Community Action articles from April 2004

Community Action archives from April 2004

The Quebec difference.(Comments)
April 19, 2004... Quebec is different. Nevertheless, its recent announcements on social assistance programs come as a great surprise. The Liberal government is headed by Premier Jean Charest, the former federal Conservative leader. Charest, promised to follow...

Charities reform: flexible sanctions and accessible appeals.(Brief Article)
April 19, 2004... OTTAWA -- The federal government has introduced new tax rules governing charities, particularly in the area of sanctions for late or non filing of income tax information and in the amount charities are to spend on charitable services. ...

Toronto poverty levels up and more poverty areas in inner suburbs.
April 19, 2004... TORONTO -- A dramatic increase in the number of poor neighbourhoods in Toronto and an increased concentration of poor families in higher poverty neighbourhoods in the last 20 years is presented in a report from the United Way of Greater...

Quebec in major reform of welfare and anti-poverty programs.(Brief Article)
April 19, 2004... QUEBEC -- "It is a new kind of philosophy, a revolution in our social-security program," Claude Bechard, Minister of Employment, Family and Social Solidarity as he announced Quebec's new effort to transform the way it deals with welfare and...

CIDA to strengthen agencies overseas.(Canadian International Development Agency )(Brief Article)
April 19, 2004... OTTAWA -- The Canadian International Development Agency will provide up to $210 million over five years to strengthen the impact of Canadian volunteer-cooperation agencies doing work overseas, Minister for International Cooperation Aileen...

Calendar Canada.(Calendar)
April 19, 2004... Apr. 25-27: Conference: Palliative and end-of-life care; Humber College Corporate and Continuing Education and Ontario Palliatiave Care Association; Toronto; 416.675.6622 x4020 Apr. 27: Workshop: Addressing child and youth bullying;...

Foreign calendar.(Calendar)
April 19, 2004... Apr. 26-30: Conference on Health Promotion and Health Education; Melbourne; www.health2004.com.au May 17-21: Annual conference: The value of psychiatric rehabilitation; International Association of Psychosocial Rehabilitation Services...

Almost half of parents with HIV died without custody plans, L.A. study.(Child & Family)(Brief Article)
April 19, 2004... LOS ANGELES -- Almost half of parents living with HIV died without custody plans for their children, according to a study published in Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, April 2004. "Custody planning is a slow and unstable process...

Manitoba acts to improve shelter system for children at risk.(Child & Family)(Brief Article)
April 19, 2004... WINNIPEG -- Family Services and Housing Minister Christine Melnick announced an action plan that responds to recommendations from the Office of the Children's Advocate for improvements to the short-term shelter system for children who are at...

B.C. settles with Jericho Hill School alumnae who were abused.(Child & Family)(Brief Article)
April 19, 2004... VICTORIA -- A $15.6 million negotiated settlement between the B.C. government and deaf and blind students who were abused while attending the Jericho Hill School between the 1950's until its closing in 1992 has been approved by Justice Mary...

Shut Toronto youth detention centre immediately, coroner's jury demands.(Child & Family)(Toronto Youth Assessment Centre )(Brief Article)
April 19, 2004... TORONTO -- Shut down the Toronto Youth Assessment Centre immediately, demanded the Coroner's jury studying the death of 16 year old David Meffe. (The Ontario government had already set June 30 as its closing date target.) According to Youth...

Health status and behaviour may be lower among northern and rural youth.(Child & Family)(Brief Article)
April 19, 2004... OTTAWA -- Teenagers (12-17 years) in Canada's northern regions, especially girls, are more likely to report lower self-rated health than their counterparts in major metropolitan regions, according to a study by Statistics Canada, comparing...

Lockout at Yellow Brick House ends with new agreement.(Child & Family)(Brief Article)
April 19, 2004... AURORA, ON -- Yellow Brick House shelter and the Canadian Union of Public Employees reached an agreement that ended a 69-day lockout for outreach counsellors. The three-year agreement includes a new salary scale with wage increases of...

Kids mental health centres close.(Child & Family)(Brief Article)
April 19, 2004... TORONTO -- Children's Mental Health Centres in Sarnia, Leeds-Grenville, and Kingston have been hit with program cuts, shutdowns and layoffs. Others are expected to follow, the Ontario Public Service Employees Union reports. OPSEU claims...

