Close X
Wednesday, December 4, 2024
ADVT 
National

B.C. announces new three-year action plan to address gender-based violence

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 11 Dec, 2023 10:41 AM
  • B.C. announces new three-year action plan to address gender-based violence

British Columbia has announced a new three-year action plan that it says aims to end stigma around gender-based violence and ensure access to supports.

The plan includes building more housing for women and children leaving violence, expanding cell service to make travel safer, and adding 75 new sexual assault support programs -- 22 of which are specifically for Indigenous women.

It also includes establishing new free virtual counselling as well as new 24/7 crisis lines, new policing standards and stronger victim support services.

Finance Minister Katrine Conroy told a news conference Sunday that the federal government had also pledged $61.9 million over four years for the plan under a new Canada-British Columbia bilateral agreement, which was struck Friday.

"Gender-based violence is an urgent concern," she said. "This is a systemic and deeply rooted issue that disproportionately impacts Indigenous women, racialized women, newcomers and gender diverse people."

The plan highlights the needs of Indigenous women and girls that it says "are most impacted by gender-based violence."

More than half of the new federal funding will be invested in Indigenous-led initiatives that will soon be announced, the province said in a news release Sunday.

Kelli Paddon, parliamentary secretary for gender equity, told the news conference that the province began consultations for the action plan in 2022, identified gaps and is now committed to filling them.

"This is a fundamentally important step in our government's work to eliminate violence against women, girls and gender diverse people in British Columbia," Paddon said of the plan.

"We will keep working to ensure that services and support for survivors are adequate, and we will continue to collaborate with Indigenous leadership and partners to move critical work forward."

Paddon said the new federal funding will also contribute to initiatives already started in the province. That, she said, includes the $1.2-billion commitment over 10 years to build 3,000 new homes for children and women leaving violence — more than 1,000 of which are already complete.

In a roundtable that followed Sunday's news conference, Amy FitzGerald, executive director of the BC Society of Transition Houses, said the organization welcomes the investments, but stressed several times that "it's not enough."

She said 80,000 women and children access the society's services every year, and 50 per cent of that population are children and youth.

"Our research shows that of the women who come into our shelters with their families, only four per cent of them move on to long-term, safe and affordable housing."

FitzGerald said it is essential that the province ensure those fleeing domestic violence have a safe place to go when they make the decision to leave.

"That's the hardest choice and when they make it, there should be accessible housing because no one should have to choose between homelessness and violence," she said.

 

MORE National ARTICLES

Ottawa push for temporary pause in Israel-Hamas fight doesn't meet mark for advocates

Ottawa push for temporary pause in Israel-Hamas fight doesn't meet mark for advocates
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said in a Monday speech to the Economic Club of Canada in Toronto that a humanitarian agreement is urgently needed to help people in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, which is home to more than two million Palestinians. Israel declared war against Hamas after the Oct. 7 attacks, in which more than 1,400 Israelis were killed and 222 taken hostage, according to the Israeli government.

Ottawa push for temporary pause in Israel-Hamas fight doesn't meet mark for advocates

BC Hydro asks for 2.3% rate increase to start spring 2024

BC Hydro asks for 2.3% rate increase to start spring 2024
The British Columbia government says the province's Crown power utility is applying for a 2.3-per-cent rate increase starting in April, adding about $2 a month to the average residential bill.  A statement from the Energy Ministry says it's the sixth year in a row that BC Hydro has applied for an increase below the rate of inflation.

BC Hydro asks for 2.3% rate increase to start spring 2024

Climate change: Droughts, heavy rain turn Canada's pumpkin harvest spooky

Climate change: Droughts, heavy rain turn Canada's pumpkin harvest spooky
Severe weather across Canada caused by climate change has wreaked havoc with the pumpkin harvest this year. Nova Scotia pumpkin farmer Danny Dill says the spring planting season was arid because of wildfires, then heavy rains in the summer flooded his fields.

Climate change: Droughts, heavy rain turn Canada's pumpkin harvest spooky

Canada expands drug strategy to prevent more overdoses, provide additional services

Canada expands drug strategy to prevent more overdoses, provide additional services
The federal government is expanding its drug and substance use strategy to try to save more lives and provide more services to people disproportionately affected by Canada's overdose crisis. Health Canada says the drug landscape has changed with an increasingly toxic supply since the strategy was first developed in 2016. 

Canada expands drug strategy to prevent more overdoses, provide additional services

B.C. coalition seeks 'critical' crackdown on violent retail crime

B.C. coalition seeks 'critical' crackdown on violent retail crime
A group of more than 30 British Columbia retailers, trade associations and other organizations is calling for a co-ordinated government response for repeat offenders they say are behind a wave of theft, vandalism and violent crime. The Save Our Streets coalition says the need for immediate action is "critical" to meet threats to staff safety, rising security costs and the community impact.

B.C. coalition seeks 'critical' crackdown on violent retail crime

Health professionals, not police should care for intoxicated prisoners: B.C. watchdog

Health professionals, not police should care for intoxicated prisoners: B.C. watchdog
The head of British Columbia's police watchdog says caring for intoxicated prisoners is a health-care issue and shouldn't be a police responsibility.  A report released by Ronald J. MacDonald, the chief civilian director of the Independent Investigations Office, says holding those who are intoxicated in jail cells is outdated and offers no guarantee of their safety and health.

Health professionals, not police should care for intoxicated prisoners: B.C. watchdog