Project Rise: New employability program launches bringing hope to ICCS clients
Project Rise offers training and work placements for people who have experienced homelessness – breaking down barriers to employment and community connection, and building confidence for the future. The program launched on Monday, April 4th with its first cohort of 6 client participants. Project Rise is a new program of Island Crisis Care Society (ICCS) aimed to deliver pre- employment and employment skills training and work placement opportunities to people who have experienced homelessness, but are now ready to re-integrate fully into independence and community life. Many ICCS clients...
Read MoreA cry for help
I received an Email to Seniors 101 with a cry for help regarding the scenario below which is a variant on the desperate need for housing and understanding for far too many people in BC. ————————————————————————- “My friend is in the hospital in Duncan with a broken leg. Until her accident, she rented a room in a house, but she can’t return there because of the stairs. The task of finding new housing is challenging and she is getting anxious as her...
Read MoreA purrfect ending: Kabul cat and NATO officer reunite in Vancouver
Abandoned, tear gassed, airlifted and very much loved: a cat rescued from Afghanistan finds a new home. But Tay Tay, a three-year-old grey tabby, was much more than a number to Gary Ash, 59, a NATO officer stationed in Kabul. Ash worked in occupational safety at Resolute Support Mission (RSM) in Kabul, Afghanistan, located next to the American Embassy. She was a friend. (Tay Tay beside Gary Ash on a cold night at Camp Resolute Support in Kabul. PHOTO BY GARY ASH /PNG) So when an international mission organized an airlift to Vancouver to liberate Tay Tay and 300 other dogs and cats stranded...
Read MoreDespite internal turmoil, Green Party is needed in Canada.
A commentary by the former leader of the Green Party, originally published in the Toronto Star. The nature of leadership is at the core of how democracies function when they function well — or when they function badly. With Greens, leadership is markedly different from other parties. It is deep in the bones of Greens around the world. Leaders of parties are necessary to compete in the world of politics, but our wiring is anti-hierarchical. Until the recent experience with Annamie Paul, the leader had no power. No party staff reported to him or her. The leader could not set policy, but...
Read MoreNational child-care system
Liberals have promised to make a long-term spending commitment to create a national child-care system A new report estimates that hundreds of thousands of women could get back into the labour force if the Liberals follow through on a pledge to create a national child care system. The paper to be released Wednesday makes the case that federal spending to create a national program would “pay for itself” in the form of extra income tax, extra spending and reduced social costs as more parents entered the workforce. There is also the potential for tens of thousands of construction jobs as new...
Read MorePresentism” is the practice of applying 2020 cultural expectations
‘ and values to some 18th- or 19th-century events we’d rather forget. “Presentism” is comfortable because it encourages a kind of morally superior self-congratulation by interpreting the past as it suits us. Denial of the past would mean that the truth of the country’s history becomes something best forgotten in the interests of generational comfort. There is an increasing tendency to prefer that such and thus events in the past just did not happen and if it did, like Dorothy, we could cause it to simply disappear by wishing it away. But pulling down statues and changing building...
Read MoreThe grim reality
Canada has failed in its duty to protect vulnerable eldersin long-term care, according to a highly critical report that examines the issue in light of the COVID-19 crisis. The report released Friday by the Royal Society of Canada found the pandemic was a “shock wave” that exposed many long-standing deficiencies in the system and caused high levels of “physical, mental and emotional suffering” for seniors. “Those lives lost unnecessarily had value,” reads the report by a working group that was chaired by Dr. Carole Estabrooks at the University of...
Read MoreWomen’s Squash Week
Nanaimo Squash Club Opens Doors for Women’s Squash Week September 14-122. For many squash is a vegetable. But for an estimated 10,000 British Columbians, the sport of squash is their passion, fitness routine and social hub. It wasn’t until she was 50 years old did Catherine DiCecca stepped onto a squash court. The impetus she explained was that both her and husband needed to get back into shape. “The club was highly supportive and not intimidating for newcomers. Along with the Club’s welcoming culture we got addicted” said DiCecca. The Nanaimo Squash...
