Non-Governmental Sites |
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B.C.
Liberals shake up human-rights tribunal
The chair, Heather MacNaughton, will lose her post, causing some to worry about
more changes to come
July 15, 2010
By Charlie Smith
The B.C. government has declined to reappoint the chair of the B.C. Human Rights
Tribunal, Heather MacNaughton, as well as another tribunal member, Judith Parrack.
This has some human-rights experts concerned about what this means for the future
of the nine-member quasi-judicial body, which issues legally binding decisions.
Source:
The Georgia Strait
---------------
Public
commission on legal aid formed in B.C.
By Gary Oakes
July 9, 2010
Six of the major players on the British Columbia law
stage have formed an organization they hope will find solutions to the continuing
crisis in legal aid throughout the province. Access
to justice is one of the cornerstones of our society, Stephen McPhee
told The Lawyers Weekly. It is as essential a service as health care
and education." (...) Hes vice-president
of the B.C. branch of the Canadian Bar Association (CBABC) and chair of the
steering committee that is overseeing the newly-minted Public Commission on
Legal Aid (PCLA). It will hold meetings around the
province this fall to hear from ordinary people and stakeholders on whats
wrong with the system and then produce problem-solving recommendations to
the provincial government. The commission is jointly
funded by CBABC, the Law Society of B.C., the Law Foundation of B.C., the
B.C. Crown Counsel Association (BCCCA), the Vancouver Bar Association and
the Victoria Bar Association.
Source:
The Lawyers Weekly
"Serving Canada's Legal Community Since 1983"
-------------
Homelessness in Canada:
Interview with Penny Goldsmith of PovNet
June 2010
Transcript
of the interview (HTML)
Video
Penny Goldsmith is the Executive Coordinator of PovNET in Vancouver, BC. PovNet
provides online tools that facilitate communication, community and access
to information around poverty-related issues in British Columbia and Canada.
They work to collect relevant news and resources of use to advocates, community
workers, marginalized communities and the general public.
Source:
The Homeless Hub
Building on the success of the Canadian Conference on Homelessness (2005),
the Homeless Hub was created to address the need for a single place to find
homelessness information from across Canada. Launched in 2007, the Homeless
Hub is a web-based research library and information center representing an
innovative step forward in the use of technology to enhance knowledge mobilization
and networking.
Related links:
PovNet
PovNet provides online tools that facilitate communication, community and access
to information around poverty-related issues in British Columbia and Canada.
We work to collect relevant news and resources of use to advocates, community
workers, marginalized communities and the general public.
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Lousy
Cases Against 'Overpaid' Welfare Recipients
'Cookie cutter' claims lack facts, invoke obsolete rule, say poverty lawyers.
June 16, 2010
By Andrew MacLeod
Lawyers with the British Columbia Public Interest Advocacy Centre are criticizing
the Housing and Social Development Ministry's attempt to take welfare recipients
to court to collect money for overpayments and are asking the ministry to give
them what they need to help people.
In late May the minister responsible, Rich Coleman, said the ministry had filed 317 cases in small claims court seeking repayments. Some of the cases involved fraud, while others may have filed incorrect information that resulted in overpayments, he said at the time.
Lawyers working for BCPIAC say the government's overpayment
cases often fall apart under legal scrutiny, and yet it insists on attacking
people who are little able to defend themselves.
Source:
The Tyee
Related articles from The Tyee:
* Complaints
of Unfairness Shoot up from Welfare, Disability Recipients
Independent government tribunal had budget cut as appeals rose 46 per cent.
* BC's
Badly Broken Welfare System
BC Libs created 'overly complex' maze that kept needy off rolls: ombudsman
* Welfare's
New Era in BC
The provincial government's tough rules have spawned fear, pain,
a little black comedy, and very real tragedy. A Tyee Special Report by Andrew
MacLeod.
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Poverty
ideas abound --- will is the issue
By Les Leyne
May 27, 2010
Expectations rose so high so fast after a legislature committee agreed to hold
a public meeting on poverty that the chair felt the need to dampen the anticipation.
Liberal MLA Joan McIntyre told participants at a day-long thinkfest last Friday
that the session was just to foster awareness. "I wanted to also clarify
that developing a strategy or even providing a written analysis does go beyond
our terms of reference and crosses over into the realm of government policy-making,"
she said.
(...)
Steve Kerstetter, a researcher for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives,
told MLAs: "If the goal is to redirect other money to fight poverty, it's
just not going to work. There's just not enough money you can redirect that's
going to make a difference." By one estimate, there's a $2-billion poverty
gap that needs to be filled by society as a whole, he said. And government redistribution
just won't get it done.
Source:
Victoria Times-Colonist
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Dietitians
of Canada
Dietitians of Canada represents over 5500 dietitians across
Canada and is committed to promoting the health and well-being of consumers through
food and nutrition.
Selected reports from Dietitians of Canada:
Low-income
families in BC cant afford healthy food
December 15, 2009
Vancouver,
British Columbia Imagine being $127 in debt after your monthly
rent is paid and youve bought groceries for you and your family, leaving
no money for other necessities such as clothing, transportation and school supplies.
According to the latest The Cost of Eating in BC report, this is the situation
for a family of four living on income assistance in this province.
The Cost of Eating in BC 2009 by the Dietitians of Canada and the Community Nutritionists Council of BC demonstrates that it is impossible for families or individuals on income assistance or earning a low wage to afford enough healthy food. While shelter and food costs have risen significantly over the past decade, income assistance rates have remained virtually unchanged and minimum wage, once the highest in the country, has remained at $8.00/hour.
Complete report:
The
Cost of Eating in BC 2009 (PDF - 4.6MB, 12 pages)
December 2009
Why
do dietitians publish The Cost of Eating in BC report?
The purpose of the report
is to bring attention to the fact that not all residents of British Columbia have
enough money to purchase healthy food.
The facts in BC:
The 2009
monthly cost of the nutritious food basket for a family of four is $872
A family of four on income assistance would need more than 100% of their income
for shelter and food only
Source:
Dietitians
of Canada (includes links to a one-page media backgrounder and to earlier
reports in this series (2001-2007)
[The Community Nutritionists Council of
BC doesn't appear to have a website]
More links to Dietitians of Canada website content - this link takes you further down on the page you're now reading
Related link:
It
makes a huge difference
By Kelly McManus
December 17, 2009
(...)
With a monthly disposable income of $1,773, a family of four living on income
assistance spends 49 per cent of its monthly income on food and 58 per cent of
that cash on shelter. That leaves them $127 in the red, the [Cost of Eating] report
says. The report also found that for those on low incomes, high costs for housing
leave little money left over for food each month. In more remote communities,
food can be more expensive and healthy choices can be limited.
Source:
North
Shore Outlook - "Bringing BCs Communities together"
Food
costs take a big bite of the income pie for low-income British Columbians
News
Release
November 28, 2007
Vancouver, British Columbia Imagine spending
42% of your income after taxes on food. Thats how much a family of four
receiving income assistance in BC would need to spend to purchase enough healthy
food. Combine this with the estimated 65% required for shelter, and this family
is in the hole before purchasing any other necessities of daily living, such as
clothing, transportation, and personal care items. Compare these circumstances
with a family of four with an average income; that family would spend about 17%
of their income on food and 33% on shelter.
The
Cost of Eating in BC 2007 Report (528K, 12 pages)
"... profiles
the hardships faced by families trying to purchase healthy food while living on
a low-income"
The
Cost of Eating in BC - 2006
November 23, 2006
Dietitians of
Canada, BC Region in partnership with the Community Nutritionists Council of BC
produced this 2006 report to demonstrate that some groups within our population
are denied the right to safe and nutritious food due to limited financial resources.
Individuals and families receiving income assistance and those working in low
paying jobs are at high risk for food insecurity. The 2006 report was endorsed
by 17 provincial agencies.
- the link above includes all of the links below
as well as links to the same report for earlier years (annual, back to 2001)
Related Documents:
* The
Cost of Eating in BC - 2006 - Media Backgrounder (PDF file - 268K, 1 page)
* The
Cost of Eating in BC - 2006 - Complete report (PDF file - 1.56MB, 19 pages)
* The
Cost of Eating in BC - 2006- Overview (PDF file - 481K, 2 pages)
Earlier reports:
Welfare
leaves people hungry: Two new reports show that despite BCs
booming
economy over 100,000 people on welfare are left behind
News
Release
December 01, 2005
"Vancouver, British Columbia Thousands
of British Columbians with low incomes, especially those on income assistance,
do not have enough money to secure safe and adequate shelter or food. Two new
reports released jointly today by the Dietitians of Canada, BC Region and the
Social Planning and Research Council of BC highlight the stark realities of living
on income assistance."
Complete reports:
The
Cost of Eating in BC 2005
Little Money for FoodThe Reality for Some BC
Families
November 2005
- incl. links to the complete
22-page report and a two-page overview for 2005 as well as links to earlier editions
of the report back to 2001
Left
Behind: A Comparison of Living Costs and Employment and Assistance Rates in BC
(PDF file - 593K, 36 pages)
December 2005
"The primary finding of this
report is that it is harder for income assistance recipients to make ends meet
in 2005 than it was three years ago following cuts to welfare benefit rates in
2002. Few material changes have been made to welfare policy since the last edition
of this report in 2002, in which we described the significant reforms to welfare
in BC made that year. However, in the intervening years, inflation has continued
to erode the meagre incomes available to people receiving social assistance in
BC. The already inadequate benefit levels have remained static in spite of increasing
costs, particularly for shelter, heating, and transportation."
Source:
Social
Planning and Research Council of BC
----------------------------
Cost of Eating Reports for earlier years (back to 2001)
Disability
Resource Network of BC (DRN) --- British Columbia
"The
Disability Resource Network (DRN) is a provincial organization committed to providing
programs and services, professional development, resources and news events that
affect individuals who have a disability (disabilities), in the British Columbia
Post Secondary Education system."
- incl. online info and links to BC
Institutions - the World Health Organization definition of disability - news and
events - materials - info by type of disability - etc.
Domestic
Abuse Must Stop - (BC)
"Women, Information and Advocacy --- Having
survived Domestic Abuse in all its forms we believe that Domestic Abuse Must Stop.
We are a non-profit, non-funded association of women committed to that end."
Links
- 15+ BC and national resources for victims of domestic abuse
-
incl. links to : about us - hot topics - information - workshops - events - links
- contact us
Early Childhood Educators of B.C.
B.C.
Liberals havent delivered on early child development
April 27, 2009
[ Author Vi-Anne Zirnhelt is the president of
Early Childhood Educators of B.C. ]
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Economicus
ridiculous
... exercises in miserly
minimalism
A consumer advice blog with a twist, written by two women (Daphne Moldowin
and Chrystal Ocean) who live far below the poverty line.
- includes:
* tips and tricks for getting by on next to nothing.
* discussion of systemic and societal barriers that people in households of
very low income confront daily - and what we do about them.
* heads-up about free stuff, discount deals, and other opportunities to save,
maybe even make, money
Authors:
Chrystal Ocean describes herself as a Canadian social libertarian,
homeless activist (at times in both senses), democratic reformer, atheist,
founder of a group run by and for women in poverty, author of several blogs
and a book. She is founder of WISE
(Wellbeing through Inclusion Socially & Economically), a group for
and led by women in poverty. WISE folded in late 2006 due to cuts and changes
to Status of Women Canada grant eligibility criteria.
Daphne Moldowin describes herself as an energetic advocate for women's
equality who actively encourages people to re-view their outlook on society's
treatment of women.
Challenging
the Commonplace
... and other irreverent activities
Chrystal Ocean's personal blog, includes hundreds of postings
about poverty, mental health, homelessness and related issues going back to
2008.
Also from Chrystal Ocean:
Policies
of Exclusion, Poverty & Health: : Stories from the front (2005)
A reading of the book Policies of Exclusion, Poverty & Health
Compiled, with Introduction and Reports by Chrystal Ocean
The purpose of this site is to enable the hosting of 24 podcasts, covering
the reading of the 2005 book Policies of Exclusion, Poverty & Health:
Stories from the front. Each episode of this audio book tells a story,
not only the stories of the 21 women, but also the larger story of their efforts
to organize and the barriers which continue to thwart their efforts. The last
page of the last report of the book reveals their hope and determination that
it not signal the end, but the beginning of meaningful change - for them,
for their families, and for their communities.
[Click the links in the left-hand margin to listen to the Introduction, the
21 women's testimonials and a summary of issues raised and recommendations
to help deal with those issues.]
End
Legislated Poverty (ELP)
"End Legislated Poverty (ELP) is a coalition
of over 40 groups in BC, working together to educate and organize in order to
make governments reduce and end poverty. ELP is part of a larger international
movement fighting for the rights of people living in poverty."
-
incl. links to : About ELP - News Releases - Welfare Time Limits - Long Haul/Flaw
line - Current Campaigns - Resources for people in poverty in Greater Vancouver
- Factoids about Poverty - Panhandling Rights - Welfare Cuts and Violence Against
Women - Local Bylaws and Poverty - Links - Contact Us / Get Involved - Mental
Patients Rights
Family
Services of Greater Vancouver
Strengthening
People, Families and Community
Incl. Counselling,
Education & Adoption Services - Parenting - Specialized Counselling - Youth
- Diverse Communities - Sponsors - Events - Courses - In Focus
First
Call: BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition
The First Call Coalition
is made up of over 80 provincial/regional partner organizations, contacts in numerous
mobilized communities, and a network of community partners and individuals committed
to the Four Keys to Success for Children and Youth.
First
Call Coalition Provincial/Regional Partners
- incl. list of all 80+ coalition partners and links to their websites.
Recent First Call Publications:
Twenty
Years Later - A Second Look (PDF - 15K,
2 pages)
January 11, 2010
This is the first in a series of monthly reports by First Call: BC Child and
Youth Advocacy Coalition on child poverty in British Columbia. The series
is a continuing call to the BC government to start getting serious about fighting
child and family poverty. The provincial government has spent the last several
years trying to explain away the poverty statistics.
The latest shots came on November 24 on the government web site:
[ http://www.gov.bc.ca/fortherecord/childpoverty/cp_poverty.html
]
None of the figures were incorrect, but they gave the misleading impression
that BC is a leader in fighting poverty.
The technique is what statisticians call cherry picking, using
selected figures that seem to reinforce the argument youre trying to
make...
Source:
First Call: BC Child and Youth Advocacy
Coalition
First Call is a cross-sectoral, non-partisan coalition of provincial and regional
organizations, engaged communities and individuals whose aim is to raise public
awareness and mobilize communities around the importance of public policy
and social investments that support the well-being of children, youth and
families. First Call grew out of the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the
Child. When Canada ratified that Convention in 1991, its advocates gathered
in a National Conference and agreed that it is time to give children a first
call on our resources and on our advocacy efforts. The BC representatives
were drawn from a variety of sectors: education, health, justice, social services,
and others.
Related links:
British
Columbia Report Card on Child and Family Poverty (PDF - 886K, 23 pages)
November 2009
- includes nine fact sheets that analyze various aspects
of child poverty in BC. and Measures of Poverty (Appendix)
Source:
First
Call: BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition
Campaign
2000
Campaign 2000 is a cross-Canada public
education movement to build Canadian awareness and support for the 1989 all-party
House of Commons resolution to end child poverty in Canada by the year 2000. Campaign
2000 began in 1991 out of concern about the lack of government progress in addressing
child poverty. Campaign 2000 is non-partisan in urging all Canadian elected officials
to keep their promise to Canada's children.
Sign
the petition for a
BC Poverty Reduction Plan
Source:
BC
Poverty Reduction
We are a coalition that includes community and non-profit
groups, faith groups, health organizations, First Nations and Aboriginal organizations,
businesses, labour organizations, and social policy groups. We have come together
around a campaign aimed at seeing the introduction of a bold and comprehensive
poverty reduction plan from the government of British Columbia that would include
legislated targets and timelines to significantly reduce poverty and homelessness.
British
Columbia Report Card on Child and Family Poverty (PDF - 886K, 23 pages)
November 2009
The BC Child Poverty Report Card includes nine fact sheets
that analyze various aspects of child poverty in BC.:
1. BC Had the Worst Record
Six Years in a Row
2. Child Poverty Over the Years
3. Child Poverty
by Family Type
4. Persistence of Poverty
5. Child Poverty and Working
Parents
6. Families with Children on Welfare
7. I ncomes of Families with
Children
8. Child Poverty and the Importance of Government Help
9. What
Needs to Happen
Melanies Story The Human Face of Child Poverty
Appendix
: Measures of Poverty
Source:
First
Call: BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition
BC
Child poverty rate still the worst in Canada:
when will the provincial government
take action? (PDF - 79K, 2 pages)
News Release
November 24,
2009
For six years in a row, British Columbia has had the highest child poverty
rate in Canada tied only with Manitoba in 2007. Figures released today by First
Call, the BC partner in Campaign 2000, show BC at a rate of 18.8 percent of children
living in poverty in 2007. The Canadian average in that same year was 15 percent.
