submission to the UN - January 23, 2003 (Word file)
British
Columbia Moves Backwards on Womens Equality
Submission of
the B.C. CEDAW Group to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination
Against Women on the occasion of the Committees review of Canadas
5th Report
January 23, 2003
Related Links:
Losing
Ground: The Effects of Government Cutbacks
on Women in British Columbia, 2001
2005 (PDF file - 257K, 35 pages)
March 2005
By Gillian
Creese & Veronica Strong-Boag
"The Liberal record in office in British
Columbia over the last four years has been dismal for women, especially for those
who are Aboriginal, women of colour, immigrants and refugees, with disabilities,
lesbian, single mothers, poor and/or elderly. On every policy front examined in
this report caring work, health, welfare, education and training, employment,
access to justice, and womens advocacy legislation and policies enacted
by the Liberals have tossed equality and justice overboard."
Report prepared
for :
BC Coalition of Women's
Centres
Centre for Research in Women's
Studies and Gender Relations
[ University
of British Columbia ]
BC Federation
of Labour
Related Links:
British
Columbia Moves Backwards on Womens Equality (PDF file - 174K,
40 pages)
Submission of the B.C. CEDAW Group to the United Nations Committee
on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)
on the occasion
of the Committees review of Canadas 5th Report
January 23, 2003
Factsheet
: CEDAW
- by the Canadian
Feminist Alliance for International Action (FAFIA) [français]
Convention
on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
- includes
links to over a dozen official Canadian and U.N. CEDAW documents online
Source:
Canadian
Heritage
Optional
Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women
- from Status
of Women Canada
|
BC
Coalition of People with Disabilities
The
BC Coalition of People with Disabilities is a provincial, cross-disability advocacy
organization. Our mandate is to raise public and political awareness of issues
that concern us.
- includes links to : Current Issues and Campaigns -
Ongoing Programs and Publications - Advocacy Access Program - Wellness and Disability
Initiative - Publications Catalogue - AIDS & Disability Action Program - Transition
Magazine - Individualized Funding Project - Alternatives to Restraints - CARMA
Project
Urgent
Community Alert:
Changes to the Persons with Persistent and Multiple Barriers
to Employment Benefit
July 28, 2004
Source:
BC
Coalition of People with Disabilities
Related Links from the British Columbia Ministry of Human Resources: August 3, 2004 |
Help
Sheets online (PDF files, unless otherwise noted)
Checklist to help
you fill out your PWD Application - The Persons with Disabilities Benefit Application
- Checklist for the Persons with Disabilities (PWD) Benefit - Appealing denial
of the PWD benefit: The Reconsideration - Appealing denial of the PWD benefit:
The Appeal Tribunal - Persons with Persistent and Multiple Barriers (PPMB) to
Employment - Enhanced medical coverage - Trusts for Persons with Disabilities
(PWD) - Employment and People with Disabilities - Employment, Education and Training
Supplements for People with Disabilities - Appealing Denial of the PPMB Benefit:
The Reconsideration Request - Appealing Denial of the PPMB Benefit: The Appeal
Tribunal - Income Assistance Application Process for People with Disabilities
- Rate Amounts for PWD and PPMB Benefits
People
who must re-apply for disability benefits
Former beneficiaries
of Disability Benefits ("DB II" Benefits) must complete the designation
review form.
Changes to Income Assistance:
Important Updates - find out here why people with disabilities are required
to re-apply for financial assistance.
October
3, 2002
- Analysis
of Changes to Disability Benefits Legislation
- Update
on changes to Income Assistance programs in BC
- Update
on the new definition of disability and application form for Disability Benefits
-
Disability Benefits
level one will be eliminated as of October 1,2002
Community
Alert : Update on the new definition and application form for disability benefits
September
19, 2002
"...individuals who currently have disability status will
be reassessed under the new criteria of the definition of disability..."
BC
Coalition of People with Disabilities responds to Ministers Coell and Cheema
April 18 and April 24, 2002
"Minister of Human
Resources Murray Coell has written a letter to BC's news editors suggesting that
disability advocates have made incorrect statements about the changes to disability
benefits legislation. The Minister has also co-authored a letter with Minister
of State for Mental Health Gulzar Cheema in which they say that incorrect rumours
are circulating in the disability community about the impact of the changes on
people with mental health disabilities. "
Links to the original
letters by the Ministers on the Government website (this link was dead on
December 28/02, so I've removed the URL... )
Analysis
of Changes to Disability Benefits Legislation
Proposed
New Act means thousands of British Columbians with Disabilities will lose their
Benefits
April 15th 2002
"The practical ramifications
of these changes are devastating. They will set the disability community back
20 years.
|
BC
Coalition of Women's Centres
"The mission of the BC Coalition
of Women's Centres is to seek an end to the violence, poverty and other human
rights abuses experienced by women in British Columbia, by supporting and promoting
both independent and coordinated social change action among women's centres and
other equity-seeking organizations."
- incl. links to :
Action!
[Grade the BC Government on Prevention of Violence Against Women | Get the FAMOUS
Women's Bucks | Operation: Application | contact MLAs | links]
Archives
IMPACT of BC Cuts on Women | Silent protest of BC women's minister | Prevention
of Violence Report Card for BC Gov't | Alert to UN: BC's Human Rights violations]
Info
[contact information | BCCWC mission and values | find a women's centre in
your community]
Media
.....................................
On
March 31, 2004, the provincial government eliminated 100 percent of the funding
to all womens centres in B.C.
.....................................
Making
JAM 2004 - Stop the Death of BC's Women's Centres!
March 8, 2004
International
Women's Day
"On March 31, 2004, BC Liberal Government will eliminate
100% of operational funding for all 37 of BC's Women's Centres. More than half
will be forced to close, and many more will have to struggle to keep providing
services to women."
Call your MLA - and show your support for BC's Women's
Centres!
JAM the phone and fax lines. JAM up the E-mail inboxes. JAM between
11 am to 3 pm on March 8 to kick off the JAM Campaign
Send a Eulogy for BC's
Women's Centres to Premier Campbell and Your MLA!
MLA Contact Info
More...
Prevention
of Violence Against Women:
Report Card for the Government of British Columbia
April 2002
- incl. links to: Report Card Highlights -Report Card
Details - Grade the Government's Record - Media Release
More
sleight-of-hand from BC Liberal Government:
Minister Lynn Stephens follows
in footsteps of Premier Vander Zalm
News Release
February 12,
2003
"The BC Coalition of Womens Centres demands that Child Care
subsidies and grants be restored to pre-April 2002 levels."
Related
Link: |
Child
care cuts a huge blow to womens equality in BC:
Accumulated
cuts will devastate many daycares
November
7, 2002
"Cuts to BCs Contribution and
Compensation Staff Incentive Program, as reported recently in the media, are only
the tip of the iceberg when it comes to cuts affecting childcare in British Columbia.
The accumulation of these cuts will be a huge blow
to women in BC, setting the womens equality clock back as far as forty years.
Cuts will also devastate many daycares in BC, especially those run by small, non-profit
organizations, which must seek funding from as many as five different BC Ministries
in order to keep their doors open."
