“The federal Conservatives will spend an extra $1.4 billion on Aboriginal issues—mostly to help Canada’s impoverished native reserves—in the budget that is covering everything from sea ports to railways. Aboriginal leaders, accustomed over many years to budget-day disappointment, were hopeful that a summit this month with Prime Minister Stephen Harper would see their issues addressed.” [Source: The Globe and Mail]
We speak with Shawn A-in-chut Atleo, Regional Chief of the B.C. Assembly of First Nations, about the potential impacts of the federal budget announced Tuesday. (more…)
Victoria’s popular Movie Monday film series presents a weekend of films and forums about homelessness this Saturday, Sunday and Monday (January 24-26th). It begins Saturday evening at 7 p.m. with special guest Judy Graves, Vancouver’s city housing advocate and a screening of The Cats of Mirikitani. Several more films will be screened and then the weekend winds up on Monday at 6:30 p.m. with Last Call at the Gladstone Hotel, along with a live telephone discussion with the filmmaker Derreck Roemer. 
In September 2008 the Canadian Mental Health Association purchased the Balmoral Hotel building on Haliburton Street in Nanaimo for the purposes of providing supportive housing and outreach. Christina Martens, CMHA’s Mid-Island Branch executive director, said that the organization had invested in the community and was looking forward to being a good neighbour, despite hearing some initial concerns about the plans. 
Wallace Malay is a Nanaimo artist and a student at Vancouver Island University. There was a time, however, when Wallace was homeless, ill, and in active addiction.
Anxiety disorders are surprisingly common in children and teenagers, affecting approximately 10 per cent of them. Unfortunately, 80 per cent of anxiety disorders in this age group go untreated.
In what is considered one of the most significant disability initiatives since the International Year of the Disabled in 1981, Canada’s federal government has launched a new tax-deferred savings plan for people living with a disability.