Centre for Civic Governance

The Centre for Civic Governance works to support community leadership meeting today’s social and environmental challenges: climate change, Canada’s increasing equity gap, and shifting social trends. At the Centre for Civic Governance, our goal is to strengthen Canadian communities through sharing best practices, providing tools for locally elected leaders, and progressive policy analysis. We strive to provide knowledge and information to make real and positive social change.

Poverty is costing Canada at least $25 billion annually

A new report by the National Council of Welfare, a government advisory committee “uses hard numbers to link poverty to the cost of productivity, health care and the justice system.”The report finds that a long term investment in preventing poverty would save taxpayers billions in dollars. For example, providing a shelter bed for someone who is homeless costs $42,000 per year while providing affordable housing would cost about $18,000 per year. Despite the cost benefits and social benefits of eradicating poverty, the report’s authors admit the ruling Conservative party isn’t likely to take action on the report’s recommendations. Read more at the CBC.

Read The Dollars and Sense of Solving Poverty here.

Dawson Creek – BC’s first municipality to create a carbon fund

Dawson City is one of many BC municipalities that have voluntarily signed on to be carbon neutral by 2012, but it hopes to achieve neutrality without purchasing carbon offsets. To reach this goal the city is setting aside $100 for every tone of carbon produced from its government offices, recreation facilities and trucking fleets. That money will then be directed into projects that help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The city expects to generate $360,000 annually for its carbon fund. Read more in the Vancouver Sun.

“Passionate Torontonians” put the brakes on Mayor Ford’s plans to add glitzy attractions to Port Lands

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s plans to replace a neighbourhood-oriented plan for Toronto’s waterfront with a commercialized zone that included shopping centres, a Ferris wheel, and a monorail received a flood of criticism from the public and the majority of fellow council members. Ford is now agreeing to stick with the original plan, but to speed up the development process. Read more in the Toronto Star.

Manitoba municipalities urging parties to invest in infrastructure

144 Manitoba municipalities have passed a resolution urging provincial parties to commit to a 1% tax provincial sales tax transfer to municipalities. The call for investment is an urgent one as infrastructure, from roads to the provision of safe drinking water, is at risk. Providing these funds will likely produce a boon to the economy. “The Federation of Canadian Municipalities has found that every dollar invested in infrastructure grows the economy, giving us more back. A $1-billion investment would actually grow the economy by $1.3 billion.” Read more in the Winnipeg Free Press.

Are natural disasters a sign of climate change or “end times?” – the Great American Debate

According to some recent polling, climate change is becoming an increasingly polarizing issue in the states with nearly 60% believing the recent string of natural weather-related disasters being a sign of climate change and over 40% believing it is a sign of “end times.” Many politicians aren’t helping to provide clarity on the issue with only one third of Republicans believing the effects of climate change are upon us. Despite the high number of people still questioning the science of climate change, “91 percent of Americans—including 85 percent of Republicans—said developing clean energy should be a very high, high, or medium. Notably, large majorities (including Democrats, Independents, and Republicans) say it is important for their own community to take steps to protect the following from global warming: public health (81 percent), the water supply (80 percent), agriculture (79 percent), wildlife (77 percent), and forests (76 percent).large numbers also believe communities should take steps to protect wildlife, agriculture .” Read more in Siightline.

Vshould take steps to protect wildlife, agriculture .” Read more in Sightline.

“Mechanically- challenged” youth have trouble with basic skills

An article in Macleans Magazine looks at a decline in manual skills amongst youth and shows that the basics such as how to hold a hammer and turn a screwdriver are mysteries for many youth. The lack of basic skills and work ethic is causing problems in a number of trades from engineering and architecture to all of the construction and auto trades. The decline relates to a number of changes over the past 50 years from the decline in shop classes to the reliance on computers to a lack of developmental skills in babies children who spend less time on the ground exploring objects and more with computerized games. The only solution seems to be a return to the basics. Read article here.

Income inequality in Canada rising faster than in the US

According to a recent report by the Conference Board of Canada, the income gap in Canada has risen since the mid 1990’s, at a faster rate than in the United States. Using the Gini index, the report shows a “measure of inequality grew in Canada from 0.293 in the mid-1990s to 0.320 in the late 2000s. A Gini index under 3 is an indicator of low income inequality. Meanwhile, the US Gini index rose from 0.361 to 0.378 in the same period.”

In a news release, the Conference Board’s President and CEO Anne Golden said:

“Canada had the fourth largest increase in income inequality among its peers. Even though the U.S. currently has the largest rich-poor income gap among these countries, the gap in Canada has been rising at a faster rate.
“As we highlighted in our analysis of Canadian income inequality in July, high inequality both raises a moral question about fairness and can contribute to social tensions. In Canada, the gap between the rich and poor has widened over two decades, especially compared to our peer countries.”

When communicating climate change, beware the “boomerang effect”

A recent study looking at Republican American’s reactions to climate change found that climate-related events that were in distant places received little in the way of support or empathy. In fact, when Republicans were asked to support climate change initiatives based on disasters happening in distant places they were found to be more steadfast in their refusal to participate. This has been called the “boomerang effect.” The study is useful in that in shows that messaging around climate change should take into account the beliefs and ideologies of various groups and develop messaging accordingly. Scientists cannot expect everyone to react to far off disasters with empathy or interest.

Read report here.

The majority of Canadian workers are living paycheque to paycheque

A new survey by the Canadian Payroll association shows that 57% of workers don’t have enough money saved to last them should their paycheque be delayed even by a week. Nearly 75% of Canadians are not reaching their savings goals for retirement and 40% are planning to delay their age of retirement. Read more in the Globe and Mail.

Traditional playgrounds are not the cure for declining activity amongst children

The belief that adding more traditional playgrounds will encourage activity amongst children has proven to be a false assumption. A study that used GPS (Global Positioning System) to examine the link between environment and activity levels amongst children has shown that traditional playgrounds do little to promote activity. The large metal structures are often intimidating for children and unusable in winter or rainy months. The study showed that kids were more active in natural areas and playscapes with where they could run around, explore and use their imaginations to define “open-ended play elements like wood posts.” Although childhood obesity rates are climbing and although positive links between green space and learning have been found, playgrounds remain low on the priority list for many underfunded school boards. In BC parents have had to raise money for playgrounds themselves. Read more in the Globe and Mail.

Find out about Evergreen’s School Ground Greening program.

All day kindergarten a semi solution to a larger problem

The introduction of all day kindergarten is causing some tension for parents and teachers alike. Although many parents and teachers agree the program will help youngsters with reading and arithmetic they feel the introduction of the program is rushed and poorly funded. The program is meant to address gaps in early childhood education and care, but many advocates suggest affordable, accessible childcare with well paid and well educated staff may be a better solution. Read more in the Vancouver Courrier.

Read more on about “Integrated Early Care and Learning in BC” at the Coalition of Childcare Advocates of BC website.

BC’s Chief Atahm Elementary School provides immersion in First Nations language and culture

Located on the Adam’s Lake reserve, Chief Atahm Elementary relies on elders for its immersion program that teaches only in the local language, Secwepemctsin, from kindergarten to Grade 3. The school also provides instruction in traditional cultural practices, from plant identification and uses, to preserving meat. The involvement of local elders and parents has created a generation of children connected to their culture and community, and will hopefully halt the decline of the Secwepemctsin language. Read more in the Tyee.