Christy Clark: BC Premier and Vancouver Mom

Roundtable with Premier Christy Clark

We don’t get too political here at VancouverMom.ca. We know that many of our readers are Vancouver moms with strongly-held opinions, and we love that about you. But we also know that we share more similarities than differences, and we prefer to focus on those. Our goal is to help you love where you live by connecting you with the things that make Vancouver fabulous, not to take a political stand. When we were approached about putting together a roundtable with some Vancouver mom bloggers and Premier Christy Clark, though, we couldn’t pass up the chance.

Our Publisher Christine Pilkington worked with Pamela Martin, who now serves as Director of Outreach to Premier Christy Clark. They set up the roundtable together. The aim of the event was to connect local moms to the Premier, so that she could hear what’s on our minds. It’s not every day you’re invited to meet with a Premier. As we said, we couldn’t pass up the chance to ask our questions, share our concerns, and propose some ideas for how the government could make our lives better. Plus, it felt very fitting to participate, since the Premier is a Vancouver mom herself.

Raising our Issues

A diverse group of seventeen Vancouver moms attended the roundtable, which took place at the Premier’s Vancouver offices on Monday, May 7, 2012. There were a number of issues raised, including:

• The lack of affordable housing for families in the Vancouver area
• The difficulty many families face in terms of accessing – and being able to afford – quality childcare
• Transportation and commute times
• The challenges faced by many mothers when they’re re-entering the workforce after taking time away to care for their children
• Some suggestions for financial aid to help mothers start businesses or access educational opportunities
• The challenges faces by mothers of special needs children, including accessing services and having to pay some expenses out-of-pocket

Taking Notes

Premier Christy Clark took notes throughout the roundtable, and followed up on many ideas. She expressed personal concern about the current situation with childcare. She also seemed particularly interested in hearing how small investments could make a big difference in the lives of mom entrepreneurs and parents wanting to brush up their skills by going back to school.

Attending a roundtable is exciting, but it’s really just one hour. The challenge now is to keep the conversation going. Pamela Martin has expressed her interest in doing just that. As always, feel free to drop us a line and let us know what’s on your mind. We’d love to hear from you – and we’ll do our best to pass your feedback along!