Transcript
Speaker: I'm Jane Williams, this is the Red Eye Podcast. You can hear our live broadcast on Saturday mornings from 10 till noon at 100 .5 FM in the lower mainland. In today's episode, Lorraine Chisholm speaks with Adrian Montani of First Call about a municipal election toolkit they developed to advocate for policies that benefit children and youth.
Speaker: First Call's mission is to advocate for BC's children and youth through public education, community mobilization, and public policy advocacy. Municipal elections, which take place across British Columbia on October 15th, are a potential for a great opportunity to advance this agenda. To talk about the municipal election toolkit that they've developed, I'm joined by First Call's Executive Director, Adrian Montani. Hello, Adrian.
Speaker: Hello, how are you? I'm really good. How is the toolkit organized to help people dig into the issues? Well, we try to start with just a bit of general information on elections and who can vote or that kind of thing, but also sort of repeating what you just said that this is a really good time to try and get
Speaker: some issues that relate to children and youth and their wellbeing, their rights on the agenda of an election. So we give a few ideas of things they could do, you know, join a local advocacy group, that kind of thing. And then there's the way we organize our advocacy is around what we call the four keys to success for children and youth. So
Speaker: One is a strong commitment to early childhood development. So we give some information and ask some questions or pose some questions for candidates that people can use from the kit on that one. And then the second one is the support in transitions from childhood to youth into adulthood. So some information about some issues there. And again, some questions that could be posed to candidates. The third key is increased economic equality.
Speaker: And that's where we cover child and family poverty and other issues. And so that one also we provide some information, a few facts and some questions to ask candidates. And fourth is safe and caring communities, which is a pretty big umbrella of issues. So we pick a few to put in because we keep the toolkit kind of short, but we pick a few issues there. And again, some facts and some things, the role of municipal governments and school boards in those issues and some questions you might ask your candidate. So that's how it's kind of structured
Speaker: The other thing that's in each of those four sections are some links to organizations where you can get more detail on a particular topic or read up some more on some of the issues we raise. Great. Sounds really good. Let's dive into your four keys to success. So we'll just walk through them. So why don't I ask you about the first? What's the role of municipal governments and school boards in continuing to support early childhood development?
Speaker: Well, there's lots of things because local communities have a lot to do with children's social determinants of health and their wellbeing and their sense of community. So there's, you know, a lot of municipalities have grants or in -kind support that they can get to support local services. It could be like neighborhood houses they have in Vancouver, but other places would have community centers, recreation programming, community events.
Speaker: and particularly childcare spaces too. So that's a whole other issue we can get into, but there's a big role for municipal government in childcare. So those are some of the things that come up for a municipal government. But for young kids, family supporting services and those kinds of things like childcare, not all of which can be fully funded or financially supported by municipal governments, but municipal governments have a role to be advocates also for the needs of their
Speaker: constituents and their residents and the families that are living in their communities so they can be advocates to senior levels of government around things like childcare funding or housing funding, those kinds of things. So they can work proactively to raise the concerns or the issues they think would make lives better for children and families in their community.
Speaker: Now, you talked about advocating for increased support as people transition from childhood to youth to adulthood. What opportunities do local municipalities have for this kind of work? Well, youth -friendly spaces would be one thing. So again, looking at the community, do young people have a place to gather and feel comfortable, feel like this is their place? So those are parks and community centers, things that work for families with young children as well.
Speaker: But sometimes you need youth -friendly spaces where they can really have their own spots. Schools, libraries, of course, are places where schools impact particularly, where young people spend a lot of their days when they're school age. And so we are electing school boards in this election. And so we want to pay attention to what points of view different school board candidates have on different issues. Afterschool supports programs, sports and arts programs, those kinds of things are really helpful for youth gaining competency as they
Speaker: So not only just academics that we get in schools, but what is the community, whether it's in school or outside of school, offer young people in terms of supporting their academic learning, but also competency and other kinds of things, whether it's sports or arts or social skills or whatever. So those are some things that they can definitely can do. Great. Now, the third key to success, first call identifies as increased economic equality. What's the municipalities role here in supporting the
Speaker: elimination of poverty and as you talked about the health impacts on families. Well, they can be living wage employers. Both school boards and municipal governments can pass living wage policies and that commits them as very large employers in their community, usually one of the largest, to make sure that the families with children who are working for them make a living wage and therefore can support their children above the poverty line or poverty level.
Speaker: That's one thing they can do and they can just pay good wages basically. And there's also, they can advocate for some issues like tax reform or tax support, income supports at higher levels of government. So for those families on income assistance, municipal councils and school boards can have a voice as elected representatives on, for instance, increasing social assistance rates so that even though they don't pay them and they don't, it's a provincial budget issue.
Speaker: But they can be advocates and voice and say, here's what we're seeing in our, you know, people who, for instance, get income assistance can't afford to live at rentals in our community on the benefits that are paid, that kind of thing. Cities can develop their own poverty reduction plans and look at what role do they have, whether it's in making space and guarantee for subsidized housing, or maybe it's land they can offer or rental and affordable rentals.
Speaker: gathering information about that, what's happening for low -income families, are they moving out because they can't afford to live in our community anymore? So they really need to pay attention in that way, lobby senior levels of government for funding where they need to, and do what they can within their jurisdiction around zoning or deals they do with developers to have childcare spaces or to have affordable rentals as part of a development, that kind of thing.
