December 10, 2008

Letter from Jenny

Dear friends,

It has been another exciting fall in Vancouver – Mount Pleasant. By way of an update, first, I am happy to share the news that in August I gave birth to my son, Renan, meaning kindness brings peacefulness. I am very blessed to have two healthy beautiful children. Second, I have recently been assigned as the Opposition Critic for Homelessness and Mental Health. I am glad to have an opportunity to share with you some of my views of what is happening in our community.

I am sad to say that homelessness has more than doubled since this government took office. According to David Chudnovsky, the MLA for Vancouver-Kensington who recently toured the province, there are over 10,000 homeless people across BC. It’s a sad commentary that, when earlier this year, the United Nations Rapporteur on Housing visited Vancouver reported that "There is a deep homelessness problem here. I must say I was taken aback by the scale of the crisis here in the downtown east side. There seems to be a disconnect between the economic policies in Vancouver and the social policies that need to be in place."

On November 20th, the Legislative Assembly re-convened for a short session, primarily to discuss the economy. However, this time has also been useful to ask questions of the government related to the astonishing rates of homelessness and child poverty in our province. As your MLA, I believe that the government’s top priorities should be issues that matter to British Columbians. Government’s priorities should be focused on improving the education system for our children, investing in our families and economy with a universal child care program, fixing health care, ensuring seniors are treated fairly and those who are most vulnerable have the supports they need to succeed.

I have always believed in standing up for our community. As ever, I commit to continue to work with you to advance our community's interests.

Sincerely,

Jenny Wai Ching Kwan, MLA