HIV/AIDS is above all else shaped by the social determinants of health. Incidence — and inequitable access to vital treatment and support services — is worse among Aboriginal people, women, racialized communities, IV drug users and other poor and marginalized communities, and in poorer countries. But it has also been massive mobilization out of the communities […]
Archives for December 2010
Vivacity One: UforChange Launches Its Week Of Graduation Celebrations
Amazing evening at UforChange at its Vivacity One showcase on Monday as the arts-based youth training and employment project launched a week-long celebration for its second cohort of graduates. Students were at the National Ballet School’s Currie Hall to showcase video, spoken word, improv, photography, website design and other great skills that they have honed […]
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The staggering health and financial costs of inequality – in Europe and in Canada
Inequality is bad for those lower on the income scale. It’s also bad for almost everyone else, as Richard Wilkinson noted during his recent Canadian tour. More research evidence on the costs of health inequality emerged this week in an article in the British Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health that reports: “Inequality related losses […]
Continue ReadingThe staggering health and financial costs of inequality – in Europe and in Canada
The Perils, And Potential, Of Greater Toronto’s 2,000 High-rise Communities: New Report
More than one million people live in almost two thousand high-rise apartment towers in the Greater Golden Horseshoe – the largest urban region in Canada. Tower Renewal in the Greater Golden Horseshoe is the first detailed examination of the greater Toronto region’s vertical communities. The report notes that most buildings are concentrated in areas of high social need, […]
The Annotated Good King Wenceslas: Traditional Lyrics, Modern Evidence
Take the traditional lyrics of a favourite seasonal carol and mix in contemporary info and you have the annotated Good King Wenceslas. The Wellesley Institute’s Michael Shapcott has built an evidentiary base to illuminate the traditional lyrics.
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Stunning: UforChange’s Vivacity Showcase Has Big First Night
The first night of UforChange’s Vivacity showcase at the Toronto Dance Theatre on Thursday evening was, quite simply, stunning. Additional showcases run Friday and Saturday. UforChange is an arts-based community development and human rights initiative with youth from the St James Town neighbourhood in downtown Toronto’s east end. The Wellesley Institute is pleased to be […]
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Richard Wilkinson Visits Canada
This past week Wellesley Institute along with leading partner MASS LBP (thanks Peter MacLeod and staff), Metcalf Foundation (thanks Colette Murphy), and CCPA sponsored what became a cross-Canada lecture tour based on Richard Wilkinson’s bestseller, The Spirit Level, co-authored with Kate Pickett.
Remembering The Rupert Hotel Fire: Campaign For Safe, Healthy, Affordable Homes
A fire roared through the Rupert Hotel, a rundown rooming house in downtown Toronto’s east end, on December 23, 1989. When the rubble was cleared, ten bodies had been found, making it the worse rooming house fire in the history of Toronto. Every year, a group gathers at Queen and Parliament Streets to remember the […]
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Painfully Low Vacancy Rates, Shrinking Number Of Homes: New National Report Underlines Rental Housing Woes Across Canada
The vacancy rate in Canada’s private rental housing market has slipped to a painfully low 2.6% in the country’s larger urban areas (where most renters live), according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. CMHC’s rental market report, released this morning, shows average rents have increased by 2.9% over the past year – faster than inflation. […]
Ontario’s 2011 Budget Can Build Healthy, Inclusive Province With Investments In Homes, Social Ventures
Later today, I’m joining Rick Blickstead, CEO of the Wellesley Institute, for a meeting with Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan. We appreciate the opportunity to deliver practical and pragmatic recommendations about how Ontario’s 2011 budget can build a healthy, inclusive province. A good income and good housing is vital for population health, as research from the Wellesley Institute […]