Sign
the petition for a
BC Poverty Reduction Plan
Source:
BC
Poverty Reduction
Related link:
Child
poverty got worse in B.C. under the Liberals
May 1, 2009
[ Author
Adrienne Montani is the provincial coordinator of
First
Call: B.C. Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition ]
No matter which way
you slice it, child poverty in British Columbia has gotten worse under the two
terms of Liberal government starting in 2001. The numbers tell the story. B.C.s
child poverty rate has been the highest rate of any province for five consecutive
years. The most recent data, from 2006, puts it at 22 percent (before-tax measure),
or 16 percent (after-tax measure). And these provincial numbers mask the even
higher child poverty rates in various cities and towns and among especially vulnerable
populations. Half of the children in families led by single mothers are poor.
High poverty rates among aboriginal and new immigrant and refugee families push
the numbers up.
2008
Child Poverty Report Card (PDF - 1.4MB, 19 pages)
November 2008
Ten
factsheets analyzing various aspects of child poverty in BC.
* What is Child
Poverty? * BC Had the Worst Record - Five Years in a Row * Child Poverty over
the Years * Child Poverty by Family Type * Depth of Poverty by Family Type * Income
of Families with Children * Child Poverty and Working Parents * Families with
Children on Welfare * Child Poverty and the Importance of Government Help * What
Needs to Happen
Related links From Campaign 2000:
Family
Security in Insecure Times:
The Case for a Poverty Reduction Strategy for Canada
-
2008 Report Card on Child and Family Poverty in Canada (PDF
- 167K, 6 pages)
[ version française:
Rapport
2008 sur la pauvreté des enfants et des familles au Canada
(PDF - 565K, 8pages) ]
Poverty
Reduction a Strategic Move in Downturn--Campaign 2000 Released New Report Card
Press
Release
21 November 2008
OTTAWA The federal government would make
a timely strategic move if it invested now to reduce stubborn poverty rates in
Canada, says a new report by Campaign 2000. The 2008 Report Card on Child and
Family Poverty in Canada, available at www.campaign2000.ca, shows the nations
child poverty rate is almost what it was in 1989 when Parliament unanimously resolved
to end child poverty by the year 2000.
Provincial
report cards
- includes links to the latest report and earlier years
for : * British Columbia * Alberta * Saskatchewan * Manitoba * Ontario * New Brunswick
* Nova Scotia
Campaign
2000
Campaign 2000 is a cross-Canada public education movement to build
Canadian awareness and support for the 1989 all-party House of Commons resolution
to end child poverty in Canada by the year 2000.
2007
Child Poverty Report Card (PDF file - 196K, 19 pages) Related links: B.C.'s
child poverty rate worst in Canada: report BC's
Child Poverty Rate Tops Again |
Other
provincial report cards
Click on this link to access child poverty
report cards for BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick and
Nova Scotia.
Related Links from Campaign 2000:
Canadas
Child Poverty Levels not Budging -
New report shows child poverty entrenched
in Canada over 25 Years
Campaign 2000
23
November 2006
The rate of child and family poverty in Canada has been stalled
at 17-18% over the past 5 years despite strong economic growth and low unemployment,
according to a new report by Campaign 2000.
Oh
Canada! Too Many Children in Poverty for Too Long [pdf, 6pp, 311KB]
2006
report card on child poverty in Canada
Earlier
editions of the
report card on child poverty in Canada
- reports in English and French going back to 2002
TIP: if you scroll
to the bottom of the earlier editions page, you'll also find links to a 2002 report
to the UN Special Session on Children entitled A report on a decade of child
and family poverty in Canada and a November 2001 Campaign 2000 Bulletin entitled
Family Security in Insecure Times: Tackling Canada's Social Deficit.
----------------------------
Related Link (national child poverty report):
New from Campaign 2000:
First
Ministers told to take action to lower shameful poverty rates
News
alert - Campaign 2000
Kelowna, BC, 23 Nov 05
"Activists took their
annual child poverty report directly to the First Ministers meeting here today.
The findings are discouraging. For almost 30 years the poverty rate has been stuck
at one-in-six children. Whether families are mother-led, have two parents, are
working full time or on social assistance the numbers are static. A particularly
disturbing finding is that child poverty rates for Aboriginal, immigrant, and
visible minority children are twice the national rate. Campaign 2000 National
Coordinator Laurel Rothman, whose organization prepares the annual update, was
joined by Peter Dinsdale of the National Association of Friendship Centres. They
are clearly frustrated by misplaced government priorities and jurisdictional wrangling."
Complete report:
Decision
Time for Canada: Lets Make Poverty History
2005 Report Card on Child
Poverty in Canada [pdf, 12pp, 500KB]
----------------------------
Fact
Sheets on Child Poverty in British Columbia [pdf, 13pp, 202KB]
BC
Campaign 2000, First Call BC
November 2004
Related Links: Child
poverty: setting new goals Complete report: One
million too many: Implementing solutions to child poverty in Canada Source: |
Fraser Institute - "Competitive
Market Solutions for Public Policy Problems"
The
Fraser Institute was founded in 1974 to redirect public attention to the role
markets can play in providing for the economic and social well-being of Canadians.
NOTE: for more about the Fraser Institute, see the Canadian Social Research Links Social Research Organizations in Canada page.
BC
Welfare Reform Receives a B : Province Leaps to Forefront of Intelligent
Welfare Reform and Sets New Standard for Canadian Welfare Welfare Reform in British Columbia: A Report Card (PDF file - 208K, 30 pages) Source:
There are indeed a number of differences between the current Canadian and American
social safety nets - certainly enough that the Fraser Institute should have considered
posting the disclaimer/caveat just a bit more prominently. Related Links (welfare in Canada and the
U.S.): Other Canadian (national)
welfare information resources: |
The Georgia Straight (Vancouver weekly)
Sample content from The Georgia Straight:
Mothers
under siege
By Charlie Smith
June 7,
2007
"Some say the B.C. government has violated the human rights of single
moms with its punitive social policies. (...) thousands of single parents across
the province struggle with trying to earn a decent income, finding daycare, and
ensuring their kids get a good start in life. But new data from Statistics Canada
show that whereas the incomes of Vancouver single fathers have increased in recent
years, the incomes of single mothers are in decline. This has some womens
rights and antipoverty activists claiming that B.C. Liberal government policies
discriminate against single mothers, who are among the poorest citizens of the
province. In a curious twist, the premier and the attorney general were both raised
by single mothers.
It's
a bad time to be poor
By Carlito Pablo
May
31, 2007
On May 7, the Impact of the Olympics on Community Coalition released
a report urging the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic
Winter Games (VANOC) and its partnersthe City of Vancouver and the British
Columbia provincial governmentto live up to their so-called Inner-City Inclusivity
commitments. These include commitments to housing, environment, civil liberties,
and transparency.
Critics
slam welfare bump
By Carlito Pablo
March 1, 2007
Finance
Minister Carole Taylor claims that the new budget ensures that all British
Columbians share in the benefits of the province's thriving economy. Not by any
stretch, counters the director of UBC's school of social work and family studies.
Prof. Graham Riches told the Georgia Straight that there is something fundamentally
flawed in the way the B.C. Liberal government carved the budget. It's not
a policy of redistribution, he said. It will prove inadequate.
Riches noted that the rich and middle class received $1.5 billion in tax cuts
so that, according to the government, they'll have more money to meet their
housing challenges and help them with the high cost of housing in B.C..
This amount constitutes three-quarters of the four-year $2 billion package, which
the Liberals trumpeted as a housing legacy.
Related link:
Budget
2007
Government of British Columbia
February
20, 2007
Income-assistance
cuts examined
By rob mcmahon
October 19, 2006
"(...)
The total province-wide income-assistance caseload (one case consists of a single
person or a family) has dropped by 36 percent since 2001, when the ministry began
implementing a range of policy changes, including introducing more stringent eligibility
criteria for income-assistance applicants and measures that allowed easier removal
of cases, scaling back on staff, closing offices, and cutting social-assistance
programs. The Income Assistance Project, a qualitative five-year study conducted
by researchers from UBC, SFU, and UNBC, is keeping tabs on the effects of this
policy. Researchers are investigating how low-income, lone-mother families have
been affected by the 2002 policy changes. Beginning in 2003, researchers worked
with 22 single mothers in urban Vancouver and the rural Bulkley Valley. So far,
they have found that these parents have been hit hard."
Provincial
welfare program under strain
Number of two-parent families
collecting assistance up 77 per cent compared to April of last year
By
Justine Hunter
June 2, 2009
Just days after B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell
launched a national campaign to broaden Canada's employment insurance scheme,
new statistics show his provincial welfare program is under growing strain. And
families are bearing the brunt of the recession in B.C., the new provincial statistics
on income assistance show.
B.C.
Premier demands single EI standard
By Patrick Brethour
May
30, 2009
The federal government needs to overhaul a clearly discriminatory
employment insurance system to help the swelling ranks of the jobless in Western
Canada, says British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell. The Premier is adding his
voice to the chorus pressing the federal government to rewrite the rulebook for
employment insurance, and to create a single national standard for how long Canadians
need to work before becoming eligible for payments. Canadians are Canadians,
and they should be treated equally, he told The Globe and Mail. Right now,
there are dramatic discrepancies in the EI system, with those in areas of historically
low unemployment having to work more than twice as long to qualify for payments
as those in regions with the highest levels of joblessness. That means it's much
more likely for laid-off workers in such low-unemployment areas to fall short
of qualifying for EI, even though a similar worker in a more disadvantaged area
would receive payments.
Ottawa
and the provinces must extend a helping hand to workers
We
need to eliminate regional discrepancies and co-operate to extend EI benefits
By
Gordon Campbell (Premier of British Columbia)
May 29. 2009
With all of the
discussion these days about employment insurance reforms, it is timely to consider
affordable improvements that will assist families and unemployed individuals who
are struggling to get through this global recession. First, we need to eliminate
the regional discrepancies in eligibility rules that are particularly unfair to
Western Canadians. (...) Second, we need to find an affordable way of extending
EI benefits to help workers who have either recently exhausted their benefits
or who are about to lose their EI income. This could be achieved through a new
cost-sharing partnership between the federal and provincial governments that would
redirect some provincial income assistance funding to help the federal government
fund extended EI benefits. (...) Provincial governments can be part of the solution
by offering to partner with the federal government in extending individuals' maximum
EI benefits. Instead of making income assistance payments to those people, they
could offer to transfer that funding to the federal government to help fund the
cost of extended EI benefits. (...) The federal government and provinces should
work in partnership to do the best we can for all of Canada's workers, regardless
of where they live or are employed. They pay equivalent national taxes and all
should receive equivalent national benefits. We must unite in providing Canadians
more effective support as we move through these trying times.
Related links --- Go to the Employment Insurance Links page : http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/ei.htm
Greater
Vancouver Food Bank Society
Homelessness
Research Virtual Library (University of British Columbia)
"The
homelessness research virtual library was created in response to a call from stakeholders
for easier access to homelessness research information. The Virtual Library website
provides immediate access to past and current homelessness research from the province
of British Columbia and the Yukon. The project is a partnership between the University
of British Columbia, Human Resources Development Canada and Shelter Net BC."
-
this site offers links to 80+ abstracts and full reports, mostly dealing
with the BC situation, that you can search by : Author - Organization - Title
- Location of Research - Publication Year - Subjects (Population) - Subjects (Keywords)
- Subjects (Research Type) - List
All Documents.
Source / Related Links:
University
of British Columbia
Shelter Net BC
Hospital
Employees' Union of British Columbia - "representing 46,000 front-line
health care workers in hospitals, long-term care facilities and community agencies
in British
Columbia, Canada. Affiliated with CUPE."
Ownership
Matters: Lessons from Ontario's Long-Term Care Facilities
"On
May 27, 2002 the Ontario Health Coalition released Ownership Matters: Lessons
from Ontario's Long-Term Care Facilities. This is a report prepared for the
Hospital Employees' Union of British Columbia by the OHC which examines the
effect of the Ontario Tory government's privatization of Long Term Care on the
quality of care and patients."
Complete
report (25 printed pages)
Source: Ontario
Health Coalition
Related Links:
Media
Release
Ontario Health Coalition
Report Paints Disturbing Picture of Ontarios Privatized Long Term Care
Ontario
Health Coalition
May 27, 2002
Source : DAWN
DisAbled Women's Network - Ontario
Human
Early Learning Partnership (HELP)
"HELP is a pioneering, interdisciplinary
research partnership that is directing a world-leading contribution to new understandings
and approaches to early child development. Directed by Dr. Clyde Hertzman,
HELP is a network of faculty, researchers and graduate students from British Columbia's
four major universities. HELP facilitates the creation of new knowledge, and helps
apply this knowledge in the community by working directly with government and
communities. HELP works in partnership with the BC Minister of State for Early
Childhood Development. HELP is partially funded by MCFD and maintains a close
liaison with other provincial government ministries."
- incl. links to the Vancouver Map Report - Early Development Instruments - View maps from the Vancouver Community Asset Mapping Project - LISTSERV (Sign up for our listserv and view archives) - BC Health Atlas (current provincial and Vancouver health maps) - References on child and population health - Dr. Clyde Hertzman's presentations and slides - other HELP publications.
Resources
- "includes a variety of resources for researchers, government, community
organizations, service providers, and parents".
- links to Publications
(reports, other online articles and selected readings, Community Asset Mapping
Project maps) - Reference Library (a searchable, electronic database with
8000+ articles on child health, human development, population health, and determinants
of health - Journals (info about and access to the most common journals
used by HELP researchers) - Community Resources ( provincial organizations
and online resources in BC of interest to parents, service providers, and those
working in the area of community development).
Satellite
maps lead the way to healthier neighbourhoods:
$2.3 million SSHRC project
analyzes impact of community resources on childhood development
May
6, 2003
"The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
(SSHRC) is investing $2.3 million in a study that will examine the link between
the location of neighbourhood resources and the health and school readiness of
children. (...) The Consortium for Health, Intervention, Learning and Development
(CHILD) Projectled by the University of British Columbias Hillel Goelman,
associate director of the Human Early Learning Partnershipwill examine the
physical, intellectual and social development of young children in various neighbourhoods
and map their growth and well-being in light of community resources."...more
Related
Link:
Social Sciences and
Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)
The
Information Partnership
The Information Partnership
provides innovative and practical solutions for private-, public-, and voluntary-sector
organizations wanting to become more efficient and effective in the way they develop,
deliver and evaluate their operations.
Red
Book : Directory of Services for the Lower Mainland
This is the most comprehensive online guide to community, social, and government
services available across the Lower Mainland. It is considered by many professionals
working in the human services field to be the "Bible" of community resources.
This is a detailed A-to-Z listing of over 4,000 community,social, and government
agencies and programs, including e-mail and Web site addresses.
HINT:
Click The
Red Book Online (in the left margin of the page) to access the list via a
search page.
Institute for Research on Public Policy
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)
JobWaveBC
"JobWaveBC
is brought to you by WCG International
Consultants Ltd. - people who know BCs job scene and what it takes to
get those quality jobs
fast. Our successful jobs programs have now assisted
over 11,000 British Columbians to find great jobs. (...)
Based in Victoria, British Columbia. WCG International Consultants Ltd. delivers
community and provincial employment programs, as well as progressive, internet-based
solutions to employment and hiring, and proprietary technology business solutions."
-
incl. links to information for job seekers and employers
Law Courts
Education Society of BC
The Law Courts Education Society is a non-profit organization providing educational
programs and services about the justice system in Canada and British Columbia.
Materials are designed to help the public understand how the justice system
works and to help those people working within the system to better understand
the justice-related issues that different people in the communities face.
|
|
BC Legal Services Society
The Legal Services Society (LSS) is the organization that provides legal aid
in BC. Legal aid includes representation by a lawyer, legal advice, and legal
information. The LSS gives priority to people with low incomes, but many of
its services are available to all British Columbians.
Legal
Aid Changes Planned for 2010 (PDF - 285K,
3 pages)
Media Release
November 3, 2009
VANCOUVER The Legal Services Society, which oversees legal aid throughout
the province, will be changing its operations in five communities next year.
Effective April 1, 2010, the Society will replace its regional centres in
Kamloops, Prince George, Kelowna, Surrey and Victoria with local agents and
an expanded, province-wide call centre.
---------------------------
Earlier this year...
---------------------------
Service
and operational changes (PDF - 371K, 5 pages)
Feb. 25, 2009
The Legal Services Society (LSS or the society) will be changing some services
and some of its operations this year. These changes are necessary because
the societys current government and non-government revenues are insufficient
to cover the current demand for legal aid.
Source:
BC Legal Services Society
Livable
Income For Everyone
Livable Income For Everyone (LIFE) is an organization
started in British Columbia in 2003 to promote the implementation of universal
guaranteed livable income in every country in the world.
- incl. links to:
What - Why - How - News - Articles - Gallery - Tools - Letters - Links
Selected site content:
* What
is a Guaranteed Livable Income?
