Canadian Social Research Newsletter
January 3, 2010

Welcome to the weekly Canadian Social Research Newsletter,
a listing of the new links added to the Canadian Social Research Links website in the past week.

The e-mail version of this week's issue of the newsletter is going out to 2,168 subscribers.

IN THIS ISSUE:

Canadian content

1. Advancing the Inclusion of People with Disabilities 2009 (Human Resources and Skills Development Canada) - December 28
2. Social Development Partnerships Program — Disability Call for Proposals, Accessibility Projects (Human Resources & Skills Development Canada) - Deadline: Feb. 8, 2010
3. Notice of Intent – Fairness for the Self Employed Act (Human Resources and Skills Development Canada) - December 2009
4. From Reuel Amdur in The Canadian Charger:
--- McGuinty abandons children - October 22
--- Dalton McGuinty’s War on the Poor - June 29
5. Call for proposals/papers: Basic Income (guaranteed annual income) - Conferences in Montreal (April) and Sao Paulo (June)
6. What's New in The Daily [Statistics Canada]
7. What's new from the Childcare Resource and Research Unit (Toronto)

International content

8. Poverty Dispatch: U.S. media coverage of social issues and programs (Institute for Research on Poverty - U. of Wisconsin-Madison)
9. [U.S.] Living on Nothing but Food Stamps (New York Times) - January 2
10. Australian Policy Online - recent content
--- Top Social Policy Reports of 2009
--- Assets for all? A review of the Australian Government’s $77 billion support for asset building
11. CRINMAIL (children's rights newsletter)

Have a great week!
Gilles

************************
Gilles Séguin
Canadian Social Research Links
http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net

More disabled people in Canada: report
December 28, 2009
An aging population and growing awareness mean the number of people known to be living with disabilities is on the rise in Canada, says a newly released report. More people with disabilities have access to jobs and the tools and aids they need, says the study, but the wage gap between those with disabilities and those without is growing. "The challenges people with disabilities face in their day-to-day lives are numerous and often go unnoticed," Human Resources Minister Diane Finley says in the introduction to the 2009 Federal Disability Report. The 61-page national portrait of disability shows that about 4.4 million Canadians — one in seven — now has a disability, an increase from earlier this decade.
Source:
CBC

Advancing the Inclusion of People with Disabilities, 2009
December 2009
Advancing the Inclusion of People with Disabilities 2009 is the seventh annual report on disability issues in Canada. This year’s report presents a portrait of Canadians with disabilities. This report provides invaluable information to support all levels of government, associations, researchers and non-governmental organizations in designing and planning services to enable people with disabilities to participate fully in society.
(Excerpt from Message from the Minister)

Complete report:
HTML version - Table of contents (see below) + links to individual sections
PDF version (1.2MB, 61 pages)

Table of Contents:
* Introduction
o Highlights
o A Snapshot of disability in Canada
Chapter 1: Disability supports and services
--- Aids and assistive devices
--- Home modifications
--- Caregivers and help with everyday activities
--- Transportation – local and long-distance travel
--- Access to information
Chapter 2: Education and training
--- Children aged 5 to 14
--- Youth aged 15 to 24
--- Working-age adults aged 25 to 64
Chapter 3: Employment
--- Employment rate
--- Year-round employment
--- Workplace accommodations
--- Unpaid employment / volunteering (working-age adults and seniors)
Chapter 4: Income
--- Annual salary
--- Total income
--- Main sources of personal income
Chapter 5: Health and well-being
--- Self-rated health status
--- Impact of stress
--- Physical activity
--- Income, employment and education
--- Access to health care
--- Social contacts
Appendix A – Principal [federal] disability-related benefits and programs for the 2007–08 and 2008–09 fiscal years

Source:
Human Resources and Skills Development Canada

- Go to the Disability Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/disbkmrk.htm
- Go to the Human Resources and Skills Development Canada Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/hrsdc.htm

Social Development Partnerships Program — Disability Call for Proposals, Accessibility Projects
Deadline: February 8, 2010
The Disability component of the Social Development Partnership Program (SDPP-D) provides $11 million per year in grants and contributions to help ensure that people with disabilities benefit from the same quality of life as all Canadians.

