February 26, 2009 - There is growing recognition that Canada's major public policy challenges play out in local spaces. For example, analysts of social inclusion encounter the many barriers that individuals and families face living in distressed neighbourhoods. Rural areas and smaller centres confront another set of risks in managing change with declining, often aging populations. Common to all is an appreciation of how local geographic contexts - the form and nature of places - shape people's life chances.

BC CED Network joins organizations in call for legislated poverty reduction plan

The BC CED Network joins with CCPA and 200 other organizations and community leaders from across BC to release an open letter calling on all political parties to commit to a legislated poverty reduction plan.

Federal budget leaves unemployed in the cold

OTTAWA -- Today's federal budget leaves hundreds of thousands of vulnerable Canadians hanging on a very short rope and won't provide the immediate stimulus our economy needs, says the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).

The budget fails to expand Employment Insurance (EI) to ensure laid-off Canadians are eligible for benefits and its infrastructure promises require the provinces and municipalities to match funding -- a condition that will stall many projects.