IMPACT
of BC Government Cutbacks on Women
Updated July 9, 2002
"Elimination
of Women's Rights = Violence Against Women and Children | Cuts to Income = Increased
Poverty | Cuts to Health = Increased Risk | Cuts to Housing = Homelessness | Elimination
of Justice = Violation of Human Rights | Elimination of Right to Education and
Training"
Prevention
of Violence Against Women:
Report Card for the Government of British Columbia
April 2002
- incl. links to: Report Card Highlights -Report Card
Details - Grade the Government's Record - Media Release
|
BC
Community Living Coalition
"The Community Living Coalition
is an open and inclusive gathering of people and organizations dedicated to empowering
individuals and families to make decisions about how they lead their lives in
the community."
Founding Organizations:
Individualized
Funding Families Coalition
BC
Association for Community Living
Vision
for Community Living
Visit these sites to find
out the effects of BC Government cuts to community living programs for people
with disabilities in British Columbia.
|
B.C.
Council for Families
The BC Council for Families
works to strengthen, encourage and support families through information, education,
research and advocacy.
Site
map
|
The B.C.
Courthouse Library Society
The B.C. Courthouse Library Society is a
non-profit organization providing access to legal information resources and information
services to members of the legal community and the public of British Columbia.
|
BC Election 2005 sites
Nodice
Elections: British Columbia (from Nodice
Elections)
Deceive
BC: the Hospital Employees' Union's election web site
Strong
Communities: Election 2005: CUPE BC's election web site
BCPolitics.ca
The
Tyee Election Central
Single
Transferable Vote - a BIG issue in this BC election...
Other
BC websites with Election 2005 content
|
British
Columbia Federation of Labour (BCFL)
"...where you can learn
about: workers' rights, labour news and policies, the campaigns of BC's unions,
and more."
The BC Federation of Labour represents 450,000 members
of affiliated unions in more than 1,100 locals, working in every aspect of the
BC economy.
Shameless
self-promotion of "new era" for women another waste of taxpayer money
February
25, 2004
Source:
BC Government and Service
Employees' Union
NOTE: for links to more info about the government pamphlet
entitled A
New Era for Women (PDF file), go to the Canadian Social Research Links
Non-Governmental Sites in British Columbia (C-W) page
Note: For more links to BC Budget 2004 (February 17, 2004) information and NGO analysis of that BC Budget, see the British Columbia Government Links page and the British Columbia NGO Links (C-W) page of this site
A
Path to Poverty: A Review of Child and Family Poverty Conditions in British Columbia
(PDF file - 46K, 14 pages)
Report prepared for B.C. Federation of Labour
By
Michael Goldberg and Andrea Long
Social Planning and Research Council of BC
August
2003
"By making it more difficult for the working poor to earn a decent
wage, further reducing the value of welfare benefits, and increasing the cost
of needed services like childcare and healthcare, poor families have little to
look forward to from the Liberals New Era."
Related
Link:
Social Planning
and Research Council (SPARC) of British Columbia
|
B.C. Government and Service Employees Union (BCGEU)
Fund
all womens services, BCGEU tells womens services minister
News
Release
February 10, 2004
"The B.C. Government and Service Employees
Union (BCGEU) reacted angrily today to public comments by Ida Chong, minister
of state for womens services, that funding for womens centres will
instead go to counselling and shelters because they directly help women
and children. (...) On March 31, 2004, the provincial
government will eliminate 100 percent of the funding to all womens centres
in B.C. [emphasis added]. This amounts to about $47,000 a year for
each of the 37 womens centres, or a total of $1.7 million. The cost translates
into just over $5 per woman helped by a womens centre, or 91 cents for every
woman and girl in the province, according to the B.C. Coalition of Womens
Centres."
The BC Coalition of Women's Centres is asking for the support of British Columbians in calling on Ida Chong and the BC Liberals to continue funding the 37 Women's Centres in this province. To join the fight please go to www.bcwomen.cjb.net or www.SaveWomensCentres.ca
|
B.C.
Human Rights Coalition
The B.C. Human Rights Coalition is a charitable
non-profit community based organization that seeks to promote and strengthen human
rights throughout B.C. and Canada.
Information - incl. links to : Pamphlets and Manuals - Newsletters - Information Bulletins and Notices - Position Papers - Media Materials - Annual Reports
|
BC
Human Rights Defenders
"The BC Human Rights Defenders is a non-profit
organization dedicated to protecting and promoting the advancement of human rights
provincially, nationally and internationally. (...) The Defenders have been active
since May 2002, when the BC Liberal government eliminated the BC Human Rights
Commission, making BC the first province without a government agency to advocate
and promote respect for human rights in British Columbia. The new system created
by the Liberals make it more difficult for people who are disadvantaged by poverty,
disability, race, ancestry, gender, family status, sexual orientation, and religion,
to access justice through an open and supportive human rights system."
Route
64 - Another Detour on the Road to Equality:
An Examination of the Current
Human Rights System in British Columbia
March 2006
The BC Human
Rights Defenders is pleased to make available the report from the International
and Human Rights Law Association of the University of Victoria.
Complete report:
Route
64 - Another Detour on the Road to Equality:
An Examination of the Current
Human Rights System in British Columbia(PDF file - 481K, 78 pages)
March
2006
"On March 31, 2003, Bill 64, the Human Rights Code Amendment Act,
2002, was brought into force. The bill enacted sweeping amendments to British
Columbias Human Rights Code and abolished the B.C. Human Rights Commission,
the body formerly responsible for administering the Code through a variety of
functions including research, education, monitoring, investigation and dispute
resolution."
Backgrounder (PDF file - 47K, 2 pages)
|
This
site contains:
- information about legal aid in BC,
- information about
the Legal Services Society (LSS) and its services, including LawLINE (toll-free
hotline for people in BC that provides information, referrals and legal advice)
Other websites maintained by the Legal Services Society:
Family
Law in British Columbia
"This site contains:
- self-help materials
to help you with your legal problem
- links to people and places where you
can get more legal help or information
- general information about family
law."
LawLINK
-
incl. links to info about the following areas of law in BC : Aboriginal - Consumer
and Debt - Crime - Family - Housing - Immigration and Refugee - Legal Help - Pensions
and Benefits - Welfare - Wills and Trusts - Work
NOTE: the Welfare
section includes information about : Appeals, Applying for Welfare, Disability
Benefits, Health Benefits, Problems with Welfare
Electronic
Law Library
- detailed legal information, including laws, statutes,
court rules and decisions, and parliamentary proceedings
BC
Supreme Court Self-Help Information Centre website
- information about
the court system and court procedures
- information about the law and alternatives
to court
- links to legal advice services
ELAN
- Electronic Legal Aid Newsletter
Elan is an electronic newsletter
of the Legal Services Society e-mailed once a month to community stakeholders
who choose to receive this service.