Source:
Human Resources and Skills Development Canada

- Go to the Disability Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/disbkmrk.htm
- Go to the Human Resources and Skills Development Canada Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/hrsdc.htm

Notice of Intent – Fairness for the Self Employed Act
December 2009
The Canada Employment Insurance Commission is contemplating amendments to the Employment Insurance Regulations to reflect the amendments to the Employment Insurance Act (EI Act) contained in Bill C-56, the Fairness for the Self-Employed Act, which received Royal Assent on December 15, 2009. Bill C-56 provides EI special benefits, which are maternity, parental, sickness and compassionate care benefits, to self-employed persons on a voluntary basis. To the extent possible, these benefits will mirror the special benefits currently available to paid employees already covered under the existing Employment Insurance Act. For more information or to provide comments on the proposed amendments, please consult the Notice of Intent in the Canada Gazette.

Related links:

* Canada Employment Insurance Commission

* Employment Insurance Regulations

* Employment Insurance Act

* Bill C-56, the Fairness for the Self-Employed Act (Fact sheet)

* Fairness for the Self-Employed Act passed by Parliament (December 16, 2009)

* Canada Gazette: Canada Employment Insurance Commission

Source:
Human Resources and Skills Development Canada

- Go to the Employment Insurance Links page : http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/ei.htm
- Go to the Human Resources and Skills Development Canada Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/hrsdc.htm

Ontario:

From Reuel Amdur in The Canadian Charger:

October 22, 2009
McGuinty abandons children
By Reuel S. Amdur
The voice is the voice of Dalton McGuinty, but the hands are the hands of Mike Harris.

June 29, 2009
Dalton McGuinty’s War on the Poor
By Reuel S. Amdur
Overview and critique of Ontario's two social assistance programs, Ontario Works (OW) and the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP).

Source:
The Canadian Charger - "Canada's National E-Weekly"

- Go to the Ontario Municipal and Non-Governmental Sites (D-W) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/onbkmrk3.htm

Basic Income*
Call for proposals/papers

["Basic income" = guaranteed annual income]

Basic Income at a Time of
Economic Upheaval: A Path to Justice and Stability?
Montreal, 15 - 16 April 2010
A two-day conference on whether an unconditional Basic Income Guarantee (BIG) is a feasible and desirable policy instrument to help us out of the current economic crisis. The conference includes keynote addresses from Dr. Louise Haagh (University of York), Prof. Guy Standing (University of Bath), and Senator Eduardo Suplicy (São Paulo, Brasil), and a roundtable discussion featuring Senators Art Eggleton and Hugh Segal, Amélie Châteauneuf (FCPASQ), Rob Rainer (Canada Without Poverty), Sheila Regehr (National Council of Welfare), Al Sheahen (USBIG), and more than a dozen papers from scholars and practitioners discussing the prospects and challenges of introducing a BIG in Canada and the US.
Everyone is welcome to attend.

NOTE: To submit a proposal, email a title and short abstract to:
bigmontreal2010@gmail.com
by Friday, January 15, 2010.

Organized by
CREUM, Universite de Montreal
in cooperation with
Basic Income Earth Network Canada
and
United States Basic Income Guarantee Network.

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Basic Income: An Instrument for Justice and Peace
The 13th BIEN Congress 2010
São Paulo, Brazil
June 30 - July 2, 2010, Universidade de São Paulo.
The 13th International Congress of the Basic Income Earth Network will explore the basic income option from the standpoint of its contribution to social justice and peace. This includes basic income as a means of reducing inequality and poverty, guaranteeing economic security in an increasingly insecure world and addressing citizenship rights directly.

Call for Papers:
Click the link above for more information on submissions.
The deadline for submission of papers
and panel proposals is February 25, 2010.

Source:
Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN)
The Basic Income Earth Network was founded in 1986 as the Basic Income European Network. It expanded its scope from European to the Earth in 2004. It is an international network that serves as a link between individuals and groups committed to or interested in basic income, and fosters informed discussion of the topic throughout the world.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

- Go to the Guaranteed Annual Income Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/gai.htm

Selected content from
The Daily [Statistics Canada]:

None.
As per the number-crunchers' tradition,
Statistics Canada shuts down the bean counting between Christmas and the new year.
If you're pining for StatCan content, see:

The Daily Archives
- select a month and click on a date for that day's Daily

Source:
The Daily
[Statistics Canada]

- Go to the Federal Government Department Links (Fisheries and Oceans to Veterans Affairs) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/fedbkmrk2.htm
- Go to the Employment Insurance Links page : http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/ei.htm
- Go to the Social Statistics Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/stats.htm

What's new from the Childcare Resource and Research Unit (CRRU)

CRRU is on break over the holidays.
This is a good time to poke through the CRRU website at a more leisurely pace.
Click the link above to browse through the entire site, or...
* SEE WHAT'S NEW ONLINE AT CRRU
* CHILD CARE IN THE NEWS

Subscribe to the CRRU email announcements list
Sign up to receive email notices of updates and new postings on the CRRU website which will inform you of policy developments in early childhood care and education, new research and resources for policy, newly released CRRU publications, and upcoming events of interest to the child care and broader community.

