The Vancouver Island community of Saanich has a lot of heart – literally. Since summer 2020, Saanich residents have decorated more than 900 wooden and clay hearts that now adorn structures all over community parks and spaces. Brenda Weatherston is a community arts specialist with the municipality, and one of the people behind the HeArts…
La collectivité de Saanich, sur l’île de Vancouver, a beaucoup de cœur — littéralement. Depuis l’été 2020, ses résidents ont décoré plus de 900 cœurs en bois et en argile, lesquels ornent maintenant des structures dans les parcs et les espaces communautaires. Brenda Weatherston est une spécialiste des arts communautaires auprès de la municipalité, et l’une des…
This is the third and final article in a series published as a collaboration between The Philanthropist and Century Initiative. *** The COVID-19 pandemic has affirmed an adage often attributed to management guru Peter Drucker: “What gets measured gets managed.” The latest COVID-19 case numbers and vaccination rates are not just frequent topics of discussion –…
This is the second in a series of articles published as a collaboration between The Philanthropist and Century Initiative. *** Willa Black is vice-president of corporate affairs and corporate social responsibility at the Canadian arm of IT and networking company Cisco. She has held executive marketing and CSR roles at Cisco Canada since 1999, leading strategies to…
This is the first in a series of articles published as a collaboration between The Philanthropist and Century Initiative. *** Canada is at a crossroads. Our population is aging, our fertility rates are below replacement levels, and our workforce is shrinking. As the non-working-age population grows, and as people live longer, the burden on our…
According to early speculation, the federal budget that Liberal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will table later this spring is going to be one for the ages. As Freeland herself commented at a news conference in late January, the budget “will be the most significant one of our lifetimes.” Growth, jobs, healing, the middle class –…
For the past decade, Right To Play’s Promoting Life Skills in Aboriginal Youth (PLAY) program, which is led by youth mentors, has been working with Indigenous communities to help youth build leadership skills, resilience, and physical and mental health. I work at Right To Play and, since COVID hit, I’ve watched as program managers and…
Most people (in their pre-pandemic travels) would likely pass by at least one place of worship every day. As they did, many probably gave no thought to the building or to religion. “I don’t go there,” they might think, “so what does that place have to do with me?” Some might not even notice the…
La plupart des gens, dans leurs déplacements avant la pandémie, étaient susceptibles de passer devant au moins un lieu de culte chaque jour. Il est probable que, ce faisant, un grand nombre ne se préoccupaient nullement de l’édifice ou de la religion. « Je n’y vais pas, pensaient-ils peut-être, alors en quoi cet endroit me concerne-t-il? »…
Beyond Shelters – Solutions to Homelessness in Canada from the Front Lines, ed. J. Hughes. James Lorimer and Co. Toronto, 2018; 256 pp: ISBN 9781459413559 The collection of essays Beyond Shelters – Solutions to Homelessness in Canada from the Front Lines (edited by James Hughes) highlights the role of homeless shelters and their “collective…