Funding non-profit organizations gives good value for money

By Shauna MacKinnon, Several small non-profit organizations (NPOs) are nervously awaiting Manitoba’s 2017 budget. Funding sources they’ve come to rely on have been ‘on pause’ for months and its beginning to affect the services they provide. Many organizations …

Time to give back to Manitoba’s north

First published in the Winnipeg Free Press Dec. 6, 2016 By Lynne Fernandez Those of us who were hoping that the Throne Speech would have details about a strategy for Manitoba’s North were disappointed. There seems to be …

Community looking for action plan from Province on poverty

By Josh Brandon When Lieutenant Governor Janice Filmon delivers the throne speech November 21, a plan for poverty reduction should top the government’s priority list. The Province has promised a plan by next year’s budget and Manitobans are …

Vulnerable Manitobans going without daily bread

First published in The Winnipeg Free Press Oct 19, 2017 as “Manitobans hungrier for meatier food allowance” By Lynda Trono If you only had $3.96 a day to spend on groceries, what would you buy? That’s a question …

4 Things to Know about Women and Homelessness in Canada

By Sadie McInnes Anywhere between 30,000 and 200,000 people are homeless in Canada, with another 1.7 million unable to afford adequate, suitable shelter. Winnipeg in particular has a history of housing shortages and inner-city poverty. In 2015 it …

New Report: Social Housing With Supports – The case of WestEnd Commons

By Jess Klassen Since late 2014, twenty-six families in Winnipeg’s inner city have been living in a new, supportive social and affordable housing complex called WestEnd Commons. The innovative development was retrofitted in the 100-year-old St. Matthew’s Anglican …

Poverty Policy Choices and Winnipeg’s Inner City

By Jim Silver Provincial government policy can be designed to punish those in poverty, or to reduce poverty. Both approaches have been tried in Manitoba, the first in the 1990s and the other more recently. We can compare …

Communities leading the way need provincial support

By Greg MacPherson and Molly McCracken The province has invested widely in community development and “place-based” approaches to renewal and poverty reduction, with many positive results. Place-based approaches such as these are now being adopted in communities across …

Who’s Doing What about Poverty Reduction?

By Shauna MacKinnon For Manitoban’s concerned about poverty, there will be much to consider when sorting through political party platforms and promises in search of a meaningful poverty reduction plan. Poverty alleviation is a long-term proposition. No provincial …

Regulating Fringe Banking in Manitoba: a work in progress

By Seed Winnipeg Since 2007 the Manitoba government has undertaken a series of steps to regulate fringe banks. Arguably this is contributing to the common good, because of the growth of fringe financial services and the process of …