PovNet

The Vision was developed over two years with input from a massive sample of 1200 Downtown Eastside (DTES) residents, in co-operation with many DTES groups. The process, led by the Carnegie Community Action Project (CCAP), included Visioning workshops with about 300 people, a questionnaire with 655 people, mapping workshops with 200 people, three days of work with 44 low-income community leaders drawing out the Vision, Values and Actions from the previous work, distribution of the draft report to numerous DTES residents and groups for feedback, incorporation of the feedback into the final document, and three published interim reports. CCAP proposes that the Vision be the foundation and guide for future development in the DTES.

Article from rabble.ca about the ramification on poor people of the conservative government's getting rid of the long census form:

Sam Boshra, a former analyst for Statistics Canada, puts it this way: "If this results in the poor and unemployed being undercounted, the government could justify reallocating resources away from programs targeting these disadvantaged groups."

Stephen Gaetz talks about the Alberta government's new plan to discourage people from giving money to panhandlers and give to agencies instead. He argues that "this kind of thinking represents policy making at its worst - driven by ideology rather than evidence."

In this article based on his address to the Congress of the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences on May 29th, 2010, the former leader of the NDP summarizes the journey of generations and issues a challenge to today's leaders: stop ignoring the threat of rising inequality, tackle poverty, and show Canadians your progress.

The front page of the Homeless Hub is featuring an interview with Penny Goldsmith, the Executive Coordinator of PovNet. Watch the video and read the transcript on the Homeless Hub website.

Lawyers from BCPIAC are challenging the BC Ministry of Housing and Social Development (MHSD) on their small claims cases against welfare recipients. BCPIAC says that the claims that they have looked at do not stand up to legal scrutiny. They argue that the MHSD’s pursuit of legal action against individuals who do not have representation capitalizes on the imbalance of power and forces individuals to pay money to the government that they may well not owe. This is compounded by the lack of legal aid and support for poverty law.

A coalition of legal justice organizations have launched a Public Commission on Legal Aid due to concerns over legal aid cuts in BC. The commission will hold hearings across BC to engage the public on legal aid in BC in September 2010. The results of the hearings will be submitted as recommendations to the government.

The president of the Canadian Bar Association - British Columbia Branch, James Bond, notes several reasons behind the formation of the Public Commission. “There are simply not sufficient legal aid services available for British Columbians who need them. Funding which was cut several years ago has never been restored, and government funding has largely remained static in recent years. In addition, economic factors have had an adverse effect on other funding sources, while demand for legal aid services has increased."

Last year the Legal Services Society announced cuts that resulted in the closure of five regional offices, cuts to legal advocacy organizations, no funding of poverty law, the closing of the LawLine and more.

Rabble.ca and the Toronto Media Co-op have up to the minute coverage of the impact of the G20 summit in Toronto. See their stories on the demonstrations, the police violence, the arrests and detentions of over 800 people and the inaction of the world leaders on poverty.

The CBA has released a new report on legal aid in Canada called,Moving Forward on Legal Aid: Research on Needs and Innovative Approaches. The report considers the current state of legal aid, both in Canada and internationally, and also innovative approaches to delivering access to justice.

Ontarians from racialized backgrounds are far more likely to live in poverty, face barriers to finding a job, and receive less pay for work, says a study of Census data by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).

Sexism and racial discrimination pack a double wallop, hampering racialized women’s earning power, says economist Sheila Block, CCPA...

Between 1886 and 1903 a British philanthropist, Charles Booth, and many volunteers, walked the streets of London to document the relative poverty and wealth of the city streets. The result was a colour-coded map which showed the complexities of poverty and that one third of the city inhabitants lived in poverty. The Booth Poverty Map was a precursor to today's homeless counts and an interesting example of visual information design.

The province is suing three hundred people in small claims court for overpayment of welfare. Many of the claimants are still on social assistance and critics say that the court cases will cost more then the overpayment claims.

Once at No. 6 in world ranking, ‘shockingly high’ death rate now puts Canada at No. 24, prompting urgent request to Health Minister.

York University health researchers produce public primer on who gets sick and why in the report, Social Determinants of Health: The Canadian Facts. They find the primary factors that shape the health of Canadians are not medical treatments or lifestyle choices but rather the living conditions they experience. These conditions have come to be known as the social determinants of health. This information – based on decades of research and hundreds of studies in Canada and elsewhere – is unfamiliar to most Canadians. Canadians are largely unaware that our health is shaped by how income and wealth is distributed, whether or not we are employed and if so, the working conditions we experience.

Bearing the Brunt: How the 2008-2009 Recession Created Poverty for Canadian Families, a report published by Citizens for Public Justice, details the rise in poverty and economic insecurity caused by the recession. The report examines key economic trends, comparing them to the baseline of 2007 (the last year for which poverty measures are available) in order to understand the recession’s impact. This trend analysis projects that the poverty rate in Canada rose to 11.7% in 2009, an increase of over 900,000 Canadians compared to 2007. The child poverty rate has likely risen to at least 12%, an increase of 160,000 children compared to 2007.

The BC Ministry of Housing and Social Development has released a report explaining the decline in the Persons with Persistent Multiple Barriers caseload. The Ministry claims that the caseload declined because of policies changes and lower unemployment rates. In 2002, the BC Liberals created the Persons with Persistent Multiple Barriers (PPMB) designation, as well making vast cuts to welfare and making eligibility more restrictive.