Community Action articles from January 2003

Community Action archives from January 2003

Rethinking public housing. (Comments).(Toronto's Regent Park )
January 20, 2003... Toronto's Regent Park is Canada's oldest public housing project. Built in the late 1940's, it is now under consideration for renewal, renovation, or removal. The same is happening to similar public housing projects all over North America. ...

Quebec unique anti-poverty law aims for a society with the "least poverty".
January 20, 2003... MONTREAL -- Quebec's new anti-poverty law aims to combat poverty and social exclusion through transforming the province over a ten-year period into "one of the industrialized societies with the least poverty". The passing of the bill came...

Charities offered tight guidelines for political activity.(interpretation of Tax Act)
January 20, 2003... OTTAWA -- Charities engaged in activities to inform public opinion. * must present issues "in an informative, accurate and well reasoned way"; * must be non-partisan; and * must be "connected and subordinate to the charity's...

Non-profits to face HR problems.(Canadian Policy Research Networks report)
January 20, 2003... OTTAWA -- The non-profit sector can expect developing labour force problems according to a report published by Canadian Policy Research Networks. Several factors contribute to future human resource issues that will cause problems of...

Ontario challenges drug patent.(offers its own genetic testing for breast cancer)(Brief Article)
January 20, 2003... TORONTO -- The Ontario government has thrown down the gauntlet to the worlds largest pharmaceutical companies offering its own, less costly, new test for heredity breast and ovarian cancer. Myriad Genetics of Utah has patented two genes and a...

Calendar Canada.(Calendar)
January 20, 2003... Jan. 28-30: Workshop: Adult education; Ontario Hospital Association; Toronto; 416.205.1362 Jan. 29: Workshop: Cancer services; Ontario Hospital Association; Toronto; 416.20.1362 Feb. 1: Workshop: Competency assessment; Faculty of...

Foreign calendar.(Calendar)
January 20, 2003... Jan. 28-Feb. 1: Symposium: Addictive disorders & behavioral health; Psychotherapy Assoc.; Colorado Springs CO; IABMPC; www.addicteduc@aol.com Feb. 3-7: Conference: Child and family maltreatment; Chadwick Center for Children and Families;...

Canada's airport security used to recover abducted children. (Child And Family).(Advance Passenger Information system)(Brief Article)
January 20, 2003... RICHMOND, B.C. -- The Advance Passenger Information system, developed for airport security, enabled Canada Customs officers at Vancouver International Airport to recover a child who had been abducted by a non-custodial parent in the United...

Supreme court rules provinces can give lower welfare to younger persons. (Income Security).
January 20, 2003... OTTAWA -- The Louise Gosselin case has reached a final conclusion after wending its way through the courts for 18 years. The Supreme Court of Canada in a 5-1 decision upheld the right of Quebec to lower welfare benefits to people under 30 who...

Canadian job stability rose in past decade. (Income Security).(Brief Article)
January 20, 2003... OTTAWA -- Job stability--measured by the proportion of people who worked for the same employer for at least one additional year--increased steadily during the 1990s, more than offsetting declines in the 1980s, according to a study by Statistics...

Refunds coming for unfairly taxed foster parents. (Child and Family).(Brief Article)
January 20, 2003... OTTAWA -- Foster parents working for for-profit agencies will be getting refunds for the taxes that were imposed on their payments. The decision came after a legal battle with Tom and Helena Brower of Pickering, Ont., who complained in 1996...

Ex-soldiers spirit kidnapped children from Lebanon. (Income Security).(parental kidnapping in custody dispute)
January 20, 2003... OSLO -- The rescue of three children kidnapped by their father gives a new cloak and dagger dimension to the problem of children abducted by non-custodial parents. According to reports on Oslo's P4 radio station, three children were...

World's children and families. (Child And Family).(Brief Article)
January 20, 2003... CHILD MORTALITY: Despite a drop in child mortality rates worldwide, rates in developing nations are on the rise or holding steady and international efforts to reverse the trend remain unfocused, according to an editorial in the current issue of...

National strategy on community safety. (Funding).(funding to programs working with at-risk youth)(Brief Article)
January 20, 2003... 613-954-1721 Maison des jeunes Carrefour Jeunesse Sainte-Rose, of Laval. For Defi Montreal/New-York, a project to organize a relay race involving some 30 young people aged 12 to 18 who are youth centre clients and who are having problems...

Trillium Foundation Ontario. (Funding).(funding of social services programs)(Brief Article)
January 20, 2003... 800-263-2887 Service de mediation locataires/locateurs d'Ottawa-Carleton. To provide basic and advanced mediation and conflict resolution training to the public and professionals in order to help resolve disputes in the housing sector....

Urban aboriginal strategy. (Funding).(grants to social services agencies)(Brief Article)
January 20, 2003... Centre d-amitie Autochtone de Quebec. To strengthen the intervention team to better meet the needs of urban Aboriginal people. $276,749 North Frontenac Literacy Program. To help establish the "Trails to Literacy" program in Picton, Perth...

Children's Aid Foundation Toronto. (Funding).(Young Parents, No Fixed Address Coalition)(Brief Article)
January 20, 2003... 416-923-0924 Young Parents, No Fixed Address Coalition: Respite Care Program. Towards maintaining a program that provides temporary respite care of up to 5 days for the children of young parents (under age 25) with no fixed address who are...

