Canadian Social Research Newsletter
April 6, 2008

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 1876 subscribers.

Scroll to the bottom of this newsletter to see some notes and a disclaimer.

Canadian content

1. New from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives:
--- The Debt Trap (on Global TV, April 5 (rebroadcast May 24), with Armine Yalnizyan
--- The ‘Last Recession Spook’: A Very Curable Disease, April 2008 - by John Stapleton
--- CCPA Growing Gap website
2. Toronto subsidized apts. : 66 years to serve everyone on the waiting list, Ottawa must commit $ (Toronto Star) - April 5
3. Quebec poor getting poorer, says anti-poverty advisory committee report (Toronto Star) - April 3
4. Parliamentary committee's goal is a national poverty strategy (Toronto Star) - April 4
5. Employability in Canada: Preparing for the Future (House of Commons Standing Committee on Human Resources, Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities - HUMA) - April 1
6. Links to Anti-Poverty Strategies and Campaigns in Canada and Elsewhere (new page on this site, already doubled in size in one week --- 250 links!)
7. Campaign 2000 releases new report on child poverty in Ontario; working poor still losing ground - April 2
8. Fourth Report Card on Ending Homelessness in Ottawa Jan-Dec 2007 (Alliance to End Homelessness (Ottawa) - April 1
9. Charitable Organizations: help with your Registered Charity Information Return - the T3010A (The Charities File)
10. New from the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador:
--- Government Increases Income Support Benefits - April 1
--- Province Supports Tax Measures and Support Trusts for People with Disabilities - March 31
11. Minimum wage increase in Ontario effective March 31 (Ontario Ministry of Labour)
12. Cathy Crowe's Monthly Newsletter #44 - April 2008 (Homelessness, housing, Toronto) - April 1
13. What's New from Statistics Canada:
--- Labour Force Survey, March 2008 - April 4
--- Canada at a Glance 2008 - April 3
-- 2006 Census: Ethnic origin, visible minorities, place of work and mode of transportation - April 2
--- GeoSearch2006 Interactive Map of Canada - April 2008
--- More Census Year 2006 Statistics - April 2
--- Canada Year Book Historical Collection (1867 to 1967) - March 31
--- Gross domestic product by industry, January 2008 - March 31
--- Payroll employment, earnings and hours, January 2008 - March 31
14. Meeting of Federal-Provincial-territorial housing ministers - April 2
15. Links to the latest Saskatchewan welfare policy manual and rates updated
16. What's new from the Childcare Resource and Research Unit (Toronto) - April 4

International content

17. Poverty Dispatch: U.S. media coverage of social issues and programs (Institute for Research on Poverty - University of Wisconsin-Madison)
18. Australian Policy Online Weekly Briefing - selected recent content
19. CRINMAIL 970, 971 (April 2008) - (Child Rights Information Network - CRIN)

New from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives:

1. Feeling the debt squeeze?
We highly recommend watching a new documentary, The Debt Trap, on Global TV this Saturday, April 5 at 7 pm EST. The documentary features Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives Senior Economist Armine Yalnizyan, who makes the link between rising household debt and the growing income gap between the rich and the rest of us. The documentary will also be rebroadcast on May 24 at 7 pm EST.
The Debt Trap (Global TV)
[ Synopsis of the program ] (April 5 at 7 pm EST; rebroadcast on May 24 at 7 pm EST)

Related link:

CCPA reports by Armine Yalnizyan

2. Spooked by the prospect of recession?
Toronto-based social policy analyst John Stapleton teaches us a valuable history lesson with his new piece The ‘Last Recession Spook’: A Very Curable Disease, released by the CCPA as part of its Ontario Alternative Budget technical paper series. This paper looks at the history of public investments during economic downturns and finds the ghost of the last recession (in the 1990s) still haunts Canadians, limiting our thinking of what’s possible to modest terms. Exhorting Canadians to start real change and improvement, he writes, “The last recession was unlike all others and rather than reducing government programs during recessions, we used to increase them.”

The ‘Last Recession Spook’: A Very Curable Disease (PDF File, 157K, 5 pages)
April 2008
Source:
CCPA Ontario Alternative Budget series

Related link:

Open Policy Ontario
(John Stapleton's personal website, incl. links to more commentaries and presentations)

3. Want to learn more about the growing gap between the rich and the rest of us?
Check out our Growing Gap website, the ultimate resource on income inequality.

Source:
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives

- Go to the Social Research Organizations (I) in Canada page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/research.htm

From The Toronto Star:

Buddy can you spare a home?
April 5, 2008
By Laurie Monsebraaten
More than 66,000 individuals and families in Toronto are on the list for subsidized apartments in these buildings – a number city officials say would take 66 years to serve at the current rate of affordable housing construction. They are the tip of a veritable iceberg of need in a city where an estimated 200,000 low-income households spend more than 30 per cent of their income on rent and another 4,000 sleep in homeless shelters every night.

