Social Planning Council of Winnipeg

In 2007, a discussion between the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg and the Manitoba Office of the Federal Interlocutor resulted in the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg receiving a contract to administer a research project on the growing urban Inuit population in Winnipeg. The objective of this study was to examine the adjustment of Inuit to the urban environment of Winnipeg.

The Social Planning Council of Winnipeg organized a meeting to gather the Inuit community together to discuss the project and to recruit participants for the study. With the help of the Inuit community the Winnipeg Urban Inuit Study was completed in April 2008. 

The findings of the study and the initial organization of community meetings by the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg prompted the Inuit community in Winnipeg into further discussion and community organization, the result of which was the founding of the Manitoba Urban Inuit Association (MUIA).

Since it was founded, MUIA has, with the help of the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg, held regular community meetings, decided on an organizational structure, produced a welcome guide, a community help line, and a website.

The Manitoba Urban Inuit Association is committed to promoting and enhancing individual quality of life for Inuit within Manitoba through the provision of culturally sensitive programs and services to help orient Inuit to the southern culture and environment, primarily in Inuktitut. MUIA offers a supportive environment that attempts to duplicate the community spirit and cultural surrounding of the Inuit homelands by working together to meet the needs of their members and the community at large.

To access a copy of the Winnipeg Urban Inuit Study, click here: Winnipeg Urban Inuit Study

To access a copy of the Manitoba Urban Inuit Winnipeg Welcome Guide, click here: Winnipeg Welcome Guide

To access the Manitoba Urban Inuit Association website, click here: MUIA website

In 2008 the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg was approached by the Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women (CRIAW) to partner with them, and other social justice organizations, on a one-year community based project called Embracing the Complexity of Women’s Lives. The Social Planning Council worked collaboratively with CRIAW to explore how intersectionality could be applied in practical ways to its policies, services, governance and day to day work.

Intersectionality is defined as a tool for analysis, advocacy and policy development that addresses multiple discriminations and helps us understand how different sets of identities impact on access and opportunities. Put simply, intersectionality is the study of individuals that are the site of multiple intersecting discriminations and how those discriminations impact on their opportunities in life.   

The Social Planning Council of Winnipeg held a workshop and focus group with staff, board members, and partner groups on the topic to enable CRIAW to produce a toolkit to help organizations to incorporate intersectional principals into their day to day operations. The structure and content of the toolkit is based upon the workshop and focus group feedback and is designed to respond to the needs expressed by the groups involved.   

The goal of intersectionality, as the Social Planning Council and CRIAW see it, is to strive for a world in which everyone, regardless of who they are or where they live, can live violence-free, access safe housing, have their voice heard, and enjoy freedom from discrimination.

To access an English version of the toolkit click here: Everyone Belongs: A Toolkit for Applying Intersectionality

As a follow-up to research conducted in 2004 by the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg created a Poverty Barometer on Summer Learning Loss.  The program was established in response to the data in the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy document on poverty and education and the impact summer learning loss is having on many children living in the inner-city.

CSI operates under the auspices of the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg, in partnership with a number of organizations, including the Winnipeg School Division, the University of Winnipeg, the Centre for Aboriginal Human Resource Development, the Centennial Project, Community Education Development Agency, Graffiti Gallery and the Winnipeg Boys’ and Girls’ Club.The goals of the CSI program are fourfold:

• To engage children, considered at risk of summer learning loss, in enriching learning opportunities throughout the summer

• To improve educational outcomes for children living in poverty

• To enhance the skills and employment experiences of local youth

• To provide opportunities for university education students to work in the inner city

This year, in excess of three hundred and sixty children registered in the program at the six Inner-city school sites, with 70 % of the children attending the five week program on a regular basis. The CSI program completed its fourth year of operation and included children from eight schools at six sites. The program, which was initiated as a pilot project in the summer of 2005 at Dufferin School and John M King School, this year included Dufferin School at which Pinkham and Victoria Albert students also attended; John M King, David Livingstone, Sister MacNamara, Norquay and Shaughnessy Park schools. Each year, as the program grows, it continues to mature and fulfill its mandate of increasing long term educational outcomes of inner-city children. To see a two part video on the CSI Summer Learning Enrichment Program please click here: CSI video.   

Make Poverty History Manitoba is a multi-sectoral collaborative coalition made up of approximately 30 Winnipeg organizations from the business, education, student, Aboriginal, newcomer, labour, women's, health, and disablity communities and agencies.  In 2004, the Women's Health Clinic, the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg, Prairie Women's Health Centre of Excellence and the coalition groups initiated discussions in the community about anti-poverty legislation as it had unfolded in Quebec with Bill112: An Act to Combat Poverty and Social Exclusion. 

The coalition has been acting to develop broad community based support for a plan to reduce poverty and social exclusion in principle, in order to provide the Government of Manitoba with realistic recommendations for the prevention and reduction of poverty. 

The coalition has consulted with a broad cross-section of Manitobans; the main message being heard lound and clear is that minor adjustments to existing policies and programs are insufficient and the Province of Manitoba must undertake comprehensive and systematic action to reduce poverty and improve social and economic inclusion, to reduce economic, health and social disparities in our poplation, and to keep Manitoba abreast with developments in other jurisdictions.  Such action should include: 

• An integrated and coordinated approach to programs and services to reduce both the incidence and depth of poverty and social exclusion and associated effects

• Gender and diversity analyses as part of all policy and program development processes

• Long term annual action plans designed and implemented with participation from multiple stakeholders

• Increased social investment reflected in provincial budget expenses and revenues

• Targets, timelines, and benchmarks with ongoing monitoring and reporting to ensure that objectives are ving met

• A multi-sectorial and cross-departmental authority to oversee progress and make furhter recommendations

The coalition recently concluded the consultation process and finished compiling the data it collected.  The data was provided to the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) who used it to produce the report The  View From Here: Manitobans Call for a Poverty Reduction Plan.    

On Tuesday May 26, 2009 Make Poverty History Manitoba and the CCPA co-hosted a successful press conference calling on the Province to heed the recomendations in the report and produce a truly comprhensive poverty reduction plan that addresses the issues in a meaningful way.     

To see a copy of the draft report click here: Make Poverty History Manitoba Discussion Paper.    

To read the final report click here: The View From Here: Manitobans Call for a Poverty Reduction Plan. 

In 2003, the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg (SPC) Environment Committee initiated the Children’s EnvironmentalHealth Project with various groups and individuals as primary organizers. For four years, the Children’s Environmental Health Project:

• offered public workshops and materials on children’s health and environment

• organized a conference called Exposed for Life which featured speaker and author, Sandra Steingraber

• hosted a roundtable of health care professionals to discuss the connection between health and environment

• arranged a public screening of the film Toxic Trespass with film producer Dorothy Goldin-Rosenberg

The Children’s Environmental Health Project has had great success in influencing outcomes in government and policy. The organizations working on this project reviewed and commented on policy at the provincial and municipal levels and met with elected officials and government staff. This work helped contribute to:

•  the doubling of Manitoba Agriculture’s Organic Specialists

• the introduction of a private members bill by Member of Parliament Pat Martin to change the law so that the responsibility for pesticide safety is with industry and not the public

In 2006, the SPC Environment Committee made plans for a more formal Partnership, so that all organizations could play an equal role and bring forward their expertise and resources, and in November 2008, the Partnership introduced itself to the public as the Children’s Health and Environment Partnership.

Click here to visit the Children's Health and Environment Partnershipwebiste.