Int'l rehab plans do not aid girl soldiers.(Child & Family)(Brief Article)
April 19, 2004... EDMONTON -- Aid programs designed to rehabilitate war-affected populations fail to address the needs of children, particularly girls, who often receive no support at all, experts said at a conference on children and war. Disarmament,...

Ontario to overhaul adoptions.(Child & Family)(Brief Article)
April 19, 2004... TORONTO -- The Ontario government is hoping to find families for more of the 8,900 children who remain Crown wards while thousands of aspiring parents try to adopt from abroad, is planning a major overhaul of adoption laws and procedures.

Ministry of Management Services, British Columbia.(Funding)(Brief Article)
April 19, 2004... Community Learning Centre, Tache. To improve the health and technological capacity of the rural community of Tache. Management Services Minister Joyce Murray announced that this project is a partnership of the Tl'azt'en Nation, BC Ministry of...

Canadian Women's Foundation.(Funding)(Brief Article)
April 19, 2004... http://www.cdnwomen.org/eng/ Compagnie F, Montreal. To enhance Compagnie F which operates a light lunch cafe and provides self-employment training and coaching for women entrepreneurs. The enhancement will proide an intensive marketing and...

National Homelessness Initiative.(Funding)(Brief Article)
April 19, 2004... 819-953-2380 La Soupe populaire de Hull: for two projects. $47,000 will be allocated to the intervention program and $8,000 to the purchasing of computers and connecting them to the Internet. $55,000 Au Bereaii, Quebec: to help the...

Wild Rose Foundation Edmonton.(Funding)(Brief Article)
April 19, 2004... 780-422-2258 Connections Counselling and Consulting Foundation, Calgary. Toward team leadership and administrative assistance over two years to enhance service provision to families; to build community capacity; to increase efficiency and...

Human Resources and Skills Development, Canada's Employment Assistance Services.(Funding)(Brief Article)
April 19, 2004... 519-645-4013 QUEST Centre Community Initiatives, Glencoe, ON. To provide employment assistance services to help 5,500 clients obtain labour market and job search information at an employment resource centre. This will provide access to a...

Trillium Foundation Ontario.(Funding)
April 19, 2004... 800-263-2887 United Way of Bruce, Grey, Owen Sound. To develop a model for community planning to support the delivery of comprehensive and integrated services and supports for children, youth and families in the counties of Grey and Bruce....

27,000 single parent family heads work for minimum wage.(Poverty & Income Security)(Brief Article)
April 19, 2004... OTTAWA -- Some 27,000 heads of family with no spouse were working for minimum wage or less, according to data from the latest Labour Force Survey. Although they made up only 5% of all minimum-wage workers, almost all had at least one child...

World NGO leaders urge weaker role for U.S. in global issues.(International Services)(non-governmental organizations)(Brief Article)
April 19, 2004... TORONTO -- Leaders of non-governmental organizations think that the United States should have a weaker role than it has today in global governance. The survey, What NGO Leaders Want, notes that the majority of NGO leaders believe that...

Canada Corps plans still unclear.(International Services)(Brief Article)
April 19, 2004... OTTAWA -- The federal government is still unclear about its plans for a Canada Corps, which was announced in February. What is known about the corps is that it will: * consolidate federal work and study programs for young people overseas...

Quebec promises $550 million to families with children.(Poverty & Income Security)(Brief Article)
April 19, 2004... MONTREAL -- The Quebec government will provide a $550 million payment to families in the form of quarterly cheques to parents of children under 18. At the same time it will balance its budget. A couple with two children, under 18 for...

Vancouver income assistance clients get job training.(Poverty & Income Security)(Brief Article)
April 19, 2004... VICTORIA -- Over 700 Income assistance clients in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside will get specialized help and training to find jobs. A $3.25 million grant to the Vancouver Agreement for this purpose was announced by Minister of Human Resources...

Charities advisory panel members appointed.(Charity Reform)(Brief Article)
April 19, 2004... OTTAWA -- The federal government allocated $24 million over two years in the 2004 budget for reforming charity regulation and has appointed the Charities Advisory Board as the first step in this process. The Committee is co-chaired by Lois...

Edmonton has 8 new affordable units.(Shelter)(Canada-Alberta Affordable Housing Program)(Brief Article)
April 19, 2004... EDMONTON -- Eight units of affordable housing were opened by the Edmonton Inner City Housing Society. The project received $400,000 under the Canada-Alberta Affordable Housing Program. The total project cost was approximately $892,000. EICHS...

