On December 18, 2019, Honourable Melanie Mark, Minister of Advanced Education, Skills and Training, wrote a letter to Fostering Change Community Organizers and adult allies. In the letter, she references Policy Solutions Day 2019 and thanks organizers for their determination to make BC’s child welfare system more comprehensive and universal. MORE
First Call sent letters to federal party leaders this week to echo the Coalition for Healthy School Food’s calls for a universal, healthy school food program for Canada. The letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asks that the government include the development of a national school food program in the MORE
In November 2019, First Call responded to the Ministry of Labour’s call for submissions on child employment standards regulation. We’re optimistic that new legislation and the accompanying regulations will better protect children from accidents, injury and exploitation while working in BC. We appreciate the Ministry has received many submissions, including MORE
Last summer, the BC Human Rights Tribunal contacted First Call seeking feedback on recommendations in the report The Working Group on Strengthening Tribunal Processes for Representative Complaints. Specifically, the Tribunal sought input on recommendations with regard to representative complaints brought on behalf of children and on building a child-centred approach MORE
On September 20, 2019 First Call sent a letter to the Minister of Children and Family Development, Katrine Conroy, and the Minister of State for Child Care, Katrina Chen. The letter was sent to reinforce a long-standing message of concern from our members about the province’s child care capital funding MORE
On August 21, 2019, Minister of Children and Family Development (MCFD) Katrine Conroy responded to our July 18, 2019 letter from the Fostering Change campaign. The letter from Minister Conroy outlines their engagement process over the past year to understand the current state of youth transitions and to identify areas MORE
On July 18, 2019, the Fostering Change campaign sent a letter to Minister of Children and Family Development, Katrine Conroy. The letter explains that the current AYA program policy is not very flexible and is failing to provide equitable access to supports for young people from care. We recently heard MORE
On July 16 2019, Minister of Children and Family Development Katrine Conroy and Minister of State for Child Care Katrina Chen responded to our May 27, 2019 letter that reinforced the call for a more urgent focus on the issue of fair compensation for Early Childhood Educators (ECEs) in government’s MORE
On July 15, 2019, Minister of Children and Family Development Katrine Conroy and Minister of State for Child Care Katrina Chen sent a letter to First Call to announce additional funding for the Childcare BC New Spaces Fund. The letter announces that based on feedback from communities throughout BC, they MORE
In this year’s BC budget submission, First Call highlights five recommendations from our 2018 Child Poverty Report Card starting with important targeted poverty reduction measures for families living in deep poverty. Key Recommendations 1. Increase income supports for families living in deep poverty 2. Invest in early childhood 3. Ensure MORE
In June, First Call sent in our submission to the Select Standing Committee on Children and Youth Special Project on Children and Youth with Neuro-Diverse Special Needs. We note appreciation for the Committee’s interest in the experiences of families raising children with neuro-diverse special needs in seeking assessments and access MORE
On May 27 2019, First Call sent a letter to Minister of Children and Family Development, Honourable Katrine Conroy, and Minister of State for Child Care, Honourable Katrina Chen. We wrote on behalf of First Call’s Early Childhood Development Roundtable to reinforce the call for a more urgent focus on MORE
On March 31, 2019, First Call submitted a letter to Minister of Labour Harry Bains in response to his Ministry’s call for submissions to the Employment Standards Act – Consultation Paper. Specifically, the letter responds to Theme 1 – Increasing protection of child workers: For Input: What is your view on MORE
On March 15, 2019, First Call submitted a response to the BC Government’s call for feedback on the potential for a basic income approach to reducing poverty. While the First Call Coalition does not have an official position on a basic income, we believe all families should have enough income, MORE
Media Release For immediate release February 19, 2019 BC Budget 2019 Brings Financial Relief for Low-income Children, Youth and Their Families (Victoria, BC) First Call: BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition applauds the Provincial Government for significant improvements to the child tax benefit announced in today’s budget. The MORE