* News
- links to 90 articles, studies and reports
* Links
- over 150 links to relevant sites
On
Basic Income: Interview with Götz Werner
German Millionaire
is super advocate for basic income
Posted in die tageszeitung / translated
12/09
Götz Werner, founder of major drugstore chain (1700 stores), is
one of the most influential advocates of basic income in Germany. Werner is not
only a super advocate for guaranteed income, he is also one of the top 500 richest
people in Germany.
Why
the United States should implement Basic Income
By Sam Alexander
October
2009
Welfare, food stamps, and homeless shelters (...) explicitly stratify
society into classes, enforcing the obsolete notion that the man who doesn't do
labor is a less valuable member of society. This is why Basic Income should be
absolutely universal- even Warren Buffett and Bill Gates must be given automatic
"welfare", for only then can the dole rise above its condescending,
humiliating nature.
Economic
Foundations and Environmental Progress
By Alexander Bishop
November
2009
(...) The more efficient
and technologically advanced the culture, the fewer people they need working.
The economy rewards technological stagnation in labour-saving
devices and designed obsolescence. The economy suffers
when we are healthier, greener, and consume less. The solution
is a movement away from job dependant monetary circulation to a guaranteed livable
income. This will allow positive change to occur without
causing job losses leaving people unable to meet their basic needs.
[ other articles on the LIFE site - 60+ links ]
- Go to the Guaranteed Annual Income Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/gai.htm
Metro
Vancouver
Metro Vancouver comprises four separate
corporate entities operating under one name;
it includes 22 member municipalities
and one electoral area.
Homelessness
During the 1990's homelessness emerged as a major issue in communities across
Canada. In Metro Vancouver, homelessness continues to be a complex and growing
problem. The 2005 Homeless Count for Greater Vancouver showed that homelessness
in the region doubled between 2002 and 2005. The Greater Vancouver Regional Steering
Committee on Homelessness (RSCH) formed and now includes over 40 members representing
service providers, community-based organizations, business and all levels of government.
The RSCH developed and oversees the implementation of the Regional Homelessness
Plan for Greater Vancouver.
2008
Metro Vancouver Homeless Count
The 2008 Metro Vancouver Homeless Count
took place during a 24-hour period on the night of Monday March 10th and the daytime
of Tuesday, March 11th 2008. (...) The purpose of the 2008
Homeless Count is to produce an updated estimate of the street and sheltered homeless,
a demographic profile of this population, and identify trends in relation to previous
counts. This information is then used to aid in service planning and inform policy
development. Initial results indicated a total of 2,592 individuals enumerated,
representing a 19% increase from the 2005 count and a 137% increase from the 2002
count. The final results now confirm a total of 2,660 homeless people; a 22% increase
from 2005. The final report data was released September 16th, 2008.
Results
of the 2008 Metro Vancouver
Homeless Count (PDF - 1.1MB, 77 pages)
September
16, 2008
Another Look at Welfare Reform (Autumn 1997)
- an in-depth analysis by the National Council of Welfare of changes in Canadian
welfare programs in the 1990s.
The report focuses on the provincial and territorial reforms that preceded
the repeal of the Canada Assistance Plan and those that followed the implementation
of the Canada Health and Social Transfer.
Complete
report online- large file (300K+) but well worth the wait for detailed
information on welfare reforms in the 1990s in each Canadian jurisdiction,
as well as a national overview of the broad issues of welfare reform and the
setting for welfare reform in Canada
|
|
April 28, 2010
New Westminster BC Enacts Canada's First Living Wage
Bylaw
For a collection of links to information about
this progressive initiative in BC and the living wage movement in general,
go to the Living
Wage Links section of the Canadian Social Research Links Minimum Income /
Living Wage Links
Nodice
Elections: British Columbia
Source:
Nodice Elections
Related Links:
- Go to the Political Parties and Elections Links in Canada (Provinces
and Territories) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/politics_prov_terr.htm
|
|
Red
Tent 2010 - Housing is a Right
Red Tent is national campaign that invites the participation of all
persons and organizations wishing to end homelessness in Canada. Our goal
is to persuade the federal government to enact a funded National Housing
Strategy that will end homelessness and ensure secure, adequate, accessible
and affordable housing for all persons living in Canada.
2010 Olympics
Oppressometer
The 2010 Oppressometer is an online tool developed to monitor
civil liberties during the Olympic period. The site is a tongue-in-cheek take
on the US Homeland Security threat levels, documenting civil liberty concerns
in the months leading up to the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. The Oppressometer
is a project of COPE, the Coalition of Progressive Electors. For forty years,
COPE has been a democratic, community-based coalition of individuals and organizations.
Source:
Coalition of Progressive Electors (COPE)
NOT the mainstream media:
* 2010 Olympic coverage from The Tyee
* 2010 Olympic coverage from The Georgia Strait
For more selected Olympic coverage, go
to the
Vancouver 2010 Olympics and Poverty Olympics 2010 Links page:
http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/bc_olympics.htm
British
Columbians double-crossed over MSP contract with American corporation : B.C. Government
and Service Employees Union
vows to continue legal action to stop the
government from handing over personal medical information to American-linked companies
November
4, 2004
"'British Columbians have been double-crossed,' said George Heyman,
president of the B.C. Government and Service Employees Union (BCGEU). 'The
health services minister promised that a contract negotiated with Maximus corporation
would ensure the privacy of British Columbians would not be compromised. Less
than a week after the privacy commissioner confirmed in his report that the USA
Patriot Act is a real threat to the privacy of British Columbians, the Campbell
Liberals are rushing in to sign, seal and deliver a deal!'"
Related Govt. Links:
Government
moves to improve the BC Medical Services Plan and Pharmacare services
November
4, 2004
"VICTORIA The Province is moving to modernize and improve
the administration of the Medical Service Plan and PharmaCare, Health Services
Minister Colin Hansen said today."
Backgrounders (3) from the Ministry of Health Services:
Improving
MSP and Pharmacare Services
Improving
Privacy and Confidentiality
Maximus
BC / Alternative Service Delivery
Related External Link:
MAXIMUS - "Helping Government Serve the People"
MAXIMUS
Canada Signs $268 Million US Health Benefit Operations Contract with British Columbia
November
5, 2004
Press Release
"The Province of British Columbia Ministry of
Health Services has finalized a $268 million (US)/$324 million (Canadian) fixed-price
contract with MAXIMUS Canada, a subsidiary of MAXIMUS, Inc., to provide health
benefit operations administrative services. (...) The term of the contract is
10 years. In addition, there is one, five-year renewal option the client may choose
to exercise."
Pivot
Legal Society
Pivot Legal Society is a non-profit legal advocacy organization
located in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. Pivot's mandate is to take a strategic
approach to social change, using the law to address the root causes that undermine
the quality of life of those most on the margins.
Pivot
releases report on Vancouvers low-income housing crisis
News
Release, Vancouver, B.C.
September 21, 2006
Vancouvers homelessness
crisis is about to get a lot worse unless immediate action is taken, according
to Pivot Legal Societys new report, Cracks in the Foundation: Solving the
Housing Crisis in Canadas Poorest Neighbourhood. If we continue to
lose low-cost housing in the Downtown Eastside at the current rate, we can expect
to be coping with at least three times the number of people living on Vancouvers
streets by the time the world arrives for the 2010 Olympics, states lead
report author and lawyer David Eby.
Cracks
in the Foundation:
Solving the Housing Crisis in Canadas Poorest Neighbourhood
September 2006
Complete
report (PDF file - 4MB, 92 pages)
Executive
summary (HTML)
MEDIA: press kit for Cracks in the Foundation (PDF file - 669K, 12 pages)
Planned
Lifetime Advocacy Network (PLAN) - British Columbia
Planned Lifetime
Advocacy Network (PLAN) is a non-profit organization, established in 1989 by and
for families committed to future planning and securing a good life for their relative
with a disability. (...) Our goal is twofold: to ensure a safe and secure future
for your relative with a disability and, in the process, to provide you and your
loved ones with peace of mind. In pursuit of this goal we're inspired by a simple
but powerful vision: the vision of a good life for all people with disabilities
and their families.
- incl. links to:
* About PLAN * Plan for a Good Life
* Get Involved * Resources * Public Policy * Photos & Stories
PLAN
Affiliates
- contact and (where available) website URL for organizations
in BC, Alberta, Sakatchewan, Ontario and Quebec as well as Seattle
(Washington) that are affiliated with PLAN.
---
Registered
Disability Savings Plan (RDSP*)
The Registered Disability Savings Plan
is a savings plan designed specifically for people with disabilities in Canada.
The first of its kind in the world, this new tax-deferred savings vehicle will
assist families in planning for the long - term financial security of their relatives
with disabilities.
- incl. links to * What is it? * How do I qualify * Where
do I get it?
[ Registered Disability
Savings Plan Blog- "...everything you wanted to know about the RDSP"
]
* (PLAN is the non-profit organization that proposed, researched,
and campaigned for the RDSP.
PLAN created and maintains the RDSP website and
the RDSP Blog.
Disability
Savings Plan: Policy Milieu and Model Development (PDF - 209K, 39
pages)
October 2005
By Richard Shillington
Disability
Savings Plan: Contribution Estimates and Policy Issues (PDF - 444K,
40 pages)
October2005
By Keith Horner
---
New
Ingredients for the Fiscal Pie
December 2003
By Sherri Torjman
"...argues
the need for exploring possible methods of expanding the fiscal pie.
It explores one possible model put forward by PLAN (Planned Lifetime Advocacy
Network), a group of parents of children with severe disabilities. The group proposes
a combination of private savings and public spending to help develop caring communities.
(...) The proposal represents one idea in a range of possible savings and investment
mechanisms to expand the fiscal pie a direction which we should be debating
seriously as a nation."
Complete
report (PDF file - 19K, 3 pages)
Source:
Caledon
Institute of Social Policy
Web
Search Results:
"Planned Lifetime
Advocacy Network"
Source:
Google.ca
Policy
Note - a progressive take on BC issues
Policy
Note delivers timely, progressive commentary on issues that affect British Columbians,
including the economy, poverty, inequality, climate change, provincial budgets,
taxes, public services, employment and much more. Contributors include staff and
research associates from the BC
Office of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
Poverty
and Human Rights Centre (Canada, International, United Nations, etc.)
Centre
Directors: Gwen Brodsky, Shelagh Day
(formerly the Poverty and Human Rights
Project)
"The Poverty and Human Rights Centre is committed to eradicating
poverty and promoting social and economic equality through human rights.
The
Library is a searchable database of materials related
to social and economic rights. It includes texts of relevant international human
rights treaties, Canadian and other laws, court decisions, legal briefs, and articles.
To use the library, go to buttons at the top of the page (topics, documents,
resources).
Factum Library What's new
The Factum Library section contains factums, pleadings and other litigation
documents from selected Canadian human rights cases. The materials are organized
by case name, articles, and date."
- incl. links
to : Recently added links - Contact Us - About the Centre
- Centre Publications
Civil and Political Rights
in British Columbia 2005
The Poverty and Human Rights Centre submission
to the United Nations Human Rights Committee
on the occasion of its review
of Canadas 5th report on compliance with the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights
October 2005
Introduction
Full
Report (PDF file - 140K, 48 pages)
Source:
Poverty
and Human Rights Centre
Human
Rights Denied (PDF file - 93K, 2 pages)
B.C.
Government Discriminates
Against Poor Single Mothers report
Press
Release
April 28, 2005
"Vancouver - Four constitutional and human rights
experts are issuing a report today that condemns the Government of British Columbia
for its treatment of single mothers on social assistance. Shelagh Day, Margot
Young, Melina Buckley and Gwen Brodsky conclude in Human Rights Denied
that single mothers are discriminated against by the B.C. Government."
Complete report:
Human
Rights Denied:
Single Mothers on Social Assistance in British Columbia
(PDF file - 524K, 59 pages)
April 2005
By Gwen Brodsky, Melina Buckley,
Shelagh Day, and Margot Young
Source:
Poverty
and Human Rights Centre (Vancouver)
PovNet
PovNet is an online resource for advocates, people on welfare, and community
groups and individuals involved in anti-poverty work. It provides up-to-date information
about resources in British Columbia and Canada. PovNet links to current anti-poverty
issues and also provides links to other anti-poverty organizations and resources
in Canada and internationally. PovNet is a clearinghouse of information necessary
to address issues of anti-poverty. Regulations and laws can change so quickly
it is difficult to know if the information you are using is up-to-date. PovNet
strives to keep advocates and those who may be experiencing difficulty with the
social service system informed.
[ Source : About
PovNet ]
News - Anti-poverty & poverty related news stories, current events, reports & press releases.
Regional - View news, resources government info & links sorted by territory or province.
Online Resources - Links to manuals, publications, guides, help sheets, databases & other resources.
Applications and Forms - Links & info to help with applying for welfare, disability, pension, student loans, unemployment, social housing, immigration & refugee status, etc.
Find an Advocate - Looking for help? Try searching our directory for an advocate near you. (includes all provinces and territories)
Issues
Page - links to information on a wide range of subjects, including the
following :
* Aboriginal/First Nations * Art/Culture * Blogs * Children &
Youth * Consumer/Debt * Disability * Education * Family * Foodbanks & Food
* Government Policy * Health * Homelessness * Housing * Human Rights * Immigrants
& Refugees * Legal Aid * Legal Research * LGBTQ * Media * Mental Health *
Organizing * Panhandling * People of Colour * Poorbashing * Poverty Research *
Prisoners' Rights * Seniors/Elders * Technology * Tenants' Rights * Unemployment
* Utilities * Violence * Welfare * Women * Worker's Rights
Links - Links to government websites, policies, acts, regulations & many other useful websites organized by issue (same as above) and by location (links to provincial/territorial resources, U.S. and other international links)
PovNet's Links to Anti-Poverty/Poverty Blogs - links to over three dozen blogs from BC, from Toronto, from Fredericton, from Montreal, etc.
-----------------------------------------------
Selected PovNet site content:
Poverty
and protest: the media focus on the Vancouver Olympics
February 9, 2010
As media from around the country and around the world focus on Vancouver and
the Winter Olympics, they are publishing stories about poverty, homelessness
and protest. PovNet has prepared a collection of links to some of the stories
published over the last few days.
[Click the link above to access all of the articles
below.]
* Winter Olympics on slippery slope after Vancouver crackdown on homeless
| The Guardian
* In the Shadow of the Olympics | The New York Times
* Give A Home to Us Not The Olympics, Say Protesters | The New York Times
* Vancouver's 'Poverty Olympics' Protest Millions Spent On Winter Games |
The Huffington Post
* Vancouver's poor protest against Olympic largesse | ABC News
* Estimates of Olympic protests increase as Vancouver Games approach | CP
* Activists stage 'Poverty Olympics' in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside | The
Vancouver Sun
* Stop civil obedience: Fight the Games | The Vancouver Sun
* The Vancouver Olympic Blues | Dave Zirin
* Protesters target Olympic torch run | CBC
* End poverty. It's not a game: The Poverty Olympics | Rabble
* When Snow Melts: Vancouvers Olympic Crackdown | The Nation
* Vancouver Olympic blues | RussianToday (video)
* Vancouver Tries To Polish 'Skid Road' For Olympics | NPR (radio)
A
timeline of cuts to BC legal aid
January 25, 2010
Timeline and backgrounder on the cuts to legal aid in BC culled from various
press releases and news articles.
Related link:
Access to Justice
- campaign to restore funding to legal aid in BC and to stop the cutbacks
to the Legal Services Society
- incl. links to press releases, news, petitions and more
Research
Report - Ministry of Human Resources Exit Survey Results *
Editorial
Comment:
|
Pro
Bono Net BC - "Linking Lawyers with communities
for the public good"
"Pro Bono Law of BC built this site to support
pro bono work by BC lawyers and to make legal services as accessible as possible.
Pro
Bono Law of BC is a non-profit society formed in 2002 with funding from the Law
Foundation of BC to promote, coordinate and facilitate the delivery of pro bono
legal services in BC."
["Pro bono comes from the Latin term, pro
bono publico, for the good of the public. Our definition of pro bono: Free
legal services for persons of limited means or not-for-profit organizations"]
Source:
Law Foundation of British Columbia
"The
Law Foundation of B.C. is a non-profit foundation created by legislation to receive
and distribute the interest on clients' funds held in lawyers' pooled trust accounts
maintained in financial institutions."
Related
Link:
Pro Bono Net - U.S.
"The
mission of Pro Bono Net is simple. First, use information technology to increase
the amount and quality of legal services provided to low-income individuals and
communities by the public interest/pro bono lawyers. Second, create a virtual
community of public interest lawyers that bridges private, legal services, and
academic sectors of the profession and that serves as a model for similar networks
in other legal communities."
Take
Two: BC Budget 2009 September Update
By Marc Lee
September 1, 2009
The
September BC Budget is a new look at a budget most have come to see as a fake.
Februarys budget was not passed through the legislature due to the May election,
and up to E-Day the government maintained the fiction that it had a small-ish
deficit of just under half a billion dollars. Since that time, the government
has moved out of denial about the recession and revealed that it could not in
fact meet its deficit target, accompanied by loud noises about expenditure cuts
through the summer.
