Vancouver aims to "end homelessness by 2015". Officials have been working over the years to reduce the city’s homelessness, and in July passed an ambitious plan that targets eliminating street homelessness by 2015 and creating nearly 40,000 new units of social, rental, and condo housing by 2021.
The plan is aimed at building multiple types of housing to address shortages, but the first three years focus mainly on supportive and social housing. It calls for 3,650 units of such housing, 1,700 of which are already funded and in either the planning or construction phase. According to city councilor Kerry Jang, the need for this type of supportive housing has skyrocketed in recent years.
posted by modernnomad
on Oct 24, 2011 -
96 comments
The government of Canada has decided to
end the
Canadian Wheat Board's single desk system for the sale and export of wheat and barley. This has been on the
Conservative agenda for
some time now, despite some claims that farmers
support the Wheat Board. Many are suggesting that the repercussions could stretch beyond wheat farmers; including concern for the town of Churchill, known mostly for the local
bear population, which does
95% of their port business through the Wheat Board.
A
history and
primer of the Wheat Board.
Previously
It's
co-op week on metafiler?
posted by Stagger Lee
on Oct 17, 2011 -
96 comments
The Supreme Court of British Columbia decided that the
BC Adoption Act is unconstitutional "because it treats adopted children differently from children of sperm donors. Adopted children are provided information about their biological parents, whereas the children of donors are not."
[more inside]
posted by Salamandrous
on Jun 28, 2011 -
60 comments
The Hardest Cases: When Children Die, Justice Can Be Elusive A joint investigation by PBS Frontline, ProPublica and NPR has found that medical examiners and coroners have repeatedly mishandled cases of infant and child deaths, helping to put innocent people behind bars. (
Via. (Article contains descriptions of children that have been killed by abuse. May be disturbing / triggering to some readers.) [more inside]
posted by zarq
on Jun 28, 2011 -
20 comments
Book rescue turns nightmarish. A Saskatchewan couple saved 350,000 books from being burned by a neighbor, but now the house they bought just to store the collection is collapsing from the weight. What to do?
posted by Tsuga
on Jun 8, 2011 -
113 comments
"
Juno" was the beachhead for Canadian forces during Operation Neptune (D-Day). 1/10th the size of the British and American forces, the Canadian units were the first to break through German lines; by the end of the day, Canadian soldiers had penetrated deeper into Normandy than any other Allied force.
Storming Juno tells their story via an immersive Flash experience that interweaves live recreation, documents, and oral history from veterans. (
Flash, interactive, sound)
posted by Bora Horza Gobuchul
on Jun 6, 2011 -
33 comments
A bridge builder, a student of how societies hold together; an advocate of dialogue. Standing against polarized and simplistic styles of thought. Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor is Canada's best known and most widely read contemporary thinker. In books like Sources of the Self and A Secular Age, he has attempted to define the unique character of the modern age. He maps the fault-lines in our modern identity, and points to both the pitfalls and the promise of our condition. Learn about his life, history, upbringing, and... ideas.
Now available, CBC
IDEAS in five one-hour parts: the malaise of modernity (this special program has the same title as the 1991 Massey Lecture of the same name, but is not the same [MP3's, get them now, they will go away, and then you can only stream them]).
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
[more inside]
posted by infinite intimation
on May 20, 2011 -
4 comments
Chester Brown's autobiographical works such as
I Never Liked You (1.3 MB PDF) placed #38 on
The Comics Journal's
list of the 100 Best Comics of the 20th Century. In his new graphic novel,
Paying For It, he "calmly lays out the facts of how he became not only a willing participant in but also a vocal proponent of one of the world's most hot-button topics--
prostitution".
posted by Trurl
on May 16, 2011 -
46 comments
Starting in the summer of 2009, Southern Souls began by capturing unique performances by musicians that call southern Ontario home. Seeing musicians play in the places that they live and breathe, places they themselves have chosen—in the street, in a store, in a kitchen or bedroom—is almost a homecoming for the music itself, returning it to the places in which it started.
[more inside]
posted by purephase
on Apr 30, 2011 -
5 comments
From an early age, it was clear that Carly Fleishmann had autism. Furthermore, she couldn't speak, and professionals who had diagnosed her considered her moderately to severely cognitively impaired. Therapy helped, but she still wasn't able to speak. Then at age ten, working with a computer equipped with pictures and symbols, she started typing and spelling words. She started with single words, then wrote sentences,
describing how she felt, and how she wanted people to treat her.
Her story has been presented on a variety of shows, often with insight provided by Carly that
she typed with one finger. As her writing ability has improved over the years,
she has shared her thoughts through her blog (and
as a guest on Larry King's blog), on her own
Twitter feed, and
Facebook page. Now 16, she recently
appeared again on TV, talking through her writing (
transcript).
[more inside]
posted by filthy light thief
on Apr 21, 2011 -
46 comments