BC raises fund for transition houses.(Shelter)(Brief Article)
April 19, 2004... VICTORIA -- The Province is increasing annual funding for transition houses by $580,000 to $25.1 million, including increased funding for over one-third of transition houses across B.C., Minister of State for Women's and Seniors Services Ida...

Fund disbursement rules change.(Charity Reform)(Brief Article)
April 19, 2004... OTTAWA -- The federal government announced changes in current disbursement rules for both charitable foundations and organizations that hold capital endowments from which they generate investment income. Currently, only charitable...

Publications.(Bibliography)
April 19, 2004... The publications listed below are for information purposes only. To obtain copies contact the publisher. The entries in this section are listed free of charge and are limited to material published in Canada and by Canadian authors. Publishers...

Appointments.(Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre)(Corrections Canada)(Canadian Association of Family Resource Programs)(Bryan Keshan)(Howard Saper)(Marion Wright)(David Young)(Brief Article)
April 19, 2004... Bryan Keshan, Executive Director, Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre, Toronto. Howard Saper, Corrections Canada, Investigator, Ottawa. Marion Wright, Executive Director, Canadian Mental Health Association, Ottawa Branch. David...

Cancer rates declining.(Brief Article)
April 19, 2004... VANCOUVER -- Canadian Cancer Statistics 2004, published by the Canadian Cancer Society, indicate that the incidence and death age-standardized rates for the majority of cancer types have have stabilized or declined during the past decade. ...

Periodicals received.(Brief Article)(Bibliography)
April 19, 2004... at work, Institute for Work & Health, Toronto, Spring 2004 Canadian Social Trends, Statistics Canada, Ottawa, Spring 2004 Community Mental Health, Evaluation Initiative. CMHEI. Canadian Mental Health Association, Ontario. Winter 2004...

World nutrition gains not keeping up with GDP growth.(Health)(gross domestic product)(Brief Article)
April 19, 2004... UNITED NATIONS -- While the global gross domestic product has increased 100 percent over the last 20 years, "the number of underweight preschoolers has decreased by only 20 percent", U.N. Undersecretary General for Management Catherine Bertini...

Manitoba expands family doctor telephone service.(Health)(Family Doctor Connection phone line program)(Brief Article)
April 19, 2004... WINNIPEG -- Family Doctor Connection phone line program, which connects Winnipeggers with family physicians accepting new patients, has been expanded to include all residents of the province, Health Minister Dave Chomiak announced. The...

Landlord must consider disability before evicting, Ontario court rules.(Disability)(Brief Article)
April 19, 2004... TORONTO -- A landlord has a duty to accommodate a tenant with a disability and the Ontario Rental Housing Tribunal must consider the Ontario Human Rights Act, when deciding an eviction notice appeal. Not only is there a duty to accommodate...

Nicaraguan youth refused visa to attend international forum on disability.(Disability)(Brief Article)
April 19, 2004... OTTAWA -- Camilo Carlos Zeyla, a young Nicaraguan with an intellectual disability was refused a travel visa to attend a conference in Ottawa. The refusal came at the last minute as he was ready to leave. Camilo, along with most other youth...

Suicide less likely among immigrants, study reports.(Health)
April 19, 2004... OTTAWA -- Immigrants are less likely than native-born Canadians to commit suicide, according to a study of Canadian vital statistics data. (reported in Health Report, March 2004). The study also found that: * immigrants living in...

New roles for BC eye care treatment.(Health)(British Columbia)(Brief Article)
April 19, 2004... VICTORIA -- British Columbia optometrists are now able to perform certain treatments that only physicians were previously able to provide. These include diagnosing and treating some eye diseases and disorders and prescribing some therapeutic...

China ends HIV/AIDS isolation.(Health)(Brief Article)
April 19, 2004... BEIJING -- China's National People's Congress is set to amend a 15-year-old law to abolish the forced isolation of HIV/AIDS patients, Xinhua News Agency reports. The amendment is "an institutional start to eliminate the stigma and...

Free AIDS drugs for South Africa.(Health)(Brief Article)
April 19, 2004... PRETORIA -- After years of campaigning by activists, South Africa, the country with the highest number of HIV-infected people in the world, initiated a national program today to provide its citizens AIDS drugs free of charge. Patients who...