We don’t have much time. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) November report, we have just over a decade to take drastic action and keep global temperatures below a 1.5 C increase.
On June 30, 2012, the federal government made drastic cuts to health care being provided to refugees by the Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP). This program includes coverage for medication, eye care, dental care, prosthetic devices, and wheelchairs. Now provinces and refugee sponsors, many of whom are churches, are forced to cover these expenses.
From The Catalyst, Summer 2015
Canada is known for its welcoming policy for newcomers, but with over 50 million displaced people around the world, private sponsors are taking on more work as the federal government starts backing away. Churches or church-connected organizations represent 72 per cent of Sponsorship Agreement Holders. This puts them in a position to advocate to the government on behalf of refugees.
Climate Justice Requires Christian Advocacy Climate change is already negatively impacting physical, biological, and human systems around the world. That we allow further greenhouse gas emissions is an injustice – especially since those most vulnerable to climate change are already socially and economically marginalized. Religious organizations have traditionally engaged climate care by promoting individual or…
This month, CPJ and the Dignity for All campaign released Living in the Gap: A Snapshot of Precarity in Canada. This report includes six infographics highlighting households across Canada struggling to make ends meet. These profiles represent compilations of typical people’s experiences, with numbers drawn from the actual communities in which they are situated.
The main message of the report is that if we are serious about ending poverty, we need more than piecemeal programs and siloed approaches.
The Catalyst reports on public justice issues in Canada and reviews CPJ activities. The Catalyst is free when you join us. You will find sample articles throughout our website.
The recession has had a tremendous impact on Canadians. Job losses and a faltering safety net have added hundreds of thousands of people to the population of Canadians living in poverty. Economic stimulus and deficit spending are most certainly required to confront this vulnerability. Measures to create and sustain jobs and to build a strong and healthy country are needed. But this cannot be done at the expense of those on the margins, excluded from mainstream society.
Originally published in The Hill Times. Jurisdictional debates have become the roadblock in the Canadian conversation about poverty, well-being, and health care. This obstacle is inevitable considering the way Canada is governed. But are jurisdictional arguments truly an insurmountable barrier or are they instead an easy way of letting the federal government off the hook?…
By Elizabeth Keith
Canada is a wealthy country, yet 1 in 7 people here live in poverty. Worse still, there is no national plan to fix this, despite many asks for one.
Tune into Question Period in the House of Commons and you will periodically hear the words “close the loophole” being thrown around in heated debates concerning refugee claimants. It is a catchphrase used by some Members of Parliament to describe the changes they wish to see in the Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA). Its usage has become increasingly popular in the House and has yielded headlines across the country. Yet, it remains unclear what supporters of the loophole narrative are trying to propose.