Links to child care
sites in Canada and elsewhere

CRRU Publications - briefing notes, factsheets, occasional papers and other publications
ISSUE files - theme pages, each filled with contextual information and links to further info

Source:
Childcare Resource and Research Unit (CRRU)
The Childcare Resource and Research Unit (CRRU) is a policy and research oriented facility that focuses on early childhood education and child care (ECEC) and family policy in Canada and internationally.

- Go to the Non-Governmental Early Learning and Child Care Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/ecd2.htm

Poverty Dispatch (U.S.)
- the content of this link changes several times a week
- scan of U.S. web-based news items dealing with topics such as poverty, welfare reform, child welfare, education, health, hunger, Medicare and Medicaid, etc.

Poverty Dispatch is in low gear over the holidays.
The latest postings appear below.

December 29:
Harlem Children’s Zone
Indigent Burials - Minnesota
Food Stamp Enrollment and Retailers
Home Energy Assistance Programs

Past Poverty Dispatches
- links to dispatches back to June 2006

Search Poverty Dispatches

---

To subscribe to this email list, send an email to:
povdispatch-request@ssc.wisc.edu?subject=subscribe

---

Source:
Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP)
[ University of Wisconsin-Madison ]

- Go to the Links to American Government Social Research page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/us.htm
- Go to the Links to American Non-Governmental Social Research (A-J) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/us2.htm
- Go to the Links to American Non-Governmental Social Research (M-Z) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/us3.htm
- Go to the Poverty Measures - International Resources page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/poverty2.htm

United States:

Living on Nothing but Food Stamps
By Jason Deparle and Robert Gebeloff
January 2, 2010
About six million Americans receiving food stamps report they have no other income, according to an analysis of state data collected by The New York Times. In declarations that states verify and the federal government audits, they described themselves as unemployed and receiving no cash aid — no welfare, no unemployment insurance, and no pensions, child support or disability pay. Their numbers were rising before the recession as tougher welfare laws made it harder for poor people to get cash aid, but they have soared by about 50 percent over the past two years. About one in 50 Americans now lives in a household with a reported income that consists of nothing but a food-stamp card.

Food Stamp Usage Across the Country - (interactive U.S. map)
The number of food stamp recipients has climbed by about 10 million over the past two years, resulting in a program that now feeds 1 in 8 Americans and nearly 1 in 4 children.

Source:
The Safety Net (series)
With millions of jobs lost and major industries on the ropes, America's array of government aid - including unemployment insurance, food stamps and cash welfare - is being tested as never before. This series examines how the safety net is holding up under the worst economic crisis in decades.
[ New York Times ]

- Go to the Links to American Non-Governmental Social Research (M-Z) Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/us3.htm

Australian Policy Online (APO)
APO is a news service and library specialising in Australian public policy reports and articles from academic research centres, think tanks, government and non-government organisations. The site features opinion and commentary pieces, video, audio and web resources focussed on the policy issues facing Australia. [ About APO ]
NOTE : includes links to the latest APO research; the five most popular downloads of the week
appear in a dark box in the top right-hand corner of each page, and the downloads vary depending on the topic you select.

Top Social Policy reports 2009
21 December 2009

Click the link above to access the five most read reports and commentary pieces in the area of Social Policy in 2009.
These five reports are:

1. What's love got to do with it? Homogamy and dyadic approaches to understanding marital instability
Bruce Chapman, Rebecca Kippen, Peng Yu | HILDA Survey Research Conference 2009

2. What evidence should social policymakers use?
Andrew Leigh | Australian Treasury

3. Social inclusion and social citizenship -- towards a truly inclusive society
Matthew Thomas, Luke Buckmaster | Parliamentary Library

4. Poverty versus inequality
Robert Tanton | NATSEM

5. Real communities
Hugh Mackay | Griffith Review: Participation Society

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Honourable Mention:

Assets for all? A review of the
Australian Government’s $77 billion support for asset building (PDF - 161K, 14 pages)
By Gerard Brody and Elizabeth McNess
03 January 2010
The authors of this report argue that Australia’s current asset-building policies largely support those who are already well off. Tax concessions on housing and superannuation in particular enable wealthier households to further accumulate assets while doing little for poorer families. Significant reform of the tax and transfer system is required so that policies to encourage asset building will benefit those who need support the most.