Source:
Progressive
Economics blog
NOTE: for links to the September
2009 BC Budget Update and analysis of those measures,
go to the 2009 Canadian
Government Budgets Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/budgets.htm
Quickscribe
Services - law library service (BC) ($)
"Quickscribe
is a Victoria-based, family owned business offering clients access to provincial
legislation both in hard copy and online formats. We've been in business since
1984 and offer a more affordable alternative to the subscription based Queens
Printer legislation service. Our online service is fully searchable, printable
and includes and email notification service that alerts clients to recent amendments.
See
also QP LegalEze (Queen's Printer
- $) - from the BC Legislative
Assembly
See also Legislation
: Statutes - Regulations - Orders-in-Council - B.C. Regulations Bulletins
- Order in Council and Ministerial Order Resumes - Act/Ministry Responsibilities
Raise
the Rates
In 2002, the BC government introduced new welfare policies
that significantly reduced income assistance and increased the barriers to getting
assistance. These changes have led to suffering and hardship for those in need.
Please join us in pressing the provincial government to reduce poverty by improving
the welfare system and raising the minimum wage. The campaign
focuses on four principal areas: Welfare Rates | Barriers to Welfare | Employment
| Minimum Wage. Follow the above link for more info on each of these issues.
October
27, 2006
Time
to raise welfare rates
SFU economist Jon Kesselman makes the links
between rising homelessness and BCs abysmal welfare rates in this commentary
from the Vancouver Sun:
"A
whole $6! Every day! Imagine that you wake up each morning with six dollars burning
a hole in your pocket. Lets see: How might you spend your money? Maybe contemplate
breakfast, a midday meal and supper at nightfall? (...) Welfare benefits for employable
single persons in B.C. are $185 per month (the daily $6) plus a $325 monthly housing
allowance, for a grand total of $510. These figures have been unchanged since
1994 despite a rise in living costs of nearly 30 per cent; the benefits are just
one-third of what Statistics Canada computes as the low-income cutoff. So should
we be surprised to find B.C.s city streets and lanes looking increasingly
like scenes from a Dickens novel? (...) A campaign endorsed by many community
groups, called Raise the Rates (www.raisetherates.org), may help to
heighten public awareness."
Posted October 27 by:
Marc Lee
Relentlessly
Progressive Economics
"Commentary on Canadian economics and public
policy"
Resist.ca
is a project of the Resist! Collective
"The Resist! Collective is a group
of Vancouver-based activists working to provide communications and technical services,
information and education to the greater activist community. The Resist! Collective
(Resist!) and resist.ca project grew out of the old Vancouver TAO collective.
Save
Low Income Housing Coalition - Vancouver
The
Save Low Income Coalition is working to preserve and increase low-income housing
units in the Greater Vancouver Area and to raise the rates of shelter allowance
for income assistance recipients. Active coalition members
include non-profit, staffed as well as volunteer-based community groups. Many
of us are advocates and some of us are residents localized in the Downtown Eastside
area.
Self
Advocate Net
Sponsored by the Ministry of Human Resources, this
great site from Abbotsford in BC's Fraser Valley is an excellent example of how
well partnerships between government, the private sector and the NGO sector can
nurture and support communities that might otherwise be marginalized.
"SelfAdvocateNet.com is a strong voice for people with intellectual disabilities
during the good times and the difficult times. We like to let people know what
is possible if they speak up and stand up for their rights. We want to share the
positive experiences through other peoples' stories and learn from their situations.
But we also want to let people know about the important issues that are coming
up that we need to face so that we will be safe in our communities and treated
with respect."
- incl. links to About Us - FAQ - Music - Movies -
Health and Wellness - Dear Jill - Democracy
Wall - Photos - Our Stories- Groups - News - Links - Guestbook - Maps - Useful
Tools - Barb's Tidbits - James' Ideas - Site map
Links
to 150+ sites of interest
News
- 50+ links to relevant news and background information on health care and disability
issues in British Columbia
Seniors
Housing Information Program
"The Seniors Housing Information Program
is a non-profit organization which provides information on housing and services
for seniors living in or wishing to live in the Vancouver and the Lower Mainland
of British Columbia."
Out
of Sight, Out of Mind
The Plight of Seniors and Homelessness (PDF
file - 308K, 117 pages)
A report on homelessness and the risk of homelessness
among seniors and vulnerable adults in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia
September
2003
Henry C. Hightower, Jill Hightower, M.J. (Greta) Smith
Published by
Housing
Directory - supportive housing for seniors in the Lower Mainland of BC
- 1200+ listings
Single
Mothers Support Network
The Single Mothers Support Network is a volunteer-driven
non-profit organization supporting low-income single mothers and fathers. Supports
provided to low-income single-parent families include: Individual Self-care with
registered practitioners (Acupuncture - Aromatherapy Massage - Counseling - Herbology
- Reiki - Yoga Therapy) - Workshops (e.g.,art therapy, life skills, and non-violent
communication) - Community building (potlucks, telephone tree, stuff for free
and sale, help wanted, bartering, tool library, babysitting co-ops)
- incl.
links to Services (see the list of supports above) - Events - Resources - Links
- Newsletter - Background - and much more...
No
time like now to raise B.C.s minimum wage
December 16, 2009
In times of such financial uncertainty very few people are
asking for raises. Among those people are Canadas lowest paid workers
those making under $10 an hour. Since November 2001, the Campbell government has
frozen the $8 minimum and the loophole training wage of $6 was introduced
in 2002. British Columbia holds the record for the lowest minimum wage, lowest
training wage and the longest time since the minimum wage has been updated.
Related
link from the
Labour
Program, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada:
Current
And Forthcoming Minimum Hourly Wage Rates For Adult Workers in Canada
(this
is the best resource for info on current and upcoming minimum wage levels)
Social
Planning and Research Council (SPARC) of British Columbia
The Social Planning and Research Council of BC is a non-partisan, charitable organization
operating in BC since 1966. We work together with communities on Accessibility,
Community Development Education, Income Security, and Community Social Planning.
Income Security Projects at SPARC BC
SPARC Resources & Publications
Sample SPARC reports:
Precarious
& Vulnerable: Lone Mothers on Income Assistance (PDF - 235K, 31
pages)
December 9, 2008
By Penny Gurstein and Michael Goldberg
The British
Columbia government introduced sweeping changes to its income assistance program
in 2002. Although the changes made life more difficult for everyone on income
assistance, lone mothers and their children were particularly hard hit. This report
explores the impact that these changes have had on lone mothers with young children.
Source:
SPARC
BC
The Social Planning and Research Council (SPARC) of BC is a non-partisan,
charitable organization operating in BC since 1966. We work together with communities
on Accessibility, Community Development Education, Income Security, and Community
Social Planning.
Municipality
Votes Papers 2008 (PDF - 234K, 11 pages)
October 14, 2008
This publication
is intended to help you engage with local candidates in the municipal election
on November 15, 2008. Its all about social issues that impact your community;
questions that matter to you; and the role that the municipal governments can
choose to take in addressing them.
- covers the following
topics:
* Local Democracy * Affordable Housing * Inclusion
& Accessibility * Diversity in Civic Engagement * Transportation * Municipal
Governments & Community Social Planning
Still
Left behind : A Comparison of
Living Costs and Income Assistance in British
Columbia (PDF file - 676K, 63 pages)
By Jill Atkey
and Rebecca Siggner
February 2008
A comparison of Living Costs
and Employment Assistance Rates in British Columbia. Report findings indicate
that families and individuals receiving income assistance from the province of
B.C. are not able to meet their minimal monthly living costs.
-----------------------------------------------
Left
Behind: A Comparison of Living Costs and Employment and Assistance Rates in BC
(PDF file - 593K, 36 pages)
December 2005
"The primary finding of this
report is that it is harder for income assistance recipients to make ends meet
in 2005 than it was three years ago following cuts to welfare benefit rates in
2002. Few material changes have been made to welfare policy since the last edition
of this report in 2002, in which we described the significant reforms to welfare
in BC made that year. However, in the intervening years, inflation has continued
to erode the meagre incomes available to people receiving social assistance in
BC. The already inadequate benefit levels have remained static in spite of increasing
costs, particularly for shelter, heating, and transportation."
-----------------------------------------------
Reports
provide wake-up call on future of Canadas cities Download
the report for Vancouver/North Vancouver: Source: Related Link: Federation of Canadian Municipalities - Go to the Municipalities Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/municipal.htm |
Social Research and Demonstration Corporation (SRDC)
Final
evaluation report of the
Case Coordination Project in Vancouvers Downtown
Eastside
February 2009
SRDC released its final evaluation report
of the Case Coordination Project (CCP) in Vancouvers Downtown Eastside,
an area with high rates of poverty, substance abuse, poor housing, and unemployment.
The project was designed to determine whether a comprehensive model delivering
one-to-one support to long-term unemployed residents of the Downtown Eastside
could help them return to employment and self-sufficiency. Components of the project
and methods of delivery had to be flexible to meet the changing needs of participants.
The final report presents the findings of the CPP, with details on participants
employment, their outcomes from receiving Income Assistance, and their experiences
with the project. The report also draws conclusions relating to project implementation
and administration, as well as policy implications for similar projects.
Source:
Learning What Works (February
2009)
- the latest issue of SRDC's newsletter
Complete report:
The
Downtown Eastside Case Coordination Project:
Moving Hard-to-Employ Individuals
from Welfare to Opportunity (PDF - 840K, 65 pages)
By Barbara Dobson
Susanna Gurr
July 2008
NOTE: the February
2009 issue of Learning What Works
also includes articles (and links to
related reports) about:
* The B.C. AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination)
Early Implementation Report: Addressing academic barriers to PSE (AVID that aims
to increase post-secondary enrolment among Grade 8 students with a B to C average).
*
Community Employment Innovation Project (CEIP): A viable alternative for vulnerable
communities and the unemployed
* Data from the Community Employment Innovation
Project is available to interested researchers
* The Child Care Pilot Project
is extended (testing a preschool daycare service designed to help children master
the French language)
* SRDC to evaluate initiatives of the BC Healthy Living
Alliance
All
SRDC Publications - by theme
All
SRDC Publications - alphabetical
Source:
Social
Research and Demonstration Corporation (SRDC)
StrategicThoughts.com
This is the personal website of David Schreck - political pundit, former MLA and
former Special Advisor to the (NDP) Premier, among other accomplishments.
Links - collection of ~100 links to (mostly BC) online resources covering a wide range of topics, with a special focus on health economics, health unions, politics and advocacy.
Some samples of David Schreck's articles:
March 2, 2010
Budget
2010
Premier Campbell and his government took a major dive in public opinion polls
when British Columbians learned in July about the HST, not mentioned during
the election, and about the true size of the deficit, misrepresented during
the election. Is there any reason to think the Campbell government is more
credible now than it was during last year's election? Evidence from the March
2nd budget suggests they've learned nothing.
Source:
Strategic Thoughts
- website of David Schreck
[ more budget 2010 information and analysis]
- a separate page of this website ]
February 2, 2010
Income
Assistance Caseloads Up - Yet Again
The latest welfare statistics are more bad news for the Campbell government,
and for those who hope for mercy in the March 3rd budget. Relative to December
2008, the caseload in December 2009 increased by 45.4% for those categorized
as "expected to work", and by 15.6% for all recipients of assistance.
That's not the half of it since relative to December 2006 the "expected
to work" caseload was was up 118%, and the total caseload was up 27%.
This is bad news for the 130,341 income assistance "cases" and bad
news for the provincial budget. (...) In his story in The Tyee about cutbacks
to the income assistance appeal process [see the link below], Andrew MacLeod
may have hit on why the government feels confident that disability caseloads
won't takeoff. MacLeod noted that while the annual report on the appeal process
was released in December, it escaped notice in the media. Income assistance
caseload statistics are reported monthly, but unlike monthly estimates of
employment and unemployment from Statistics Canada, these reliable administrative
data are usually ignored by the media.
The
latest BC welfare statistics
- December 2009 data, posted January 29, 2010
Related link:
Complaints
of Unfairness Shoot up from Welfare, Disability Recipients
Independent government tribunal had budget cut as appeals rose 46 per
cent
By Andrew MacLeod
February 1, 2010
The Employment and Assistance Appeals Tribunal is an independent government
body that listens and rules when people feel they've been treated unfairly
by the ministries that administer disability assistance, welfare and childcare
subsidies. Last year the number of appeals to the tribunal jumped by 46 per
cent. At the same time the office dealt with a 17 per cent budget cut by shrinking
the size of panels that hear appeals and by using a computer program to train
new tribunal members. The details are included in the
tribunal's 2008-2009 annual report (PDF file - 1.9MB, 32 pages)
Source:
TheTyee.ca
"...your independent alternative daily
newspaper reaching every corner of B.C. and beyond"
Lies,
damn lies and government websites:
David Schreck is an independent watchdog
of the British Columbia government.
In the article below, he "reviews"
the new BC Government Home Page by systematically debunking several of the self-congratulatory
factoids (found in the section entitled For
the Record: Facts on Current B.C. Issues) from the govt. site.
BC
Government's Revised Website - A Commentary by David Schreck
December
15, 2009
"(...) British Columbians have learned the hard way after the
last election that the B.C. Liberals suffer an enormous credibility gap. Whether
it is their claims about the HST, promises about the deficit, commitments to protect
health and education or simply statistical facts about child poverty and employment,
you have to check the facts for yourself because you can't believe what the government
tells you, updated website or not."
- includes half a dozen links to
authoritative sources of data that contradict or correct statements found in the
For the Record page, notably with respect to the government's claims about
poverty reduction and job creation.
Related link:
Government of British Columbia Home Page
September 1,
2009
Budget
Deficit and Deceit
The Campbell government plans to balance its
budget by 2013-2014. That plan calls for tabling a budget in February 2013, holding
an election in May 2013 and having a new replacement budget in September 2013.
It looks like the B.C. Liberals think voters will fall for the 2009 trick again
and again. Between now and the next election, all of the budgets that will be
tested by audited financial statements, Public Accounts, will show deficits, beginning
with a deficit of $2.8 billion this year. You won't find it in the government's
budget highlights, but Finance Minister Colin Hansen's September budget update
announced an 18% increase in MSP premiums. BC has set several Canadian records:
the highest child poverty, the lowest minimum wage and the only province to use
regressive premiums to fund health care.
Source:
Strategic
Thoughts.com
---
NOTE: for links to the
September 2009 BC Budget Update and analysis of those measures,
go to the
2009 Canadian Government Budgets Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/budgets.htm
---
More
bad news for welfare
May 30, 2009
BC's latest welfare "statistics"
were released mid-afternoon on Friday, May 29th [see the link below]. The "temporary
assistance - expected to work" caseload increased 52.9% between April 2008
and April 2009. The total caseload increased by 14.4%, year over year. "Expected
to work - two parent families" increased by 77.1%. Not only is the welfare
caseload increasing, but the rate of increase is increasing! When the August 2008
data were released on the eve of the Vancouver by-elections, five months before
the latest budget, the data showed an increase in "temporary assistance -
expected to work" of "only" 20.2% and in the total welfare caseload
of "only" 5.5%
[ incl. links to three related resources ]
---
Related
links:
New
BC welfare numbers show continued climb
By Andrew MacLeod
May
29, 2009
VICTORIA The British Columbia welfare caseload continued to
rise in April, according to government figures released today. The total number
of cases grew by 0.7 percent since March. The number in the expected to work category
receiving temporary assistance was 54 percent higher in April than it was in June
2008. The total number of clients, including those on disability assistance, was
161,780 in April. That's still significantly lower than the 244,821 in 2001 when
the then new B.C. Liberal Party took office and tightened eligibility requirements.
In 1995 there were 367,387 clients on the welfare caseload.
[ incl. links to
three related resources ]
Source:
The Tyee
April
2009 welfare stats:
BC
Employment and Assistance Cases by Program - April 2009
(PDF - 81K, 6 pages)
Posted May 29, 2009
Source:
Ministry
of Housing and Social Services
[ links
to current and earlier welfare statistics ]
---
Welfare
in BC Up 49.8% - Revealed Post Election
May
15, 2009
The first crumb of what will likely be a lot more previously hidden
bad news came out three days after the election when the Ministry of Housing and
Social Services released welfare statistics (see "Related links" below)
that should have been released by the end of April. The statistics for March 2009
show that for the category of "temporary assistance expected to work"
the caseload increased by 49.8% between March 2008 and March 2009. The total welfare
caseload is up 13.6% relative to a year earlier, and stands at the highest level
since 2002. The welfare caseload has not only been increasing, but the increase
has been accelerating. That was taking place in 2008 when Premier Campbell was
still claiming that BC would duck the worst of the recession. It was worst yet
during the election campaign when Premier Campbell was saying "Keep BC Strong".
Thousands of British Columbians aren't looking at "keeping" BC strong,
they just desperately want to regain their own strength.