National homeless initiative. (Funding).(grants to social services agencies)(Brief Article)
January 20, 2003... 819-953-5646 CLSC/CHSLD de la MRC de Desjardins. To purchase electrical and household appliances for eight transitional housing units for young adults aged 18 to 37 who are at risk of becoming homeless and dealing with mental health...

Canadian International Development Agency. (Funding).(Brief Article)
January 20, 2003... 819-953-6238 Through the Aga Khan Foundation Canada. To support the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee's (BRAC) non-formal primary education program. In 1985, BRAC started up a non-formal primary education program that targets poor...

American's give more, Fraser reports. (Funding).(Fraser Institute )(Brief Article)
January 20, 2003... VANCOUVER -- Americans were more than twice as generous in donations to charities than Canadians in 2000 says the Fraser Institute in its 2002 Generosity Index: Comparing Charitable Giving in Canada and the U.S. released in December. ...

Blind aid charity status revoked. (Voluntary Sector).(Canadian Association of the Blind)(Brief Article)
January 20, 2003... OTTAWA -- The Canadian Association of the Blind (not to be confused with the Canadian National Institute for the Blind) was stripped of its status as a registered charity in December, the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency announced. The charity...

Nova Scotia law shields volunteers. (Voluntary Sector).(Volunteer Protection Act)(Brief Article)
January 20, 2003... HALIFAX -- Nova Scotia's recently proclaimed Volunteer Protection Act provides some protection for volunteers and nonprofit organizations. The Act provides limited protection from civil lawsuits for volunteers working with non-profit...

Homelessness on rise in U.S. cities. (Voluntary Sector).(Brief Article)
January 20, 2003... WASHINGTON -- As housing costs continued to rise faster than incomes and the national economy remained weak, requests for emergency food assistance increased an average of 19 percent over the past year, according to a 25-city survey released by...

How many homeless? Tracking system still not on the rails. (Shelter).(Homeless Individuals and Families Information System)(Brief Article)
January 20, 2003... OTTAWA -- A federal government computerized system to track the homeless, whose genesis began more than seven years ago, "still isn't off the ground" says a recent story in the Ottawa Citizen. The system, Homeless Individuals and Families...

New units added to supported housing in Victoria. (Shelter).(Medewiwin Apartments)(Brief Article)
January 20, 2003... VICTORIA -- The enlarged Medewiwin which recently added 10 new units of subsidized housing in Victoria for people who have been homeless, is officially opened. The development combines contributions from the federal and provincial governments...

B.C. aided housing charges adjusted. (Shelter).(Brief Article)
January 20, 2003... VICTORIA -- Seniors with low to moderate incomes along with people with disabilities will pay no more than 70 per cent of their after tax income for publicly funded, assisted living units. Senior citizens with an income of $12,240 per year...

Men's shelter choir disbands. (Shelter).(Accueil Bonneau choir)(Brief Article)
January 20, 2003... MONTREAL -- A men's shelter choir started in 1996 in Montreal has now stopped singing. The Accueil Bonneau choir, with members aged 19 to 67, was made up of former drug addicts and alcoholics and performed at schools and hospitals. ...

"One short story of incompetence and political history". (Booknote).(Political Asylums)(Book Review)
January 20, 2003... Political Asylums, by Ron LaJeunesse, A Muttart Fellowship Book, Muttart Foundation, Edmonton, $10.00 This books pace of writing and reading is staccato. In a sad way it is one short story of incompetence and political history written...

Publications.
January 20, 2003... 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...

New plan for sexually exploited children in Manitoba. (General).(Healthy Child Manitoba)
January 20, 2003... WINNIPEG -- Manitoba has a new plan to help get sexually exploited children and youth off the street, Family Services and Housing Minister Drew Caldwell and Attorney General Gord Mackintosh announced. The plan, funded through Healthy Child...

Canada Pension Plan is financially sound. (General).(Brief Article)
January 20, 2003... OTTAWA -- The Canada Pension Plan is financially sound and is on track to provide retirement pensions in the future, federal and provincial ministers of finance announced following the conclusion of their financial review of the CPP. The...

Social security pacts. (General).(Canada and the Czech and Slovak Republics )(Brief Article)
January 20, 2003... OTTAWA -- Canada and the Czech and Slovak Republics now have agreements to enable people who have lived or worked in Canada and other countries to qualify for social security benefits in Canada or the other two countries.

Periodicals received.
January 20, 2003... at work, Institute for Work & Health, Toronto, December 2002 Baycrest Bulletin, Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care, Toronto, December 2002 Canadian Social Trends, Statistics Canada, Ottawa, Winter 2002 CPC Viewpoint, Canadian...

More psychiatic drugs prescribed for children. (Health).
January 20, 2003... BALTIMORE -- The number of children and adolescents in the United States who take psychiatric drugs more than doubled from 1987 to 1996, researchers at University of Maryland report. Ritalin, prescribed for attention deficit disorder, and...

Brand name companies oppose review of drug industry. (Health).(as proposed by Romanow Commission on the Future of Health Care)
January 20, 2003... OTTAWA -- The Canadian Pharmaceutical Manufactures Association takes issue with the proposals in the Romanow Commission on the Future of Health Care that calls for an immediate "review of the pharmaceutical industry practises related to patent...

World's Health. (Health).
January 20, 2003... HIV/AIDS: Stephen Lewis, the U.N. special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, told the press that it is "absolutely certain" AIDS in Africa can be beat as long as the international community helps fund African countries' dogged efforts to defeat the...