Hot Tubbin' For Justice

At the end of February, there was a conference held at SFU downtown focused on the theme of work and an evolving economy. The main event was an evening lecture at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre featuring Anne-Marie Slaughter and Van Jones. Anne-Marie Slaughter is a professor at Princeton University whose area of research is in the area of public policy, law and economy. Her talk centred on three themes; care, craft and the circular economy. Care: The context for the caring economy, is looking how the baby boom is impacting the world. 10k people are turning 65 everyday and soon 70% of those 65+ will need long term and 80% of that care is provided by family (because you want older people to stay as autonomous as long as they can). Caregiving jobs are increasing 49% faster than the market. Yikes. Then we have the cost of care - childcare in both the United States and Canada, costs as much or more than housing costs. She gave a shout out to the Horgan government for crea...

Let's Talk About Reconciliation was an event at the Vancouver Public Library on February 21st that was facilitated by Jules Koostachin (former Aboriginal Storyteller in Residence at VPL). It was great to be at a table with union women - Michelle from CUPE 4879, Aliza from CUPE 391, Debra from CUPE 728 and Laurie formerly of the BC Fed.  The evening was one in a series that was a partnership with UNESCO. The purpose of the evening was to put people in a room - indigenous and non-indigenous to talk about healing. The purpose of having the event in the public library centres around that they are the beacons of knowledge and spaces for contemplation. It wasn't lost on the room that the event was on the same day as International Mother Language Day - as we talked about the revitalization of indigenous languages in BC (the province had made an announcement the day prior about investing $50million in indigenous languages).  For the evening's main event, Jules ...

Photo courtesy of Josh Berson Bottom Line Conference - Day Two - March 14 th The morning started off with the chair of the CMHA Board of Directors addressing the conference. Then I was up next to bring greetings on behalf of the BC Federation of Labour since Irene was unable to attend, so as chair of the Fed’s OHS committee I was happy to step in. How to Get Ready for Cannabis in the Workplace – Dr. Dave Hepburn – doctor, columnist, and medical researcher This one was a tough session to get through – not because the material was difficult or boring but because the presented himself was abrasive and offensive. Starting off a session at a mental health conference joking about sexual harassment is not ok and I sent the conference organizers feedback regarding this particular person. The focus on this session was looking at how we are going to have to adapt our thinking around cannabis in the workplace especially when it becomes legalized in 2019. There are so many fa...

Bottom Line Conference – March 13th - Day One This was my first time attending the Canadian Mental Health Association’s (CMHA) Bottom Line Conference March 13-14 at the Westin Bayshore Hotel. The conference was amazing. I took almost 70 pages of notes and am bringing back a lot of information to share with our local. The day started off with a welcoming from Bev Gutray, the Director of CMHA BC. 400+ attendees in the house and the 15 th anniversary of Bottom Line and the 100 th anniversary of CMHA. Over the past 15 years, the highlights are: Partnerships with labour/business/government/non-profit/public sector Honouring lived experience as expertise 2000+ attendees Many organizations are now talking about mental health in workplace “The power of personal disclosure.”  Wow, did that ever resonate with me. She warned us that we would learn, laugh and cry and asked each one of us to bring at least one thing back to our worksites. Opening Marissa...