---
Related
link:
BC
Employment and Assistance Cases by Program - March 2009 (PDF - 80K, 6
pages)
Source:
Ministry of Housing and
Social Services
---
BC
in Recession?
January 10, 2009
Governments frequently release
bad news around quitting time on Friday afternoons. The Campbell government did
that trick one better when it released welfare
statistics (PDF - 82K, 6 pages) late on the afternoon of New Year's
Eve. Those statistics showed the number of cases classified as "temporary
assistance expected to work" up 24.3% in November 2008 relative to November
2007. The increase was startling but only the latest jump in a trend that started
in July when the "expected to work" caseload increased by 16.3% relative
to July 2007. The total welfare (BC Employment and Assistance) caseload, including
disabled, increased by 7.2% between November 2007 and November 2008. Welfare statistics
aren't the only indicator of an economic downturn in British Columbia. Statistics
Canada reported that the number of British Columbians receiving regular
employment insurance benefits in October 2008 (the latest data) increased by 18.2%
relative to October 2007. That increase was only exceeded in Ontario where the
increase was 18.4%. Alberta was third amongst the provinces with an 8.2% increase,
far behind Ontario and BC. [ more...
]
Stagnant
Wages
February 23, 2008
The February
2008 edition of Statistics Canada's Perspectives on Labour and Income contains
an article titled "Earnings
in the last decade". It analyses average hourly earnings between 1997
and 2007. The results are not what the Campbell government usually spins. The
Statistics Canada study found that in constant 2002 dollars the national increase
in real wages was 6% over the decade, but it was only 3% in BC. What is more shocking
is the study's finding that the average real wage of managers in BC increased
by 15% over the decade while the real wages of other workers showed virtually
no change.
Jan/Feb '08 articles from StrategicThoughts.com - PLUS a link to earlier articles at the bottom of the page
BC
Welfare Caseload Up
February 5, 2008
The Campbell government
continues to suffer from the excesses of its first term. Time will tell whether
the bungled sale of BC Rail, details of which are unfolding in the courts, will
inflict damage before the May 2009 election. It still has not escaped the consequences
of cutting the Ministry of Children and Family Development as if it were any other
government department, and this week it is being reminded of its 2001 decision
to cut the Mental Health Advocate. For a surprise on the list of memories, who
would have thought that under the hard-hearted Campbell government the welfare
caseload would increase?
-----
Related links from
the BC Ministry of Employment and Assistance:
Latest
Employment and Assistance statistics- December 2007
Updated January
29, 2008
- incl. * Number of Cases by Program and Family Type * Number of Clients
by Program and Family Type * Number of Cases by Region
BC
Employment and Assistance Statistics
- links to earlier statistics
-----
A
Lot for Those over $100,000 Income, Little for Welfare
February
23
"The 2007 Budget did not increase the support portion of the income
assistance rates for most clients. Based on the Ministry's caseload statistics
for December 2006, over 55,000 cases classified as disabled will receive no increase
in their support allowance; they are part of the 62,638 cases who will receive
no increase in support payments. The Campbell government deserves a little credit
for increasing the support allowance for single employable clients, and for adjusting
rates for children, but no one should think that all clients are receiving an
increase - 40% receive no increase in shelter allowances and 64% receive no increase
in support allowances."
Welfare
Rates Paid with Caseload Cuts
February 22
Welfare
Rate Increase
February 20
Budget
2007-08: Those that Got Get!
February 20, 2007
"BC Budget
2007 flaunts the statutory requirement for reporting major capital costs, and
it repeats the pattern of the Campbell government for looking after those who
least need it."
NOTE: for more BC Budget 2007 info, go to the British Columbia Government Links page of this site.
A
Lot for Those over $100,000 Income, Little for Welfare
February
23, 2007
"The 2007 Budget did not increase the support portion of the
income assistance rates for most clients. Based on the Ministry's caseload statistics
for December 2006, over 55,000 cases classified as disabled will receive no increase
in their support allowance; they are part of the 62,638 cases who will receive
no increase in support payments. The Campbell government deserves a little credit
for increasing the support allowance for single employable clients, and for adjusting
rates for children, but no one should think that all clients are receiving an
increase - 40% receive no increase in shelter allowances and 64% receive no increase
in support allowances."
Welfare
Rates Paid with Caseload Cuts
February 22, 2007
Welfare
Rate Increase
February 20, 2007
Budget
2007-08: Those that Got Get!
February 20, 2007
"BC Budget
2007 flaunts the statutory requirement for reporting major capital costs, and
it repeats the pattern of the Campbell government for looking after those who
least need it."
October 28, 2006
Four
Month or More Delay in Welfare Shelter
-
includes a link to the Speech
by Premier Campbell to the Union of B.C. Municipalities (October 27) where
he vowed that he would increase the welfare shelter allowance; also includes links
to other related resources, i.e., info about the new Rental Assistance Program
for low-income families (excluding families receiving welfare) plus links to the
current welfare shelter allowance levels and caseload statistics.
Lower
Health Costs by Helping the Hungry
October 12, 2006
According
to the Dietitians of Canada, about 10% of Canadians "lack the funds to purchase
sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences
for an active healthy life." BC's Provincial Health Officer elaborated on
hungry British Columbians in his latest annual report. In the highlights of his
report, he stressed that: "Factors affecting the ability to afford nutritious
food in BC include higher costs of a basic "market basket" of items,
higher housing costs, inadequate social assistance rates, increased levels of
homelessness, and a minimum wage level that can result in even full-time workers
in some BC communities falling below the federal low-income cut-off." By
raising both income assistance rates and the minimum wage, the Campbell government
might lower health care costs and stimulate the economy.
Related Link:
Food,
Health and Well-Being in British Columbia:
Provincial Health Officer's Annual
Report for 2005: (PDF file - 4.6MB, 166 pages)
October 2006
Source:
British
Columbia Office of the Provincial
Health Officer
[Related
News Release - October 4]
Campbell's
New Era Fails Women
March 1, 2004
"Gordon Campbell seems to
have a major disconnect with women; perhaps that is why a pamphlet has appeared
on the government caucus website under the heading "A New Era for Women".
It misrepresents what government has done in terms of communities, health services,
child care and self-sufficiency (code language for kicking people off welfare).
The word "equality" does not appear in the pamphlet."
Source:
Strategic Thoughts.com
NOTE: All 37 Women's Centres across the province of British Columbia saw their provincial funding cut by 100% on March 31, 2004.
Related Links:
Campbell's
New Era Fails Women
March 1, 2004
Source:
StrategicThoughts.com
---------------------------------------------------
Arrogant
Response to the Auditor General's Disability Report
February 25, 2004
"In a report released February 24th, the Auditor General criticized the
disability review conducted by the Ministry of Human Resources, but the Ministry's
response denied important conclusions of the Auditor's report."
Source:
Strategic Thoughts.com
NOTE: for more links to info about the Auditor General's report, see to the Canadian Social Research Links BC Government Links page
2004
Budget Highlights
"Endlessly repeating that the budget is balanced won't make it
so"
February 17, 2004
"The government published its version of budget highlights but it overlooked
many important facts. In an attempt to correct those deficiencies, here is
a citizen's version of highlights from the 2004-05 budget."
* Provincial debt is $39.452 billion, $5.617 billion (16.6%) higher than it
was when the BC Liberals took office.
* Revenue from income tax is projected to be $5.005 billion, $971 million
lower than before the tax cuts.
* Revenue from corporate taxes is $506 million lower than before the tax cuts.
* The budget for the Ministry of Children and Family Development is $1.382
billion, $171 million lower than 2000-01 and a cut of $70 million from last
year.
* The budget for Human Resources is $1.301 billion, a further cut of $117
million from last year.
* 14 Ministries are slated for budget cuts totaling $803 million.
* The forecast allowance, set at $750 million when the Liberals presented
their first budget, was reduced to just $100 million - not much room for error,
but errors won't be revealed until after the next election.
* $124 million was added to the bottom line by changing the method of accounting
(fully including schools, universities, colleges and health authorities).
* Despite claims about more money for education, that money doesn't appear
until 2006.
* People with valuable homes get a break with an increase in the threshold
for clawing back the homeowner grant from $525,000 to $585,000.
* All of the income tax cuts for most middle and low income taxpayers have
been clawed back with increases in regressive taxes and fees.
More
Cuts to Welfare
February 18, 2004
"Just days after the government appeared to back down on its plan to
kick thousands off welfare by being the first province in Canada to impose
arbitrary time limits; it looks like balancing the budget will be at the cost
of the poor."
CCPA
helps Campbell with Unrealistic Proposals
February 12, 2004
"On Thursday, during the last question period for the first week of the
new legislative sitting, Speaker Claude Richmond once again encouraged disrespect
for BC's legislature by allowing government backbenchers to run out the clock
asking questions about a paper published by the Canadian Centre for Policy
Alternatives (CCPA). When Opposition House Leader Joy MacPhail was finally
recognized, Richmond announced that the time for question period had expired.
The CCPA did not help the New Democrats with its paper titled "BC Solutions
Budget 2004: Getting Ready for 2010". The 29 page document is as valid
as any other external comment on the upcoming BC budget, but it contains unrealistic
and politically unacceptable taxation proposals."
Government
Backs Down over Heartless Policy but won't release numbers
February 6, 2004
"(...) What they don't say is that at the last minute government added
a new 25th reason for exempting people from the arbitrary time limit. The
new exemption is "People who have an employment plan, are complying with
their plan, are actively looking for work, but have not been successful in
finding employment." Everyone on assistance has completed an employment
plan because it is a requirement in the initial application. It has always
been a requirement that employable people look for work. In other words,
rule 25 exempts everyone and the two year rule was a cruel exercise that caused
needless anxiety for people who are already down on their luck."
Related Links - see the Canadian Social Research Links BC
Welfare Time Limits page
Trouble
for Campbell with 40 Unhappy MLAs
January 27, 2004
"A cabinet shuffle in an atmosphere of crisis, two weeks prior to the
legislature opening with the Speech from the Throne, is bad news for Premier
Campbell."
|
Related Links: Premier
Announces New Cabinet Executive
Council (new list of ministers) Source:
Office of the Premier |
2003
in Review
December 15, 2003
"In December it is the custom to look back and review the year. 2003
was a bizarre year in BC politics. It had bookends of Premier Campbell's
mug shot being displayed for all to see following his night in a US jail
at one end, and at the other end chaos in BC Ferries..."
Making
the Disabled Beg
April 25, 2003
"Why is the Campbell government turning to charities to assist people
with disabilities overcome barriers to employment? Human Resources Minister
Murry Coell used the April staged cabinet meeting to announce a $20 million
endowment to the Vancouver Foundation, the income from which will fund annual
grants. (...) Coell's approach may have more to do with political networking
than it does with helping people with disabilities."
|
$20
Million Helps People with Disabilities Access Jobs Vancouver Foundation Minister's Council on Employment for Persons with Disabilities |
|
After
Welfare - Contrasting Studies (British Columbia) Related Link: Life
after welfare : 1994
to 1999 |
|
Exit
Surveys of "Welfare Leavers" Related Link: Leaving
Welfare for Work Triples Income |
Closure
Ends Year One - Expect a Terrible Year Two
May 15, 2002
"One year is down and three are yet to go before the May 17, 2005, election.
In his first year, Premier Gordon Campbell has demonstrated an outrageous
abuse of power. With 77 of 79 seats in the legislature, his House Leader has
threatened to use closure to cut off debate and pass some of his most controversial
bills by May 30th."
Campbell:
A Robin Hood in Reverse
May 14, 2002
"Looking back a year is something usually reserved for the week before
New Years, but this week we have the occasion of the first anniversary of
Gordon Campbell's historic election sweep. Who would have thought that the
mild mannered politician who promised to do a better job with social programs
while slashing taxes would make Ontario's Mike Harris look like a leftie?"
Gag
Warning Accompanies Welfare Legislation
April 15, 2002
"Two weeks of relative inactivity for the Campbell government came to
an end Monday with the introduction of five new bills to the Legislature.
(...) Two of the bills introduced on April 15th dealt with changes to BC's
welfare system. Those changes are so extreme that four hours before the legislation
was introduced the Ministry of Human Resources took the unusual step of sending
an email to all staff warning them about their duties as public employees."
|
|
Kudos to the Toronto-Dominion
Bank and other Canadian financial
institutions that are offering a range of financial services to low-income
Canadians!
BOO to Moneymart-style predatory lending practices!
TD
takes poor into account : Direct Deposit Initiative
keeps social assistance cheques out of hands of pricey payday lenders
By Rita Trichur
January 5, 2010
Toronto-Dominion Bank is using an innovative pilot program that specifically
targets low-income earners as new clients a financial intervention
of sorts to prevent those folks from cashing their social assistance cheques
at costly payday lenders. Canada's second-largest bank has set up kiosks in
some government offices in British Columbia to reach out to these vulnerable
consumers and snag them as customers just as they receive their welfare cheques.
In some cases, civil servants are now simply referring clients to the closest
TD branch.
Source:
Toronto Star
TheTyee.ca
"...your
independent alternative daily newspaper reaching every corner of B.C. and beyond"
Selected recent content from The Tyee:
Green
Homes, Out of the Box
April 2010
Shipping containers revolutionized the global economy, making trade possible
on a scale never before seen. Now, these big steel boxes hold the potential
to revolutionize urban living and design. In this series, The Tyee reports
on how these containers are being refashioned into affordable, green buildings
in Europe and Asia and examines how they could be used to solve North America's
housing problems as well.
Three-part series:
[Click the link above toaccess the individual articles.]
* Green and Affordable Homes, Out of the Box - 12 Apr 2010
* Is this Canada's Most Affordable Green Home? - 13 April 2010
* Homeless Housing For Less - 14 April 2010
Source:
The Tyee
Downtown
Eastside info centre a "whitewash" say residents
By Colleen Kimmett February 1, 2010
(...) Wendy Pederson of the Carnegie Community Action Project called the centre
a "whitewash."
"We're offended that BC Housing is trying to manage the messaging of
homelessness and poverty and the Downtown Eastside. They say that homelessness
is about addiction and mental illness; it's not true," Pederson said.
"We have a housing supply problem. We don't have low-income housing in
this city. We have an income problem. We need to raise welfare."
Source:
The Tyee
|
BC
law to deny welfare to some; wording too loose says NDP
By Andrew MacLeod
October 19, 2009
British Columbia housing and social development minister Rich Coleman today
introduced legislation that he says will prevent people with outstanding warrants
for serious crimes from receiving welfare. But New Democratic Party critic
Shane Simpson says the legislation will also affect people who have committed
only minor crimes. The minister has issued a press release that says
one thing and a piece of legislation that says something very different,
said Simpson. They have a blank cheque on who they can capture with
this and that's inappropriate.
Source:
The Tyee
The proposed legislation:
Bill
14 2009
Housing and Social Development
Statutes Amendment Act, 2009
First
Reading copy
October 19, 2009
The
news release from the
Ministry responsible for welfare:
Outstanding
warrants to be ineligible for social assistance
News
Release
October 19, 2009
VICTORIA The provincial government will
restrict access to income assistance and disability assistance for people with
outstanding indictable arrest warrants in B.C. and other provinces, as well as
arrest warrants under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Canada). Indictable
offences are the most serious types of offences and include a wide range of crimes
such as assault, breaking and entering, drug trafficking, murder, assault with
a weapon, and assault causing bodily harm.
Source:
Ministry
of Housing and Social Development
Related links:
B.C.
to deny welfare to alleged criminals
October 19, 2009
.B.C.
Social Development Minister Rich Coleman plans to cut off welfare and disability
payments to people with outstanding arrest warrants. Critics
are raising concerns about a new bill introduced by the B.C. government that would
deny social assistance or disability benefits to anyone with an outstanding arrest
warrant. The provincial minister for housing and social
development, Rich Coleman, said the bill is aimed mainly at people from other
provinces who move to B.C., although it applies to anyone with an outstanding
warrant for an indictable offence anywhere in the country.
Source:
CBC
Welfare
rules won't apply to other benefits;
People who get low-income tax credits
will not have to submit to criminal record checks
By
Justine Hunter
October 20, 2009
While British Columbia seeks to deny welfare
benefits to people who are wanted by police, it does not apply the same standards
to people collecting provincial tax credits. The province does, however, deny
inmates of federal prisons from receiving low-income tax credits, and is currently
seeking to expand that exclusion to include prisoners in provincial jails. The
province offers numerous tax credits to low-income earners, including sales tax
and climate-action rebates. A government official said yesterday there are no
plans to require a criminal background check to screen for outstanding warrants
in those cases.
Source:
Globe
and Mail
Bill
urges criminal checks for welfare seekers
First-of-its-kind law
to weed out those with warrants
for serious crimes based on a principle of
punishment,' civil liberties group says
By Justine Hunter
October
19, 2009
British Columbians seeking welfare and disability benefits will be
denied assistance unless they agree to a criminal background check, under proposed
new legislation tabled yesterday. Housing and Social Development Minister Rich
Coleman told reporters that the law, expected to be in effect early in 2010, is
meant to ensure the province is not paying benefits to people who are wanted by
police in other jurisdictions for serious crimes.
