Celebrating B.C.'s creativity! 👏 💡

Dear <<First Name>>,

Earlier this week, on B.C. Book Day, we celebrated B.C.’s publishers, authors, editors, booksellers, and librarians. Books are another creative outlet for many, and reading lets us explore different worlds without leaving our living room.

As a former teacher & lifelong learner, I love visiting my local Burnaby Public Library branch! I’m thrilled to share that we’re investing $8 million in relief funding for libraries across B.C. so they can continue to educate & inspire people of all ages.

B.C.’s public libraries have supported people through the pandemic by providing barrier-free spaces, reliable internet access, and access to print and digital resources. We support local public libraries across B.C. to expand their digital collections, upgrade physical spaces, enhance programming, improve air circulation and provide 24-hour access to the internet.

For more information: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2022MUNI0029-000767

This week, we highlight the positive contributions of active people in the Burnaby-Deer Lake community!

Meet Kimani Karangu, the president of the Kenyan Community in British Columbia Society (KenBC)! Kimani has been the president of KenBC since 2019, and is also a 5th year PhD student at UBC about to graduate in Educational Studies!

KenBC is a non-profit organization that connects Kenyans, who are coming to British Columbia, to feel more connected with their community and to feel at home, ensuring that their transition is as smooth as possible. They provide a wide range of services to the Kenyan-Canadian community and other African-descent communities and individuals, with the goal to empower Kenyans and embrace cultural diversity.

When Kimani first arrived in Canada in 2015, it was a challenge for Kimani to adapt to a community foreign to him. He had to learn a new culture and felt alone. It was then that he stumbled onto KenBC, where the organization helped members like himself learn how to live in Canada, and he met a lot of new friends.

Kimani had received a lot of support from KenBC, and got to connect with others that had similar backgrounds and cultures as himself. Seeing how much support Keynans and other African-descent communities and individuals were given, including himself, Kimani was very profound in becoming president of KenBC. He wanted to make a change on how KenBC connects with the community and partners.

Since becoming president, Kimani has created many sessions to train people in cultural literacy, learn about anti-racism, empower people to lead communities, add more links to government services, improve facilities, and a ton more. Overall, KenBC became a stronger, safer and more welcoming environment for Kenyans so that they can express themselves.

Of course, all of the impactful work that Kimani has done wouldn’t be possible without the volunteers, who have taken their free time to help improve KenBC. Even through the struggles of the pandemic, Kimani loves seeing members assist newcomers and each other, to the point where communities within KenBC were being formed!

KenBC has hosted events and provided many opportunities for community connections, with more to come in the future. Some events include a family barbeque at Bear Creek hosted next June, and a Back to School football match with Kenyan community members next August. You can visit their website at https://kenyacommunitybc.org/, where they will have their own newsletters coming soon! You can also visit them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The tight-knit communities and relationships built by Keynans and other Africans allow KenBC to be where it is today. It’s the reason why Kimani continues to take care of himself and others nearby; it’s the smiles that you put on people that matters!

Here are some things I'd like to share with you from the past week:

Celebrating B.C.'s Creativity

Creative industries benefit B.C. with their economic contribution, job creation, and by uplifting us with incredible stories, music, films, and other entertainment. As part of our ongoing commitment to support the creative sector, we announced funding for BC’s live music sector. Artists have demonstrated incredible resilience through the pandemic and we are making sure they can continue to share their fantastic talents and bring people together to enjoy their work.

B.C. launches new program to accelerate local climate action

We’re continuing to address the climate crisis by providing $76 million over three years to support the new Clean BC Local Government Climate Action Program. Designed in consultation with local leaders, this program will support the objectives of the CleanBC Roadmap and the Climate Preparedness and Adaptation Strategy.

By collaborating with municipalities, regional districts and Modern Treaty Nations, we’re working to accelerate climate actions in our province and put people and communities first.

For more information: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2022ENV0028-000761

Recording of Residential Tenancy Branch hearings promotes transparency

To promote transparency and fairness for renters and landlords, B.C.’s Residential Tenancy Branch will record audio of all dispute-resolution hearings.

“This change will bring more fairness, transparency and justice for everyone involved in a tenancy dispute,” said Spencer Chandra Herbert, chair of the Rental Housing Task Force and MLA for Vancouver-West End. “The recording of dispute resolution hearings fulfils an important recommendation of the Rental Housing Task Force. Renters and rental housing providers all agreed this change was important to improve accountability and confidence that justice has been served.”

