Posts by Adrienne Montani

Adrienne Montani

About Adrienne Montani

Adrienne has lived, worked and been a social justice activist in Vancouver since 1976. She joined First Call: BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition in 2000 and became the provincial coordinator in 2005. Prior to working with First Call, she served as the child and youth advocate for the City of Vancouver, and as the chairperson of the Vancouver School Board for three of her six years as an elected school trustee. Some of her earlier leadership positions included serving as the executive director of Surrey Delta Immigrant Services Society and of Big Sisters of BC Lower Mainland.

Adrienne has a long-standing interest in the issues of cross-cultural awareness and racism, women’s rights and the impacts of social exclusion on children and youth in low-income families. Her academic background is in Asian studies and adult education.

BC’s irresponsible budget

Mar 1, 2016
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As noted in many recent newspaper articles and editorials, posts on this blog, and social media posts, BC’s 2016 budget reflected the short-sighted and unnecessary priority of the current government to pay down debt and “balance” the budget over meeting the pressing needs of British Columbians, particularly those with developmental, financial and social vulnerabilities. This… View Article

Slim pickin’s for BC’s children and youth in budget

Mar 2, 2012
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Just in case anyone missed just how bad BC’s new budget is for the province’s children and youth, I thought I’d post First Call’s reaction from our news release:  CHILDREN AND YOUTH GET SLIM PICKINGS IN BUDGET 2012 It notes that Finance Minister Falcon talks of fiscal prudence, but the budget’s failure to invest in the… View Article

Thousands more millionaires in Canada

May 10, 2011
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In case you were worried, the Financial Post reports that “new wealth” will continue to be generated in Canada and be one of the developed countries to “have some of the biggest concentrations of millionaire households by 2020.”    I’m feeling so relieved, aren’t you? A Deloitte LLP report predicts that 2.4 million households in Canada will… View Article

Scrooge is alive and well

Dec 29, 2009
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In a Vancouver Sun article (Market wages would make a difference to city’s taxes, December 28, 2009) Philip Hochstein argues Vancouver civic workers who make a living wage should be made to suffer the fate of those in the private sector whose employers get away with paying under $15 an hour for labouring, or $10-15 an hour… View Article

When $300,000 isn’t enough

Dec 21, 2009
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I heard today that the Fraser Health Authority is giving its CEO Nigel Murray a $30,000 bonus on top of his $300,000 annual salary.  Put that up against the cuts the Authority is making to services for addicted youth and seniors, among others.   Remember that hospital housekeeping workers, who are the first line of defense… View Article

IWD commitments on my wish list

Mar 5, 2009
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With International Women’s Day on the horizon this weekend, I’m looking for some commitments. Women are over-represented in low-wage work. So which party in the upcoming election will commit to an investment in BC’s social capital through a living wage policy for the public sector, including public contractors? Stimulating the local economy and adding to… View Article

Children’s mental health: Are we paying attention?

Feb 11, 2009
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According to the Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD), 15% or about 1 in 7 children in BC suffer from a mental health problem serious enough to cause significant distress and impair their development and functioning.   In children, mental illness supersedes all other health problems in terms of the numbers affected and the degreee of impairment.  Think about… View Article