A Critical Evaluation of Federal Budget 2009

Whether you have heard the term “deserving/undeserving poor” or not, it is a concept that has always been a part of Canadian History, and it permeates our social institutions and policies today. 

While vacancy rates for rental accommodation in the Edmonton have gone up a bit (from 1.5% in October 2007 to 2.4% in October 2008), rents still keep going up as well. Average rents for a two-bedroom apartment unit went up by 9.2% year over year, a pace more than double that of the average person's wages.

The political storm in Ottawa over-shadowed an important commitment made by the Government of Ontario yesterday - namely the adoption of concrete targets to reduce child and family poverty in that province by 25% over the next five years.

On November 24, Edmonton City Council held a public hearing on the Quarters Downtown (Downtown East).  I presented to the hearing on behalf of the Edmonton Social Planning Council.  Since the presentation isn't overly long, I've re-printed it below.             

Jean Swanson argues that stagnant income rates have a significant impact on neighbourhood decline.  This excerpt from her February 2006 article i nthe Vancouver Sun gives some food for thought.

On October 21st,  I volunteered for the 2008 Edmonton Homeless Count. As Homeless Count volunteers, our job was to approach everybody we saw, and ask them if they had a place to go home to...