Source:
Globe
and Mail
---
Record
Deficit a Big Surprise, Say BC Liberals
During May's election
Hansen glimpsed red ink, but lacked a 'crystal ball'.
By Andrew MacLeod
British
Columbia Finance Minister Colin Hansen is projecting a record deficit of $2.8
billion, according to a budget update he presented today. It's a figure five times
larger than the $495 million projected in February and insisted upon by Premier
Gordon Campbell during the election campaign.
Source:
TheTyee.ca
---
BC's
Bizarre Fiscal Plan
The government seems to be jamming its feet
on both the brake pedal and accelerator.
September 1, 2009
By Will McMartin
"(...)The
Campbell government clearly understands that fiscal and economic stimulus is a
good and necessary thing during the current economic downturn. And, yet, the BC
Liberals also appear to have a perverse obsession about cutting government spending
no matter the cost to British Columbia's 'general interest'."
Source:
TheTyee.ca
NOTE:
for links to the September 2009 BC Budget Update and analysis of those measures,
go to the 2009 Canadian Government Budgets Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/budgets.htm
---
June
19, 2009
Death
Lurks in an Empty Cupboard
In Canada's poorest neighbourhood, bad diets hasten
illness and death.
By Amy Juschka
June 19, 2009
[Editor's
note: This is the second of two features on food security in Vancouver's Downtown
Eastside.
Yesterday we
visited the nutrition-conscious chef of the Carnegie Kitchen.]
Why,
in a country as wealthy as Canada, are people going hungry? When Dr. Graham Riches
first looked into the issue of "food insecurity" in the early 1980s,
he was interested in that question. Nearly three decades later, Riches, emeritus
professor of social work at the University of British Columbia, is still trying
to find the answer. This much hasn't changed: For millions of low-income Canadians,
finding -- and affording -- nutritious food is a daily battle. And more and more,
charities are expected to meet the need.
Source:
TheTyee.ca
Campbell's
Claim that Jobs Lifted Many out of Poverty Proves a Myth
Delayed government
report shows no real gains
By Andrew MacLeod
April 27, 2009
Jobs
are Premier Gordon Campbell's answer to poverty. That position was repeated during
the April 23 leaders' debate on CKNW radio when he responded to a caller's question
about mandating poverty reduction targets by saying, "A job is, by far, the
best social program you can have." Since taking office in 2001, B.C. Liberals
have insisted they were creating jobs and people are better off. They pointed
to a rapidly declining welfare caseload as an example of that success. And yet,
the NDP and others point out even when B.C.'s economy was strong, the provincial
poverty rate stayed high and the child poverty rate, at 21.9 per cent according
to the most recent report, led the country for five years. Now a new report posted
to the Housing and Social Development Ministry's website following pressure from
The Tyee shows Campbell and his welfare ministers have been wrong on why the welfare
caseload was shrinking and that major changes the Liberals made to the system
did nothing to improve people's incomes.
Source:
TheTyee.ca
"...your
independent alternative daily newspaper reaching every corner of B.C. and beyond"
---
Province
refused to release report on welfare leavers
By Andrew MacLeod
April 24, 2009 (09:30 am)
The British Columbia government has suppressed
a report on what happens to people who leave the province's welfare system, but
now is promising to release it today.
(...) The province has insisted that
the rapidly declining welfare caseload has been the result of more people finding
employment. Other research, including a landmark
study (PDF - 599K, 8 pages) by Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
researchers, and past
Tyee coverage, suggests tightening eligibility rules in 2002 played a
large role in the decline. A recent report by provincial Ombudsman Kim Carter,
Last
Resort (PDF - 2.2MB, 132 pages) , noted, The ministry lacks
evidence to support its conclusion that the reduction in the income assistance
caseload is a result of people leaving assistance for employment.
NOTE:
The above article was posted in the morning on April 24 and the Ministry posted
its report (below) at 2pm (the timestamp on the PDF file).
The Tyee will quite
likely have a followup article early in the coming week; check the Tyee home page
for updates.
Source:
The
Tyee
Related link from the
Ministry
of Housing and Social Development:
Income
Levels of BC Employment and Assistance (BCEA) Clients after They Leave Income
Assistance (PDF - 279K, 16 pages)
2009 (PDF file dated April 24/09,
2pm)
The analysis in this report uses tax data from Statistics Canada to examine
the income of clients that left assistance and never returned. It is a followup
to a previous report, Outcome of those Leaving Assistance, which found
that over 80 percent of employable clients who left assistance had employment
income.
Specific findings of the report:
· Median total family income
of clients, defined as aftertax aftertransfer income including employment income,
is higher after clients leave income assistance and increases over time.
·
Clients who left income assistance have income significantly higher, in some cases
two to three times higher, than they would have receiving income assistance for
the entire year.
· Most of the increase is attributable to increases
in employment income.
· More...
Source:
Ministry
of Housing and Social Development (HSD)
[ Ministry
reports ]
Related link from HSD:
Outcomes
of Those Leaving Assistance (PDF - 61K, 6 pages)
February 2007
"(...)
Since 2002, 88.2% of Expected to Work (ETW) clients who have left assistance and
have not returned as of 2005 have employment income, are attending education or
have other income in the year following their exit from IA."
BC
Deficit Budget Cuts Spending, Offers Little Stimulus
Health
and education safe but other ministries trimmed, including environment, housing,
aboriginal affairs.
By Andrew MacLeod
Published: February 18, 2009
This
Budget Is Toxic Fudge:
BC's government is in denial about the economic realities
we face.
By Will McMartin
February 18, 2009
In a province
where phoney-baloney budgets and fiscal manipulation are as common as rain, BC
Liberal Finance Minister Colin Hansen's 2009/10 plan is as misleading and deceptive
as any we've ever seen. The global economy, as every British Columbian over the
age of three knows by now, has collapsed. Job losses are rising at an ever-increasing
rate; retail sales and housing starts have plunged and commodity prices tanked;
and many of the world's largest financial institutions have imploded. Federal
governments of every ideological stripe, as well as U.S. states and Canadian provinces,
have or are wracking up gigantic fiscal shortfalls.
Balanced
Budget Bozos:
BC politicians keep passing, then changing, laws against deficit
spending. Are we nuts?
February 4, 2009
More
BC Budget 2009 information (budget papers, analysis, etc.):
http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/budgets.htm#bc
(from
the Canadian Social Research Links Budgets 2009-2010 Links page)
----------------------------------
A
Home for All
The Tyee's solutions-oriented series on affordable
housing for working people.
For too many British Columbians, having
a job or even a two-income family is no longer enough to guarantee a basic, comfortable
place to live -- in fact, the average Metro Vancouver earner can afford only half
a home. In a market that isn't delivering a variety of cost-effective housing,
Tyee investigative editor Monte Paulsen reports on how different approaches to
finance, government policy and design could whittle the costs down to manageable
proportions. And we invite experts to weigh in with their own opinion pieces.The
challenge to the ongoing economic and cultural vibrancy of B.C. is critical. The
conversation about overcoming that challenge starts here.
In this series:
Fixing
the Crazy Cost of Housing
10 Feb 2009
Ordinary people in BC
can no longer afford ordinary homes. First in a series searching for solutions.
Affordable
Housing: Five Myths
12 Feb 2009
Betting on 'market correction'?
Home prices would have to plunge 55 per cent to fit average family income.
Homes
that Cost Less than Rental
17 Feb 2009
How a Toronto developer creates
'cost-effective' condos sold to families making as low as $32,000.
No
Money Down Mortgages Still a Good Idea? This One Works
24 Feb 2009
Helping
renters buy homes, leave social housing, makes space for others.
[ more articles on affordable housing in The Tyee ]
BC
Jobs Firm a Bust for Ontario
Private contractor did no better than public effort
it replaced
By Andrew MacLeod
October 30, 2008
If British
Columbia's government wants to know how well its jobs program is working, new
numbers from Ontario might fuel the urge. Ontario's government tried a private
job placement service offered by a B.C. company, but an independent review found
it worked no better than the ministry's own programs and did not save the government
money. The report raises questions about whether the company's programs work any
better in B.C. than they do in Ontario, and whether the B.C. government is looking
closely enough to know. "There were no incremental reductions in [Income
Assistance] that could be attributed to JobsNow," says the report on the
Ontario pilot program produced by Ottawa management consulting firm Goss Gilroy
Inc. and dated Oct. 10, 2008. "JobsNow was not more effective than regular
Ontario Works programming."
Related link:
Evaluation
of the JobsNow Pilot:
Final Report (PDF - 972K, 38 pages)
October
10, 2008
Prepared for:
Ontario Ministry
of Community and Social Services
Prepared by:
Goss Gilroy Inc. Management
Consultants (Ottawa)
Job
Training: Taxpayers Taken for $24 Bus Ride
FOIs reveal billing for services
not provided.
How private contracts inflated cost of welfare-to-work programs.
By
Andrew MacLeod
September 4, 2008
At least one company that helps people
on welfare find jobs was billing the government for services it never provided,
billed more than once when it did provide services and charged an administration
fee of as much as $18 to distribute a $6.40 bus ticket. The details are included
in audits of the contractors providing the B.C. Employment Program and were obtained
by The Tyee through a freedom of information request. In most cases, the names
of the companies and identifying information were removed from the audits prior
to their release. The companies delivering the program are WCG International Consultants
Ltd., GT Hiring Solutions (2005) Inc. and the B.C. Society of Training for Health
and Employment Opportunities. In August the provincial government cancelled an
$8 million contract with WCG to provide services in the Interior, and awarded
it to GT Hiring.
Liberals
to JobWave: You're Fired
$8 million job training contract cancelled; work
goes to B.C. competitor.
August 29, 2008
The company that pioneered
private job placement services in B.C. for people receiving welfare has lost an
$8 million government contract in the province's Interior. A message sent on Aug.
8 by ASPECT-B.C.'s Community Based Trainers to its members working in the sector
said the Ministry of Housing and Social Development had cancelled the Interior
region contract with WCG International Consultants Ltd., which runs the JobWave
program. The company continues to provide B.C. Employment Program services in
other regions of the province.
(...)
WCG won a contract in 2005 to provide
a pilot project, JobsNow,
in Ontario. The pilot ended over a year ago and has not been renewed. The Ontario
Ministry of Community and Social Services prepared an evaluation of the project
but has not released it. Originally scheduled for a fall 2007 release, the ministry's
website now says it will be released in summer 2008.
Welfare
Hike Would Make BC 'Magnet' for Poor: Minister
Welfare
Minister Claude Richmond rejects call for 50 per cent raise.
By Andrew
MacLeod
May 5, 2008
A think tank's proposal to raise welfare rates by 50
per cent is "unreasonable" and would cause British Columbia to become
a "welfare magnet" for people from other provinces, says Employment
and Income Assistance Minister Claude Richmond.
Up
to 15,500 Homeless: Report
Tally of BC homeless by health profs far higher
than housing minister's.
By Andrew MacLeod
January 31, 2008
The
number of homeless people in British Columbia may be triple the estimate Housing
Minister Rich Coleman provided to The Tyee last week, according to a new report
by health professors at UBC, SFU and the University of Calgary. In B.C. there
may be as many as 15,500 adults with severe addictions or mental illness who are
homeless, says the 149-page report, Housing and Support for Adults with Severe
Addictions and/or Mental Illness in British Columbia. The report is dated October,
2007, and was released to The Tyee on Jan. 30, 2008.
Related links:
Housing
and Support for Adults with
Severe Addictions and/or Mental Illness in British
Columbia (701K, 149 pages)
October 2007
Source:
Centre
for Applied Research in Mental Health and Addiction (CARMHA)
CARMHA is
a research centre within the Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University.
Homeless,
Housing Stats Disputed
Minister Coleman's figures are 'bogus' says NDP critic.
By
Andrew MacLeod
January 24, 2008
Facebook
Used by Officials to Spy on Welfare Clients - January 22, 2008
BC officers cruise social sites for fraud evidence.
No
New Homes in Premier's Homelessness Plan
Coleman challenges cities to "step
up."
By Monte Paulsen
October 12, 2007
'Welfare
to Work' Didn't Work
BC Libs sat on own report showing no real gains.
By
Bruce Wallace
November 12, 2007
The B.C. government claims to be doing a
great job of moving people off welfare into better lives. But its own welfare
ministry, the Ministry of Employment and Income Assistance, compiled a report
in February 2007, titled Outcomes of Those Leaving Assistance, that summarizes
new research contradicting the government's claims of success. And the government
waited eight months to release that report, until a reporter surfaced its existence
just last month.
[HINT: scroll to the bottom of the article for links to two
related articles and a series on welfare, all from 2004 and 2005.]
Related links:
Outcomes
of those Leaving Assistance (PDF file - 64K, 6 pages)
February
2007 (posted on the Ministry website October/07)
"Since the introduction
of British Columbia Employment and Assistance (BCEA) in April 2002, the employable
income assistance (IA) caseload has declined by 53,850 cases or 70 percent. What
makes this decline even more significant is that it followed a 47 percent decline
in the employable caseload over the preceding six years, following the introduction
of BC Benefits in January 1996."
Source:
Ministry
of Employment and Income Assistance
Wages
(BC)
August-October 2007
A laughtillyoucry account of
one man's remarkable working life or attempt at a lack thereof.
This eccentric,
irreverent, and witty chronicle is vintage John Armstrong, excerpted in 14 chapters
in The Tyee.
See especially:
Wages: Working Around Welfare (Chapter 5)
September 4, 2007
"(...)
Downtown Eastside ... was the low point on the cultural map, and those unfit for
hard-working, tax-paying, product-buying society rolled downhill until they got
there and then bumped to a halt."
How
Big Is Taylor's Heart?
Share that $4.1 billion surplus with poor kids.
By
Steve Kerstetter
July 23, 2007
"(...) Taylor and the rest of the BC
Liberals have promised a golden future for B.C., a future that will make the province
the best place to live in Canada. But that goal will never be reached as long
as a significant portion of the population is cut off from the mainstream of community
life by virtue of their very low incomes."
TIP: there are links to three
related articles at the bottom of the Taylor article.
--------------------------
Steve
Kerstetter is a member of the co-ordinating committee of First
Call, the BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition.
He is also former Director
of the National Council of Welfare.
--------------------------
Related links:
BC
Progress Board Releases Discussion Paper on Social Condition Executive
Summary (PDF file - 292K, 3 pages) Source: |
Budget
2007: Cracked Foundation?
Critics take crowbars to 'Building a Housing Legacy'
By
David Beers
February 21, 2007
In a $3.2 billion surplus
year, the Campbell government cut financial assistance to college students and
is asking us to wait until next year to find out what it will pay to achieve the
radical cuts to greenhouse emissions promised in last week's throne speech. But
everyone making up to $100,000 got a 10 per cent tax cut. And corporations saw
another $100 million lopped off their taxes, too.
[BC
Finance Minister] Taylor's Do It Ourselves Budget:
Unveiling 2007 numbers
After
tax cuts, it's far less than meets the eye.
By Will McMartin
February
21, 2007
Also from The Tyee:
Costco
Rules, Wal-Mart Drools
Bucking a big-box myth, a
student finds remarkable variations in how two giants do business
By
Angela Wilson
February 20, 2007
Big-box business has a bad name. As one-stop
shopping becomes the new retail model, specialty stores can no longer compete
with multi-national corporations. With employee and growth policies that are fiercely
criticized by activist groups, corporations like Wal-Mart and Canadian Tire are
setting industry standards. However, emerging from the dismal landscape of the
retail industry is an established and innovative competitor. Hidden behind skyrocketing
stacks of bulk merchandise in warehouses across North America, Costco Corporation
has been softly trying to introduce new industry standards since 1983.
[HINT:
scroll to the bottom of the article to the readers' comments section for some
interesting views by readers of The Tyee. ]
Is
Child Poverty Up or Down?
The Tyee has an interesting
article, Child
Poverty is Down. No, it's Up, about two reports issued in the last
couple months about child poverty. One report issued by the Fraser
Institute claims that less than six per cent of Canadian children live in
poverty; the other report issued by Campaign
2000 said the poverty rate for Canadian children was more than three times
that, over 17 per cent. The Fraser Institute and Campaign 2000 define poverty
very differently. The Fraser Institute includes the cost of only subsistence levels
of food, clothing, housing and a few other necessities, while Campaign 2000 uses
Stats Canada low income cutoffs below which families would find themselves living
in "straitened circumstances."
Found in: PovNet
Seven
Solutions to Homelessness
Each is working somewhere else, and will save money
and lives here
January, 9 2007
Idea One:
Trade Fairs for the Homeless
Idea Two: Raise the Welfare Rates
Idea Three:
Train Young Workers
Idea Four: Spread the Love Around
Idea Five: Buy a Few
Hotels
Idea Six: Give Addicts Time to Heal
Idea Seven: Bring Governments
Together
- includes links to six more related articles that appeared in
the Tyee during 2006 (scroll down to the bottom of the "Seven Solutions"
article)
How
BC Trimmed 107,000 People from Welfare Rolls Libs'
Welfare-to-Jobs Program a Bust, Reveals Delayed Report Related Links from the Evaluation
of the Job Placement (JP) Program and Training for Jobs (TFJ) Program Pilot Summary
Report (PDF file - 141K, 35 pages) Update
to the Summary Report (PDF file - 91K, 19 pages) Welfare's
New Era: Survival of the Fittest - July 2004 Highly
recommended - excellent source of info on welfare reforms of the Campbell government
in BC since 2001!
