BC Poverty Reduction Coalition Year in Review The Impact of 2018 Congratulations to everyone who fought for poverty reduction legislation for a decade. On November 6 2018, the Poverty Reduction Strategy Act passed unanimously! Here are some of the actions the Coalition and our members took last year to push for the Act and for action to make it a reality.

Poverty Reduction Consultations More than 70 organizational submissions from BC Poverty Reduction Coalition members, supporters and allies >1,000 geo-targeted emails to people in 27 cities 5 Submissions to the Poverty Reduction Consultations Report surveying 1,000 low income people in BC Staff attended 5 community consultations Hosted 4 small group discussions including a focus on working poverty and deaf/hard of hearing #AllOnBoard Campaign Supported UBC student consultation We launched the #AllOnBoard 265 individual emails to the Poverty Reduction Consultations campaign in June calling for free 2 events and 1 webinar in Prince George and in Vancouver transit for all children and youth aged 0-18 and a sliding scale pass for all based on income. The #AllOnBoard working group sent out mobile canvassing teams and received over 30 endorsements from candidates in the lead up to the municipal elections. In the first week of October, during Translink’s I ♥ Transit week, we launched our own week of action. A team of #AllOnBoard and youth spokespeople presented to the Translink board meeting followed by a press conference outside their offices attended by many municipal candidates. As a result of this work, by early 2019, over 25 organizations endorsed the campaign, and municipal governments in #ABCplan Campaign New Westminster, Port Moody, Vancouver, and Richmond passed motions demonstrating On July 10th, we launched the their support. #ABCplan campaign with a press conference releasing a report surveying Poverty Free Action Team 1,000 low-income British Columbians and calling for an Our dedicated team of accountable, bold and comprehensive plan. volunteers meets monthly and takes Through the campaign, more than 650 letters were sent to action to support the call for an accountable, Ministers, MLAs, City Councillors and Local Newspapers bold and comprehensive poverty reduction plan. They (more details over the page). By early 2019, city councils in have participated in: New Westminster, Port Moody, Port Coquitlam, • Flyering with the Fight for $15 campaign Vancouver, Burnaby, and Richmond passed motions calling • Hosting a table at the KDOCs film festival on the provincial government to implement an accountable, • Volunteering at the Union Gospel Mission’s annual bold and comprehensive poverty reduction plan and Summer Connect event pledging to work with them on the plan. • Attending the Poverty Reduction Consultations and the Rental Housing Task Force • Preparing new outreach materials such as a mock mailbox for “mailing” letters to your representatives • Running holiday-themed social media and poster campaigns: 12 Days of Advocacy Calendar and New Years Revolutions Submissions to Government Processes

