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REPORT TO COUNCIL STANDING COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL
NOVEMBER 6, 2003 |
A Regular Meeting of the Standing Committee of Council on Planning and Environment was held on Thursday, November 6, 2003, at 2:00 p.m., and was reconvened at 4:15 p.m. in the Council Chamber, Third Floor, City Hall.
PRESENT: |
Councillor Anne Roberts, Chair
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ABSENT: |
Mayor Larry Campbell (Leave of Absence - Civic Business)
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CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE: |
Brent MacGregor, Deputy City Manager |
CITY CLERK'S OFFICE: |
Laura Kazakoff, Meeting Coordinator |
*Denotes absence for a portion of the meeting.
ADOPTION OF MINUTES
The Minutes of the Standing Committee on Planning and Environment meeting of October 9, 2003, were adopted.
RECOMMENDATION
1. Eburne Lands Subdivison - Park Conveyance Payment-in-Lieu and Fraser River Waterfront Walkway (File 3258)
This item was withdrawn from this Agenda and rescheduled for the November 20, 2003, meeting of the Planning and Environment Committee.
2. Reductions and Cutoffs of Income Assistance Benefits (File 1263)
Vancouver City Council, at its meeting on November 4, 2003, referred a Motion from Councillor Woodsworth on the above-noted topic to this meeting of the Planning and Environment Committee in order to hear from members of the public wishing to speak. Accordingly, the Committee had the Motion before it for consideration.
The following people spoke in favour of the Motion:
Marilyn Young
Katrina Pacey, Pivot Legal Society
Lisa Wilwik, End Legislated Poverty
Joan Morelli, End Legislated Poverty
Linda Mix, Tenants Rights Action Coalition
Kimball Cariou, Vancouver East Club, Communist Party of Canada
Jane Bouey
Alice Lee, Vancouver Rape Relief and Women's Shelter
Bill Saunders, President, Vancouver and District Labour Council
Bev Meslo, Nation Action Committee on the Status of Women
Jim Leydon, Woodwards Social Housing Coalition
Jean Swanson
Colleen Sinclair, BC Government Employees' Union
Shelagh Day, Poverty and Human Rights Project (Materials Filed)
Michael Barnholden, BC Coalition of People with Disabilities
Fred Ludwig, End Legislated Poverty
Jim Deva, Little Sisters Book Shop & Davie Street BIA
Reverend Bob Korth, Office of the Diocese of New Westminster
Barry Morris, Minister, United Church
Carol Bolt
Paul Leighton
Madeleine Kipling
Darrell Zimmerman
Margo Young, Research Assistant, CCPA.
The following is a summary of comments provided by the foregoing speakers:
· The city is facing crisis levels in terms of poverty, addiction, and disease;
· Income assistance cuts will severely exacerbate the problems faced by women working in the survival sex trade;
· The quality of life for marginalized women will deteriorate, forcing more to enter the sex trade, remain in abusive relationships; it will also remove impoverished women's choices in regard to child-rearing, in that they will be considered employable once their youngest child turns three;
· Time limits on income assistance will result in mass homelessness, increased child apprehensions, larger numbers of children living in unsuitable conditions, increased aggressive panhandling, and additional strain on food bank programs, which are already unable to keep up with demand;
· The educational programs offered to those on income assistance are not true training opportunities and do not result in jobs for the poor;
· This legislation will have a domino effect; tenants in non-profit and co-op housing will have reduced incomes, resulting in a reduced subsidy payment to the co-op, which will impact non-profit societies;
· The Provincial cuts have nothing to do with creating employment opportunities, but more to do with keeping an army of minimum wage workers;
· Removing the earnings exemption for persons on assistance basically punishes them for working, which is the very thing the Province is advocating they do;
· Cuts to social assistance will be felt immediately in the classrooms; e.g. more students who are homeless, and/or arriving to class hungry;
· Persons who are on assistance for two years or more are usually in that situation due to having serious obstacles to employment, for example being unable to afford adequate childcare, which is very expensive;
· All people should have dignified access to income assistance, and all levels of government have rights and responsibilities in that regard;
· Our society seems to be in a transition from what was once a just society to a mean-spirited one, which is based on the bottom line; we must remember that it is people that are being governed;
· Encourage the City to research the effects these cuts will have on the city of Vancouver; determine a baseline as to how many people are living in poverty; examine how many people who have left the welfare rolls have actually gone on to gainful employment; and provide regular reports to the community as to the progress of Council's lobbying on this matter;