Ottawa must commit on housing: Province
April 5, 2008
By Laurie Monsebraaten
A Toronto plan to provide safe, affordable homes for more than 200,000 vulnerable families and individuals in the next 10 years may never get off the ground if Ottawa doesn't contribute, warns Ontario Housing Minister Jim Watson.

Source:
War on Poverty : Special coverage <===links to dozens and dozens of articles, editorials and reports
[ The Toronto Star ]

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

Quebec poor getting poorer: report
April 3, 2008
By Kristy Rich
QUEBEC CITY - The Quebec government must do more to protect the buying power of the poor from the rising costs of living, says a government advisory commitee created to ensure the government is respecting its Anti-Poverty Law. Though the cost of electricity and public transit are increasing, committee Chair Tommy Kulcyzk says the government has not fully indexed welfare payments.(..) The report's 11 recommendations include compensating welfare recipients for the cost of increasing tariffs by comparative increases in their sales tax refund; and cutting the cost of public transit fares in half over the next decade.
Source:
CJAD (Montreal AM radio)

Rates that exclude, solutions that unite
The advisory committee makes its first recommendation
Today, April 3, 2008, in Montréal, the chair of the Comité consultatif de lutte contre la pauvreté et l'exclusion sociale, Mr. Tommy Kulczyk, addressed the repercussions of rate increases on the living conditions of low-income individuals with the release of the advisory committee’s first recommendation. The committee illustrates how rate increases on basic commodities like heating, electricity and transportation compromise the ability of the impoverished and socially excluded to integrate society. These increases contribute to social exclusion by forcing these people to spend too much of their meagre resources on basic commodities and increasing their isolation.
The members of the advisory committee feel there is an urgent need to act on a situation that is creating a breach in the efforts made by Québec to fight poverty and social exclusion. The committee has drawn up eleven unifying recommendations comprising short-, medium- and long-term actions that are fully sustainable in approach.

L’urgence d’agir relativement aux répercussions des hausses tarifaires (PDF - 46K, 2 pages) - available in French only.
Communiqué
Montréal, le 3 avril 2008 – Le président du Comité consultatif de lutte contre la pauvreté et l’exclusion sociale, M. Tommy Kulczyk, a rendu public aujourd’hui le premier avis de cet organisme créé pour conseiller le ministre responsable de la mise en œuvre de la Loi visant à lutter contre la pauvreté et l’exclusion sociale sur les actions à entreprendre pour lutter contre la pauvreté et l’exclusion sociale. Cet avis s’intitule « Des tarifs qui excluent… Des solutions qui rassemblent ».

Les répercussions des hausses tarifaires sur les
conditions de vie des personnes à faible revenu (PDF - 1.1MB, 28 pages) - currently (April 6/08) available in French only (although a note on the inside cover page states that "this document is available in English; check the Committee's English home page to see if the English has now been posted on their site.)

Source:
Comité consultatif de lutte contre la pauvreté et l’exclusion sociale (CCLP)
[Consultative Committee on the Strategy to Combat Poverty and Social Exclusion]
(English home page)
Comité consultatif de lutte contre la pauvreté et l’exclusion sociale (CCLP)
(page d'accueil en français)

- Go to the Québec Links (English) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/qce.htm
- Rendez-vous à la page de liens de recherche sociale au Québec: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/qcbkmrk.htm

MPs from all parties set to tackle poverty
Committee plans to look at Regent Park's success with education program
April 4, 2008
By Richard Brennan
OTTAWA–A parliamentary committee is setting out to establish the framework for a national poverty strategy by meeting with groups and individuals across Canada already doing their bit to help the poor. The Human Resources and Social Development Committee decided yesterday it is high time for a plan, which would ultimately require federal government approval, to tackle the growing problem.
Source:
The Toronto Star

- Go to the Antipoverty Strategies and Campaigns page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/antipoverty.htm

Employability in Canada: Preparing for the Future
News Release
Ottawa, April 01, 2008
Today, Dean Allison, MP for Niagara West - Glanbrook and Chair of the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities, tabled a report in the House of Commons entitled Employability in Canada: Preparing for the Future. Framed in the context of skills shortages that are expected to emerge as Canada’s labour force ages, the Committee embarked on a study covering a wide range of employability issues including, for example, investments in human capital, increased labour force participation, worker mobility, the recognition of foreign workers’ credentials, immigration and the use of temporary foreign workers.

Employability in Canada : Preparing for the Future (PDF - 720K, 224 pages)
Report of the Standing Committee on Human Resources,
Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities
Dean Allison, MP (Chair)
April 2008
39th PARLIAMENT, 2nd SESSION
...study covering a wide range of employability issues including, for example, investments in human capital, increased labour force participation, worker mobility, the recognition of foreign workers’ credentials, immigration and the use of temporary foreign workers.

