| · Albertans have one more day to have their say on the current provincial review of low-income programs. The deadline for submissions to the MLA committee that is reviewing the low-income programs, such as Supports for Independence, Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped, Family Maintenance and the Alberta Child Health Benefit, is Friday, August 3. So far, more than 2,500 submissions have been received.
According to the City of Calgary’s Community Strategies, people who need to rely on government support are guaranteed to be living in poverty – in 1993, the government cut benefits, and since that time inflation has eroded them further. While poverty can affect everyone, 1996 statistics show that certain people in Calgary are at greater risk – of those living in low-income households, 28 per cent were youth between the ages of 15 to 24; 28 per cent were seniors over the age of 75; 51 per cent were Aboriginal persons; 34 per cent were persons with disabilities; 32 per cent were visible minority persons; 42 per cent were immigrants who arrived within the previous five years; and 50 per cent were single-parent families.
The committee’s discussion guide and questionnaire is available online at www.gov.ab.ca/hre/lir.
In August, the MLA Committee will be holding nine workshops across the province with representatives from a cross-section of invited stakeholder organizations to further discuss the issues that have been identified and develop solutions. The committee will submit its recommendations this fall.
· Environmentalists are praising an eleventh hour deal that saved the beleaguered Kyoto Protocol on climate change, despite Canada’s watered-down stance, America’s rejection of the deal and Alberta’s opposition.
On July 23 in Bonn, Germany, 178 nations signed a new deal that will allow them to ratify the Kyoto protocol. Environmentalists representing groups ranging from the David Suzuki Foundation to the Pembina Institute for Appropriate Development welcomed the deal that would see Canada commit to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions.
The deal came as European countries partially capitulated to Canadian demands for recognition of greenhouse sinks in the deal, a stance that was criticized by environmentalitsts for weakening the Accord. Sinks are vast natural areas that absorb carbon from the atmosphere.
Despite the deal, the United States, the world’s biggest contributor to greenhouse gases, refused to sign on for fear of hurting the American economy. Alberta was also at the meetings to fight against the accord – Environment Minister Lorne Taylor said it would destroy Alberta’s economy more than the National Energy Program did in the 1970s.
However, Alberta New Democrat leader Raj Pannu spoke out against Taylor’s comments, stating they were inaccurate and would do more harm than good.
· Calgary’s population has grown by 15,770 people in the past year, according to the 2001 Civic Census released last week. The number of people in Calgary climbed 1.83 per cent from 860,749 to 876,519 between April 2000 and April 2001, which is slower than the previous year’s increase of 2.18 per cent.
Net migration and natural increase accounted for nearly equal contributions to growth. Net migration was 7,991, a drop from the 11,317 experienced in the previous year. The natural increase, the result of the excess of births over deaths, increased from 7,044 during the previous period to 7,779 during 2000 - 2001.
Most of this year’s growth occurred in newer suburban communities.
· Three of the largest conservation groups operating in Alberta are warning that the federal government’s plan to hold the 2002 Group of Eight (G8) summit meeting in the Kananaskis is a big mistake. The Calgary/Banff chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS), the Alberta Wilderness Association and wildcanada.net fear that the widespread demonstrations that have coincided with high-profile international meetings in recent years and the security measures taken against demonstrators will bring significant environmental damage to the sensitive area.
The groups are repeating their call for more protection for the region, stating that more than 90 per cent of Albertans want Kananaskis Country protected.
· The Calgary chapter of the Canadian Network to End Sanctions Against Iraq (CANESI) will be holding a demonstration on Tuesday, August 7 to protest the Canadian government’s ongoing support and co-operation with the sanctions against Iraq. The event is being held to mark the 11th anniversary of the U.S.-led embargo that has cost the lives of more than one-and-a-half million Iraqi citizens.
CANESI has brought together Canadians of varied political and social backgrounds who believe the sanctions, as administered, enforced and supported by the United Nations and its member states, is causing indiscriminate hardship on the civilian population of Iraq.
The demonstration will take place August 7 at 11 a.m., on the east side of the Harry Hays building (220, 4th Ave. S.E.).
· Mayor Al Duerr has launched the first in a series of fact sheets on the important issues facing Calgary, such as taxation, traffic and road conditions, environment, community well-being, and the potential sale of Enmax. The fact sheets have been posted on the www.whatcalgarycanbe.org Web site, where residents are encouraged to leave their comments and opinions.
· Patients who have their doctor’s approval can now apply to Health Canada for a licence to grow and smoke marijuana for medicinal purposes. The new rules aim to end the legal confusion over the medical use of marijuana – although some people had received legal exemptions to allow them to smoke it, they had no way of accessing it legally. |