· Many persons with disabilities will not be exempted from the income assistance time limits as their disability may not be recognized by the Ministry; also people between the ages of 55 to 65 will not be exempted, even though it could be extremely difficult for persons in that age group to find employment;
· Encourage the City to look into the possible effects these cuts will have on business in Vancouver;
· The two year time limit on income assistance is based on two false premises: firstly that people on assistance are not interested in working and must be coerced to do so; and secondly that there is employment for everyone. The economy works in such a way there will always be unemployment and by basing a policy on such false assumptions we create the feeling that some people are beyond the boundary of what is normal and acceptable and we are therefore justified in our treatment of them;
· Provincial policy is such that income assistance counselors are not allowed to freely offer information as to a person's rights to receive assistance; many persons with disabilities, especially of a mental nature, will be unaware of exemptions which may apply to them;
· The cuts will be phased in over a period of time, so the negative impacts will not be immediately felt but will be incrementally staggered;
· This is the worst time in twenty years for small retailers on Davie Street; many businesses are on the verge of closing their doors; the street is bombarded by homelessness, shoplifting, aggressive panhandling;
· It is often expected that churches will "pick up the slack" during times of economic crises; however the churches are also stretched to their limits;
· The Provincial policy of income assistance time limits and reduced benefits is contrary to the Charter of Human Rights and is unconstitutional;
· Poverty of the parents has a direct impact on the children; there is a direct correlation between poverty and abuse and neglect; abuse and neglect leads to increased stress in children and poor performance in school;
· The numbers of individuals who will be affected by this should not be at issue here, as the policy is wrong regardless of the numbers affected;
· It is believed that this legislation is unconstitutional and a severe infringement on people's rights; also may be in contravention to the United Nations' international standards of obligations with respect to poverty.
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Note from Clerk: During the hearing of speakers' comments above, the Committee recessed at 4:00 p.m. and reconvened at 4:15 p.m.
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Concern was expressed by a Council member who felt this matter ought to have been postponed in order to receive additional information from the Provincial Government.
MOVED by Councillor Woodsworth
THAT the Committee recommend to Council
WHEREAS it is the right and responsibility of City of Vancouver to advocate on behalf of its citizens to other levels of government;
AND WHEREAS unprecedented new provincial laws that limit the time people classified as employable can collect Income Assistance to two of every five years and reduce benefits for families with children by $100 per month come into effect on April 1, 2004;
AND WHEREAS the Province has failed to provide accurate numbers on Vancouver citizens who will be impacted, but it is estimated that it could be in the thousands;
AND WHEREAS the people who will be impacted are among the poorest and most vulnerable in our society, and are already struggling to deal with the impacts of cuts to other federal and provincial programs and services;
AND WHEREAS non-profit housing societies, the owners of Single Room Accommodation hotels and other businesses have expressed serious concern about their ability to do business if many of their tenants lose their ability to pay rent or have it reduced as a result of these new laws;
AND WHEREAS time limits effectively download provincial responsibility for people in need onto the City of Vancouver and other municipalities;
AND WHEREAS time limits for Income Assistance conflict with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms assurance to equality and life, liberty and security of the person, and are inconsistent with provincial and federal obligations to fulfill the right to an adequate standard of living, including food, clothing and shelter as provided in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to which Canada is a signatory;
AND WHEREAS Vancouver's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stands at 8.4%;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the City of Vancouver urges the provincial government to rescind the laws imposing Income Assistance time limits and reducing benefits;
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the City of Vancouver write to other BC municipalities through the UBCM, the LMMA and the GVRD urging them to call on the Province to rescind the changes to Income Assistance laws.