Source:
House of Commons Standing Committee on
Human Resources, Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities (HUMA)
[ Parliament of Canada website ]

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

Anti-Poverty Strategies and Campaigns in Canada and Elsewhere is a new Canadian Social Research Links page launched late last week.
I've been adding content since then - the number of links on the page went from 140 to almost 250, but there's a table of contents with links you can click to jump directly to a specific section of the page. So far, I've focused on Canadian poverty reduction strategies implemented or under consideration in Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec, Nova Scotia and Ontario; you'll also find links to info about poverty reduction strategies in the United States, the United Nations, Europe, Ireland and the United Kingdom - so far.

Campaign 2000 Releases New Report on Child Poverty in Ontario
Media release
April 2, 2008
Toronto - A new report from the anti-poverty coalition Ontario Campaign 2000 finds that 1 in every 8 children in Ontario is living in poverty, according to Statistics Canada data. In a time of low unemployment, the 2007 Report Card on Child & Family Poverty in Ontario confirms that the solution to family poverty is not as simple as getting a job. Seventy per cent of all low-income children in Ontario live in families where at least one parent is working part-time or full-time, yet they are not able to earn enough to lift family income above the poverty line.

Full report:

It Takes a Nation to Raise a Generation:
Time for a National Poverty Reduction Strategy
2007 report card on child and family poverty in Canada (PDF - 542K, 8 pages)

Source:
Campaign 2000

Related link:

Working poor still losing ground:
Report shows Ontario child poverty rate still rising; system penalizes working poor
April 2, 2008
By Laurie Monsebraaten
When Andrea Duffield's youngest child started Grade 1 last fall, the single mother of three got a part-time job in the hope of pulling her family out of poverty. But the extra income caused her subsidized rent to double. And after taxes and work-related expenses, her Toronto family wasn't any further ahead.
Source:
The Toronto Star

- Go to the Children, Families and Youth Links (NGO) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/chnngo.htm
- Go to the Ontario Municipal and Non-Governmental Sites (D-W) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/onbkmrk3.htm

New from the Alliance to End Homelessness (Ottawa):

Fourth Report Card on Ending Homelessness in Ottawa Jan-Dec 2007
2007 - A Step Backwards!
HOUSING: C-
INCOME: C
HOMELESSNESS : D
LENGTH OF SHELTER STAY : D-
- incl. links to report cards for earlier years

Read the complete 2007 Report Card (PDF - 2.5MB, 16 pages)
[ version française ]

Highlights (small PDF file, 1 page)
[ English ]
[ Français ]

Source:
Alliance to End Homelessness (Ottawa)
The Alliance to End Homelessness in Ottawa is a coalition of community stakeholders committed to working collaboratively to eliminate homelessness by gaining a better understanding of homelessness and developing and implementing strategies to end it.

Related link:

Ottawa failing its homeless
Advocacy group says municipal help for homeless falling far short of growing demand
By Terri Saunders, Sun Media
The city could find itself getting an F for its efforts to battle homelessness.A report being released today by the Alliance to End Homelessness is expected to show the city didn't do nearly enough last year to help put shelters over the heads of thousands of residents.
Source:
Canoe.ca

- Go to the Homelessness and Housing Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/homeless.htm
- Go to the Ontario Municipal and Non-Governmental Sites (A-C) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/onbkmrk2.htm

The Charities File
March 31st marks the fiscal year end for many Canadian charities. Within six months of fiscal year end, registered charities are required to file a Registered Charity Information Return - the T3010A - with the
Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). Visit The Charities File website to access Frequently Asked Questions about the T3010A and other valuable information for your registered charity. The Charities File is a joint project of the Canadian Federation of Voluntary Sector Networks and the Centre for Voluntary Sector Research and Development.

Related links:

The Canadian Federation of Voluntary Sector Networks
The Federation reaches out to both existing and emerging initiatives that work to build connections, cohesion, and capacity in the non-profit and voluntary sector, as well as informal networks of voluntary organizations that wish to explore the many models that we have discovered. [ About Us ]

Centre for Voluntary Sector Research and Development (CVSRD)
The Centre for Voluntary Sector Research and Development (CVSRD) "...works with networks of practitioners, academic researchers, and policy makers to undertake collaborative research and to provide innovative learning opportunities on emerging issues in the non-profit and voluntary sector, with a focus on: Sustainability and Leadership - Policy and Practice - Connections and Community

- Go to the Voluntary Sector Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/voluntary.htm

Newfoundland and Labrador:

What's new from Human Resources, Labour and Employment

Government Increases Income Support Benefits
April 1, 2008
In accordance with the Consumer Price Index (CPI), effective today April 1, the Williams Government, as part of the Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS), is increasing basic income support benefits by $2.4 million annually. (...) The PRS is focused on reducing, alleviating and preventing poverty in the province. Over a 10-year period, Newfoundland and Labrador intends to move from the jurisdiction with the highest poverty rates to one with the lowest in Canada.