Read MoreIsland Woman & Mermaids
B.C. seafarer named first Canadian woman to captain major cruise ship Capt. Wendy Williams will be master of the Scarlet Lady, the first ship in Sir Richard Branson’s new Virgin Voyages fleet, when it makes its maiden voyage from Miami to Caribbean ports in 2020 Pore through maritime literature and the women you come across are as likely to be mermaids or a ship’s figurehead with breasts exposed. Seafaring is a pursuit that’s finally shifted toward a better gender balance, but still has a long way to go, and Vancouver Island’s Wendy Williams is one of the women leading the...
Read MoreGood news from Ottawa
Government invests $286,000 to helpthree women-owned or -led companies in Victoria and surrounding area grow and export VICTORIA, BC, May 13, 2019 /CNW/ – The Government of Canada is advancing women’s economic empowerment with the first ever Women Entrepreneurship Strategy, a $2-billion investment that seeks to double the number of women-owned businesses by 2025. Today, the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Tourism, Official Languages and La Francophonie, joined local women entrepreneurs and business leaders to celebrate women’s entrepreneurship...
Read MoreDisability Parking Permit Holders.
This is an important but mainly unknown regulation for drivers that have a disabled parking permit. It is illegal to drive around with your disabled permit hanging from your rear-view mirror as per the BC Motor Vehicle Act, section 7.05; subsection2: “The permit must be removed when the vehicle is in motion because it is considered a visual obstruction. A fine my...
Read MoreThe Canada Council for the Arts
Seventy Canadian books up for the Governor General’s Literary Awards Canada Council for the Arts revealed the 2018 finalists for the prestigious Governor General’s Literary Awards (GGBooks) today. These 70 Canadian books are among the best published this year in seven categories, both in English and in French. They are the works that stood out to peer assessment committees from close to 1,400 titles submitted for consideration. Quote : “Innovative, troubling, surprising and emotional. This year’s GGBooks finalists have once again proven just how rich, bold, diverse and...
Read MoreB.C. Seniors Advocate Reminds
It is tax time again and the B.C. Seniors Advocate is reinforcing the need for seniors in the province to file tax returns, even if they think they do not make enough income to file. “Seniors may not know that there are several subsidies and tax credits they may be eligible for that are dependent on completed tax returns,” said Isobel Mackenzie. “This is particularly important for low-income seniors who may be missing out on subsidies and tax credits that could help them financially,” Mackenzie added. “The good news is, most government programs that are income based are linked to...
Read MoreAll-Female Taxi Service
This is a really appealing concept. The goal is to help women feel comfortable Driving around in her taxi, Tammy Hogg feels she’s in her safe place. Over the past two years, since she started driving a taxi for a company in Sooke, she’s encountered a range of people on a daily basis. Transporting customers to and from their destinations has brought the self-professed introvert outside of her comfort zone and has made her more outgoing. Being in the cab is like her safety bubble and she enjoys making others feel safe as well. Now, the Sooke resident, alongside Shelley Evans and Balbir Rai,...
Read MoreB.C. to cover cost of abortion pill
Starting Jan. 15, B.C. will join five other Canadian provinces in offering the pregnancy termination drug Mifegymiso for free. According to a B.C. health ministry press release, universal, no-cost coverage for the drug, which is also known as RU-486, will be available to patients with a valid prescription at pharmacies around the province. Mifegymiso is an alternative to surgical abortion and can be used to terminate early-stage pregnancies of up to nine weeks. “It’s the gold standard in terms of health care for women,” said Dawn Fowler, executive director of the...
Read MoreAbortion pill not covered
Women are choosing unnecessary surgical abortions because the province doesn’t cover the abortion pill, the executive director of the Vancouver Island Women’s Clinic says. Dawn Fowler said the $350 price tag on Mifepristone, also known as the abortion pill, means some women who want to terminate unwanted pregnancies at the clinic opt for surgery because it’s covered by the province. “Women who want to terminate a pregnancy are being forced to put price in as a factor,” Fowler said. Canada approved Mifepristone, which has been available in other countries for 25 years, in 2015. It...
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