Media and Premiers’ Response to Child Labour is No Accident: The Experience of BC’s Working Children

We hope you had a chance to read the special update we sent last week about the release of our new research report: Child Labour is No Accident: The Experience of BC’s Working Children.

We wanted to share with you the media coverage the report has received so far. We were thrilled that the report was featured on the front page of the print edition of the Vancouver Sun last week. Unfortunately when Premier Clark was asked by the Vancouver Sun to respond to our report, herresponse was incredibly uninformed, and she defended the current inadequate child labour laws in B.C. Helesia Luke, First Call Coordinating Committee member and co-editor of the report responded to Premier Clark’s comments in an opinion piece in Rabble.ca.

Building on this research, our next step will be writing a policy framework to present to the B.C. government to guide the changes necessary to protect BC’s children and youth. Given the disappointing response from the Premier, we need your help in sharing the report with your networks, to help create the momentum needed to ensure that the problems highlighted by this report receive the attention they deserve, and result in concrete policy changes.

Media Coverage of the Child Labour Report:

• Christy Clark’s excuses for child labour in B.C. defy logic and good public policy
  By Helesia Luke, Rabble.ca, May 13, 2013
• Media Mornings Interview with Adrienne Montani of First Call: BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition about their shocking new report on Child Labour in BC: Child Labour is no Accident
  By Jane Bouey, Coop Radio, May 13, 2013 (at the 15min mark)
• B.C. shouldn’t return to permit system for working children: Premier Clark 
  By Jeff Lee, Vancouver Sun, May 10, 2013 (Clark’s response to our report)
• Work-related injury claims payouts to children surge: Increase largely due to ‘severe’ injuries to two boys under 15
  By Gordon Hoekstra, Jonathan Fowlie, & Brian Morton, Vancouver Sun, May 10, 2013
• Study shows many teens are taken advantage of at work: Advocacy group says some work under dangerous conditions
  By Andrea Macpherson, News1130, May 9, 2013
• Disability payments for child workers hit all-time high last year: report
  By Carlos Tello, The Tyee.ca, May 9, 2013
• B.C. pays price for lower work age: Opinion: Accident claims for children have skyrocketed with some young people now disabled for the rest of their lives
  By Adrienne Montani, Special to The Vancouver Sun May 9, 2013

Update on Canada’s Universal Periodic Review

On April 26, 2013 the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva reviewed Canada’s record on living up to the human rights treaties it has signed as part of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) – Second Cycle.

First Call ally Canada Without Poverty was at the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and shared the following summary of the proceedings:

• In total, 83 countries made statements and offered recommendations to Canada, echoing the concerns of organizations in Canada that have been dedicated to seeing human rights fulfilled.
• Issues in the spotlight included violence against Aboriginal women and girls, poverty, homelessness, income supports, relationships between government and civil society, and endorsing appropriate mechanisms to support human rights claims from within Canada.
• Over three hours of conversation between member-states and the Canadian government demonstrated that NGOs had been heard -  Canada was called on to start “walking their talk”, something civil society has been asking for and made note of in reports, statements and press releases since the last review in 2009.
• Although the Canadian government asserted that it believes Canada is leader in the area of human rights, there are a number of gaps in the fulfillment of rights (economic, social and cultural rights in particular) that refute that claim and demand further inspection.

You can read their full blog post here.

Canada Without Poverty also published an OpEd and a blog about the review in Embassy News Magazine and the Huffington Post.

You can read our previous newsletter article for more information about the lead up to the review and the joint submission, endorsed by First Call, the Society for Children and Youth of BC, and 60 other non-governmental organizations.

New report reveals significant daily demand unable to be met by current programs for violence against women in BC

First Call Partner BC Society of Transition Houses (BCSTH) released a report this week based on data collected from the 24 Hour Census. It shows that only 64.6% per cent of women, youth and children from BC who attempted to get help from programs for violence against women were able to be helped.

Shabna Ali, Executive Director of BCSTH says that the 24 Hour Census shows that “there is a high demand for services and supports for women who have experienced violence and children who have seen violence directed towards their mothers. Programs do whatever they can to support the safety of every woman, youth or child who contacts them, but these programs are not always a funding priority – solutions are needed to ensure that every person who needs it is able to get help immediately.”

BC Society of Transition Houses is a non- profit society representing Transition Housing, Children Who Witness Abuse, and other programs for women, youth and children who have experienced violence in BC.

Read the full press release here
Read the report here

A Living For All: Ideas to End Poverty

Katie Hyslop, journalist for The Tyee.ca has produced a Tyee Solutions Society Series of articles focused on income inequity in B. C. “A Living for All: Ideas to End Poverty” looks closely at issues central to First Call’s advocacy: B.C.’s slow response to inadequate wages as well as the province’s poor placement in rankings of child poverty.

Hyslop says: That poverty in a so-called “have” province like B.C. could surpass poverty in much poorer, “have not” provinces, for so long is upsetting. It begins to make sense, however, when you consider B.C.’s other distinction: one of only two remaining provinces or territories in Canada without a province-wide poverty reduction strategy or a plan to create one. Hyslop’s stories in “A Living for All” illuminate a problem too-easy to brush away as ‘always there’ and examine potential solutions.

A PDF compilation of the articles can be found here, free for download.

No one should have to worry about their children playing in the grass

First Call is supporting the Canadian Cancer Society BC and Yukon region in their campaign to ban the use, sale and retail display of cosmetic pesticides used on public and private lands in BC.

Nazanine Parent, a cancer survivor and Canadian Cancer Society BC and Yukon volunteer has written a blog post about the Top 5 reasons to ban cosmetic pesticides and how people can take action.

Read the full post here.

Celebrate BC Child and Youth in Care Week Across BC, June 2nd-June 8th, 2013

June 5th Provincial Celebration:

-Wednesday, June 5, 2013, 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
-Vancouver Public Library, 350 W Georgia Street, Vancouver BC
-Featuring performances from talented children and youth!
- Keynote: Honorable Landon Pearson
- Dinner provided
Please RSVP (and direct questions) to Jessica Shaw (Jessica.M.Shaw@gov.bc.ca)

There are also celebrations happening all around the province-in your community or one nearby! Stay tuned for regional event listings!

Online Celebration: Stay connected with all things BC Child and Youth in Care Week using the hashtags #bcchildandyouthincareweek and #standwithyouthincare

To stay connected and stand with children and youth in care all year round, make sure to like theonline campaign page

2013 HELPing Children and Families Thrive Workshops June 5-6th, Vancouver and Online

The Early Years Community Development Institute (EYCDI), Success By 6 and UBC’s Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP) are pleased to invite you to a series of workshops on June 5th and 6th, 2013. You may attend these events in person at UBC’s Vancouver campus OR you may attend through an on-line webinar.

The following workshops are being offered:
June 5th, 1-4:30pm: Better Beginnings, Better Futures
June 6th, 10am-12pm: Effectively Engaging First Nations Communities
June 6th, 2pm-4pm: Everyone Leads: Building Leadership from the Community Up

We hope that you will work with local partners to set up locations where people can come together to view the virtual sessions.  We have arranged for the UBC technical team to be in attendance and to stream a live video feed, so you will be able to watch the presenters.

Learn more here

Register for all 3 workshops here