With Alison Redford’s big re-election as Alberta premier last week, Alberta will now join the ranks of provinces with a comprehensive poverty reduction plan. This will leave BC and Saskatchewan as the only jurisdictions in Canada without a provincial or territorial plan. The Alberta plan may prove to be the most ambitious to date. On [...]
Entries Tagged as 'Children & youth'
Poverty Reduction: Even Alberta joins the fold. When will BC?
April 29th, 2012 · Seth Klein · 1 Comment · Children & youth, Poverty, inequality & welfare
Christy Clark, George Abbott – meet Jeffrey Moore
March 14th, 2012 · Jonathan Chapnick · 3 Comments · Children & youth, Education, Human rights, Law & legal issues
There’s a freight train heading for BC’s education system — and it’s not being driven by government or teachers. This train hit the tracks long before the current collective bargaining dispute. Its operator is an eight-year-old boy from North Vancouver, named Jeffrey Moore. With the support of his family, Jeffrey is driving a human rights [...]
Slim pickin’s for BC’s children and youth in budget
March 2nd, 2012 · Adrienne Montani · Comments Off · Children & youth, Poverty, inequality & welfare, Provincial budget & finance
Just in case anyone missed just how bad BC’s new budget is for the province’s children and youth, I thought I’d post First Call’s reaction from our news release: CHILDREN AND YOUTH GET SLIM PICKINGS IN BUDGET 2012 It notes that Finance Minister Falcon talks of fiscal prudence, but the budget’s failure to invest in the [...]
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BC poverty rates highest in Canada, again
June 15th, 2011 · Sarah Leavitt · 2 Comments · Children & youth, Poverty, inequality & welfare
Statistics Canada released a report today on incomes across Canada in 2009. As First Call BC points out in their news release, key points for BC include: BC’s child poverty rate rose to 12 percent in 2009, the highest child poverty rate of any province for the eighth year in a row. The BC rate [...]
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Social Determinants of Health
June 7th, 2011 · Peter Prontzos · Comments Off · Children & youth, Economy, Employment & labour, Health care, Housing & homelessness, Human rights, Poverty, inequality & welfare, Provincial budget & finance, Taxes, Women
It is now clear that economic, and social variables – more than individual behaviour – are the most salient factors in determining people’s well-being. Working and living conditions, the distribution of wealth, and where we live are some of , “the primary factors that shape the health of Canadians” (CCPA Monitor, June 2010). Almost everything [...]
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Thousands more millionaires in Canada
May 10th, 2011 · Adrienne Montani · 2 Comments · Children & youth, Poverty, inequality & welfare
In case you were worried, the Financial Post reports that ”new wealth” will continue to be generated in Canada and be one of the developed countries to “have some of the biggest concentrations of millionaire households by 2020.” I’m feeling so relieved, aren’t you? A Deloitte LLP report predicts that 2.4 million households in Canada will [...]
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Missing the Vote: Democratic Reform in BC
December 16th, 2010 · Marc Lee · 2 Comments · Children & youth, Electoral reform
I’ve long thought that we should lower the voting age to 16, so thanks to Mike deJong for raising it in the BC Liberal leadership campaign. I speak from some experience, as I voted shortly after I turned 17 in the Ontario provincial election. I was a frosh in residence at Western and no one [...]
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UNICEF shames Canada for inequality among children
December 16th, 2010 · Keith Reynolds · 1 Comment · Children & youth, Poverty, inequality & welfare
In an earlier blog Shannon Daub reported on Mark Milke’s assertion that inequality was a lot of humbug. UNICEF has published a report that shows that it is children who bear the burden of inequality and that children are not to blame for it. When many of us think about UNICEF we think of an [...]
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The Economist Magazine calls out BC
December 1st, 2010 · Seth Klein · 2 Comments · Children & youth, Poverty, inequality & welfare
Well, I never thought I’d see this rebuke of Canada and BC in The Economist Magazine of all places. But the current issue of the conservative magazine singles out BC for its high rate of child poverty. You can find it here. The piece highlights cuts to welfare, and notes, “One of the keenest slashers [...]
Poverty reduction update
December 1st, 2010 · Seth Klein · Comments Off · Children & youth, Poverty, inequality & welfare
Lots of developments on the Poverty Reduction front over the last two weeks. Here are a few updates: First, last week brought news that Danny Williams is stepping down as premier of Newfoundland and Labrador. Personally, I’m sad to see him go. Rarely mentioned in the news reports last week about his record of accomplishments [...]