Source:
Brotherhood of St Laurence - "Working for an Australia Without Poverty"
Established during the Great Depression, the Brotherhood of St Laurence was the vision and creation of Fr Gerard Tucker, a man who combined his Christian faith with a fierce determination to end social injustice. The Brotherhood has developed into an independent organisation with strong Anglican and community links. Today, we continue to fight for an Australia free of poverty.

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New Research : Social Policy | Poverty
- topics include:
* Community * Cultural diversity * Families & households * Gender & sexuality * Immigration & refugees * Population * Poverty * Religion & faith * Social problems * Welfare * Youth

- Go to the Social Research Links in Other Countries (Non-Government) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/internatngo.htm

From the Child Rights Information Network (CRIN)

CRINMAIL is on break over the holidays.

Source:
CRINMAIL(incl. subscription info)
[ Child Rights Information Network (CRIN) ]

I am solely accountable for the choice of links presented therein and for the occasional editorial comment - it's my time, my home computer, my experience, my biases, my Rogers Internet account and my web hosting service.

I administer the mailing list and distribute the weekly newsletter using software on the web server of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE).
Thanks, CUPE!

If you wish to subscribe to the e-mail version of newsletter, go to the Canadian Social Research Newsletter Online Subscription page:
http://lists.cupe.ca/mailman/listinfo/csrl-news
...or send me an email message.
You can unsubscribe by going to the same page or by sending me an e-mail message [ gilseg@rogers.com ]

------------------------

The e-mail version of this newsletter is available only in plain text (no graphics, no hyperlinks, no fancy bolding or italics, etc.) to avoid security problems with government departments, universities and other networks with firewalls. The text-only version is also friendlier for people using older or lower-end technology.

Privacy Policy:
The Canadian Social Research Newsletter mailing list is not used for any purpose except to distribute each weekly issue.
I promise not share any information on this list, nor to send you any junk mail.

Links presented in the Canadian Social Research Newsletter point to different views about social policy and social programs.
There are some that I don't agree with, so don't get on my case, eh...

To access earlier online HTML issues of the Canadian Social Research Newsletter, go to the Newsletter page:
http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/news.htm

Please feel free to distribute this newsletter as widely as you wish, but please remember to mention Canadian Social Research Links when you do.

Cheers!
Gilles

E-MAIL:
gilseg@rogers.com

What's that called again?

1. The plastic things on the end of shoelaces are called aglets.

2. The apparatus used in alcohol distilleries for freeing the spirit from water is called the dephlegmator.

3. One who speaks two languages is bilingual or a diglot. More than two languages: polyglot

4. Ducks are never male. The males of the species are called drakes.

5. A specific length of thread or yarn according to the type of fiber is called a hank. 
For linen, a hank is 274 metres (300 yards); for cotton, it is 768 metres (840 yards).

6. The white part of your fingernail is called the lunula.

7. The thin line of cloud that forms behind an aircraft at high altitudes is called a contrail.

8. A depth of 2 fathoms (3,6 metres) is called a Mark Twain. Originally a fathom was the space reached by with two arms outstretched.

9. The back of the human hand is called the opisthenar.

10. Someone who uses as few words as possible when speaking is called pauciloquent.

11. People that study fish are called ichthyologists.

12. Compulsive shopping was identified by a German psychiatrist almost a hundred years ago. 
Clinically it is known as oniomania. Shopaholics are the people who do not suffer from chrematophobia, 
which is the fear of touching money.

13. In early France the distance a man could walk while smoking one pipeful of tobacco was called a pipee.

14. A philologist study linguistics and etymology.

15. Someone who habitually picks their nose is called a rhinotillexomaniac 
(rhino=nose, tillexis=habit of picking at something, mania=obsession with something)

16. A building in which silence is enforced, like a library or school room, is referred to as a silentium.


Source:
The internets

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And, in closing...