Province Supports Tax Measures and Support Trusts for People with Disabilities
News Release
March 31, 2008
The Provincial Government has amended regulations to support improvements to the tax system for individuals with low incomes, and people with disabilities and their families by exempting both the federal Working Income Tax Benefit and the Registered Disability Saving Plan from the calculation of Income Support benefits. The two exemptions are effective April 1, 2008.

- Go to the Newfoundland and Labrador Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/nfbkmrk.htm

From the Ontario Ministry of Labour:

Minimum Wage goes up Monday (March 31)
A Better Standard Of Living For Hard Working Families
News Release
March 28, 2008
When minimum wage earners in Ontario go to work Monday, they will be getting a raise.
Ontario is raising the minimum wage to $8.75 on March 31, 2008. This is the fifth increase since 2004.

Ontario's Minimum Wage Increases 2007 to 2010
- two more increases to get it up to $10.25 per hour by March 31, 2010

Ontario Minimum Wage Fact Sheet
- excellent info about the minimum wage in Ontario in a question-and-answer format

Ontario Employment Standards

Minimum Wage - Frequently-Asked Questions
Source:
WorkSmartOntario
"... the official website of the Ontario Ministry of Labour
for young workers and new workers."

Related links:

Minimum wage scare
Editorial
April 1, 2008
Some social activists are calling it "recession spook" – the talk of a looming economic downturn and the subsequent need to rein in the province's anti-poverty agenda. In that vein, some economists have warned that yesterday's 75-cent increase in the minimum wage to $8.75 an hour will lead to job losses. But the evidence for that is inconclusive, at best.
Source:
The Toronto Star

Hourly Minimum Wages by Province/Territory for Adult Workers, 2005 to 2014
NOTE: All Canadian jurisdictions are increasing their minimum wage levels in 2008, most in April or May.
Given the limited resources available in a one-person operation like Canadian Social Research Links, minimum wages aren't covered in this site as well as they could be (except in my own province, of course...); click the link above to see when and by how much the minimum wage level is increasing in all provinces and territories, from 2005 to 2014.
Source:
Labour Program of Human Resources and Social Development Canada

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
Minimum wage (International)
This resource is worth viewing --- it contains information on minimum wages in 17 countries (including Canada), along with some objective information on the debate over consequences of minimum wage laws, costs and benefits of minimum wage legislation, recent trends in the U.S., policy alternatives to the minimum wage and much more.
TIP: See "References" and "External Links" (at the bottom of the table of contents) for links to dozens and dozens of free online resources!

WorkRights.Ca
WorkRights gives you a chance to access the latest information on the labour codes to your province, and to compare practices in your region with those of other provinces and territories in Canada.
HINT: for info on Canadian minimum wages, click on "Getting Paid" in the left margin of the page, then on "minimum wages"

- Go to the Minimum Wage /Living Wage Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/minwage.htm
- Go to the Ontario Government Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/onbkmrk.htm

Cathy Crowe's Monthly Newsletter
#44 - April 2008 Newsletter
Table of contents:
1. Home is more than four walls.
2. Stephen Harper and Stéphane Dion - Put down the Guns and pick up the Hammers and Nails!
3. Who’s Hot, Who’s Not!
PDF version of this newsletter (393K, 8 pages)

Newsletter Archive - links to newsletter issues back to the summer of 2007, PLUS a link (at the bottom of the page) to all issues back to #1 in 2004

To subscribe to Cathy's Monthly Newsletter,
send an email message to crowenews@sherbourne.on.ca

- Go to the Homelessness and Housing Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/homeless.htm
- Go to the Ontario Municipal and Non-Governmental Sites (A-C) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/onbkmrk2.htm

What's New from The Daily [Statistics Canada]:

April 4, 2008
Labour Force Survey, March 2008
Following two months of large gains, employment edged up slightly in March (+15,000). A surge of entrants into the labour market caused the unemployment rate to move up 0.2 percentage points to 6.0%. Canada's participation rate reached a new record high of 68.0% in March.

April 3, 2008
Canada at a Glance 2008
Canada at a Glance presents the current Canadian demographic, education, health, justice, housing, income, labour market, economic, travel, financial, and foreign trade statistics. This booklet also includes important international comparisons, so that readers can see how Canada stacks up against its neighbours. Updated yearly, Canada at a glance is a very useful reference for those who want quick access to current Canadian statistics.
Complete report in PDF format (1.4MB, 27 pages)
Complete report in HTML format (links to each section)
[section links appear immediately below]
* Demography (population by age and geography, census families, population growth, Aboriginal identity, language, urban-rural population, immigrant population as % of total population)
* Health (mortality rates by selected causes, life expectancy, cancer, infant mortality)
* Education (educational attainment, university degrees granted)
* Justice (reported crime stats, crime rate)
* Housing (building permits, housing tenure, housing starts, new housing price index)
* Income (median after-tax income by economic family type, persons with low income after tax, family units and net worth, by net worth group)
* Labour markets (labour force characteristics by sex, average weekly earnings by industry)
* International comparisons (comparing various stats for Canada and United States, Mexico, France, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom, Japan, OECD)
* Economy (employment by industry group, gross domestic product, sales by retail trade group, new motor vehicle sales in Canada, manufacturing industries, consumer price index, capital expenditures on construction, oil and gas marketable production, operating profits of Canadian enterprises, industrial capacity utilization rates)
* Agriculture (average farm size, farm population, operating arrangements of farms, net farm income, average operating revenues and expenses per farm and operating margins, number and area of farms, Canada
* Travel (transportation, international travellers entering Canada by type of transport, top 10 countries of origin for overnight visitors to Canada, top 10 foreign countries visited by Canadians
* Finance (international transactions in securities, federal general government revenue and expenditures, central bank rate)
* Foreign trade (Canada's major trading partners [balance-of-payment basis], exports and imports of goods, balance-of-payment basis, Canada’s merchandise trade balance, current account balances, exchange rate, Canada’s investment position with the rest of the world)
[ earlier editions of Canada at a Glance ]