The first issue, dated July 2005, inlcudes
the following content:
- Family Duty Counsel Services
Now in Supreme Courts - LSS Launches Multilingual Call
Centre/LawLINE Scripts - Outreach Services for Your Organization
- Hot off the Press from LSS - Bookmark
These Sites
|
Rollback
: Timeline for a new era of cuts and broken promises
- comprehensive
chronological list of the Campbell government's accomplishments so far - the NDP
perspective...
|
BCPolitics.ca
"BC
Politics.ca provides independent perspectives on the events, people and issues
that make up British Columbia's zany political life. Unlike mainstream media which
often appears captivated by the interests of big business or blatant sensationalism,
it is our aspiration that BCPOLITICS.ca will provide an elevated, alternate forum
for discussion and commentary on the news and political issues that shape our
lives and communities in British Columbia."
|
BC
Progress Board
"The BC Progress Board, established by the Premier
in July 2001, is an independent panel of 15 senior business executives and academic
leaders Chaired by David Black, President of Black Press Ltd. Tim McEwan serves
as the Board's Executive Director. The BC Progress Board is an independent panel
with two primary objectives: 1) To identify issues of importance to the future
economic prosperity of British Columbia (...), and 2) To provide advice on whether
the province is achieving its goal of improving British Columbia's competitive
position by establishing an ongoing means to measure and benchmark British Columbia's
economic progress over time and relative to other jurisdictions."
- incl.
links to: Home - About The Board - Press Releases - Calendar - Benchmarks - Advisory
Work - Ideas And Advice - Resources - Contact Us
|
B.C. Public Interest Advocacy Centre - Human and equality rights
Ombudsman
report reveals underlying problems in welfare ministry (PDF file -
55K, 1 page)
News Release
March 28, 2006
(Vancouver) Fifteen anti-poverty
groups across BC are welcoming the Ombudsmans report, released today, into
complaints about unfairness at the BC Ministry of Employment and Income Assistance.
As a result of the Ombudsmans investigation, the Ministry has been making
sweeping changes to policies and procedures, including to the application process
and three week work search, reconsideration and appeal rights, and Ministry home
visits.
Source:
British
Columbia Public Interest Advocacy Centre (BCPIAC)
Related Link:
Ombudsman
Investigation of the Public Interest Advocacy Centres
Complaints about
the Ministry of Employment and Income Assistance(PDF file - 121K,
22 pages)
March 2006
Source:
BC
Ombudsman
Anti-poverty
groups across BC complain to Ombudsman
about unfairness at Ministry of Human
Resources
News Release
February 2, 2005
"Vancouver,
BC - The BC Public Interest Advocacy Centre, on behalf of a coalition of 15 organizations
from communities across BC, has filed a systemic complaint with the Ombudsman
about the Ministry of Human Resources because of concerns about unfair practices
experienced by poor people who need assistance from the Ministry."
Welfare
recipients preparing constitutional challenge to time limit seek clarification
about new exemption
News Release
February 13, 2004
"Vancouver
- Lawyers with the BC Public Interest Advocacy Centre (BCPIAC) wrote to Human
Resources Minister Stan Hagen and Attorney General Geoff Plant on February 12,
2004 to ask whether their clients have been exempted from the provincial governments
24-month time limit on social assistance. BCPIAC, in association with the Poverty
and Human Rights Project, has been preparing a constitutional challenge to the
time limit. BCPIAC represents several community groups and four individual clients
who stand to be affected by the time limit.
Source:
BC
Public Interest Advocacy Centre
Related links - see the Canadian Social
Research Links BC
Welfare Time Limits
Caring for All
Canadians : Brief to the Standing Committee on Finance
Pre-Budget Consultation
Posted
September 11, 2003
"This autumn the BC Public Interest
Advocacy Centre (PIAC) will be urging the federal government to consider poor
Canadians when it drafts Canadas next budget. On behalf of seven organizations,
the PIACs articled student Jess Hadley will be asking the government to
earmark transfer payments for social assistance, affordable housing, and legal
aid. She will also ask Parliament to implement a national drug insurance scheme,
and to make the Disability Tax Credit program fairer.
Read
the press release (September 9, 2003)
Complete
document (PDF file - 143K, 9 pages)
|
British Columbia Teachers' Federation
Poverty: A Student Learning Resource A co-operative initiative of End Legislated Poverty and the B.C. Teachers' Federation.
|
B.C.
Work-Life Summit 2003 - Linking Vision With Reality
November 19, 2003
Vancouver
"The
B.C. economy has been facing enormous challenges including: increasing global
competition for scarce resources, massive forest fires that have displaced families
and hurt businesses, recent threats from SARS, and myriad business concerns. In
this complex environment, work-life issues are of vital concern to corporate CEOs,
government, industry, and labour leaders. Recognizing that business only
succeeds when people succeed, we are addressing work-life issues from both
research and practice-based perspectives. (...) Discussion of new research findings
and practical applications in the business world will be the main agenda."
Program
(PDF file - 186K, 8 pages)
Successful
Summit Inspires BC
November 21, 2003
"BC organizations
representing a cross-section of the public, private and not-for-profit sectors
were WOW'd by an exceptional presentation by Dr. Linda Duxbury at the first ever,
BC Work-Life Summit held at the Hyatt Regency in Vancouver on November 19, 2003.
Dr. Duxbury focused on how British Columbia is doing in terms of work-life balance
as compared to the Prairies, Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes."
http://www.westwaves.ca/
Where
to Work in Canada?
An Examination of Regional Differences in Work-Life Practices
Linda
Duxbury, Chris Higgins
November 2003
Executive
Summary (PDF file - 69K, 10 pages)
Cover,
Table of Contents and Preface (PDF file - 344K, 10 pages)
Complete
report* (PDF file - 495K, 72 pages)
[*except
for the cover, table of contents and preface]
NOTE: For links to more work-life balance content, go to the Canadian Social Research Links Work-Life Balance page
|
Caledon Institute of Social Policy
A
New Era in British Columbia: A Profile of Budget Cuts Across Social Programs
(PDF file - 36K, 10 pages)
Caledon Institute of Social Policy
July
2002
"This paper is a summary of the wide range of reductions and
cuts the BC Liberals have introduced to social programs over the past year. It
documents changes in the areas of health care, education, income security, justice,
and services for children, women and persons with disabilities."
Resources
(excerpt):
www.gov.bc.ca for Budget
2002 and Ministry Service Plans
www.povnet.org
for updates on general cuts across sector sand links to other sites
www.policyalternatives.ca/bc
for general analysis and commentary
www.tenants.bc.ca
for information on Residential Tenancy Act
www.bccpd.bc.ca
for information on cuts to programs serving people with disabilities
www.bctf.bc.ca
for information regarding K-12 education changes and cuts
www.cfs-fcee.ca
for information regarding postsecondary education changes and cuts
www.sparc.bc.ca
for information and commentary regarding income assistance
www.firstcallbc.org
for information regarding changes and cuts to children's programs
www.vcn.bc.ca
for information regarding community living changes and cuts
www.vsw.ca
for information regarding women's programs
www.vcn.bc.ca/srsnetbc
for information regarding seniors' programs
|
Canada
West Foundation survey respondents rate homelessness as high priority
News
Release
May 25, 2007
CALGARY -- The Canada West Foundation today released
a public opinion survey which shows that the majority of urbanites in western
Canada and Toronto rate reducing homelessness as a high priority. The most popular
ways to address homelessness, according to the survey's respondents, are increased
affordable housing and increased programs and services for homeless people rather
than more shelter beds.
