UK epidemiologist Richard Wilkinson presented a compelling picture of why inequality is bad for everyone – rich and poor – during his recent Canadian tour. At today’s meeting of the Inner City Advisory Committee of the Toronto District School Board, we received a bracing insight into the impact of inequality on children attending public schools in […]
Something ‘out of kilter’, when basic human need for home becomes too expensive: UK housing minister
Booming house prices cause “enormous pain” for those excluded from ownership markets, warns UK housing minister Grant Shapps. Speaking in a candid year-end interview, the minister states: “We believe that [property] should be primarily thought of as a place to be your home.”
Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Canadian military vets are homeless: New research
Hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of military veterans are homeless, according to the preliminary results of an important new study from researchers at the University of Western Ontario. Researchers Susan Ray and Cheryl Forchuk have extensive background in housing, homelessness and mental health issues. While the image of homeless military veterans is common on US streets, this is the first […]
Continue ReadingHundreds, perhaps thousands, of Canadian military vets are homeless: New research
End homelessness in Canada in ten years: First glimpse at plans for powerful new national voice
Plans are underway for a powerful new national voice in Canada to end homelessness. Tim Richter from the Calgary Homeless Foundation recently delivered a presentation that provides an overview of the new organization. Stay tuned for more details in the new year. Alberta’s Seven Cities Partnership has been effective in developing community plans to end homelessness, […]
The staggering health and financial costs of inequality – in Europe and in Canada
Inequality is bad for those lower on the income scale. It’s also bad for almost everyone else, as Richard Wilkinson noted during his recent Canadian tour. More research evidence on the costs of health inequality emerged this week in an article in the British Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health that reports: “Inequality related losses […]
Continue ReadingThe staggering health and financial costs of inequality – in Europe and in Canada
Independent Hunger Panel Calls For Quick Passage Of National Housing Legislation
The Toronto Recession Relief Coalition’s Hunger Inquiry has added its voice to the growing number across the country calling on federal Parliament to quickly pass Bill C-304 – legislation to create a national housing act for Canada. The coalition assembled an independent panel of community leaders – from Bruce McLeod, former Moderator of the United […]
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Stunning: UforChange’s Vivacity Showcase Has Big First Night
The first night of UforChange’s Vivacity showcase at the Toronto Dance Theatre on Thursday evening was, quite simply, stunning. Additional showcases run Friday and Saturday. UforChange is an arts-based community development and human rights initiative with youth from the St James Town neighbourhood in downtown Toronto’s east end. The Wellesley Institute is pleased to be […]
Continue ReadingStunning: UforChange’s Vivacity Showcase Has Big First Night
Canada’s Non-profit Sector Tops $100 Billion In Economic Activity: Big And Growing Even Bigger
Canada’s non-profit sector – already the second largest in the world – now tops $100 billion in annual economic activity, according to the latest satellite account of non-profit institutions and voluntering, released this morning by Statistics Canada. The non-profit sector’s contribution to Canada’s Gross Domestic Product grew by 6% in 2008 – a faster rate of […]
Remembering The Rupert Hotel Fire: Campaign For Safe, Healthy, Affordable Homes
A fire roared through the Rupert Hotel, a rundown rooming house in downtown Toronto’s east end, on December 23, 1989. When the rubble was cleared, ten bodies had been found, making it the worse rooming house fire in the history of Toronto. Every year, a group gathers at Queen and Parliament Streets to remember the […]
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Got The message? Income Inequality Causes Poor Health: Richard Wilkinson
The stunning new Three Cities research on growing income inequality in Toronto underscores the urgency of the message delivered by UK epidemiologist Richard Wilkinson during his recent Canadian tour: Inequality is bad for everyone. Poor health is a direct result of income inequality, says Wilkinson in an on-line interview that was conducted during his visit […]
Continue ReadingGot The message? Income Inequality Causes Poor Health: Richard Wilkinson