April 2, 2008
2006 Census: Ethnic origin,
visible minorities, place of work and mode of transportation
Statistics Canada today releases detailed analyses of data from the 2006 Census on ethnic origin, visible minorities, place of work and mode of transportation.
These analyses are now available in two online documents:
Canada's Ethnocultural Mosaic, 2006 Census (PDF - 450K, 36 pages)
Commuting Patterns and Places of Work of Canadians, 2006 Census (1.5MB, 42 pages)

April 2, 2008
More Census Year 2006 Statistics - new for-free and for-fee products on the 2006 Census!

GeoSearch2006 Interactive Map of Canada
April 2008
This interactive mapping application makes it easy to find many places in Canada, see them on a map, and get basic geographic and demographic data for those places. To find a specific place of interest, users can click and zoom in on a map of Canada or they can search by place name, street name, street intersection or postal code. GeoSearch will display the appropriate map showing boundaries and other features. GeoSearch automatically displays population and dwelling counts for the selected places, and shows what kind of geographic area it is and its relationship to other geographic areas.
- incl. links to 2006 Census reference maps and community profile tables, and a thematic mapping option for selected census topics (for selected levels of geography).
(Excerpt from Product Main Page)

March 31, 2008
Featured product:
Canada Year Book Historical Collection (1867 to 1967)
Statistics Canada today launches the Canada Year Book Historical Collection, a wealth of historical data in digitized format compiled from 100 years of the Agency's annual Canada Year Book (CYB).This new module, available free of charge on our website, covers the first century of Canadian history following Confederation in 1867, through to 1967, with historical text, tables, charts and maps. It is supplemented by interconnected learning resources for students and teachers.
- contains 100+ photos and nearly 50 maps dating back to 1868, as well as over 75 charts and 1,200 tables. Completing the picture are multimedia extras, such as newspaper clippings, video clips and posters. There are details on the lives and work of politicians, industrialists, scientists, agriculturalists and others who shaped the land, economy and society of Canada.

Browse the collection by year
- 1867 to 1967

Browse the collection by topic
*Changing families and households * Lives of men and women * Occupations * Economic gains * The Great Depression * Communications * Ethnocultural diversity * Provinces and manufacturing * Immigration and emigration * Canada at war

[ more recent issues of the Canada Year Book - $ ]

March 31, 2008
Gross domestic product by industry, January 2008
Gross domestic product was up 0.6% in January, as the economy bounced back from the 0.7% decline registered in December 2007. Growth was broadly based, with wholesale trade and manufacturing leading the way. Growth in manufacturing in January was widespread, with almost one-third of the gain attributable to the partial recovery in motor vehicle manufacturing.

March 31, 2008
Payroll employment, earnings and hours, January 2008
The average weekly earnings of payroll employees (seasonally adjusted) stood at $785.14 in January, up $4.38 (+0.6 %) from December. Compared with a year earlier, average weekly earnings were up 3.0%. In Canada's largest industrial sectors, earnings were up 3.3% in manufacturing, 2.8% in health and social assistance, 2.5% in educational services, and 1.6% in retail trade compared with a year earlier.

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

Provinces and Territories Disappointed with
Federal Government’s Lack of Engagement on Housing Issues in Canada
News Release
April 3, 2008
Provincial and Territorial Ministers Responsible for Housing met last night with the Honourable Monte Solberg, Federal Minister Responsible for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation in Gatineau, Québec, to discuss a series of critical housing issues. The provincial/territorial housing ministers expressed their great disappointment that Minister Solberg is not able to provide a firm response to any of the issues they raised.
Source:
News Releases (Government of Newfoundland and Labrador)
[NL is co-chair of the next Housing Ministers’ conference]
---
This news release is also available from the
Canadian Intergovernmental Conference Secretariat
and the
Federal Government News Centre

NOTE: As at April 6/08, there was no federal news release about the event on the websites of the Federal Government News Centre and Human Resources and Social Development (the HRSDC Minister is responsible for housing in Canada). Funny. Not funny ha-ha...

