The 2006 census indicated that 16 per cent of Squamish's children in the 0 to 6 age group lived in poverty. That was below both the provincial (19.6 per cent) and the national (19.3 per cent) average.
Still, the group that graded Squamish's performance in each of 11 key areas for the Vital Signs report, released during a Squamish Community Foundation (SCF) gathering on Tuesday (Oct. 4) at the Adventure Centre, thought that in that instance, 16 per cent was "much too big a number," SCF President Ian Davis said. "That's one in six."
As a result, the group graded the community's performance on that indicator as "poor: substantial additional work is required."
The Vital Signs report -the first of its kind locally - aims to serve as a "periodic check-up measuring quality of life in Squamish," according to materials posted at the gathering. A year in the making, the report is part of a nationwide effort on the part of the Community Foundations of Canada (CFC) to provide communities with data to help elected leaders, non-profit support groups and ordinary citizens gauge the health of their communities and work to improve citizens' quality of life.
Davis said SCF officials didn't expressly set out to release their report on the eve of a municipal election when they first launched into the Vital Signs initiative a year ago. But most provinces routinely stage municipal elections in the fall of the year and the CFC mandates that those who take part each year release their findings on the same date in the fall -in this case, Oct. 4.
Squamish was one of 22 communities taking part in the exercise this year, Davis said.
He said that early in the process of preparing the report, SCF officials took a close look at the District of Squamish's 2010 Community Profile and refrained from reporting on areas included in that report to avoid duplication.
All of the data contained in the Vital Signs report is the most recent that's available. In some cases it's for a wider region -in the case of "Health and Wellness," for example, it also includes the Sunshine Coast and Powell River because it covers the Coast Garibaldi health delivery area within Vancouver Coastal Health.
Among the other findings:
In 2010, the percentage of kindergarten-level children showing developmental limitations in more than one in five categories was 25.7 per cent - 45.1 per cent for the Squamish South area. While the provincial figure for the same period was 30 per cent, those grading the community's performance in that area called it a "fail."
In 2006, only 2.7 per cent of Squamish residents took public transit, 5.2 per cent walked and 1.9 per cent cycled to work. Those compared to provincial averages of 10 per cent using transit, seven per cent walking and two per cent cycling. This was also rated as a "fail."
"[The data] appears to be a product of our car culture," Davis told the gathering. "We hope that [situation] will be helped along by the new biking trail and bike lanes."
The obesity rate for those aged 18 and over in Squamish, the Sunshine Coast and Powell River in 2010 was just 6.2 per cent, compared to the national average of 18.1 per cent and the B.C. rate of 13.3 per cent. The group rated Squamish's performance on that front as "very good."
Squamish rated "poor" on all four indicators in the "Safety" category, including violent crime rates, property crime rates, Criminal Code traffic violation rates and police officers per capita. The violent crime rate of 2,131 per 100,000 population in 2010 was much higher than the national average of 1,282 per 100,000, while the property crime rate of 5,840 per 100,000 was 51.4 per cent higher than the national average of 3,846 per 100,000.
Davis said a closer analysis shows that the property crime rate has come down since local data first started to be compiled in 1998. However, "it's still high and we've still got some stuff to do there," he said.
For a copy of the report, please visit www.squamishfoundation.com. Davis said printed copies will also be available at various locations locally, including at Municipal Hall.
