The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives - Manitoba Office invites you to the online launch of the State of the Inner City 2020.

Strengthening community in a time of isolation.

Authors:
Sarah Cooper
Bronwyn Dobchuk-Land
Justin Grift
Katharina Maier
Shayna Plaut
Niigaan Sinclair

This year's report:
The acute and ongoing social, economic, cultural and political impacts of the COVID 19 pandemic cannot be overstated. Health and safety have required collective and social changes to everyday life affecting all members of society. That said, pre-pandemic vulnerability of some households and neighborhoods makes some individuals, families and communities more vulnerable to disaster and upheaval than others (Hilhorst and Bankoff, 2013; Fernandez et al., 2015). Thus, it is no surprise that the COVID 19 emergency is impacting different segments of society, differently. There is a risk that those who were already marginalized are being further marginalized by the effects of COVID 19. This is acutely evident in the core area of Winnipeg.

Every year the CCPA-Manitoba office and Community Based Organizations (CBOs) in Winnipeg come together to choose the focus of the State of the Inner City Report. Guided by the 4Rs of Indigenous research ethics (Kirkness & Barnhardt, 2001): responsibility, relevance, respect and reciprocity as well as the 5th R, relationships (Parent, 2009), the SIC chooses to engage in collaborative research that can have a direct, positive impact, on the people and the communities researched (McKinnon, 2018).

Way before COVID 19 emerged, it was often the CBOs who were, and remain, the unseen “frontline workers” identifying and responding to the needs of those on the margins – sometimes with and too often without – public funding and support. We recognize that in a time of austerity and neo-liberal economic and social policy CBOs are increasingly taking on the responsibilities of basic human rights to food, shelter, health care, safety and information things which are actually the responsibility of the state. Given increasing cuts to budgets and lack of political support this is neither a realistic nor sustainable situation.

Join us on December 10 for this full report launch. Click here to register to attend!