<begin taxpayer rant>

According to information obtained by the Wellesley Institute, the "meeting" was scheduled to last ninety minutes - extended from the half-hour that HRSDC Minister originally offered to spend with his provincial counterparts. After all, they had a lot of catching up to do --- they hadn't met in three years. But that's a whole *other* rant, best left to the Michael Shapcotts and the David Hulchanskis of the world. This rant is about the federal government calling together so many people (ministers and staffers) from across Canada for a meeting that lasted 90 minutes. How many of my tax dollars are wasted on this largely symbolic gesture?
[Canada hasn't had a national housing policy since 1993 and the feds are willing to spend an hour and a half talking about it - less time than it took ministers to reach Centretown Ottawa by cab from the airport for the meeting.]

</end taxpayer rant>

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

Related links:

From the
The Wellesley Institute:

They came, they saw...nothing happened
April 3, 2008
By Michael Shapcott
Canada's housing ministers held their first national meeting in almost three years on Wednesday evening in Ottawa, at the invitation of federal housing minister Monte Solberg. The provincial and territorial ministers left the meeting disappointed. Not only did they fail to get any specific commitments from the federal minister regarding the expiry of the three major national housing and homelessness programs this year, but the provincial and territorial ministers failed to get any promises regarding the deteriorating federal support for the country's existing social housing or even some much-needed attention to the urgent housing concerns facing Aboriginal people...

Federal, provincial, territorial housing ministers meet today
April 2, 2008
- incl. links to further resources from TD Economics, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation and Wellesley Institute's own National Housing Report Card (released in early February of 2008).

FPT housing ministers finally set to meet!
March 30, 2008
By Michael Shapcott
Federal, provincial and territorial housing ministers are set to meet on Wednesday for the first time in more than two and one-half years, according to several reports. Provincial and territorial housing ministers met in early February in Vancouver, and had invited federal housing minister Monte Solberg to join them. Minister Solberg decided to boycott that meeting, but in the face of strong pressure, send a message to his provincial and territorial counterparts promising to meet within 60 days.

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

Some context : News release and related document
from the previous (Feb. '08) housing ministers' conference:

Provincial-Territorial Meeting of Ministers responsible for Housing:
"We are unified in taking action to address housing needs"
Vancouver, British Columbia
February 6, 2008
Provincial and Territorial Ministers
VANCOUVER - February 6, 2008 – Provincial and territorial ministers responsible for housing are taking action and engaging the federal government to address the country’s critical housing issues. Ministers stress the urgency of responding quickly to support the four million Canadians in need. (...) Ministers were disappointed the federal minister was not present at the forum; however, while at the meeting, ministers received a commitment to meet with the federal minister in Ottawa within 60 days. At that meeting, Provinces and Territories expect to establish a federal/provincial/territorial partnership based upon White Point principles, including adequate sustainable funding. The White Point principles can be found online at http://www.scics.gc.ca/cinfo05/860507005_e.html
Source:
Canadian Intergovernmental Conference Secretariat

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

Federal funding for aboriginal housing, education 'woefully inadequate': Ontario
McGuinty: Flaherty's wrong about Ont.
By Chinta Puxley
March 19, 2008
TORONTO - Ottawa is "woefully" underfunding First Nations communities when it comes to housing, health care and education, and provinces aren't rich enough to pick up the slack, Ontario's aboriginal affairs minister said Wednesday.
Source:
C-News (CANOE)

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

Canada lacks housing strategy
Editorial
March 5, 2008
Housing is one of the most basic needs. Yet federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's only acknowledgement of that in his budget speech last week was to say that Canadians "want healthy, safe communities." His budget did nothing to help low- to middle-income families get and keep housing they can afford. (...) Canada is the only major country in the world without a national housing strategy.
Source:
The Toronto Star

Further reading:

NOTE: the following isn't directly related to the recent federal-provincial-territorial
housing ministers' meeting, but if you're interested in what's above, you'll likely be interested in what's below.

Public housing - from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- incl. overviews of public housing in Canada and United States, as well as twelve other countries from Australia to the United Kingdom

Affordable housing - from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- incl. overviews of affordable housing in the US, the UK and Canada (only Ontario, though)

Subsidized housing - from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

From CTV:

Canada ranks best on housing affordability survey
Updated January 30, 2008

Canada is at the top of the list in a new study comparing housing affordability in six countries.

The Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey: 2008 (PDF - 768K, 52 pages) released by Wendell Cox Consultancy, compared conditions in the larger cities of Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Source:
DEMOGRAPHIA
"Demographics, Developmental Impacts, Market Research and Urban Policy"

- Go to the Homelessness and Housing Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/homeless.htm

Updated links to the welfare policy manual and current rates:
* Social Assistance Plan Policy Manual Online
(PDF file - 468K, 148 pages - September 2007)
* Current Social Assistance Rates
(PDF file - 189K, 1 page)

Related manuals:
* Social Assistance Handbook (PDF file - 468K, 24 pages)
* Transitional Employment Allowance Policy Manual (PDF file - 176K, 37 pages)

Of course, these manuals and rates are meaningless without a context.