Complete study:
LOOKING
WEST 2007
Segment 4: Urban Social Challenges (PDF file - 1.12MB,
12 pages)
May 2007
Related link:
Looking West - links to all five segments of Looking West 2007 and to earlier editions (back to 2001)
Source:
Canada
West Foundation
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Leading
the Way: The BC/Alberta economy
December 2006
In 2004 and 2005,
BC and Alberta were the top two provinces in terms of economic growth. This strong
performance has been due in large part to conditions in natural resource markets,
notably high commodity prices and strong foreign demand. A by-product of this
prosperity is a level of employment not witnessed in many years. Sustained job
growth and ample economic opportunities have enticed people to move to BC and
Alberta from other parts of the country, as evidenced by recent trends in interprovincial
migration.
Complete report (PDF file - 1.2MB, 10 pages)
Source:
Canada
West Foundation
Related link:
British
Columbia Business Council
Counterpoint:
The
Family Benefit Packages in Alberta and BC Do Not Measure Up
(PDF file - 60K, 2 pages)
News Release
March 7, 2007
Author Paul Kershaw
(University of British Columbia) examines overall family benefits packages in
Alberta and BC for different types of families and then compares them with those
of other industrialized countries. His findings show that Alberta and BC rank
low by international standards in terms of their combined investment in family
benefits. The study serves as a reminder that promoting gender equity, raising
healthy children and supporting parents in the quest to balance work and family
requires more than rhetoric, it requires real investment.
Summary
(PDF file - 48K, 1 page)
Policy
Brief (PDF file - 112 K, 2 pages)
Complete
study (PDF file - 625K, 44 pages)
Source:
Institute
for Research on Public Policy
|
Canadian Association of Food Banks
Food
bank use by B.C. children up 42 per cent
November
11, 2004
"VICTORIA A national report on the use of food banks by
children in Canada has put British Columbia on its trend watch. The B.C. Liberal
government said it's concerned about the results which found 41.7 per cent more
children needed emergency food in B.C. in 2004 over 2003 - some 8,000 more kids.
Human Resources Minister Susan Brice, however, said the conclusions in the Canadian
Association of Food Banks' annual report reflect a North American problem."
Source:
CTV
Related Links:
HungerCount
2004
News Release
(Winnipeg, October 15, 2004)
Complete
report (PDF file - 347K, 32 pages)
Source:
Research
Studies - incl. links to hunger counts for 2004 and earlier years (back to
1997)
|
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives - British Columbia Office
Publications - links to over 300 reports from the CCPA-BC Office
Canadian
Centre for Policy Alternatives - National Office
"The
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives is an independent, non-partisan research
institute concerned with issues of social and economic justice. Founded in 1980,
the CCPA is one of Canadas leading progressive voices in public policy debates.
By combining solid research with extensive outreach, we work to enrich democratic
dialogue and ensure Canadians know there are workable solutions to the issues
we face. "
Selected reports from BC-CCPA:
Make
work possible for more people with significant disabilities: study
Press Release
February 22, 2008
(Vancouver) People living
with mental illnesses, developmental disabilities and serious conditions such
as MS often find themselves in a catch-22 - unable to take on full-time year-round
employment, but willing and able to work with the right supports and flexibility.
A study released today urges the provincial government to adopt a series of creative
recommendations that would make employment possible for many more British Columbians
with significant disabilities. "Current income assistance policies often
discourage rather than encourage people with disabilities to work," says
Michael Goldberg, co-author of Removing Barriers to Work: Flexible Employment
Options for People with Disabilities in BC and a research associate with the Canadian
Centre for Policy Alternatives.
Removing
Barriers to Work:
Flexible Employment Options for People with Disabilities
in BC
Complete
report (PDF file - 1.3MB, 65 pages)
Summary
(PDF file, 1.4MB, 25 pages)
Panhandling
should not be criminalized, says study
Press Release
September
20, 2007
Restrictions on peaceful panhandlingsuch as City of Winnipeg
Bylaw No. 128/2005constitute an illegitimate use of state power, says a
study released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. The study,
by Arthur Schafer, director of the Centre for Professional and Applied Ethics
at the University of Manitoba, says there is no moral or legal justification for
turning peaceful beggars into criminals.
Complete report:
The
Expressive Liberty of Beggars:
Why it matters to them, and to us
(PDF file - 282K, 28 pages)
Towards
a More Democratic and Credible BC Budget
Submission to the Select
Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services, Legislative Assembly of
British Columbia
September 21, 2007
BC
surplus to top $3 billion this year and next
CCPA calls for bold action on
poverty and homelessness
Press
Release
January 31, 2007
(Vancouver) BCs budget forecasts have become
more fiction than fact, says the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA)
in its BC Solutions Budget 2007. Since 2002, provincial budgets have underestimated
the year-end balance by a total of $10 billion (based on financial reports from
the Ministry of Finance) due to extremely pessimistic revenue projections.
* BC
Solutions Budget 2007 - PDF file, 330K, 16 pages
*
SUMMARY:
BC Solutions Budget 2007 - PDF file, 218K, 4 pages
A
better way to set welfare rates - British Columbia
Editorial
November
1, 2006
Last weeks announcement by Premier Campbell that
the government will increase the shelter allowance for people receiving welfare
is welcome news. This long-overdue policy reversal shouldnt wait until Februarys
Provincial Budget to be implemented. And overall rates must be increased (not
just the shelter allowance). But at least the Premier has acknowledged that rates
are too low. The Premiers promise also lays bare how arbitrary and deeply
political the process of setting rates and eligibility rules has become. Rates
have remained frozen for years, as inflation eats away at their real value. They
are only now being increased because the rise in homelessness has become impossible
to ignore, and the resulting political pressure is finally forcing our leaders
to act.
- incl. links to the following CCPA resources:
* Editorial: A
call for accountability at the Ministry of Employment and Income Assistance
* Press Release: Study finds BCs welfare system denying assistance to people
in need, diverting many to homelessness and hardship
* Press Release:
CCPA calls on province to raise welfare rates
* Study - Denied Assistance:
Closing the Front Door on Welfare in BC
* Summary - Denied Assistance: Closing
the Front Door on Welfare in BC
All
BC-CCPA Research & Publications by Topic:
Click on the drop-down
"Topic"menu --- here are two sample topics:
- Housing
& homelessness
- Inequality
& poverty
2007
BC Budget must tackle poverty, homelessness
Press Release
September
27, 2006
(Vancouver) Amid rising public concern about poverty and homelessness,
the provincial government is being urged to adopt a comprehensive anti-poverty
strategy in its next budget. With a surplus that is likely to pass the $4
billion mark next year, there is no reason why we cant address the growing
problem of poverty amidst plenty, says Marc Lee, CCPABCs Senior
Economist.