Some got jobs. Red tape, death
likely knocked out far more.
By Andrew MacLeod
August
18, 2005
"It was almost like Dave Nash was trying to prove Premier Gordon
Campbell wrong. Nash, an affable Victoria activist, was a long-term welfare recipient
who was expected to work. But he didn't leave welfare for a job. In October, 2003,
Nash died at the age of 55. Campbell and a succession of human resources ministers
under him during the BC Liberals first mandate - Murray Coell, Stan Hagen
and Susan Brice - have bragged that the rapidly shrinking welfare caseload is
a result of a booming economy and people moving off welfare and into jobs. But
as it turns out, Nash wasn't the only person to leave the welfare rolls via the
morgue. The month he died, he was just one of 161 people who went out that way,
according to documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. Between
June 2002 and January 2005, a period of 32 months, 6,065 people on welfare died."
Loses $13 million, high
failure rate and neediest not served.
By Andrew MacLeod
August
11, 2005
One of the main arguments in favour of privately-run welfare-to-work
programs like JobWave and Destinations has been that they don't really cost the
taxpayer anything, since they are paid for out of what we save by moving people
off of welfare. But an 11-month-old report prepared for the provincial government,
quietly added to the province's website this week, shows that people in the programs
do only marginally better in their job hunts than people who aren't in the programs.
The government won't start saving money because of the programs for six or seven
years, if ever."
Ministry
of Employment and Income Assistance
(formerly the Ministry of Human Resources):
Posted
to the government website in August 2005
- includes a link to the summary of
the evaluation, dated September 9, 2004 along with an evaluation update, dated
July 6, 2005.
"These documents, along with other research on programming
in other jurisdictions and feedback from staff, clients and service providers,
are being used to determine which elements of JP and TFJ work well and what areas
need improvement. Current employment programs will be refined in a way that best
suits client needs and capabilities, and addresses changes in the nature and characteristics
of the income assistance caseload."
September 2004
"It is unlikely
that the Ministrys savings in BCEA payments will exceed the cost of the
program for some time. In this respect, actual performance falls well below some
of the more optimistic expectations for the program. However, actual performance
of JP reflects the inherent difficulty in designing an employment program that
would pay for itself. The difficulty is one of designing a process for identifying,
in advance, the individuals who would benefit from the program and, thereby, not
investing resources in persons who are unlikely to benefit." [Excerpt, p.26]
July 2005
The Tyee, a British Columbia
based, online media site presented a four part series by Andrew MacLeod on the
BC Government's 'New Era' welfare policies.
Part
One: Welfare's New Era: Survival of the Fittest
Part
Two: Where Did All the Welfare Cases Go?
Part
Three: Welfare Reform's Public-Private Partnerships
Part
Four: Shut Out at the Entrance
Source:
TheTyee
United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights List
of issues to be taken up in connection with the consideration of the third periodic
report of Canada : United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights - Implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights (June 10, 1998) |
From
the University of British Columbia Library
:
Also from the UBC Library:
B.C.
Government's Core Services Cuts
Links to government and NGO websites
with more information on the BC Government cuts and what they mean to children,
people with disabilities and other groups whose supports are decreasing or disappearing;
as well as reaction from public service unions.
Subject Resources for Political Science/International Relations
Studies
in Policy and Practice
"SPP is an innovative interdisciplinary
MA graduate program of critical studies for professionals and non-professionals
involved in activism,human services, and community work. The program provides
graduates with a strong grounding in critical analysis for developing practice-based
careers and pursuing advanced degrees in interdisciplinary studies and other disciplines."
Publications
-
links to reports going back to May 2001 on a wide range of issues including: housing,
the two-year welfare time limit in BC, women, disability, the Canada Pension Plan
Disability Program, ananalysis of .C.'s Employment and Assistance (welfare) Acts,
and much more...
[TIP: click "Past Publications" in the right-hand
margin of the Publications page for previous years' reports.]
Some sample reports from SPP:
Housing Thousands of Women (focus on British
Columbia)
By the Women's Housing Action Team (University of Victoria)
"On
December 1, 2005, the Women's Housing Action Team and the University of Victoria
released a major report, Housing Thousands of Women. There are two parts
to the report: (1) Original research on housing experiences and requirements of
older women, aboriginal, immigrant, and women living with disability, and (2)
Policy implications for housing women, in particularly a graphic "Women's
Housing Wheel" on the requirements for housing according to the realities
and experiences of women."
Complete report:
Housing
Thousands of Women: An edited collection
of the works of the Womens Housing
Action Team (PDF file - 1.3MB, 129 pages)
December 2005
Source:
Studies
in Policy and Practice Program (SPP) at the University
of Victoria
Quality of Life CHALLENGE
- "Demonstrating Care and Respect for Each Other, Our Community and the Environment"
The
Quality of Life CHALLENGE is a comprehensive community initiative in British Columbia's
capital region that brings people together to create solutions in the areas of
housing, sustainable incomes, and community connections.
Envisioning
the Future of Welfare Reform [in British Columbia] (PDF file - 17K,
2 pages)
Marge Reitsma-Street and Bruce Wallace
Special to Times Colonist,
Tuesday, April 5, 2005
Housing
Realities and Requirements for Women Living with Disabilities
in the Capital
Region of British Columbia (PDF file - 24K, 9 pages)
by Pam Alcorn,
Heather Gropp, Joanne Neubauer, and Marge Reitsma-Street
January 2004
Womens
Housing Action Team, Victoria BC
"Over 21,000 women lived in low income
households in the Victoria Capital Region and spent 30% of their income on shelter
according to the authors of the report, Housing Policy Options for Women
Living in Urban Poverty: An Action Research Project in Three Canadian Cities2
published in 2001. There is, however, little information on the housing situations
or perceptions of women themselves who are living with disabilities. A research
study by the Womens Housing Action Teamwas conducted in 2003 to help redress
this gap. This short report offers a commentary on the magnitude of concerns and
a summary of housing realities and requirements identified by a diverse group
of women living with visible and invisible physical disabilities in the Capital
Regional District of British Columbia."
A
Response to the Two Year Welfare Limits in British Columbia (PDF file
- 133K, 7 pages)
Marge Reitsma-Street (University of Victoria)
Paper presented
to the B.C. Association of Social Workers Fall Conference The Power of Social
Work
Vancouver, November 15, 2003
"Is British Columbia going
into history as the first province in the 21st century to exile certain groups
of people as undeserving, unnecessary, redundant? Two years, and you are out."
Source:
Studies
in Policy and Practice
[ Human and Social
Development ]
A
New Era of Welfare:
Analysis of the B.C.s Employment and Assistance Acts
(PDF file - 219K, 11 pages)
Heather J. Michael and Dr. Marge Reitsma-Street
August
19, 2002
- In-depth analysis of the provisions of the new welfare legislation
tabled in the Legislature, including the seven major changes resulting from the
proposed BC Employment and Assistance Act :
1. Drastic new restrictions
on eligibility.
2. Significant elimination of benefits.
3. Significant
cuts in welfare benefits.
4. Significant increase in the use of for-profit
firms determining eligibility and enforcing cuts and restrictions.
5. Significant
increase in monitoring daily behaviors of workers and applicants.
6. Significant
increase in punishments.
7. Drastic reductions in accessible, public, fair
negotiating procedures regarding eligibility and benefits.
Source : Studies
in Policy and Practice Program at the University
of Victoria
Also by Dr. Reitsma-Street :
Nothing
left to give : Cuts to jobs and services are strangling volunteerism, just when
we need it the most
"Last year was the International Year
of the Volunteer, acknowledging important contributions people make to their communities.
This year, cuts to jobs, services and freedoms in the public and private sectors
threaten the very conditions fostering those contributions."
Source :
UVic Ring("University
of Victoria's community newspaper")
- February 7, 2002 issue
- Go to the UVIC
Ring website (you can read back issues of the Ring from 1995 to date...)
[University
of Victoria]
----------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------
From
the
University of Victoria Department of
Geography:
Recent supplements to
The British Columbia Atlas of Wellness:
The original report:
The
British Columbia Atlas of Wellness (2007)
The BC Atlas of Wellness
was created in partnership with the University of Victoria Geography Department,
and it uses the ActNow BC initiative (2005) as a framework to present its findings.
It consists of more than 270 maps and supporting tables that provide data related
to approximately 120 wellness-related indicators for B.C. communities, where positive
and negative indicators are offset against each other to give an overall wellness
score.
What's new?
Supplements
to The BC Atlas of Wellness,
(organized in reverse chronological order)
based
on data from the Canadian Community Health Survey:
*
The Geography
of Wellness and Well-being Across BC (2010)
This Supplement examines
geographic patterns of wellness and wellbeing among the province's 16 Health Service
Delivery Areas.
* The
Geography of Wellness and Well-being Across Canada (2009)
This
Supplement examines geographic patterns of wellness and wellbeing among Canadian
provinces and territories, and it examines differences between genders and among
differing age cohorts at the national and individual provincial and territorial
levels.
*
The Seniors Supplement (2008)
This supplement focuses on
seniors wellness, and it provided maps of 39 separate indicators at the
16 Health Service Delivery Areas level for the province based on the 2005 Canadian
Community Health Survey.
Critical
Synthesis of Wellness Literature (PDF - 412K, 45 pages)
By Gord
Miller and Leslie T. Foster
May 2009
********************************
Related links:
ActNow
BC initiative (BC Govt.)
ActNow BC was introduced in early 2005 to
encourage British Columbians to make healthy lifestyle choices to improve their
quality of life, reduce the incidence of preventable chronic disease, and reduce
the burden on the health care system. ActNow BC is an integrated, government-wide
approach that engages the contributions of partners in other levels of government
(e.g., municipalities), non-government organizations, schools, communities, and
the private sector to develop and deliver programs and services to assist individuals
to quit or never start smoking, to be more physically active, eat healthier foods,
achieve and maintain a healthy weight, and make healthy choices in pregnancy.
---
From BC Stats:
An
interactive version of the Canadian Community Health Survey
(2005, 2007 and
2008) wellness indicators and socio-economic census variables (2006):
---
From
the
Vancouver Sun:
Wellness
atlas looks into what makes a healthy life in B.C.
By Craig McInnes
January
10, 2008
(...) Now geographers at the University of Victoria have published
an atlas of the province that looks at more than 100 indicators they relate to
wellness. The British Columbia Atlas of Wellness by Leslie Foster, a former senior
public servant with the provincial government and an adjunct professor at UVic,
Peter Keller, the dean of social sciences, and a baker's dozen of other contributors
includes obvious topics such as smoking, healthy eating and exercise. But it also
includes dozens of other factors that speak to a more sophisticated definition
of what goes into supporting a healthy life. They look at family structure, employment
rates, the availability of emotional support, graduation rates and whether students
feel safe at school.They look at access to playing fields, whether babies are
breast fed, weight, the ephemeral question of whether people are satisfied with
their lives and even hours of sunshine..."
---
From
the
Atlas of Canada (Govt. of Canada):
Health
List of Topics:
* Health Behaviours * Non-medical Determinants of
Health * Health Resources * Rural Health * Health Services Utilization * Health
Status
Urban Institute (U.S.)
Finding
Out What Happens to Former Clients - U.S.
Publication Date: July 22,
2003
"To measure lasting effects of nonprofit programs, clients must
be tracked after they leave services. Information on status at some point later--perhaps
three, six, nine, or 12 months--is needed to measure outcomes, to assess program
results, and to identify needed improvements. Drawing from lessons learned by
community-based nonprofits, the guide offers practical advice on how to collect
these data efficiently, successfully, and at reasonable cost. Primarily geared
to meet the needs of nonprofit managers and professional social service staff,
it offers step-by-step procedures, model materials (including planning tools and
feedback forms), and suggestions for keeping costs low."
Table
of Contents (HTML) - incl. full text of preface, acknowledgments and Introduction
only
Complete
report (PDF file - 252K, 43 pages)
Order
Online (to obtain a paper copy)
| The
Changing City Vancouver in 1978 and 2003 It's not social policy, but this collection of seven (times two) breathtaking panoramic photos of Vancouver in 1978 and 2003 is very impressive, and definitely worth sharing. Clicking on one of the links opens a page with a photo of a particular section of the False Creek area in 1978; this photo slowly transforms into the same scene in 2003. Be sure to move the scroll bar at the bottom of the browser to the right as the photo changes to see the entire scene. If you use Netscape, this effect doesn't work, so you'll have to click "Rollover" and click on each of the two dates to see both photos. [You'll see what I mean when you try it.] Excellent photographic evidence of the transformation of Vancouver in the last 25 years... Source: City of Vancouver website |
Vancouver
Island Public Interest Research Group (VIPIRG) - University of Victoria
"The Vancouver Island Public Interest Research Group is a non-profit organization
dedicated to research, education, advocacy, and action in the public interest."
-
incl. links to : What's New | About VIPIRG | Publications | Action Groups | Alternative
Resource Library | Research Internship Program | Contact VIPIRG | Links &
Tools | Become a Member
-----------------------------------------------
The
Rise and Fall of Welfare Time Limits in BC (PDF - 294K, 37 pages)
June
2008
By Bruce Wallace and Tim Richards
The Rise
and Fall of Welfare Time Limits in BC documents the fascinating story behind
the first attempt in Canadian history by a government to introduce welfare time
limits. Under this policy, recipients who had been on assistance two years would
be cut off of benefits for the ensuing three years. This report documents the
dynamics of the opposition to time-limited welfare which led the government to
capitulate on this element of its welfare reforms. In addition to the public record,
it draws extensively on over 1,000 pages of internal government materials obtained
through a Freedom of Information request.
Excerpt:
"...it
is profoundly important that the welfare time limits policy failed. It is important
for the individuals who faced homelessness and hunger as a consequence of welfare
time limits, important as an affirmation of basic societal values, and important
to demonstrate to other provincial governments that time-limited welfare is not
politically viable. We hope that the results of this social experiment
in BC will help ensure that other provinces do not attempt to adopt similarly
destructive policies."
See also:
* Opinion Editorial
Stopping
the Clock: A Time Limit on Welfare (PDF - 50K, 2 pages)
*
For more information see:
Campaign
Against Time Limited Welfare - includes dozens of links to more detailed
info
Resisting
Two Year Limits on Welfare in British Columbia (PDF file - 69k, 9
pages)
By Marge Reitsma-Street and Bruce Wallace
"The opposition to
B.C.s new welfare era and the campaign to abolish the two year welfare limits
appeared to have fostered thoughtful public debate on the meaning of welfare limits,
encouraged different people to become allies, and secured an important new exemption
in welfare policy that put money into the hands of many who needed it for survival.
More campaigns are required, however, to reclaim citizens entitlement to
human dignity and rights to economic security. From our analysis of this campaign,
there may be value in determined, diverse and yet linked efforts to uncover and
abolish the inhumane, ineffective and arbitrary aspects of policies." (from
article)
Excerpt from:
Canadian Review
of Social Policy (CRSP) Vol 53 Spring/Summer 2004
-----------------------------------------------
Related
links - see the BC Welfare Time Limits Links page:
http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/bc_welfare_time_limits.htm
Citizens
Handbook : A Guide to Building Community
By Charles Dobson &
Vancouvers Citizen Committee
Updated Oct. 2003
"For grass-roots
community building and development"
- includes 90+ links to info organized
as follows: Community Organizing - Community Building Activities - Full Text Articles
- The Citizen's Library - Short Case Studies - Links - Vancouver Information
Welfare
payments to be loaded on to debit cards for 20,000
February 01,
2008
The B.C. government plans to issue direct-debit cards to more than 20,000
welfare recipients who don't have a bank account. Each month, Victoria will load
the welfare payments on to the debit cards, which can be used at any ATM or commercial
outlet. (...) The direct-deposit program started in 2006 and has about 60,000
clients out of a possible 80,000.
Related link:
January
31, 2008
Province
invests $200,000 in Direct Deposit initiative
News Release
VICTORIA
The Province is offering an incentive package that consists of a knapsack,
warm socks, a toque and a pair of gloves to encourage income assistance clients
to sign up for direct deposit, announced Claude Richmond, Minister of Employment
and Income Assistance.
Source:
Ministry
of Employment and Income Assistance
<...and, if the writers of This Hour has 22 Minutes were writing the next line of the above news release, it would read : "Minister Richmond is pleased to report that the initial response to the direct deposit incentive has been quite positive among those Income assistance clients who would prefer to not freeze their feet, head and hands this winter.">
Vancouver
Status of Women
Our Vision: Freedom and self-determination for all
through responsible, socially just, healthy and joyful communities both locally
and globally.
