Homelessness and Poverty

Poverty in British Columbia is becoming a persistant black mark against our province. For the past six years, all years of BC Liberal governance, British Columbia has ranked as the province with the highest child poverty rates in Canada. Furthermore, in the city of Burnaby where I so happily reside, 29.2% of all children live in poverty. This is heartbreaking on so many levels and needs to be rectified immediately.
There are so many things that can be done, at local, provincial and national levels of government, and even just by regular people reaching out and lending a hand.
Local governments can pitch in by raising awareness of the issues within the city, and re-zoning buildings to be used for social housing or emergency shelters for those who need help getting back on their feet.
Provincial Government; this is the time to start building up social housing in major cities and in every other city in your provinces. We've all been given an influx of cash from the stimulus package, use this money to construct low cost housing for the most vulnerable in society instead of things that can't help allieviate a problem that the United Nations now calls a national emergency.
The Federal Government need to start putting together a comprehensive plan to tackle the problem in a systematic, uniform method that all the provinces can work with. Canada is now the only industrialized nation without a national plan, and it shows in the statistics regarding our poverty levels.
The three levels of government have to start working together to solve this problem, because its not going to solve itself, and these are lives that are being ruined in poverty instead of contributing to society.
For individuals who want to get involved, stick with non-profit organizations, there are charity groups in every city and town just desperate for more volunteers to help feed those in need. Especially since this is now getting into winter, any kind of donation to charitable organizations is welcome, or even a donation of money if you don't have non-perishable food or warm clothes to donate.
The only societies that have poverty are those that allow poverty to exist. Together as citizens and as government organizations, we can work together and defeat poverty in our lifetimes.

New Westminster By-Election

Everyone please come out to support Fin Donnelly, the NDP candidate in the By-election scheduled for November fourth. Fin has been working hard to protect the interests of regular Canadians, and needs our help to go to Parliament and stand up for the middle class.

After a long break

I'm finally back. The end of summer and the beginning of a new school year has really caught me off guard, so I haven't had a chance to bring the fire and brimstone to the webwaves. However, the Parliamentary and Legislative sessions are back on, so its going to get a lot busier here.

Questions to a Cabinet Minister, or two.

The newest reports on child labour have been released today, and the information held within is truly startling. Startling enough that questions have to be asked of our Liberal Government as to why they've allowed things to become as bad as they are for today's youths. Child labour has become more accepted, as youths require more money to do the things they enjoy, and to support their families in these tough economic times, so why is it that the Government refuses to enact means to protect our most vulnerable workers.
So I would like to ask the Honourable Mary Polak, the Minister of Children and Family Development, and the honourable Murray Coell, the Minister of Labour a few questions, since this does relate to their Cabinet portfolios.
First; Why is it that you are supportive of the law that allows youths from the ages of twelve to fourteen to work if they have written parental consent when over fifty-eight percent of those youth report that they have not obtained that consent or given it to their employer? Where is the accountability in creating a law and then doing nothing to ensure it is upheld? Our youth deserve better than to possibly be working without their parents' knowledge or consent.
Second; For the sixth year in a row, British Columbia has stood as the province with the worst child poverty rate in Canada. How are you working to end child poverty in British Columbia, and why have we constantly been ranked as the worst province under your watch? Children should not have to worry about food on their plates or a roof over their heads, but under your governance and guidance, more and more of our youths have to decide between housing and eating everyday, and British Columbians deserve to know why its becoming more of a problem instead of less of one, and what you will do to alter the dismal record your government has created.
Third; The limitations on how long a young person can work in a week are well thought out, but I would like to ask the Honourable Ministers how this is enforced. How does the Government expect British Columbians to believe they can adequately check on the number of hours worked by a youth in a week when they eliminated the only means available to the Government to even know how many youths were in the workforce? Can it please be explained how the Ministers and their staffs are to protect people they do not know are working. Citizens deserve to know how enforcement of youth protections is carried out when the Government cannot possibly be aware of how many youths there are working.
Finally; Why does the Government not legislation outlining what kinds of jobs young people can work in? British Columbia is the only province that does not have any laws or regulations regarding the occupations or tasks that a youth can work. How can this Government claim to care about youths and put youths first when there are no restrictions on the kinds of jobs they perform, including dangerous jobs not suited to younger people.
Thank you Ministers, I hope that you will respond and tell British Columbians that their children are indeed safe in the workplace, and show us how true that statement is with some facts.