For more information: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2022AG0077-000780

Low-carbon fuel expansion cuts emissions, creates jobs

The current energy crisis underlines just how important it is for us to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and transition to made-in-B.C. low carbon fuels like biofuels, hydrogen and electricity. The Low Carbon Fuel Standard is powering an extensive $600 million expansion at the Parkland refinery in Burnaby, creating 1,000 jobs, while significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Expanding the LCFS fulfills our commitment in the CleanBC Roadmap to 2030 to expand and increase the effectiveness of the Low Carbon Fuel standard, and supports the development of production capacity for 1.3 billion litres of made-in-B.C. renewable fuels per year by 2030.

For more information: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2022EMLI0032-000730

Expanding access to mental health supports for health-care, social service workers

The pandemic has caused distress, anxiety, grief, and depression for many health-care and community social service workers. Health-care and community social services workers throughout B.C. will be able to access more mental health supports as our government expands tailor-made programs for the sector.

Enhancing mental-health supports is an integral part of A Pathway to Hope, B.C.’s roadmap for building a comprehensive system of mental-health and addictions care that British Columbians deserve.

For more information: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2022MMHA0023-000716

Poverty-reduction grants address local needs

Local governments are the best suited to identify chronic and emerging issues within their communities. Around the province, 18 projects spanning 24 local governments will receive a total of more than $1 million from the third intake of the UBCM Poverty Reduction Planning and Action Program.

This program supports local government projects or plans to reduce poverty at the local level and the intent of the funding is for local governments to develop initiatives that are aligned with TogetherBC, B.C.’s poverty-reduction strategy.

For more information: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2022SDPR0028-000732

I'm here for you

As always, if you have any questions or concerns about any provincial issue, please don’t hesitate to reach out. We are here to help you.

My office can be reached at (604) 775-0565 or Anne.Kang.MLA@leg.bc.ca.

Sincerely,

Anne Kang, MLA
Burnaby-Deer Lake

Chinese Canadian History in Burnaby: Community Resilience and Redress

Join us as we celebrate Asian Heritage Month and recognize BC Anti-Racism Week.

May 30^th
6:00 – 8:00pm
Virtual Event

Join us for an engaging presentation and conversation about the diverse histories of Chinese Canadian History in Burnaby.

Speakers:

Denise Fong, Ph.D. Candidate (UBC), Researcher and Co-Curator (Burnaby Village Museum), and Heritage Planning Assistant (City of Burnaby)
Dr. Henry Yu, Associate Professor (UBC History), Principal (St. John’s College, UBC), Chinese Canadian History Advisory Committee Member (Burnaby Village Museum)

Please register today
https://tinyurl.com/2p99yntj

Dragon Boat Festival

Food is the universal language of love and BNH has lots of love to give with our 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑪𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒔- 𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝑫𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒓 series!

Presenting a taste of Dragonboat Festival celebration for everyone!

Tuesday May 31, 2022
6:00-8:00 PM
4460 Beresford Street, Burnaby (South House)

Buy tickets in advance at the BNH reception!

Kids Summer Program

Get ready for a summer of adventure and fun, little ones...and parents Our Kids Summer Program is back and open for registration!

To register for Gilpin or Stride
Stasi @ 604-431-0400
stasil@burnabynh.ca

To register for Maywood
Scott @ 604-431-0400
scott@burnabynh.ca

COVID-19 updates from the BC Centre for Disease Control

Total vaccine doses administered in B.C. are 11,721,850.

There are currently 1,645 new cases this week in British Columbia as of May 20, 2022. There is a total of 369,202 cases in British Columbia.

As of this week, there have been more than 24,126 new tests. Our province has adjusted testing to 3,447 people per 100,000.

For more information, please visit BCCDC's website

COVID Resources

For medical info, visit covid-19.bccdc.ca or call 811
For vaccination info, visit gov.bc.ca/getvaccinated
For financial supports for people and businesses, visit this page .
For PHO orders and guidance, visit this page.
For seniors looking for additional support, or for those looking to support seniors, call 211 or visit bc211.ca
For virtual mental health resources, click here.  
For Mental Health Resources for Educators, Parents and Youth, click here.

Burnaby Family Doctor Resources
To find a family doctor, click here
To find a clinic, click here.
For non-emergency health information and advice, click here.

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