BCCPD attended a press conference today at which the following was announced:

New Westminster – If elected to government this May, New Democrats will extend to all Woodlands School survivors the opportunity to apply for redress within the first seven days of their term, said leader Adrian Dix today.

Dix was joined by Woodlands survivors, their families, friends, and advocates on grounds of the former school.

“If elected, an NDP government will lift the August 1, 1974 cut off date that excludes hundreds of Woodlands survivors from being able to apply for damages. Ending this discriminatory action is going to be one of the first acts my cabinet will complete within its first seven days of office.

“Providing some of the most marginalized British Columbians a sense of closure and justice for the systemic abuse they suffered is a priority not just for me, but for the people of our province. Despite repeated opportunities to do the right thing, the moral thing, the Liberal cabinet has systematically resisted treating Woodlands survivors with fairness and compassion,” said Dix.

Two separate reports by the Ombudsperson and the Public Guardian and Trustee delivered to the Liberals at the start of their time in government confirm there was systemic abuse – sexual, psychological and physical – at Woodlands. Yet the government’s response over the past decade has consistently involved fighting former students in the courts.

“First they tried to deny them the right to apply for compensation as a class by arguing that there was not an institutional problem at Woodlands, just a ‘few bad apples’. And then instead of entering a settlement agreement when the former students won the right to compensation, they pursued a separate challenge to reduce the class by creating a cut-off date,” explained Dix.

After the former students – those who were at Woodlands before and after 1974 – won the right to pursue a class action against the government for systemic abuse in 2005, the Liberal government pursued a different legal strategy. It resulted in survivors who were at Woodlands prior to August 1, 1974 becoming ineligible for compensation in 2008.

At the legislature in October 2011, the Liberals again refused to lift the cut-off date to give all existing survivors equal treatment.

Other survivors of systemic abuse that took place in government institutions before August 1, 1974 have received compensation, such as former students of the Jericho School. Also, pre- and post-1974 Woodlands survivors could be compensated from the existing settlement funding envelope, because so many former students of Woodlands have passed away during the time the government was challenging their access to compensation.

The BC Coalition of People with Disabilities has received the notification below from the Ministry of Social Development about an office closure in the Vancouver Coastal Region:

                                               Vancouver Coastal Region
                                                 Service Delivery Change

As a result of Service Delivery changes in the Vancouver Coastal Region, the Fairview Employment and Assistance office located at:

                                                201 – 828 West 8^th Avenue,
                                                           Vancouver, BC

will no longer be providing face to face services to the public effective February 4, 2013. Current clients of the Fairview office will be assigned to other offices as follows:

Clients living in the following postal codes: V6J, V6K, V6L, V6R, V6S, V6T

The new office is:
China Creek Employment and Assistance Centre
201-475 East Broadway, Vancouver BC, V5T 1W9
1-866-866-0800

Clients living in the following postal codes: V5Y, V5Z, V6H, V6M, V6N

The new office is:
Mountainview Employment and Assistance Centre
300-5550 Fraser Street, Vancouver BC, V5W 3Z4
1-866-866-0800

In order to further equalize distribution of files
Clients living in the V5P, currently Mountainview postal code:

The new office is:
Killarney Employment and Income Assistance Office
2280 Kingsway, Vancouver BC, V5N 5M9
1-866-866-0800

All clients with these postal codes will be notified of this change by letter and telephone. Posters regarding the change are visible in the transferring offices. If you have any questions, please contact:

Jean Lofthouse, Manager
Community Relations & Service Quality
Vancouver Coastal Region
604-660-2212 Jean.lofthouse@gov.bc.ca

The Planned Lifetime Advocacy Network is hosting a free tele-seminar info session about the Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP).

Dates: January 18, 2013 or February 16, 2013
Time: 9:00-10:30am
Location: Tele-seminar
Cost: Free
Contact: inquiries@plan.ca or 604-439-9556 to register

The RDSP helps Canadians with disabilities and their families save for the future. You should consider opening an RDSP if you have a disability and are:

– Under age 60 (you must apply before the end of the calendar year in which you turn 59)
– A Canadian resident with a Social Insurance Number (SIN)
– Eligible for the Disability Tax Credit
– Looking for a long-term savings plan

To help you save, the Government will pay a matching Canada Disability Savings Grant of up to $3,500 a year on your contributions. The Government will also pay a Canada Disability Savings Bond of up to $1,000 a year into the RDSPs of low-income and modest-income Canadians. No contributions are necessary to receive the bond. Grants and bonds are paid into the RDSP until the end of the calendar year the beneficiary turns 49 years old. Money paid out of an RDSP will not affect your eligibility for federal benefits, and will have little or no impact on social assistance payments.

Funding for this information session is provided by the Government of Canada

For more info go to: www.forthefuture.ca