Complete report:
Taking
Action on Poverty:
Submission to the Select Standing Committee on Finance
and Government Services,
Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
BC Budget
2007 Consultation (PDF file - 281K, 11 pages)
September 2006
Presented
by Seth Klein, BC Director and Marc Lee, Senior Economist
"There is no
excuse for poverty in a province as wealthy as BC (projected GDP in 2007 will
be approximately $187 billion). There is nothing inevitable about our unacceptably
high poverty rates, our growing inequality and our rising homelessness. These
facts result from poor policy choices, and jurisdictions that choose to prioritize
these issues have been very successful in substantially reducing poverty."
CCPA
calls on province to raise welfare rates
Arbitrary cuts, inflation have driven
down benefit rates by 30% since mid-90s
Press
Release
April 24, 2006
(Vancouver) The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
is calling on the provincial government to immediately raise welfare rates, so
that people can meet basic needs. Arbitrary cuts since the mid-1990s mean rates
are now lower in absolute dollars than they were twelve years ago, and combined
with inflation their value has plummeted by about 30%. (Rates for disabled recipients
have increased slightly in absolute dollars but after inflation have also decreased.)
'In 2002, the province made a series of arbitrary cuts to welfare benefits as
part of its budget reduction plan. The cuts took more than $92 million directly
out of the poorest British Columbians pockets in the two years after they
were made,' says Seth Klein, the CCPAs BC Director and author of Budget
Savings on the Backs of the Poor: Who Paid the Price for Welfare Benefit Cuts
in BC, released today. The $92 million savings to government was calculated
using figures obtained through Freedom of Information requests.
Complete report:
Budget
Savings on the Backs of the Poor:
Who Paid the Price for Welfare Benefit Cuts
in BC (PDF file - 585K, 4 pages)
April 2006
By Seth Klein and
Andrea Smith
In January 2002, in the wake of tax cuts that induced the largest
deficit in the history of British Columbia, the provincial government announced
a massive budget cut at the Ministry of Human Resources (the ministry responsible
for welfare). MHRs operating budget was to be reduced by $581 million, or
30 per cent, over the course of three years.
Related Links:
A
Better Way to Set Welfare Rates (PDF file - 588K, 4 pages)
April
2006
By Steve Kerstetter
There are many shortcomings in the BC welfare system,
but none as fundamental or appalling as the meager amount of financial support
it provides to people in need. In its most recent budget, the provincial government
once again chose not to increase welfare benefit rates, even though rates have
not increased in 12 years, and over that time inflation has eaten away at the
real value of a welfare cheque.
Welfare
rates opinion poll results (PDF file - 67K, 1 page)
March 17, 2006
An
Ipsos-Reid poll commissioned by the CCPA last month shows that 74% of British
Columbians would support an increase in welfare rates.
------------------------
Study
finds BCs welfare system denying assistance
to people in need, diverting
many to homelessness and hardship
Press Release
March 27, 2006
(Vancouver)
A major study released today finds that BCs welfare system is systematically
discouraging, delaying and denying assistance to many of the people most in need
of help, with harmful consequences for some of the provinces most vulnerable
residents.
"Denied Assistance: Closing the Front Door on Welfare in BC"
examines why the number of people receiving welfare has plummeted in the wake
of changes to eligibility rules and the application system, and looks at what
is happening to people who seek and are denied welfare. It is the first in-depth
assessment of the new application system, drawing on data obtained through Freedom
of Information requests and extensive interviews with people who have applied
for welfare, front-line community advocates and Ministry workers.
Denied
Assistance:
Closing the Front Door on Welfare in BC
March 2006
*
Complete
report - PDF File, 564K, 69 pages
* Summary
- PDF File, 362K, 8 pages
* Access
to welfare opinion poll results - PDF File, 65K - 1 page
------------------------
BC
Solutions Budget 2006:
Budgeting for Women's Equality
February
16, 2006
Big
budget surplus a good time to bridge the gender gap
Editorial
Wanted:
An honest budget debate
Press Release
BC
Solutions Budget 2006 - PDF file (104K, 4 pages)
Summary
BC
Solutions Budget 2006: Budgeting for Women's Equality - PDF file (275K,
41 pages)
Complete report
------------------------
Investing
in education for low-income adults pays off
Press Release
February
1, 2006
"(Vancouver) The province must invest in education programs for
low-income adults with upgrading needs if it wants achieve its goal of making
BC the best-educated and most literate jurisdiction in North America. Shauna Butterwick,
an Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Studies at UBC, is the
author of A Path out of Poverty: Helping Low-Income Adults Upgrade Their
Education, released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
The study calls on the provincial government to:
* Restore tuition-free Adult
Basic Education (upgrading for those who havent completed high school) at
BCs public colleges;
* Change welfare rules so recipients can participate
in upgrading, literacy, and English as a Second Language programs without losing
their income assistance benefits;
* Restore and increase targeted funding
to post-secondary institutions to support income assistance recipients who participate
in these programs;
* Support colleges and institutes in meeting the specific
education needs of adults who have experienced long-term poverty.
Complete report:
A
Path Out of Poverty:
Helping BC Income Assistance Recipients Upgrade Their
Education (PDF file - 240K, 33 pages)
February 2006
------------------------
Provincial
budget fails to address BC's social deficits
News Release
February
15, 2005
"Vancouver - The provincial governments pre-election budget,
tabled today, fails to address BCs social deficits, according to the Canadian
Centre for Policy Alternatives. 'The government claims that its approach is balanced.
Its approach for the last four years, however, has been anything but,' says Seth
Klein, the CCPAs BC Director. 'BC has seen a significant redistribution
of income from the poorest among us to the wealthiest. This budget fails to restore
the deep and painful spending cuts of recent years. Spending outside health and
education remains $1.2 billion lower than in 2001/02.'
Related Link:
Surplus
should be reinvested in people and communities
CCPA outlines budget choices
in 2005 BC Solutions Budget
News Release
February 7, 2005
(Vancouver)
The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives says the priority for this years
provincial budget should be reinvestment in people and communities. The
government is set to finish the year with a record surplus of over $2 billion,
and a projected surplus in 2005/06 of $1.4 billion, says Seth Klein, Director
of the CCPAs BC Office. Our number one priority should be to undo
the damage from deep spending cuts. We should not lock them in place with further
tax cuts or make payments on the provincial debt.
Summary:
BC Solutions Budget 2005 - PDF File, 98 Kb
BC
Solutions Budget 2005 - PDF File, 457 Kb
------------------------
Inequality
on the rise in BC
News
Release
December 22, 2004
"BC's rich got richer and our poor got poorer,
according to a new report on inequality. And that is before the sweeping policy
changes undertaken by the current provincial government. New Perspectives on
Income Inequality in BC, released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy
Alternatives, looks at three data sources on inequality - survey data, tax data
and census data - to assess inequality trends in the 1990s."
