Thank you. On behalf of the board of directors, staff, and members of the Ray-Cam Co-operative Community Centre, I would like to thank the committee for giving me the opportunity to raise our concerns with you.
I will begin by giving you some background on the Ray-Cam Centre and the community we serve.
The Ray-Cam Co-operative Community Centre is located at East Hastings Street and Raymur Avenue in the Vancouver downtown eastside Strathcona neighbourhood. Founded in 1979 by the tenants of the Raymur Housing Project, the facility has evolved into full community centre status with the assistance of two committed community associations. New immigrants, refugees from around the world, and a multi-ethnic community of all ages are offered a wide range of recreation programs and activities and such services as preschool and day care, a youth room, family support programs, a computer room, a weight room, a dark room, and a full-sized gymnasium. This centre also boasts a diverse team of staff, volunteers, and a strong working committee comprised of area residents.
Vancouver's downtown eastside neighbourhood has a population of approximately 18,000 residents. About 70% live in the Strathcona and Oppenheimer sub-areas within easy walking distance of the Ray-Cam Centre. In 2006, just over 64% of downtown eastside residents were considered low income as defined by Statistics Canada. The vast majority of residents using Ray-Cam's services can be classified as poor. Many are new Canadians, and a number of families are headed by single parents.
The Ray-Cam Centre is located next to Stamps Place housing, formally the Raymur Housing Project, which is owned and managed by B.C. Housing. It is just down the street from MacLean Park senior housing complex. Approximately 5,000 downtown eastside residents live in social housing. The downtown eastside is notorious as a haven for drug addicts and the mentally ill as well as for the street disorder in the community. The vast majority of Vancouver's services community is ghettoized here, and most of the health and social service dollars that flow into the neighbourhood are targeted to deal with those issues.
Local children, seniors, and families are constantly under-resourced, while their vulnerability leads to further victimization by predators drawn to the community. Children in the neighbourhood are in particular need of help. Recent statistics compiled by the B.C. organization First Call demonstrated that for the sixth year in a row, B.C. has the highest rate of child poverty in Canada. The child poverty rate in the Ray-Cam neighbourhood is much worse than the B.C. average. Studies show that disadvantaged children are entering kindergarten unprepared, and that a wide gap in capacity to learn exists between lower- and higher-income children even before kindergarten.
Further research demonstrates that children who lack the skills and support necessary to succeed in school are disproportionately likely to adopt a high-risk lifestyle as they enter their teenage years. According to the RAND Corporation California preschool study, by the time children in poor families are four years old, they have been exposed, on average, to 32 million fewer spoken words than have those whose parents are professionals. Children who would benefit most from a high-quality learning experience are the least likely to attend centre-based preschool programs that develop language and higher-order thinking skills that prepare them for school.
The same study found that of 50 children who have trouble reading in grade one, 44 still have inadequate reading skills in the fourth grade. Over the last nine years, the University of British Columbia's Human Early Learning Partnership has been measuring the school readiness of B.C. children. The project, led by Dr. Clyde Hertzman, clearly indicates that children in Strathcona are the most vulnerable group in the province on every scale.
Worse, each data wave has found increasing vulnerability among children in this neighbourhood. They are now at the highest risk of school failure among groups measured in all urban centres in the province.
To further compound the problem, there has been a recent upward surge in the population of vulnerable infants to six-year-olds living in the Strathcona area. The problems faced by the children in the downtown eastside and Strathcona area clearly illustrate the need for the federal government to address the issue of child poverty and early childhood development.
As difficult as the problems are in our community, we are by no means unique in Canada. Ray-Cam is heartened by the HUMA committee's goal, supported last week by the resolution in the House of Commons, to develop an immediate plan to eliminate poverty in Canada.
In the Ray-Cam area this will entail developing more direct government support mechanisms. Reducing tax rates has little effect for families earning low wages, and none at all for those on social assistance. The current child subsidy program ends up being used mainly to feed children who would otherwise go hungry.
At Ray-Cam, we understand the financial challenges of developing universal programs targeting early childhood issues. While universal access is the long-term goal, for now we believe the government should look seriously at developing programs and policies targeted to Canada's most vulnerable communities to foster equitable development opportunities for children without the family resources to meet those needs.
Low-income residents in the Ray-Cam area face one further challenge that we believe the committee and the Government of Canada must address. Current income assistance programs are a hodge-podge of different supports, each with their own regulations and requirements. The goals of some are undermined by the restrictions imposed by others. Many apply only to people receiving social assistance, often leaving the working poor in worse straits when they achieve employment. Certain issues are not addressed at all, and it becomes painfully easy for families in need to fall through the cracks in bureaucratic programs.
Ray-Cam understands that many of these problem programs are currently administrated by the provinces. Over the short term, we ask the committee to recommend that the government adopt more comprehensive guidelines for goals to be achieved through fund transfers to provincial governments.
Over the long term, Ray-Cam endorses the Government of Canada to eliminate poverty. We encourage the committee to consider a plan that will consolidate and simplify support systems. We further propose that such a plan supports the efforts of individuals seeking education, training, and employment through a graduated assistance reduction plan, one that will ensure families receive full support and encouragement to rejoin and remain in the workforce. Senator Hugh Segal's proposal for the adoption of a guaranteed annual income is an approach that could significantly address this long-term goal.
On behalf of the board of directors, staff, and members of the Ray-Cam Co-operative Community Centre, I would like to once again thank the committee for its work and commitment. The fulfilment of your work will make a significant positive difference to the lives of the families in our communities.
Thank you.