Public Service Alliance of Canada BC

The surprising thing about Grace-Edward Galabuzi, author of a new book entitled Canada’s Economic Apartheid: The Social Exclusion of Racialized Groups in the New Century, is that he is a gentle, scholarly man.

He uses facts, not polemics, to make his case. He acknowledges that Canada has been good to him since he fled Uganda at gunpoint in 1982. There is nothing angry or strident about him.

But passion is not measured in decibels. And Galabuzi is nothing if not passionate about resisting the formation of a non-white underclass in his adopted home.

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Funding anti-poverty initiatives in Canada is one of five priority areas for the PSAC’s Social Justice Fund. As part of this the SJF funds initiatives that support a closer collaboration between union members and low income groups in the community, particularly activities that are part of anti-poverty coalitions at the community level.

One of the projects the SJF has funded in BC is the Bread & Roses Collective, a registered not-for-profit society created to support the Victoria Street Newz community newspaper and other projects. The Victoria Street Newz mission is to provide a voice and income opportunities for economically marginalized and/or socially disadvantaged people, while at the same time offering employable skills training, increased self-esteem, confidence, and pride in accomplishments.

Street Newz vendors live on a low income and sign a code of conduct agreeing to be friendly and sober while at work. They pay $.50 for each paper, and sell them by donation at various locations in Victoria’s Downtown, Esquimalt and Saanich. They’re essentially self employed, working as much or as little as they’d like, and free to spend the money they earn as they please. Click for profiles of some of the vendors. Here are the Street Newz issues to date.

Visit the Street Newz website for more information and to read the Street Newz back issues.

(Vancouver) A major study released today finds that BC’s welfare system is systematically discouraging, delaying and denying assistance to many of the people most in need of help, with harmful consequences for some of the province’s most vulnerable residents.

Denied Assistance: Closing the Front Door on Welfare in BC examines why the number of people receiving welfare has plummeted in the wake of changes to eligibility rules and the application system, and looks at what is happening to people who seek and are denied welfare. It is the first in-depth assessment of the new application system, drawing on data obtained through Freedom of Information requests and extensive interviews with people who have applied for welfare, front-line community advocates and Ministry workers.

“The provincial government says its policies are a success. It claims that more people are leaving welfare for work, and that the new application system is ‘diverting’ people to employment,” says Bruce Wallace, Researcher with the Vancouver Island Public Interest Research Group (VIPIRG), which undertook the study with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA). “This is true for some people. But our research found that many others are being ‘diverted’ to homelessness, charities, survival sex and other forms of hardship.”

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The April 4 Speech from the Throne will set out the agenda of Canada’s new Conservative government. This is a crucial moment for the government to commit to more and better aid.

All leaders of opposition parties in the last Parliament (including Stephen Harper) called for a legislative mandate for aid through a new law that would commit foreign aid spending to one goal – ending poverty. So even with a minority government now in power, Members of Parliament from all parties can collaborate to Make Poverty History.

Visit www.makepovertyhistory.ca to send an email to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, as well as your own Member of Parliament.

Wear your White Band on April 4! And make your voice heard!

Here is a letter the co-chairs of Make Poverty History sent Stephen Harper on March 1st …

Dear Prime Minister,

Congratulations on your election as Canada’s 22nd Prime Minister.

Make Poverty History is a broadly-based campaign, linked to a global effort active in more than 80 countries. Here in Canada over 700 organizations and a quarter million individuals have endorsed the campaign objectives of more and better aid, trade justice, cancellation of the debts of the poorest countries, and eradication of child poverty in Canada. During the recent federal election, sixty Conservative candidates publicly supported these goals. One hundred and seventy eight members of the new Parliament, from all parties, have publicly supported our campaign objectives. Now is the moment to transform this majority support into concrete action.

Mr. Prime Minister, we are writing to request your leadership to Make Poverty History at two crucial moments in the near future.

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Twenty-five years after working as a community organizer with the Downtown Eastside Residents’ Association in Vancouver, I’ve come back to the community as a retired person, volunteering at the Carnegie Centre.

One good thing about being older is that you have actually experienced a little history. I believe there are some lessons for policy-makers in what I can remember about the Downtown Eastside.

Thirty years ago, as now, the Downtown Eastside was a poor neighbourhood. Then, as now, people with addictions were visible on the street. In those days alcohol was the drug used most often. Now it’s other drugs.

But 30 years ago the stores along East Hastings Street weren’t boarded up. We bought newspapers at Universal News. Residents could afford a few breakfasts a month at the Princess Cafe, a hot plate at Benmors, a coconut bun at the local bakery, a cheap shirt at Fields, a coffee at the Two Eagles Cafe.

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Thanks to Nick Humphreys, BC Regional Council member for forwarding us an update on the Make Poverty History fund, and an update on one of the projects in BC funded by the Social Justice Fund.

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Livable Income For Everyone, one of the projects the PSAC Social Justice Fund is sponsoring in BC, is presenting two documentary films discussing homelessness in Victoria. There will be an introduction by Cindy L’Hirondelle about the Guaranteed Livable Income project.

• When: Monday January 30th starting at 6:30pm
• Where: Harry Hickman Building (HHB) 105
• Cost: FREE!

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Congratulations to all of you who contacted your federal election candidates and encouraged them to endorse the Make Poverty History goals! Thanks to you, more than 75% of candidates from all parties have endorsed the Make Poverty History goals of more and better aid, trade justice, 100% debt cancellation and an end to child poverty in Canada. In all, 987 candidates responded by our deadline, and even now, more are contacting us.

To find out how the candidates and their parties responded, visit the Make Poverty History website. You can also find out about the different party platforms to see how the different parties plan to act.

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Funding anti-poverty initiatives in Canada is one of five priority areas for the PSAC’s Social Justice Fund. As part of this the SJF funds initiatives that support a closer collaboration between union members and low income groups in the community, particularly activities that are part of anti-poverty coalitions at the community level. These activities include the development of educational initiatives or advocacy work such as letter writing, postcard campaigns, marches, white-band days and other similar activities.

Here is a list of groups and activities in BC that received funding assistance from the PSAC Social Justice Fund.

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