Complete
report:
New
Perspectives on Income Inequality in BC - PDF file (456K, 31 pages)
A
Bad Time to be Poor: An Analysis of British Columbias New Welfare Policies
(PDF file - 530K, 55 pages)
June 2003
By Seth Klein and Andrea Long
Excellent
detailed analysis of the BC welfare cuts under Gordon Campbell's Liberal government
--- includes analysis of the 1996 US Welfare Reforms, insights into the interpretation
of welfare exit surveys, and a counterpoint to the Fraser Institute's persistent
and inappropriate comparisons of Canadian and American welfare systems (among
other insights...).
Related Link:
Social
Planning and Research Council (SPARC) of British Columbia
40
BC Economists Call On the BC Government to Reconsider Spending Cuts
News Release
February 7, 2002
"In advance of the February 19 provincial
budget, the economists have issued an open letter to Premier Campbell and Finance
Minister Collins. The Premier and Finance Minister claim a looming "structural
deficit" gives them no choice but to significantly cut spending over the
next three years. The signatories to today's letter dispute this view."
|
Canadian Policy Research Networks (CPRN)
More
of the Same?
The Position of the Four Largest Canadian Provinces in the World
of Welfare Regimes
November 5, 2004
by Paul Bernard, Sébastien
Saint-Arnaud
"In More of the Same? The Position of the Four Largest
Canadian Provinces in the World of Welfare Regimes, Paul Bernard and Sébastien
Saint-Arnaud locate the welfare regimes of Quebec, Ontario, Alberta and British
Columbia among those of a group of advanced countries in the Organization
for Economic Cooperation and Development [OECD]. They compare them in terms of
a wide set of indicators representing public policy, social situations and level
of public participation."
NOTE: This article is based partly on Gøsta Esping-Andersen's 1990 typology of welfare regimes in advanced capitalist societies and more recent related work. It's not a detailed comparison of welfare programs in certain Canadian jurisdictions, but rather an academic analysis of how the welfare systems in four Canadian provinces fit within the international typology. It should be emphasized that the analysis of welfare regimes in the four Canadian jurisdictions focuses on the mid-1990s, which was a tumultuous period in the evolution of the Canadian welfare system. Programs (and governments, except for Emperor Klein...) have changed since then, but ten years later, it's still true that "Alberta somewhat resembles the 'ultra-liberal' United States, while Quebec leans in the direction of Europe, and to some extent, of social-democracy." [Excerpt from the Abstract].
Complete report:
More
of the Same? The Position of the Four Largest Canadian Provinces
in the World
of Welfare Regimes (PDF file - 1.5MB, 32 pages)
November 2004
[translation
of an article initially published in French in the
Canadian Journal of Sociology,
Spring 2004]
Source:
Family
Network (CPRN)
|
Canadian
Union of Public Employees - BC
CUPE
BC divisions launch provincial election web sites
February
2, 2005
"May 17 may seem like a long way off, but Canadian Union of Public
Employees members in BC have their eyes firmly fixed on the date. CUPE BC and
the Hospital Employees Union have launched election web sites to help oust Gordon
Campbell's liberals. (...) The sites feature voter registration information, an
inventory of the liberal government's broken promises, campaign tools, background
on issues, and ways to get involved."
Deceive
BC: the Hospital Employees' Union's election web site
Strong
Communities: Election 2005: CUPE BC's election web site
BC
budget legally balanced but morally bankrupt
February 17, 2004
Democracy
Day 2004
Democracy Day will be a day of province-wide
protest action by CUPE. Instead of reporting for work on that day, CUPE members
will "organize political protest and positive activities for members in their
communities. (...) Democracy Day will be called by the CUPE BC leadership when
they have determined the timing is right. That may be next week or next month...""CUPE
BC has posted an extensive series if documents on their upcoming Democracy Day
on the CUPE BC region web site. Democracy Day is the first province wide day of
political protest opposing the BC Liberals' undemocractic policies and actions."
Click on the link above to download the following info:
Speaking notes
- Political protest issues - Vital services handout - Democracy Day resolution
- Report - 'On the Line for Our Democracy' - Report - 'It's not Your Parents'
British Columbia - Change in BC since 2001' - Fact Sheets (Women under the BC
Liberals, Children under the BC Liberals, Unions under the BC Liberals, Seniors
under the BC Liberals)
|
MLA
goes homeless, for a cause
August 26, 2004
"VANCOUVER -
Vancouver Liberal MLA Lorne Mayencourt says he's worried that city council is
throwing people out of low-rent hotel rooms in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside."
MLA
calls for ban on squeegee kids
May 7 2004
VANCOUVER - Vancouver
Liberal MLA Lorne Mayencourt wants to ban squeegee kids and aggressive panhandlers,
and he's introduced a private member's bill to do it. (...) He began work on the
Safe Streets Act 18 months ago, basing it on similar legislation in Alberta and
Ontario. The act would make it illegal for squeegee kids and panhandlers to approach
people for money. Mayencourt has the backing of the Vancouver Board of Trade.
But others aren't so supportive. The B.C. Civil Liberties Association is denouncing
the bill, saying that in a democratic society, people have a right to ask for
spare change as long as they do it peacefully."We don't need this
legislation," says Murray Mollard, the executive director of the association.
"It's offensive in a variety of ways, and it prohibits behaviour that just
shouldn't be prohibited." Others agree. Vancouver city councillor Jim Green
says the bill is a desperate bid to get attention before the next election."
Related Links:
Poverty
tourism shows contempt for the poor
Tourists merely visiting the lives of the
poor will not be the harbingers of social change
by Derrick O'Keefe
September
3, 2004
"Lorne Mayencourt, BC Liberal MLA, recently spent five nights
living in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside (DTES), getting an up close view of the
lives of those people his government has helped to keep in, or push into, abject
poverty. Mayencourt's brief poverty tourism does not appear to have won him any
new friends in the DTES, perhaps because earlier this year he introduced the Safe
Streets Act into the legislature, which aims at criminalizing the poor under the
pretext of reducing 'aggressive pan-handling.'
Source:
rabble.ca
Lorne Mayencourt (Liberal MLA, Vancouver - Burrard) - personal page, BC Government
Lorne's
Blog - daily first-person accounts of Lorne's week of roughing it in DTES
"The
City of Vancouver and the Vancouver P.D. have closed two Eastside hotels in the
last few weeks, the Marr and the American, with more closures probably on the
way, their tenants are being evicted. I'm going to spend a few days and nights
living as some of the poorest residents in this city, in the hope of hearing their
ideas on how to improve their housing and their security. Maybe I can find a new
perspective on the neighborhood. Hopefully I'll be able to come up with a better
idea than simply evicting people with nowhere else to go."
Welfare
reforms triggered internal warnings
July 7, 2003
"VICTORIA
- Senior bureaucrats warned the Ministry of Human Resources last year that B.C.'s
welfare reforms could create hardship for some people, according to just-released
documents. The heavily-censored files were obtained by CBC News under the Freedom
of Information Act."