CARRIED
(Councillor Sullivan opposed)
(Councillors Green and Ladner absent for the vote)
MOVED by Councillor Sullivan
THAT the Committee recommend to Council
THAT City Council endorse the principle that work is preferable to welfare and that every effort should be made to help people obtain work.
amended
AMENDMENT MOVED by Councillor Bass
THAT the following words be added at the end of the motion:
..., without arbitrarily terminating people's eligibility for welfare.
CARRIED
(Councillor Woodsworth opposed)
(Councillors Green and Ladner absent for the vote)
AMENDMENT MOVED by Councillor Roberts
THAT the words "endorse the principle that work is preferable to welfare and" be struck out and replaced with the word "advocates".
carried
Councillor Sullivan raised a Point of Order and requested the Clerk rule on the validity of the amendment. The Clerk ruled the amendment was not contrary to the motion and was therefore in order.
The amendment, having been ruled in order, was put and CARRIED with Councillor Sullivan opposed and Councillors Green and Ladner absent for the vote.
MOTION AS AMENDED
THAT the Committee recommend to Council
THAT City Council advocates that every effort should be made to help people obtain work, without arbitrarily terminating people's eligibility for welfare.
CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
(Councillors Green and Ladner absent for the vote)
The Committee recessed at 4:00 p.m. and adjourned at 6:40 p.m.
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CITY OF VANCOUVER REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
NOVEMBER 6, 2003 |
A Regular Meeting of the Council of the City of Vancouver was held on Thursday, November 6, 2003, at 4:10 p.m., in the Council Chamber, Third Floor, City Hall, to consider the recommendations of the City Services and Budgets Committee from their meeting held earlier this day. The Council reconvened at 6:40 p.m, following the Standing Committee on Planning and Environment meeting, with the same members present except for Deputy Mayor Jim Green who was on Civic Business, and Councillor Peter Ladner, to consider the recommendations of the Planning and Environment Committee.
PRESENT: |
*Deputy Mayor Jim Green (Civic Business) |
ABSENT: |
Mayor Larry Campbell (Leave of Absence - Civic Business)
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CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE: |
Brent MacGregor, Deputy City Manager |
CITY CLERK'S OFFICE: |
Laura Kazakoff, Meeting Coordinator |
*Denotes absence for a portion of the meeting.
COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE
MOVED by Councillor Sullivan
SECONDED by Councillor Stevenson
THAT this Council resolve itself into Committee of the Whole, Deputy Mayor Green in the Chair.
CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Report of Standing Committee on City Services and Budgets
November 6, 2003
Council considered the recommendations of the Committee, as contained in the following clauses of the foregoing report:
Cl.1: 2003 Celebration Grant Recommendations, Fall Deadline
Cl.2: 2003 Operating Budget - August Review
MOVED by Councillor Louis
THAT the recommendations of the Committee, as contained in Clauses 1 and 2 of this report, be approved.
CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AND
CLAUSE 1 BY THE REQUIRED MAJORITY
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At this point in the proceedings Council recessed and reconvened following completion of the Planning and Environment meeting at 6:40 p.m., with Acting Mayor Anne Roberts in the Chair.
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Report of Standing Committee on Planning and Environment
November 6, 2003
Council considered the recommendations of the Committee, as contained in the following clauses of the foregoing report:
Cl.1: Eburne Lands Subdivision - Park Conveyance Payment-in-Lieu and Fraser River Waterfront Walkway - WITHDRAWN
Cl.2: Reductions and Cutoffs of Income Assistance Benefits
Clause 2
MOVED by Councillor Stevenson
THAT the recommendations of the Committee, as contained in Clause 2 of this report, be approved.
CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
(Councillors Green and Ladner absent for the vote)
RISE FROM COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE
MOVED by Councillor Bass
THAT the Committee of the Whole rise and report.
CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
(Councillors Green and Ladner absent for the vote)
ADOPT REPORT OF COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE
MOVED by Councillor Stevenson
SECONDED by Councillor Woodsworth
THAT the report of the Committee of the Whole be adopted.
CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
(Councillors Green and Ladner absent for the vote)
The Council recessed at 4:15 p.m. and adjourned at 6:45 p.m.
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