For links to more detailed contextual info on welfare in Saskatchewan:
Go to the Key Provincial/Territorial Welfare Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/welfare.htm
Go to the Saskatchewan Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/skbkmrk.htm

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

April 4, 2008

New CRRU Issue File:
What do mealtimes and food mean in early childhood programs?
4 Apr 08
- Issue File from CRRU that focuses on food polices and the significance of mealtime practices in child care programs.

Diversity and equality guidelines for childcare providers
4 Apr 08
- Document from the Department of Health and Children, Ireland, that seeks to raise awareness of all diversity in the early childhood and education sector.

For love or money: Pay, progression and professionalisation in the ‘early years’ workforce
4 Apr 08
- Report from the Institute for Public Policy Research highlights the perpetuation of low pay and poorly qualified practitioners in the UK early years workforce.

The need to improve: Canadian child care
4 Apr 08
- Article in Canadian Family magazine discussing Canada’s ‘patchwork’ child care system and the need for a universal plan.

Government departments change to reflect island priorities
4 Apr 08
- Press release from the Premier’s office in PEI announcing government department shifts including the blending of education and early childhood development.

more WHAT'S NEW ONLINE »

child care in the news

· Union report sounds alarm over foreign daycare chains [CA-ON]
2 Apr 08

· Majority of nursery staff are poorly qualified [UK]
2 Apr 08

· Corporate link to child care draws concern [CA-ON]
1 Apr 08

· Childcare subsidization starts today [CN]
1 Apr 08

· Low wages causing widespread recruitment problems in community social services—study [CA-BC]
25 Mar 08

more CC IN THE NEWS »

Related Links:

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)

- 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 twice a week
- links to news items from the American press about poverty, welfare reform, child welfare, education, health, hunger, Medicare and Medicaid, etc.

April 3, 2008
* Spending on Low-income Family Support Programs - Massachusetts
* Reports on States' Child Well-being
* Medicaid Reimbursement Rate - Iowa
* Health Insurance Coverage for Children - Ohio
* Prenatal Care and Medicaid - Oklahoma
* Housing First Plan - Washington, D.C.
* Low-income Home Energy Assistance Program - Pennsylvania
* State Economies and Budgets
* Early Childhood Education
* City High School Graduation Rates
* States and Calculating Graduation Rates
* States and Immigration Laws

March 31, 2008
* Food Stamp Program Enrollment
* Child Welfare Computer System - Ohio
* Child Welfare System - Alabama
* Medicaid Funding - Mississippi
* State Children's Health Insurance Program - Kentucky
* State Budgets and Spending on Programs and Education
* New Jersey FamilyCare Health Program Audit
* Home Energy Assistance Programs and Rising Costs - Maryland
* Re-entry from Institutions and Homelessness - Kentucky
* The Working Poor - Michigan, Tennessee, Florida, Texas
* High School Graduation Rates - Ohio, Florida
* College Scholarship Program for Low-income Students - Washington
* Access to Cable and Internet Services for the Low-income
* Prescription Drug Program for the Uninsured - West Virginia
* Arizona Guest Worker Program
* Opinions: Understanding and Fighting Poverty

Search Poverty Dispatches
IRP compiles and distributes Poverty Dispatches, links to Web-based news items dealing with poverty, welfare reform, and related topics twice a week. Each Dispatch lists links to current news in popular print media. Persons wishing to receive Poverty Dispatches by e-mail should send a request to rsnell@ssc.wisc.edu.

Past Poverty Dispatches - back to June 2006

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

APO Weekly Briefing ===> the content of this link changes each week
The content of this page changes each week, and it includes links to a few book/report reviews, about two dozen new reports, a few job ads and 60 events (mostly conferences) of interest to social researchers...
Source:
Australian Policy Online (APO)
With nearly 120 member centres and institutes, Australian Policy Online offers easy access to much of the best Australian social, economic, cultural and political research available online.
NOTE: the APO home page includes links to the five most popular reports on the APO website, and this list is updated each week.

