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 1810 subscribers.
Scroll to the bottom of this
newsletter to see some notes and a disclaimer.
IN
THIS ISSUE:
Canadian Content
1. (Toronto Star) Ontario Provincial
Election and Referendum - October 10
--- Fight to end poverty a hard sell - October 6
--- Highlights of Party Platforms
--- McGuinty vows targets in bid to cut poverty levels -
October 2
--- Pros and cons of MMP (Mixed Member Proportional) - October 1
--- Electoral reform a backward step - September 30
2. What's new from Finance Canada:
--- Draft Legislative Proposals to Implement the Registered Disability
Savings Plan - October 2
--- Legislative Proposals and Explanatory Notes to Implement Remaining
Budget 2007 Tax Measures - October 2
--- With the Legislation unveiled, it is time to
be heard (John Stapleton) - October 6
3. Saskatchewan : Minimum Wage Increase
Announced (Saskatchewan Labour) - October 3
4. Reducing Work-Life Conflict: What Works and What Doesn't
(Health Canada) - October 2007
5. New [passport] guarantor policy in effect (Passport Canada)-
October 1
6. What's New from Statistics Canada:
--- Employment Insurance Coverage Survey, 2006 - October 3
--- Study: Birth outcomes by neighbourhood income and recent
immigration in Toronto, 1996 to 2001 - October 2
7. Lost in the Shuffle : The Impact of Homelessness on Children's
Education in Toronto (Community Social Planning Council of Toronto)
- October 1
8. What's New from The Tyee (BC):
--- Wages (British
Columbia) - August-October 2007
--- Ending Poverty : Five easy steps towards a just society -
September 4
9. What's New - from the Childcare Resource and Research Unit
(University of Toronto) - October 5
International Content
10. Poverty Dispatch: U.S. media coverage of social
issues and programs
11. The impact of minimum wage increases on single mothers
(U.S.) (Employment Policies Institute) - September 2007
12. October 4, 2007 - CRINMAIL 921 (Child Rights Information Network -
CRIN)
Forty Things An Alzheimer's Caregiver
Needs To Remember
|
1.
(Toronto Star) Ontario Provincial Election and Referendum - October 10 |
From the Toronto Star:
Fight
to end poverty a hard sell
October 6, 2007
Poverty will always be with us. You've heard the refrain. You've seen
the helpless shrug. But does it have to be that way? A growing number
of social activists say no. And they point to countries in Europe and
provinces right here at home that have cut poverty by drafting plans,
setting goals, dedicating funds – and measuring progress.
Highlights
of Party Platforms (PDF file - 320K, 1 page)
- *Health * Environment * Economy * Education * Poverty * Cities
More
campaign platforms - October 6
*Poverty Reduction Strategy * Minimum Wage * Affordable Housing
McGuinty vows targets in bid to cut poverty levels
Premier has 'thrown down gauntlet' to other parties with pledge, food
bank director says
October 02, 2007
More than 1 million Ontarians live in poverty but a key step in
changing that was promised yesterday by Premier Dalton McGuinty,
anti-poverty groups say. If the Liberals are re-elected, McGuinty said
he'll make poverty reduction a priority and he'll introduce firm
reduction targets within a year so the government can be measured on
its progress.
Pros
and cons of MMP
October 1, 2007
On a mixed-member proportional representation ballot, voters are asked
to make two marks: one for a party (on the left) and one for a local
candidate (on the right). The local candidate with the most votes is
elected as with the current system, but additional seats are
apportioned based on the party vote. This is a sample only - Elections
Ontario would design its own if MMP is approved.
Source:
The Toronto
Star's Guide to the MMP
Electoral reform
a backward step
September 30, 2007
"(...) No one suggests that first-past-the post is perfect. But
Ontario's current system is democratic and robust, delivering strong,
stable government that works. Why strain to "fix" what isn't broken?"
COMMENT: I dunno about you, but I'm starting to get dizzy from the contradictory analysis and advice we're getting about MMP - the left-leaning Toronto Star trashes the MMP, but the 103 impartial Ontario citizens who studied all of the issues as part of the Ontario Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform recommended in their report "that Ontario adopt a Mixed Member Proportional system, specifically designed to meet the unique needs of Ontario." I'm going with the Citizens' Assembly recommendation. Read their report, One Ballot, Two Votes: A New Way to Vote in Ontario, below. Read the background report on the Citizens' Assembly (Democracy at Work), also below, if you're not sure whether these people can be trusted. <They can. Sez me.>
---------------------------------------------------------
Ontario
Citizens’ Assembly
- Govt. of Ontario website about the Mixed Member Proportional voting
system
One
Ballot,Two Votes : A New Way to Vote in Ontario (PDF file -
912K, 32 pages)
Final Report and Recommendation of the Ontario Citizens' Assembly on
Electoral Reform
May 15, 2007
[ Related
resources ]
Background report on the Citizens' Assembly:
Democracy
at Work:
The Ontario Citizens Assembly on Electoral Reform (PDF
file - 3.5MB, 280 pages)
May 2007
Democracy at Work documents the Citizens' Assembly process in detail
and describes the Mixed Member Proportional electoral system the
Assembly has recommended. This report complements One Ballot, Two
Votes: A New Way to Vote in Ontario.
