In Vancouver when we think of poverty, we think of the large homeless population that live in the Downtown East Side, but what we do not see is the alarming proportion of our population among us that live below the poverty line. These people hold jobs and work tirelessly, but the income they earn is not enough to support them or their families. BC has one of the highest poverty rates in Canada with 10.7% of people in British Columbia living below the poverty line and 43% of poor children with one parent with a full-time job to support their family (BC Poverty Reduction Coalition, 2013). Poverty affects the lives of people negatively; this fact is supported by the Second Report on the Health of Canadians where they found that low-income Canadians
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In 2014, The Poverty Reduction and Economic Inclusion Act was introduced to legislature, but did not get a second reading although there was strong public support (British Columbia Poverty Progress Profile, 2015). The government uses democratic leadership to decide how bills and laws are passed. Bills need to be approved by both the House of Commons and the Senate before receiving Royal Assent by the Governor General, which would put the bill into effect. Democratic leadership may have played a role in this issue because that style of leadership "is participatory, with authority delegated to others" (Kelly & Crawford, 2013, p. 173). Having a leadership style where a majority of the group is required to make a decision may not be helpful in this case where a bill needs to be passed because the bill needs to fit the values and beliefs of the majority. The bill did not even get a second reading because a majority of the government officials decided it was not important enough to be debated between members of parliament. When change is needed democratic leadership may not be the most suitable style of leadership because if the change does not suit the groups values then change can never …show more content…
Our health care is universal, but it does not cover every aspect of health care. Ivanova (2011) found that 30% of health care expenditure is privately paid, which is paid through private insurance and also out of their own pocket (p.21-22). Dental care, vision care, and prescription drugs, which are essential to health, are not covered by the government. Not having access to these services can lead to hospitalization because not having good dental hygiene can have detrimental effects because it can lead to teeth abscesses and infections, having poor vision is a risk for falls or lead to a sedentary lifestyle, and not accessing prescription drugs can lead to preventing further illness or disease that could have been
In 2014, The Poverty Reduction and Economic Inclusion Act was introduced to legislature, but did not get a second reading although there was strong public support (British Columbia Poverty Progress Profile, 2015). The government uses democratic leadership to decide how bills and laws are passed. Bills need to be approved by both the House of Commons and the Senate before receiving Royal Assent by the Governor General, which would put the bill into effect. Democratic leadership may have played a role in this issue because that style of leadership "is participatory, with authority delegated to others" (Kelly & Crawford, 2013, p. 173). Having a leadership style where a majority of the group is required to make a decision may not be helpful in this case where a bill needs to be passed because the bill needs to fit the values and beliefs of the majority. The bill did not even get a second reading because a majority of the government officials decided it was not important enough to be debated between members of parliament. When change is needed democratic leadership may not be the most suitable style of leadership because if the change does not suit the groups values then change can never …show more content…
Our health care is universal, but it does not cover every aspect of health care. Ivanova (2011) found that 30% of health care expenditure is privately paid, which is paid through private insurance and also out of their own pocket (p.21-22). Dental care, vision care, and prescription drugs, which are essential to health, are not covered by the government. Not having access to these services can lead to hospitalization because not having good dental hygiene can have detrimental effects because it can lead to teeth abscesses and infections, having poor vision is a risk for falls or lead to a sedentary lifestyle, and not accessing prescription drugs can lead to preventing further illness or disease that could have been