May, 2009

Jesus for President is the second book by Shane Claiborne. Irresistible Revolution laid out Shane’s personal journey; this second book, written with Chris Haw, attempts something more systematic: looking at Politics for Ordinary Radicals. The book tackles the question of whether or not America is a Christian nation and what government and politics look like from the perspective of the kingdom of God.

While I found a lot to like in Irresistible Revolution, with Jesus for President I was mostly frustrated. The problem I had with Irresistible Revolution is much more explicit in this second book: government is not for Christians. Rather than review this book fully, I want to tackle this question in-depth. Read more »

On Thursday, May 21, the evening before the official launch of Dignity for All Campaign at the Canadian Social Forum, we hosted a campaign launch for CPJ members in Calgary. We invited local members to come and learn about the new campaign and discuss the need for action on poverty in Canada. Read more »

Our partner in the Dignity for All campaign, Rob Rainer of Canada Without Poverty had a column published last week in The Mark.  "Toward a Poverty-free Canada" announces the campaign, and argues for the elimination of poverty from a human rights perspective. Read more »

Yesterday, the Progressive Economics Forum posted a blog about a new study conducted by Phil Oreopoulos at the University of British Columbia. The results of the study revealed that racism is a significant barrier to employment for new immigrants. Read more »

The Canadian Social Forum was held in Calgary, Alberta from May 19-22 2009. CPJ staff members Chandra Pasma, Karri Munn-Venn and Mariel Angus attending the four-day event, which brought together over 500 participants to dialogue about poverty in Canada. Take a look at photos from the Forum! Read more »

The National Post has an excellent piece today on “Understanding our democracy,” by former Governor-General Adrienne Clarkson. The column is an excerpt from a new book, Parliamentary Democracy in Crisis edited by Peter Russell and Lorne Sossin.

Following the coalition agreement in November and the abrupt prorogation of the House of Commons at the request of the Governor-General, many Canadians discovered our knowledge of our own political system is appallingly lacking. People were confused about what was happening, unsure of what should happen, and sometimes, quite convinced that our system operates in another way altogether! Read more »

It’s a bit hard for me to believe that the Canadian Social Forum began exactly a week ago today. I’ve now been back in the office for almost two days, and I feel like I’ve only begun to process all that I saw, heard and experienced in Calgary. Read more »

Last week, with excellent timing, the National Post published a column by Father Raymond de Souza calling for a Negative Income Tax version of guaranteed livable income on the very day Jim Mulvale, Mike McCracken and I were leading our workshop on GLI at the Canadian Social Forum. Read more »

Well, today is the launch. This is my first attempt at a liveblog, or at least a live to blackberry blog, since I don't yet have the capability to post directly.

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The intensity continued apace on the third day of the Forum, and today was a busy day for CPJ staff. Mariel had her poster presentation on child care and women’s caring work today. It was very well received, and Mariel had a number of good conversations with people about child care.

I did a workshop this morning on guaranteed livable income along with my colleagues Jim Mulvale and Mike McCracken of BIEN Canada. The workshop was very well attended, and the discussion was very thought-provoking. Read more »

A tremendously rich dialogue has been building since we touched down in Calgary earlier this week. The opportunities to see, to hear, and to engage have been wonderful.

I spent the afternoon in a packed workshop on the theme, “Making Common Cause and Effecting Real Change: Advocating for Poverty Reduction in Alberta and British Columbia.” In the evening, we all reassembled for the premiere screening of Mary Walsh' new Documentary "Poor No More." Read more »

This afternoon began with a conversation with Deb Matthews, Minister responsible for Ontario’s Poverty Reduction Strategy and Mary Schryer, the Minister of Social Development in New Brunswick. In talking about the processes within their provinces, both of them highlighted the importance of grassroots advocacy. Without that bottom-up process, there would be no movement on poverty reduction. Read more »

The first full day of the Canadian Social Forum was packed with dynamic speakers and thought-provoking workshops that fostered important dialogue on poverty in Canada. The morning began with a talk by Sheila Watt-Cloutier, an Inuk climate change activist who has been instrumental in drawing public attention to the serious impact of global warming on Canada’s Arctic.

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Karri, Mariel and I are in Calgary this week for the Canadian Social Forum. This morning, before the Social Forum started, we received a tour of one of the largest shelters in Calgary, the Centre of Hope. The Centre of Hope is run by the Salvation Army. It offers emergency beds for the homeless, in addition to transitional housing, and an addictions program. They offer some very good programs, and are staffed by warm, engaging people. It was helpful for us to start out our experience here in Calgary with a closer look at poverty in Calgary and the efforts that are being made to combat poverty locally. Read more »

On Monday, May 11, CPJ executive director Joe Gunn, and I, along with several colleague organizations, met with members of the Liberal Social Justice Caucus for an engaging conversation about how a Liberal government could address poverty in Canada. The meeting was set up as a “Mock Cabinet” meeting, and we explored the nature of a potential plan to address poverty in Canada. Read more »

On April 30, the Rideau Institute hosted a gathering of social justice and human rights organizations for an update on the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review of Canada. Bruce Porter of the Social Rights Advocacy Centre and Leilani Farha of the Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation provided some reflections based on their engagement with the UPR process in Geneva and subsequent discussions of Canadian government officials. Read more »

Canada’s live-in caregiver program has been in the headlines recently, due to allegations that a Member of Parliament may have mistreated caregivers in her home. The affair has shone a spotlight on a very vulnerable population in Canada: Temporary Foreign Workers.

What hasn’t received so much attention is a report from the House of Commons Citizenship and Immigration committee, released last week. The report examines the situation of temporary foreign workers, and recommends changes to the program in order to reduce worker vulnerability and respect the social rights of workers. Read more »

Yesterday, the City of Toronto announced a proposal for a 10-year affordable housing plan.The plan intends to combine existing affordable housing services and initiatives, and calls for new investments in affordable housing. Read more »