1263 search results for
Government of British Columbia
Recommendation 9:
Address growing income inequality and generate revenue for poverty reduction programs by eliminating or reducing highly regressive and expensive tax loopholes, closing tax havens, taxing extreme wealth and implementing an excess profit tax focused on corporate pandemic windfalls.
2022 BC Child Poverty Report Card
Group/author:
First Call Child and Youth Advocacy Society
First Call Child and Youth Advocacy Society
Year:
2022
2022
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Recommendation 69:
Achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 1: Zero Poverty, 1.1. by eradicating extreme poverty in all its forms by 2030 and ensuring all those who are homeless have homes by 2030 in B.C.
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Recommendation 182:
Access to affordable and nutritious foods especially fruits, vegetables, and meats in the DTES. This means more community gardens, food banks, nonprofit grocery stores, and providing discount cards for regular super markets.
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Recommendation 7:
Academic scholarship and policy papers focused on children’s rights to representation point to the need for increased funding from government sources, to provide consistent and dependable counsel for children (Bala & Birnbaum, 2019; Byrne & Lundy, 2019; Canadian Coalition for the Rights of Children, 2016; Collins, 2019). However, it is also notable that none of this literature provides specific guidance as to where extra funding should be sourced or how new programming may be implemented to maintain both efficient and effective legal assistance for children to facilitate the expression of their views in a legal setting. In particular, the CBA Alternative Report (2020) suggests that in B.C., absolutely no funding is set aside for children’s representation (p. 33). This is particularly problematic in relation to immigrant, refugee, and Indigenous children (CBA, 2020). This may be the case for two reasons: 1) an overall lack of resources (particularly given the current local and international economic climate in the wake of Covid-19 – see Garlen, 2020); and/or 2) a lack of awareness at the federal level of the critical importance of this issue, and the ‘domino effect’ of reduced rights for vulnerable populations. As a result, it is recommended that policy organisations focused on this issue work to demonstrate whether and how additional funding can be allocated to children’s legal representation. In New Zealand, for example, the Family Court (Supporting Families in Court) Legislation Bill forms part of a $62 million package that restores the right to legal representation at the start of a care of children dispute in the Family Court (Government of New Zealand, 2020, p. 1). Enhanced attention and funding at the federal level can only benefit both those organisations focused on this area, as well as beneficiary populations.
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Recommendation 6:
A Provincial Policy on police attendance at overdoses which includes:
- a directive not to attend at drug overdose calls, except where requested by Emergency Health Services—usually in the event of a fatality or threats to public safety; and
- a clear statement that the role of law enforcement at the scene of a drug overdose is to deliver first aid if they are the only responders available, or to protect the safety of Emergency Health Services and members of the public, not to investigate the individuals or circumstances at the scene unless police determine that there is an urgent public safety concern, for example, if violence is occurring at the scene.
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Recommendation 5:
A Provincial Policy on harm reduction which should include:
- a directive to deprioritize simple possession of controlled substances and an overview of the harms of confiscating substances (including alcohol) from people with addictions and limited resources;
- a directive to never confiscate new or used syringes, naloxone, and other harm reduction and overdose prevention supplies;
- a statement that harm reduction supplies, whether new or used, are not a basis for search or investigation; and
- a directive that local police forces work with service providers to develop bubble zones around safe consumption sites, overdose prevention sites, and other harm reduction sites, taking into consideration policing practices that may deter access including visible presence, arrests in close proximity, undercover operations in and near, and surveillance of people using the service.
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Recommendation 7:
A Provincial Policy on confiscation of belongings by police which includes:
- a strong statement that explains to all police forces the harm caused by the confiscation of homeless people’s belongings;
- deprioritize confiscating homeless people’s belongings, especially necessities of life such as shelter, clothing, medication, and important personal items; and
- a directive to issue receipts for belongings and cash where they must be taken, with instructions for how to get them back.
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Recommendation 4:
A Provincial Policy governing police interactions with intoxicated persons, in partnership with people who use drugs and people living with alcoholism, and fund the implementation of the Policy. This Policy should make it clear that:
- police interventions with a person who is intoxicated must be minimally impairing on liberty and officers must make the security of the person (health) the paramount consideration in determining whether to apprehend an individual;
- city cells are not the appropriate place to bring an intoxicated person for their own safety or other therapeutic reasons. Alternatives to detention including, but not limited to, sobering centres, hospitals, and other community-based options must be made available; and
- where an intoxicated person must be brought into cells, their health care needs shall be paramount and health care visits will be mandatory.
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Recommendation 8:
A Provincial Policy detailing people’s right to privacy in tents and informal living structures akin to the right to privacy in private residences.
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Recommendation 96:
A minimum of 30 percent of all units funded by the current National Housing Strategy and the various Building BC Housing Funds must be designated to Indigenous women and families, and be operated by Indigenous housing providers.
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