The BC Poverty Reduction Coalition made submissions to the following government processes: • MSP Task Force • Rental Housing Task Force BC Poverty Reduction Coalition Stats • BC Poverty Reduction Consultation (5 submissions) • Mental Health and Addictions Strategy Consultation >45,000 visits to our websites • Clean Growth Strategy Consultation 8 new members and 1 new supporter • Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services >100 direct media hits, including 6 op-eds Through our email tool: Outreach & Community Events 265 emails to poverty reduction consults 653 emails to elected representatives As well as many outreach meetings, we participated in, spoke at, and supported community +403 Facebook Likes events throughout the year including: +479 Twitter Followers +303 E-Newsletter Subscribers • Three events about Basic Income organized by SFU Public Square, the BC Alliance for Healthy Living Society and the UBC School of Social Work respectively • All-Candidates Forum for the municipal elections • Meetings for COSCO BC, the Mount Pleasant Food Network, the Surrey Poverty Reduction Coalition, the Union Protein Project and the BCTF’s Committee for Action on Social Justice • Food Bank BC’s AGM and conference in Kelowna • Strengthen Your Poverty Reduction Work - Engaging with the Health Sector webinar with Dr Gary Bloch for Vibrant Meetings with Politicians Communities Canada • Hospital Employees Union and BC Federation of Labour’s annual conventions The BC Poverty Reduction and our • Law Foundation of BC’s Provincial Advocates Conference volunteers met with the following • BC Food Security Gateway’s Community of Practice politicians in 2018 about the call for an • Sitting at the Central Okanagan Poverty Reduction Committee accountable, bold and comprehensive and the BC Coalition to End Youth Homelessness (BCCEYH) poverty reduction plan: • As part of the BCCEYH, became a supporting youth • • organization for a Youth First Voices homelessness forum • • Steve Thomson • Vancouver & District Labour Council Labour Day picnic • • • • • • Spencer Chandra- Member Support • Herbert • Thanks to our members for their strong work to tackle poverty and its root causes! Throughout The Community Action Network wrote to the year, we: all Cabinet Ministers to encourage them to take a whole-of-government approach to • Supported the Living Wage for Families Campaign’s release of the plan. the annual Living Wage update and First Call’s launch of the Child Poverty Report Card On the International Day for the Eradication • Signed an Open Letter written by Canada Without Poverty and of Poverty, the Community Action Network Campaign 2000 among others asking the Prime Minister to follow also travelled to Victoria for our first annual through on the commitment to the Right to Housing Lobby Day presenting to: • Coordinated an Open Letter with local supporters, members and allies asking Nanaimo City Council to extend the closing date of • • David Eby the tent city in Nanaimo, which resulted in an extension • Katrina Chen • Mitzi Dean • Supported the BC Federation of Labour’s campaign launch of • • LevelThePlayingField.ca for better employment standards including • • Scott Fraser sick leave • • • Joined BCPRC members in a press release responding to the • • Rental Housing Task Force’s recommendation not to implement • Katrine Conroy • Ronna-Rae Vacancy Control • Leonard • Endorsed the Employment Standards Coalition’s call for immediate action on employment standards reform • Supported the release of the first annual Seniors Report Card from United Way and SPARC Other 2018 Milestones October 2017-December 2018 Two BC Poverty Reduction Coalition (BCPRC) staff and eleven other representatives for BCPRC member groups participated in the Minister’s Advisory Forum on Poverty Reduction. The BCPRC provided ongoing support for our members’ participation in the forum. February 8 Publicly responded to minimum wage announcement celebrating the recommendation to increase it to $15/hour, but expressing disappointment in the slow timeline for increases. February 20 Attended the 2018 budget lock-up to provide immediate analysis, recognizing measures to tackle the breadth of poverty in BC through investments in housing and child care but finding little to tackle the depth of poverty. March 25 Our Regional Organizer attended a public meeting about the speculation tax organized by Kelowna MLAs and provided an alternative viewpoint to the strident opposition expressed at the meeting. April-May Hosted a second Community Action Network program with a new cohort. It was great to support 3 deaf participants through the provision of ASL interpretation. We continued to provide ongoing support for CAN graduate leaders and network through outreach meetings and more. April 20 Congratulated the government on ending the exemption to the minimum wage for liquor servers, while condemning the continued exclusion of piece-rate farm-workers. July 12 Responded to the What We Heard report released by the government, highlighting the many recommendations in the report that echoed the ABC plan. Launched social media graphics using these highlights later in the year. October 19 Released What Municipalities Can And Can’t Do To Prevent and Reduce Poverty in Our Communities resource for newly elected officials to share what they can do to combat poverty in our communities. November 15 Recognized with the CCPA Community Impact Leadership Award at the CCPA’s annual Gala. December 1 Our Regional Organizer launched the Community Action Network program in Kelowna. December 19 Alongside our co-author member organizations, presented Shifting the Culture at the Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction, a brief about recommendations in policy and service delivery to meet the Ministry’s goal of providing accessible, effective and dignifying services. For more information, visit: bcpovertyreduction.ca

The BC Poverty Reduction Coalition is a coalition that includes community and non-profit groups, faith groups, health organizations, First Nations and Aboriginal organizations, businesses, labour organizations, and social policy groups. We have come together around a campaign aimed at seeing the introduction of an accountable, bold and comprehensive poverty reduction plan from the government of that would include legislated targets and timelines to significantly reduce poverty, inequality and homelessness. We seek to improve the health and well-being of all British Columbians. We have over 100 Coalition Members and over 400 supporting organizations that have joined the call for a poverty reduction plan.

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