I would like my readers (and anyone else who may stop by) to have a look at http://povertyolympics.ca and spread the word if you could.
This unique idea was mentioned to me today. There will also be a rally in 100 Mile House on Saturday for this cause.
Most of us know by now that instead of providing low cost housing for the poor in BC the just legislated the homeless out of sight for the olympics. And most likely longer.
Its' a real travesty that a government who doubled a problem in the first place can't bring themselves to admit it and then just sweep it under the rug.
• Homelessness: doubled in Greater Vancouver between 2002 and 2005 alone — there are now more than 2,000 people living on the streets or in shelters. Hundreds search through the garbage for food and things to sell every day.
• Welfare: It’s supposed to provide a minimum amount of money for basic necessities when people go through a hard time. But our provincial government made it even harder to get, and the rates are less than half the poverty line (not enough to rent a place to live and eat nutritious food).
• Disease: Vancouver’s poorest neighbourhood, the Downtown Eastside, has an HIV rate of 30% — the same as Botswana’s. Other diseases like Hepatitis C are rampant.
• A Gold Medal for Highest Poverty Rate: British Columbia (our province) is a gold medalist when it comes to poverty — we’ve had the highest child poverty rate in all of Canada six years in a row.
• Solutions: It’s not too late to make a difference before 2010. Our governments need to invest more in things like a decent welfare program and social housing… For a fraction of what it costs to deal with disease, malnutrition, addiction, and disorder.
See World Class Poverty section for more information and sources.
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