Tag Archives: Childcare

Community, Education, Family, Housing, Jobs

The 2024 Vital Signs Report for Cortes Island

The Cortes Island Community Foundation (CICF) just published the Cortes Island’s Vital Signs report.  

“ When I started with the Community Foundation a few years ago, I  was already in the community, trying to make things happen. In particular, I tried to make things happen in the most grassroots  small nonprofit ways possible, but often in the area where I saw that there was a lot of need. Very quickly, I was in the process of writing grants and trying to figure out how to bring in those resources that I knew were out there somewhere,” explained Manda Aufochs Gillespie, Executive Director of the Cortes Foundation. 

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Community

Cortes Foundation: more grant opportunities; the shared social workplace & more

Manda Aufochs Gillespie announced two new grant offerings, the new shared workplace in the Village Commons and much more, in a Cortes Island Community Foundation update yesterday. 

“It has been a really busy year,  and I am so excited about where we are,  and this community that we get to serve. I’d love to tell you about some of the things that maybe you’ve been hearing about that are happening right now and some of the things that you and everyone can look forward to hearing more about this summer and as the year progresses,” she began.  

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Business, Jobs, Politics

Labour Shortage, or Bad Jobs?

By  Zak Vescera, The Tyee, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The B.C. government is offering the first look at parts of a $460-million plan to plug a growing labour gap as employers struggle to  fill jobs.

The province has budgeted  $126 million in the next year for skills training, helping immigrants to  have their credentials recognized and helping businesses hire staff.

Finance Minister Katrine Conroy said lack of staff is the number one issue for small businesses in the province. 

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Finances

Seven ways to tackle inflation without raising interest rates

Originally published on Corporate Knights

Editor’s note: Guy Dauncey’s Big Solutions: Raising interest rates is a cruel cudgel that hurts the most vulnerable. There are other responses that governments and central banks should consider.

By Guy Dauncey

There are many causes of inflation, but there’s only one solution central banks seem willing to consider: increase interest rates. This has many people scratching their heads: Why would this bring down the price of rent, food or gas? Won’t it increase costs for anyone who pays interest on a variable-rate mortgage or consumer loan? And won’t it make essential green investments more difficult?

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Food

Rent and Food Push ‘Living Wage’ Up 17 Per Cent

By Zak Vescera, The Tyee, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The cost of life in British Columbia has risen at a record rate this year as runaway rent and food prices erode savings and squeeze wallets. 

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives’ 2022 Working for a Living Wage report  found two parents in Metro Vancouver would each need to make $24.08 an  hour to afford housing, food, child care and other expenses for a family  of four, up 17 per cent from $20.52 in 2021. The minimum wage in B.C.  is $15.65. 

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