- incl. links to : About VSW - Publications - Projects - Donations
& Memberships - Volun teer Links - Staff Contact
Selected site content:
Going
for gold on minimum wages
By Marjorie Griffin Cohen and Iglika Ivanova
January 20, 2010
As we prepare to cheer for our athletes during the upcoming Olympic and Paralympic
Games, it's worth remembering the fields in which B.C. isn't going for the
gold. Ensuring that work is a guaranteed way out of poverty, for example.
It's a little-known fact, but "the best place on Earth" is now home
of the lowest minimum wages in Canada. Our minimum wage has been frozen at
$8 per hour (and an embarrassingly low $6 for the first 500 hours of work)
since 2001, and there is little indication that this is about to change any
time soon.
[ more Vancouver Sun articles on the minimum wage ]
How does that compare
with other Canadian jurisdictions?
Current
And Forthcoming Minimum Hourly Wage Rates For Adult Workers in Canada
(this is the BEST resource for info on current
and upcoming minimum wage levels by province/territory)
Minimum
Hourly Wages for Canadian Adult Workers since 1965
This information is presented in five files - one for each decade.
The link above takes you to the latest decade (2005 to 2014);
click the date links at the top of the page for pages for earlier decades.
NOTE: Several other jurisdictions have either
recently increased their minimum wage level or will be doing so in the coming
months.
Highlights:
* Newfoundland and Labrador increased its minimum wage from $9.00 to $9.50
as of January 1.
* Nova Scotia will increase its minimum wage twice this year - in April and
October. The current level is $8.60, increasing to $9.65 as of October.
* Ontario's minimum wage, currently $9.50, will increase to $10.25 at the
end of March.
* Since 2007, Yukon increases its minimum wage each April to match increase
in the Consumer Price Index for the City of Whitehorse.
For more information, see Minimum
Hourly Wages, 2005-2014 (this is the same link as above)
Source:
Minimum
Wage Database
[ Employment
Standards Legislation in Canada ]
[ Labour Program, Human
Resources and Social Development Canada ]
- Go to the Minimum Wage /Living Wage
Links page:
http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/minwage.htm
---
B.C.
increases budget for welfare, kindergarten and forest fires
By
Rebecca teBrake
September 1, 2009
The provincial government will spend
more on welfare, kindergarten and forest fires despite announcing $3.4 billion
in spending cuts. Tuesdays budget update was a sombre affair for the most
part, with Finance Minister Colin Hansen announcing a $2.8-billion deficit and
$3.4 billion in budget cuts over the next three years. But the province will increase
spending to the tune of $1.1 billion in priority areas including welfare, emergency
homeless shelters, prosecutions, forest fires, municipal infrastructure, treaties,
tourism and kindergarten.
NOTE: for links to the
September 2009 BC Budget Update and analysis of those measures,
go to the
2009 Canadian Government Budgets Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/budgets.htm
---
Children
of Poverty: 14 years later
April 11, 2008
Fourteen
years ago, reporter Larry Pynn co-authored a 12-page special report in the Vancouver
Sun about poverty in Vancouver and in British Columbia. In this new series, Pynn
revisits two of the children whose circumstances he had profiled 14 years earlier,
Ayla
and Kandice
(links to separate articles). This special report also includes perspectives on
teen parents and youth issues in Terrace, along with the two following items that
I wanted to flag in particular:
Full
12-page section Children of Poverty from May 7, 1994 (PDF - 17.5 MB)
-
well worth the download time --- 12 pages of valuable historical information on
poverty and government programs in BC in 1994!
Opposing
signs on downtown eastside:
Booming economic activity of construction towers
over a community of the homeless, the mentally ill and the addicted
By
Larry Pynn
April 11, 2008
Fewer poor people but deeper poverty, say BC social
advocacy champions Jean Swanson and Michael Goldberg.
[Scroll to the bottom
of the article for the B.C. Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition's ten-step plan
to alleviate child poverty in BC]
Related link:
First Call: B.C. Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition
First Call is
a coalition of individuals and organizations whose purpose is to create greater
understanding of and advocacy for legislation, policy, and practice to ensure
that all children and youth have the opportunities and resources required to achieve
their full potential and to participate in the challenges of creating a better
society.
Speaking of Michael Goldberg...
Brief
to the Senate on Urban Child Poverty (2008) (PDF - 187K, 14 pages)
In
February 2008, First Call Chair Michael Goldberg presented to the Senate Committee
on Social Affairs, Science and Technology on the topic of urban child poverty.
This briefing is an overview of topics including measuring poverty; child poverty
rates; and the interaction between market income, social security benefits, taxation
and statutory deductions, and income tested social programs.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
B.C.'s
welfare state must still tackle snags
Don Cayo
October 20, 2007
Vancouver
Youth Outreach Team (City of Vancouver)
The
Youth Outreach Team is made up of youth, hired on as city staff to move forward
the Civic Youth Strategy, the City of Vancouver's 1995 policy commitment to supporting
youth and involving them in decision making. Hiring youth as staff in 2003 was
a new step for the municipality. With youth staffs dedicated to improving youth
involvement in the municipality, the City can now tap into their expertise and
connections in the community to move forward the four
goals of the Civic
Youth Strategy:
- Ensure that youth have "A PLACE" in the City
-
Ensure a strong youth VOICE in decision-making
- Promote youth AS A RESOURCE
to the City
- Strengthen the SUPPORT BASE for youth in the City
The
Youth Outreach Team is a model of youth engagement for the Civic Youth Strategy.
The primary role of the Team is to increase the meaningful participation of youth
in municipal decision making by:
* Providing expertise to City staff around
youth engagement to programs and projects that have a mandate to engage citizens
including youth
* Acting as a bridge between City staff, youth (ages 13-24)
and youth organizations
* Functioning as "guides" for youth to access
the municipal system
* Convening youth and City staff to address issues or
working on projects of mutual interest
Victoria Status of Women Action Group
Why
Women Would Gain from a Guaranteed Livable Income
March 2003
by
Cindy L'Hirondelle
Selected recent content:
Campbell
turns back on kids
June 27, 2009
What
is Premier Gordon Campbell thinking? The province, according to Statistics Canada,
has had the highest rate of child poverty in Canada for the past six years. The
problems are increasing as more people lose their jobs. Yet Campbell has refused
to meet with the Representative for Children and Youth to discuss ways of improving
the lives of poor children.Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond asked for a joint meeting
with Campbell and NDP Leader Carole James. The situation is urgent, she said,
and should be above partisan politics. The leaders should co-operate on plans
to make things better for children at a tough time. James said yes. Campbell refused
even a meeting.
Source:
Victoria
Times Colonist
Campbell
sees bleak welfare trap --- will he act?
By Paul Willcocks,
June
5, 2009
Premier Gordon Campbell has discovered that the province's low welfare
rates are hurting people and communities. A bit late, in terms of the poverty
problem, but still welcome. Or it would be, if there was a clearer sense that
the government is prepared to do something about it. (...) It's important to head
off a flood of out-of-work people falling on to welfare, he said. The federal
government should reach a deal with B.C. The province will chip in what it would
have spent on welfare for each person; the federal government should add money
to that and keep them on employment insurance for up to two years. Why? Campbell
made the case in an op-ed column in the Globe and Mail [see the G&M link below].
"Income assistance is clearly the last social safety net into which any worker
wants to fall," he wrote. "Not only are the monthly benefits often less
than those payable under EI, but those who are forced to go on welfare risk entering
a cycle of dependency that is tough on families, communities and our economy."
Source:
Victoria
Times Colonist
Contracting
social services a risky bet
Huge U.S. firm taking over back-to-work programs
for the disabled
By Jody Paterson
September 21, 2007
For
better or worse, the bulk of B.C.'s back-to-work programs for people with disabilities
are now under the control of a large, aggressive American corporation. The ink
is barely dry on the Aug. 3 agreement that saw the sale of the local company that
has run the programs up until now -- WCG International -- to Arizona's Providence
Service Corp. So it's much too soon to speculate whether clients will notice any
difference, or to assume that it's automatically a bad thing when one more big
U.S. company takes over yet another aspect of B.C.'s human services. But man,
I get cold shivers down my spine when I think about how easily British Columbians
are giving this stuff up, all of it without a whisper of public debate. Providence
in particular is a heavy-duty acquisitor of government social-service contracts,
and delighted to be gaining its first foothold in Canada.
Related links:
WCG
International
--- Tucson-based
Providence Service Corp. expands to Canada (August 3, 2007 - small one-page
PDF file) [Excerpt: "The $9.8 million purchase is expected to produce $25
million in revenue for Providence..."]
Providence
Service Corporation - "Human services without walls"
---
Workforce
Development Services
From The Tyee:
Libs'
Welfare-to-Jobs Program a Bust, Reveals Delayed Report
Loses $13
million, high failure rate and neediest not served.
August 11, 2005
Welfare
Reform's Public-Private Partnerships
July 13, 2004
The Fraser
Institute says they're a huge advance in social policy. Critics say work placement
companies are growing rich but doing little.
Special note to my fellow Ontarians who might read this:
The
Province of Ontario also has a contract with WCG International (JobsNow,
see below). So where's that one going, one wonders...
This is disconcerting
to me, because the bottom line in the corporate sector is generally profit margin
first, client's best interest second - and often a distant second. As noted in
the above Times Colonist article, for companies like Providence there's a financial
interest in maintaining poverty and suffering and that's just not right. Simply
put, governments that outsource human services to the private sector are shirking
their responsibilities to their most disadvantaged citizens. Period.
From the Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services:
JobsNow
The
Ontario government launched JobsNow in April 2005. Its an innovative pilot
project to help people currently on Ontario Works find and keep sustainable jobs.
The program is a partnership between the province, WCG International and municipal
social services in six municipal areas: Hamilton, Ottawa, Windsor, Nipissing,
Peel and Durham.
October 24, 2005
Ontario
Works Clients Get JobsNow
Wellbeing
thru Inclusion Socially and Economically (WISE)
"WISE
began in the summer of 2003, as one woman's vision. In exasperation with a system
that seemed to have no heart, "Chris" wrote her story of painful marginalization.
With the urging of friends, the story came to the attention of an understanding
Programs Officer at Status of Women Canada. Together, they convinced Chris to
write a proposal for a project on women's poverty, and once accepted, the rest,
as they say, is history. WISE is now a grassroots BC-registered nonprofit society
whose mission is to organize, represent, act on behalf of, and join together with
persons in British Columbia whose lives are negatively affected by policies of
exclusion."
'Invisible
Women' Tell Their Stories
November 13, 2004
Vancouver Sun -
by Stephen Hume
"A unique project in the Cowichan Valley
aims to empower
them and end their sense of isolation"
"WISE recently released its Phase 1 report on a project whose focus was exploring the links between policy, poverty and health. The project had the twofold purpose of collecting stories from women living in the Cowichan Valley whose incomes are below Canadas poverty line and providing a vehicle for these women to raise their concerns and offer recommendations for constructive change. The Phase 1 report detailed the dominant issues in the stories. Among its findings: The #1 effect of the womens poverty was an alarming deterioration of their emotional wellbeing or mental health. The report is accessible from our website: http://www.wise-bc.org/PDF/repPhase1.pdf
Now WISE has collected the 21 stories into a book Policies of Exclusion, Poverty and Health: Stories from the Front, which also includes the Phase 1 and Phase 2 (storytellers recommendations) reports. Because two thirds of the Phase 2 report has our women in poverty talking to other women in poverty about what to do to mobilize, galvanize, and politicize, we urge organizations who have contact with women in poverty to get a copy of the book to share with them.
The book has gone to press and will be available for shipping by mid-December. Proceeds will go directly to the storyteller group to help them act on the second stage of their recommendations.
For further information and online ordering, please see http://www.wise-bc.org/CVProject/book.html or give us a call at 250-748-8093."
------------------------
Policies
of Exclusion, Poverty and Health : Stories from the Front
Project Report :
Phase 1 - The Issues (PDF file - 498K, 23 pages)
October 2004
"This
report outlines the findings from 21 stories which were collected during Phase
I of WISE's project "Policies of Exclusion, Poverty and Health: Stories from
the Front." Its companion report, Phase II - The Recommendations, will be
available shortly. There were three criteria for eligibility: i) the participant
must be female, ii) her household income must fall below the Low Income Cut Offs
(2003) and iii) she must live in the Cowichan Valley, a geographical region on
Vancouver Island that encompasses small urban and rural communities."
-
details the issues (predictors, and the primary and secondary conditions and effects)
that feature dominantly in participants' stories.
BC
auditor confirms that province's homeless programs "not successful"
March
6, 2009
By Michael Shapcott
John Doyle, the British Columbia auditor, has
just released a sobering review of homelessness programs that concludes
that the provincial government has not been successful in reducing homelessness.
Clear goals and objectives for homelessness and adequate accountability for results
remain outstanding. Government also lacks adequate information about the homeless
and about the services already available to them this hampers effective
decision making. Finally, government has not yet established appropriate indicators
of success to improve public accountability for results. The auditors
report echoes many of the themes raised by the United Nations Special
Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing in the final report on his fact-finding
mission to Canada (See the links immediately below), which will be tabled
at the UN Human Rights Council on Monday. The auditor calls for a much more thorough
and pragmatic plan to end homelessness in British Columbia, and notes that many
other jurisdictions have already adopted solid plans.
Wellesley
Institute Blog
[ Wellesley Institute
]
Westcoast
Indie News (blog)
Independent media, information and community events
from a more diverse social justice perspective.
West
Coast LEAF (Legal Education and Action Fund)
"West
Coast LEAF was founded in 1985 at the same time as National LEAF, by a group of
women who wished to create an organization to carry on the work of the national
Women's Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF) in British Columbia. Both organizations
were strategically started when the equality guarantees of the Canadian Charter
of Rights and Freedoms came into force, in order to change historical patterns
of systemic discrimination against women. West Coast LEAF is the largest branch
of National LEAF outside of Ontario. In addition, West Coast LEAF is an incorporated
non-profit society in British Columbia and a federally registered charity."
Women's
Rights and Freedoms: 20 Years (In) Equality - Conference
April 28,
2005 - May 1, 2005
Vancouver, BC
National conference hosted by the West
Coast Legal Education and Action Fund (West Coast LEAF) and the National Association
of Women and the Law (NAWL). The Conference will be bilingual and will strive
towards accessibility. The focus of the Conference will be the 20th anniversary
of the equality requirements (Section 15) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and
Freedoms. Section 15, which is part of the supreme law of Canada, prohibits discrimination
by Government on the basis of race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion,
sex, age, disability, sexual orientation, and other grounds. The Conference will
include discussions on how the Charter affects women and our rights. The Conference
is expected to provide information on the law and discrimination, as well as a
unique opportunity to meet, strategize and share information with activists, community
workers, lawyers, and others from across the country about what actions we can
take to advance women's rights.
Related Links:
West
Coast Legal Education and Action Fund
National
Association of Women and the Law
Legal
Aid and Family Law: Womens Access to Justice
Affidavit Campaign
2003
Coordinated by West Coast LEAF (British Columbia)
"As part of
our efforts to restore legal aid in B.C, West Coast LEAF will launch an Affidavit
Campaign this summer to collect convincing evidence from across the province that
reflects the true impacts of the cuts to legal aid programs on women and others
most affected. The majority of those affected include women, single mothers, and
people with disabilities. Our goal is to make a case for the restoration of the
services through law reform efforts or via test case litigation."
Source
: West Coast LEAF (Legal Education
and Action Fund)
[The LEAF site includes info organized under the following
topics : About Us - Educational Programs - Issues - In The Courts - Law Reform
- Fundraising - Resources - Contact]
Women's
Economic Justice Project
("In July 2005 the Women's Livable Income
Working Group (c/o SWAG) began an 18 month project funded by Status of Women Canada
to examine how women would benefit from a Guaranteed Livable Income.")
[
Status of Women Action Group
]
Womens Economic Justice
Project:
An Examination of How Women Would Benefit from a
Guaranteed Livable
Income (British Columbia)
April 2006 Revised June 2006
"The
report documents discussions that formed a sort of grassroots women's think tank
to examine the benefits, particularly to women, of a Guaranteed Livable Income.
The project intended to look beyond current, and almost universally dominant,
proposed solutions to poverty -- economic growth, jobs, daycare and welfare."
Complete report:
HTML
version - table of contents with links to the individual sections of the
report
PDF
version (465K, 72 pages)
Working
TV
"working TV is a labour television program broadcast weekly
on community access television in the province of British Columbia, Canada. (...)
We are primarily a labour show, focusing on union issues. This derives from our
original mandate: to counter the marginalization and censorship of labour by mainstream
television broadcasters, with labour positive programming produced by working
people, for working people."
WORKink
British Columbia "The Virtual Employment
Resource Centre"
Career and Employment Resources for Persons with Disabilities
- Links to a wide range of information for people with disabilities and those
who support them.
Source:
Canadian
Council on Rehabilitation and Work
See
also:
- British Columbia NGO Links (A-C)
- British
Columbia Government Links
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