- incl. links to copies of internal briefing notes
from July 2002 concerning potential impacts of the welfare time limits (two years
of every five-year period) and the two-year financial independence test.
|
Centre for Applied Research in Mental Health and Addiction (CARMHA) - Simon Fraser University
Housing
and Support for Adults with
Severe Addictions and/or Mental Illness in British
Columbia (PDF file - 765K, 150 pages)
February 2008
By Michelle
Patterson, Julian Somers, Karen McIntosh, Alan Shiell and Charles Frankish
Source:
Related links:
The
high cost of homelessness
Every homeless person costs system $55,000, an
amount that could buy supported housing for each of them
By Lori Culbert
March
21, 2008
VANCOUVER - We've been counting them and governments have been scrambling
to try to help them, but a recent university study has been looking at a new question
about homeless people in B.C. - what each one costs taxpayers a year. The answer
is $55,000 per person, or an annual total of $644.3 million in health, corrections
and social services spending for all the homeless in B.C.
Source:
Vancouver
Sun
Front
page news points out the obvious:
Homelessness costs us money
March
22, 2008
Source:
The
Vancouver Manifesto
|
Centre
for Public Sector Studies
The Centre for Public
Sector Studies was established in 1978 to encourage interdisciplinary research
in public policy at the University of Victoria.
- North
American Institute - "NAMI's mission is to examine all aspects of the North
American regional relationship, recognizing the challenges facing the governments,
peoples and cultures of North America, and to develop better approaches to this
changing relationship"
- Center
for North American Studies (Duke University) Interdisciplinary international
center focusing on the political, social, and cultural consequences of regionalization,
and attempts to place them within the long history of the interaction of Canada
and Mexico with the United States.
- Local
Government Institute (LGI) - Created in 1995, LGI is a group of University
of Victoria faculty dedicated to improving the efficiency and effectiveness of
local governments.
|
Centre
for Research in Women's Studies and Gender Relations
[ University
of British Columbia ]
Report
Card On Women and Children in B.C. (PDF file - 146K, 4 pages)
March
15, 2004
By Michelle Stack
"Whether we like it or not, the media is
part of governing."
|
Centre
for Research on Economic and Social Policy - CRESP (University of British
Columbia)
"equality, security + community: explaining and improving the
distribution of well being in canada"
- incl. links to : Project Objectives - Research Team - Project Outcome - Colloquium Series - ESC Project Survey - Useful Links - Contact Information
Research Series - links to almost 50 papers organized in the following clusters : Measuring and Explaining Inequality and Insecurity - Social Capital, Community, and Political Processes - Formulation and Assessment of Policy Responses.
A
few sample papers:
Fixing
BC's Structural Deficit--What, Why, When, How? (PDF file - 140K, 41
pages)
Jonathan Kesselman
February 2002
Base
Reforms and Rate Cuts for a Revitalized Personal Tax
Jonathan R.
Kesselman (1999).
Growing calls for cuts in Canadian personal income taxes
have focused on the rates of tax but neglected a deeper analysis of the structural
priorities for fairness and growth. This paper offers an economic analysis of
the combined needs for base reforms and rate cuts.
Abstract
Complete paper (PDF
file 37 pages, 142K)
Income Redistribution
in Canada: Minimum Wages versus Other Policy Instruments
Nicole M.
Fortin and Thomas Lemieux
Revised December 1998
Complete
report (PDF file - 56 pages, 419K)
|
Vancouver homelessness:
Welfare
rolls down, homelessness up
New report blames provincial changes to eligibility
rules for Vancouver's worsening situation
By Rod Mickleburgh
May
26, 2005
VANCOUVER -- Provincial government changes to welfare rules have doubled
the severity of Vancouver's dire and growing homeless problem, according to the
city's policy co-ordinator for the homeless. Jill Davidson said new requirements
for receiving welfare the Liberals brought in are too onerous and bureaucratic
for many of those eligible to receive social assistance. 'We think we could probably
almost halve the number of people on the street if you just got people on welfare
who were eligible for welfare,' said Ms. Davidson, the author of a 100-page report
and action plan to eliminate homelessness in Vancouver within 10 years."
Source:
The
Globe and Mail
Report
lays out new strategy for homeless - Vancouver
By Mike Howell-Staff
writer
May 23, 2005
"Increase mental health and addiction services,
build more social housing and make changes to the province's employment and assistance
program. Those are the key priorities to reducing homelessness as outlined in
a lengthy city report, Homeless Action Plan, going before city council May 25
at a public meeting. Written by senior housing planner Jill Davidson, who has
worked on the plan for more than a year, the report comes at a time when the streets
are filling up with homeless people. The city's conservative estimates are that
600 people sleep on the streets in the winter months and up to 1,200 in the summer.
That's double the number from three years ago."
Source:
The
Vancouver Courier
Complete report:
Vancouver
Homeless Action Plan (PDF file - 1.2MB, 105 pages)
By Jill Davidson
Homeless
Policy Coordinator
Housing Centre
May 2005
Source:
The
Housing Centre - City of Vancouver Community Services
The Housing Centre
delivers social housing projects and undertakes policy and program development.
The Tenant Assistance Program provides direct assistance to displaced tenants
and homeless individuals in the City.
[City
of Vancouver]
More Housing Centre Council reports - links to dozens more reports on housing and homelessness in Vancouver produced in the past few years by the Housing Centre.
Related Links: Preliminary
Results of [Vancouver] Homeless Count conducted on March 15, 2005
(PDF file - 14K, 2 pages) |
|
Coalition
of Child Care Advocates of BC (CCCABC)
The Coalition of Child Care
Advocates of BC is a registered society, incorporated under the Society Act on
November 2, 1995. The original child care advocacy organization, the BC Daycare
Action Coalition, was formed in 1982. The purposes of the Society are to promote
and support quality community-based child care services that benefit children,
families and the public and in the best interests of society.
- incl. links
to: * About Us * What's New * CCCABC Materials * Take Action * Advocacy resources
* Calendar
CCCABC
Materials
- links to materials published by the Coalition of Child
Care Advocates of BC:
* Position
& Policy Papers
* Briefs
* Letters
*
Newsletters
Advocacy
Resources
* News articles
* Publications
* Advocate's quick
facts
* Timeline of child care in BC
* Advocacy Tools
* Links
BC
CHILD CARE - NOT FOR SALE
October 23, 2007
On October 1, 2007,
the BC government announced that, for the first time, private companies could
receive major capital child care grants. The Coalition of Child Care Advocates
of BC predicted that this change in public policy would make BC attractive to
large foreign owned child care corporations. Our worst fears have now been confirmed.
We have learned that a foreign-based corporation is actively trying to take over
community-based child care providers across BC. If they succeed - the face of
child care in BC will be dramatically changed now and for a long time to come.
This is not the solution to child care in BC.
Hindsight
from Australia - Foresight for BC (PDF file - 200K, 4 pages)
October
23, 2007
"(...)Analysis from Australia suggests that the domination of
corporate child care has decreased accountability, quality, affordability and
accessibility. Increased public spending on child care has not produced child
care services in the public domain ñ in other words an infrastructure for
the long term."
|
Columbia
Journal
The Columbia Journal is a positive progressive alternative
to the conservative corporate press in B.C. Dedicated to inform, entertain and
advocate for the people of B.C., it is an independent publication, promising free
and open debate on all issues, a voice for people throughout B.C.
