For the eighth consecutive year BC has the worst child poverty rate in Canada, after taxes. Over 137,000 BC children live in poverty and the number is climbing. Nearly 74% of children in poverty live in two-parent families. The report highlights who is faring the worst; including recent immigrant families, female lone-parent families, racialized families and families with a child with a disability.The report also provides solutions from implementing living wage policies to providing affordable child care.
A report published by the Canadian Council of Child and Youth Advocates, titled "Canada Must Do Better," is being submitted to the United Nations. The United Nations will consider the report in evaluating Canada's compliance with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The statistics included in the report paint a dire picture. Higher infant mortality rates, poorer nutritional status, higher rates of diabetes and chronic disease are just some of the problems the report identifies.
The belief that adding more traditional playgrounds will encourage activity amongst children has proven to be a false assumption. A study that used GPS (Global Positioning System) to examine the link between environment and activity levels amongst children has shown that traditional playgrounds do little to promote activity. The large metal structures are often intimidating for children and unusable in winter or rainy months.
The loss of $63.5 million in federal funding and launch of full-day kindergarten may cause the collapse of Ontario's child care system. In the absence of federal funding, thousands of childcare subsidies will be cut and parent fees will rise. All other provinces managed to avoid cutting services. Read the full story in The Toronto Star.
The Guelph Transition City Initiative is a group of concerned and active Guelph residents who have come together with the shared vision of turning our city into one of Canada’s first official “Transition Towns”. They envision buidling community resilience and sustainability in response to the challenges of peak oil, accelerating climate change and economic instability. Find out more information at the Transition Guelph website.
Filed in:
Climate Change,
Building & Urban Design,
Child Care,
Citizen Engagement,
News Stories,
Energy,
Green Schools,
Tools and Best Practices,
Food Security,
Healthy Communities,
Housing,
Websites,
Transportation,
Planning & Land Use,
Waste,
Water | May 19, 2009