APO Archive
The APO archive is grouped into 23 subject areas, with entries appearing in reverse chronological order.
* Ageing *Asia and the pacific * Citizenship and the law * Disability * Economics and trade * Education * Employment and workplace relations * The environment * Foreign policy and defence * Gender and sexuality * Health * Housing * Families and households * Immigration and refugees * Income, poverty and wealth * Indigenous * Media, communications and cultural policy * Politics and government * Population, multiculturalism and ethnicity * Religion and faith * Rural and regional * Science and technology * Social policy * Urban and regional planning * 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):

3 April 2008 - CRINMAIL 971
* IBERO-AMERICA: First Youth Rights Convention [news]
* IRAN: Attacks against Bahá’í school children [publication]
* CANADA: Ontario Court decision to jail indigenous leaders fails children [news]
* OMBUDSWORK: Standing up for children's rights [publication]
* UNITED STATES: Govt to triple cash for HIV and AIDS [news]
* MOZAMBIQUE: Scratching the surface of child trafficking [news]
**NEWS IN BRIEF**
**QUIZ**

1 April 2008 - CRINMAIL 970
* EUROPE: "The key to the promotion of Roma rights: early and inclusive education" [publication]
* BOLIVIA: Ombudsperson to challenge military service law with international authorities [news]
* SOMALIA: Crisis deteriorates, aid agencies warn [news]
* HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL: Mainstreaming child rights [news]
* GERMANY: European Master in Childhood Studies and Children’s Rights [event]
* EMPLOYMENT - ISS UK
**FROM THE FRONTLINE** Gilbert Onyango [interview]
**NEWS IN BRIEF**

Earlier issues of CRINMAIL
- links to 300+ earlier weekly issues, many of which are special editions focusing on special themes, such as the 45th Session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

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

- Go to the Children's Rights Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/chnrights.htm

Disclaimer/Privacy Statement

Both Canadian Social Research Links (the site) and this Canadian Social Research Newsletter belong solely to me, Gilles Séguin.

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

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

A $10 cheap corded phone
could be your lifeline in an emergency!

Things that don't work when there's a Hydro blackout:

- Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) phone service (your computer and the Internet are likely both without power).
- Cordless phones (they need the AC power to work - try unplugging the AC adapter for your cordless phone and see how useful it would be in a blackout.)
- Wireless or cellular phones (cellular towers and antennas can suffer extensive storm damage, wireless service may be down, no Hydro to recharge the phone).

Take an inventory of the telephones in your house. If you *don't* have at least one that has a cord that's plugged directly into a phone jack and that is not dependent on electricity to operate (i.e., no AC adapter), you could be in deep doo-doo the next time a large-scale power outage occurs. A corded phone that runs without a power cord/adapter or batteries will cost you around ten bucks at any Superstore or Circuit City. You don't even need to remove the shrink-wrap on the phone when you get it home - just stash it somewhere, and remember where you put it the next time Hydro goes out. There's enough power coming into your home via the phone lines to allow you use a phone "just like in the old days" - no bells and no whistles, just a direct land line connection with the outside world.

NOTE: You know how I've said in the past that I hate it when people add me to their mailing lists and forward all kinds of crap to me based on the assumption that I share their sense of humour?
Well, THAT hasn't changed, but this corded-phone tip is the kind of information that people should be sending to all their mailing list contacts.
[Gilles]

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

Cheap Techie Corner:

Balking at the cost of Microsoft Office software?
Consider giving these a try...

Free Office Productivity Software & Services
(Review from PC World)

[Comment by Gilles: The first three resources below are free web-based applications, i.e., you can access, edit and share your work files from any computer with Internet access. Which is very cool, but also very risky if you're working on confidential reports. If the thought of leaving all of your "stuff" online doesn't appeal to you, skip to the last item below, OpenOffice, which is a full suite of programs that you download and install on your computer. All OpenOffice programs are Microsoft-compatible - they can create and edit all Microsoft files and save in Microsoft format. BTW - don't even try to download the OpenOffice suite using a dialup connection; it would take days to download the monster file. If you do have a dialup connection, ask a friend with a broadband connection to download and copy it to a CD for you.

Zoho
What makes Zoho the winner is that it doesn’t merely try to copy Microsoft Office functionality. It’s web-based, so you can collaborate with others on your documents, for example. But the functionality of even the base software beats Microsoft’s offering in some areas; for creating HTML and graphics-heavy documents, for instance, it surpasses Word. This is the best and most comprehensive web-based office suite you can find. Included are a word processor, a spreadsheet, a presentation program, and a database builder – and plenty of other productivity applications are being added all the time.

Google Docs and Spreadsheets
Like Zoho, the web-based Google Docs and Spreadsheets lets you work with others as well as create and edit documents and spreadsheets. Its collaboration features are particularly noteworthy, and it uses Google’s search to make finding any document fast.

Num Sum (create and share spreadsheets for all occasions)
While Num Sum includes all of the features you would expect it to have, it’s also a social-networking site where you can share spreadsheets with like-minded others. It’s a great setup for anyone who’s interested in sharing spreadsheets to track home maintenance or a workout schedule, for example.

Ajax 13
This web suite has more features than competitors like Zoho, including everything from a word processor to a drawing program, a spreadsheet, a presentation app, and even a digital music player.

OpenOffice.org
Not happy with the idea of a web-based office application? Then you want the downloadable OpenOffice.org, the free competitor to Microsoft Office. A complete suite, it provides a word processor, a spreadsheet, a presentation program, a database – and, for übergeeks, a “mathematical function calculator” (if you have to ask what it is, you don’t need it).

***********************