Welfare
Rates Still Suck
September 2007
Ron Carten
Punitive!
That is the word Jean Swanson, a community organizer in the Downtown Eastside
and author of Poor Bashing: The Politics of Exclusion, uses to describe welfare
policy in B.C. And if anyone thinks the increase in welfare rates announced in
the provincial budget marks a change in that policy they would be dead wrong.
Those familiar with welfare in B.C. will see no change in such barriers to accessing
the program as the three-week wait, the two-year independence test, the two-year
limit, the 1-800 number enquiry and the mandatory internet application process.
These barriers combined with a lack of affordable housing are what have contributed
to the rising rate of homelessness not only in Vancouver but across the province,
according to Swanson who now helps coordinate the province-wide Raise the Rates
campaign from Carnegie Centre.
Source:
September
2007 issue of the Columbia Journal
Related links:
Downtown
Eastside Revitalization Program
Raise
the Rates is a coalition of community groups and organisations concerned
with the level of poverty and homelessness in British Columbia.
Carnegie
Centre - The Downtown Eastsides Livingroom
---
The Carnegie
Newsletter is published twice a month and contains a lively range of articles,
news and views, prose and poetry about life in the Downtown Eastside
Also from the same issue of the Columbia Journal:
BC
Boom going Bust for People
By Marco Procaccini
Two
reports released earlier this month show that the current boom is
not benefiting large number of people in BC, as increasing numbers of people are
experiencing worsening poverty. The B.C. Progress Board report, which came down
Tuesday, showed British Columbia is falling behind the rest of Canada on issues
like poverty, crime and other social conditions. This despite a public accounts
report Wednesday that showed the provinces budget surplus had ballooned
to $4.1 billion.
Related links:
BC
Progress Board Releases 2007 Interim Report
and Special Discussion Paper on
Strategic Considerations for BC's Future
News
Release - July 10, 2007
Executive
Summary (PDF - 59K)
Entire
Report - Issues and Trends (PDF - 1,267K)
Entire
Report - Interim (PDF - 2,667K)
[ Request
a hard copy be mailed to you ]
---
Despite
Green Reputation, Northwest Comes up Short on Key Trends
Cutbacks in gasoline
and improving health are bright spots
Press Release
June 12,
2007
Seattle, WA According to new research by Seattle-based Sightline
Institute, the Northwest is making only slow progress on key trends that shape
our prosperity and environmental health. The region especially lags behind world
leaders when it comes to energy efficiency and curbing sprawl, and is stalled
on economic security for middle- and low-income northwesterners.
Source:
Sightline
"Cascadia's sustainability think tank --- We create tools to help you
build a better Northwest."
BC
Scorecard 2007
"(...) In 2005, the most
recent year that complete data were available, British Columbias rates of
poverty (17.6 percent) and child poverty (20.9 percent) were higher than in the
early 1990s, even while Canadas poverty level has declined..."
Compare
BC's scorecard with those of Idaho, Oregon and Washington
Source:
Cascadia
Scorecard 2007
June 2007
The 2007 edition of the Cascadia Scorecard,
the Pacific Northwests annual progress report, reveals that the region lags
behind world leaders on trends such as energy, sprawl, and economic security.
The good news is that we are making progressand adopting smart solutions
will accelerate those gains.
|
Community
Legal Assistance Society
"The Community
Legal Assistance Society (CLAS) was incorporated as a non-profit legal aid society
in 1971. Our mission is to provide legal assistance to people throughout British
Columbia who are physically, mentally, socially, economically or otherwise disadvantaged
and to develop law that benefits disadvantaged groups as a whole."
|
Community Living Services Core Review
The Community Living Services Core
Review is part of the BC government's overall Core Review (see the Canadian Social
Research Links BC Government Links page for more information
on the core review).
Vision
for Community Living
Vision for Community Living is a project of
the community living service providers of BC, with input from other stakeholders.
Community Living Coalition - Nov 1, 2001
Founding members:
BC
Association for Community Living
The
BC Association for Community Living is a federation that advocates for children,
youth and adults with developmental disabilities and their families to ensure
justice, rights and opportunities in all areas of their lives.
Individualized
Funding Family Coalition
Community Living
Service Providers
Purpose: To present one proposal to government that
addresses the Core Review and the Budget process, and has the broad support of
the Community Living Movement. This proposal will allow the Community Living movement
to make the changes necessary to the service system in a consultative manner that
avoids disruption of direct services to people with disabilities.
Service
Providers' Submission (concerning the Core Review)
- incl. links
to the executive summary and the complete submission
Individualized
Funding Family Coalition
The Individualized Funding Family Coalition
believes that people with developmental disabilities have the same rights as other
citizens to self-determination, freedom and equality. We also believe that flexible
and innovative approaches are needed to change the status quo, and ensure that
each person has the means necessary to participate as a valued and contributing
member in their communities. We therefore support the implementation of Individualized
Funding in British Columbia as an option for individuals and families so they
can have real choices in how they lead their lives. This web page serves as a
resource for anyone who supports our vision for the future.
|
Cowichan
Women Against Violence (CWAV)
"Cowichan
Women Against Violence Society works from a feminist perspective to provide a
supportive environment for victims and children who have been affected by abuse.
We support diversity, change, choice and growth through counselling, advocacy,
emergency shelter, community development and education"
CWAV Programs
Children
Who Witness Violence - offers individual counselling and support groups
for children of battered women.
Horizons
Program is a personal development and pre-employment bridging program.
Safer
Futures Program is a community research and development program that works
to create and maintain community environments that promote safety of women and
children in public places, in work places and in their homes.
Somenos
Transition House - provides emergency shelter and emotional support primarily
for battered women and their children.
Women
Against Violence Against Women - counselling, emotional support, information,
court support and referrals for survivors of sexual assault, childhood and adulthood
abuse.
|
Creative
Resistance
- incl. links to : British Columbia - Canada - US - World
- Finding Strength - Action Toolkit - Communitas
-
incl. links to 125+ articles and other resources concerning over two dozen election
issues - highly recommended!
Issues : Aquaculture - BC Economy - Child
and Family Services - Child Care - Disability Issues - Education - Employment
- Women - Employment Standards - Energy - Environment - Freedom of Information
- Gambling - Health Care - Housing and Homelessness - Human Rights - Income Inequality
- Legal Aid - Lobbying - Long Term Care - P3s - Pharmacare - Policing - Prison
System - Responsible Government - Seniors' Issues - Social Housing - Taxes - Welfare
- Workers' Right
Online Resources : Homelessness
and Affordable Housing
[from Creative
Resistance]
Affordable
Housing in Vancouver (City of Vancouver)
Affordable
Housing in BC (BC Housing)
Articles
on Homelessness (from PovNet)
Shelter
Net BC (NGO)
BC Homelessness and
Health Research Network (University of British Columbia)
Creative
Resistance: Housing and Homelessness
|
See also:
-
British Columbia NGO Links (D-W)
- British
Columbia Government Links
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