Speaker: So in a sense, putting a child and youth focused lens on to some of the things that cities are need to be involved in like housing. Exactly. Like food security, for instance. Yeah, exactly. Pay attention. Yes. Pay attention to those issues for low income families. How are they doing? Do they have access to affordable food because you can have neighborhoods that are food deserts or
Speaker: Again, if you're outside of a municipal area, do families have access to safe and healthy food, affordable food, fresh food, without having to have a car or to drive a long distance? Is there a transit program or not? So that's the kind of thing that, again, they have to be in touch with low -income families through agencies or organizations in their community and really, or not mediated that way, but just through living in their own communities. See what's happening to low -income families and how could they
Speaker: what are the issues and then what can they do? They need to keep children. Children and youth don't vote and their families are often very busy. So it's really important for elected officials to be proactive in looking at what's happening to children in our community.
Speaker: Now, Adrian, you mentioned this key to success, which is safe and caring communities, which is obviously that that's a big umbrella. Families should be able to raise their children in communities that are safe and supportive. What does the toolkit propose that municipalities and school boards should do more of here?
Speaker: there are actually guidelines that they can follow around what makes a city or a community child friendly and safe. What are safe play spaces for children? And child and youth friendly, sometimes it's things like, can you get around with a stroller? If you're a parent, do your curbs allow you to wheel a stroller or up the corner or that kind of thing off and on the sidewalk or across the street? So it's actual physical child and youth friendliness, for one thing. And then, you know, safe playground equipment.
Speaker: Resources, again, some of this overlaps with some of the earlier keys are there sports and arts programs that are not fee -barreared or very reasonably priced or income supports or subsidized for those who can't afford to pay for them so that children can participate in community in those ways. So recreation and parks play a really important role in keeping children healthy, particularly those from low -income families. We understand children's health and development really relies on getting outside and playing.
Speaker: and so especially in some really urban areas there's less of that or they live in a neighborhood that doesn't have much in the way of parks or it doesn't feel like a safe neighborhood cities should be paying attention to that and then school boards can really make sure that they also lower fees and
Speaker: eliminate fees for full participation in school activities, whether it's extracurricular that they organize or directly in the curriculum. But also make sure that children and youth with special needs or complex health needs are fully included as well. So that's something that we really talk to school boards about a lot, which is making sure that no child is sent home because the staffing isn't good enough to take care of their child that day or those kinds of things, which we hear from parents of children with extra support needs all the time.
Speaker: Well, you mentioned childcare before, and I just want to come back to that and ask you what we should be pushing our municipal politicians to do with regard to that. Well, there's one really easy thing that they can all do, and many municipalities and some school boards have already done this, but endorse the 10 a day childcare plan. First call has been proponent of that for a long time because it's a very well crafted plan.
Speaker: currently the provincial government and the federal government's coming in to partnership on that as well.
Speaker: to try and expand the number of spaces and stuff, but it's a big enterprise to create a fully publicly or mostly publicly funded new social program like childcare instead of leaving it to the market, which is what's been happening to families for years. And so endorsing the 10 a day childcare plan, telling senior levels of government that they fully support that and will be partners in that. So finding places where both in schools, moving childcare into schools, onto school grounds,
Speaker: It's a great thing to do. And also other neighborhoods, it could be in community centers or new developments could have spaces in their development plans, have spaces set aside for childcare. So definitely they can be big proponents of that. And being in touch with the families in their community, have a childcare plan for your community so you know what they need.
Speaker: Now, Adrian, the cost of living in taxes are always election issues. What do you say to voters who believe senior governments, not local governments, should fund most of these proposals?
Speaker: It's true that senior levels of government bring in more taxes, so they have deeper pockets or have more money to offer. And so they should do some of the heavy lifting, absolutely. And the federal government is starting to contribute to childcare. We're looking for a lot more from federal government on housing. So for municipal governments to work in collaboration with their provincial governments, and then again with federal governments, there's the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.
Speaker: that meets and makes recommendations to federal government on all kinds of issues and letting them know again, letting those senior levels of government know what the needs of are their community and how some of the policies that are in place are the funding, whether it's adequate, whether it's working, what needs to be tweaked. So bring their local expertise to that. But also prioritize, prioritize within your own budget some of the things we've been talking about.
Speaker: Some rural communities don't have to worry as much about recreational space within the community because they've got land and forests to go walk in and that kind of thing. But others, some of the urban communities really need to pay attention to our children able to get outside and play. So a number of those different issues, yeah.
Speaker: How does first call hope that this toolkit can be used? Well, I hope people can use it by just reading, you know, they can grab a fact or two from it to cite. So if they're going to an all candidates meeting or responding to candidates online, if they're in any weather, I'm sure there are virtual all candidates meetings being held at the present time. And so they can ask the questions that we've asked and we try and give them enough background to sort of just spark their
Speaker: ideas or some links where they can get more information if they don't feel really well versed in a particular topic. If child care is an issue for you as a family, and it is for many, bring your own story and let your candidates know that you want to know where they stand on this issue. Do they support the $10 a day plan? What are their ideas about how to make the community more child or youth friendly?
Speaker: What are they doing about young people, school age children being sent home from school because of insufficient staffing to meet their needs? So that's what we hope people will use it for is to ask, pick the questions that resonate most for them or that they're most interested in and ask their candidates so it informs their vote. There's always two things. One is we want to hold
Speaker: politicians accountable once they are elected. And even if they're not, or we want to educate them during an election. So for those who don't end up getting elected, at least they know that the electorate was interested in these child and youth issues and their rights and supporting families. And for those that do get elected, then it's a chance to follow up and say, I asked you that question. You said this, what are you doing about that now that you're elected? Great. People can go to your website and download the toolkit directly there. Yes, they can.
Speaker: Thanks so much for joining me today. Thank you very much for this opportunity. Appreciate it. I've been speaking with Adrienne Montani. She's the executive director of First Call. First Call is a child and youth advocacy society, and you can download that toolkit from their website at firstcallbc .org. The Red Eye podcast is produced at the studios of Vancouver Co -op Radio. You can support us by supporting Co -op Radio.
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