More Ontario Election links:
Elections
Ontario (Government of Ontario website)
Ontario
Votes 2007 - from the CBC
Ontario
Provincial Election 2007 - from Nodice.ca
Referendum
Ontario (from Elections
Ontario)
- first past the post (FPTP) or mixed member proportional (MMP)???
Ontario
Referendum: The Pros and Cons - from Progressive Bloggers
NOMMP
Vote for
MMP
Working
Families
Electoral
Reform Initiatives in Canadian Provinces (June 2006) - from
the Library
of Parliament Research Publications
- Go to the Political Parties and Elections Links in Canada (Provinces and Territories) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/politics_prov_terr.htm
|
2.
What's new from Finance Canada: |
What's new from the Department
of Finance Canada:
Canada’s New
Government Introduces Draft Legislative
Proposals to Implement the Registered Disability Savings Plan
October 2, 2007
The Honourable Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance, and the Honourable
Monte Solberg, Minister of Human Resources and Social Development,
today released draft legislative proposals to implement the Registered
Disability Savings Plan (RDSP) announced in Budget 2007.
(...)
RDSPs are being introduced in response to the recommendations of the Minister of Finance’s
Expert Panel on Financial Security for Children with Severe Disabilities,
which tabled its
report in December 2006.
(...)
Under the new measure, individuals who qualify for the disability tax
credit, or their parents or other legal guardian, will be able to
establish an RDSP. RDSPs will be eligible to receive payments of the
new Canada Disability Savings Grants (CDSGs) and, for low- and
modest-income beneficiaries, Canada Disability Savings Bonds (CDSBs).
(...)
Interested parties are invited to provide comments in writing on the
draft legislative proposals. Comments can be sent jointly to the Tax
Policy Branch, Department of Finance and the Office of Disability
Issues, Human Resources and Social Development Canada at 140 O’Connor
Street, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0G5 on or before
October 23, 2007. Following this consultation period, the
Government intends to introduce legislation, including regulations
under the Canada Disability Savings Act, to implement the program as
quickly as possible.
Related Document:
------------------------------------------------------------
Canada’s New
Government Continues to Reduce Taxes for All Canadians
October 2, 2007
"(...)Minister Flaherty today released draft legislation designed to
implement tax measures proposed in Budget 2007 but not included in the Budget Implementation
Act, 2007, which received Royal Assent on June 22, 2007. The
legislation released today introduces a new Working Income Tax Benefit
(WITB)...
(...)
The legislative proposals are being released in draft form so taxpayers
and their advisors will have an opportunity to consider and comment on
them before they are introduced in Parliament. Detailed explanatory
notes on the proposals are also being released with the draft
amendments.
Comments on the proposals are requested by October 23, 2007. Once the consultation period is over, the Government will work toward introducing these measures in Parliament at the earliest opportunity.
Related Document:
*
Legislative Proposals and Explanatory Notes
to Implement Remaining Budget 2007 Tax Measures
NOTE: the draft legislation concerning the WITB is on pages 72-77 of
the PDF file, and the detailed explanatory notes are on pages 235-245.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Related link:
The Working
Income Tax Benefit (WITB) and Registered Disability Savings Plan
(RDSP):
With the Legislation unveiled, it is time to be heard
October 6, 2007
By John Stapleton
On October 2, 2007 with little fanfare, Finance
Minister Jim Flaherty tabled the long expected detailed proposals to
enact the Budget proposals first announced on March 19, 2007. There is
a standalone set of proposals for the Registered Disability Savings
Plan (RDSP) and a separate omnibus to enact the details of everything
else in Budget 2007.
(What's this all about? see "Reading the Fine Print")
- Go to the Asset-Based Social Policies Links
page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/assets.htm
- Go to the Disability Links page:
http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/disbkmrk.htm
|
3. Saskatchewan : Minimum Wage Increase Announced
- October 3 |
Saskatchewan
Minimum
Wage Increase Announced
News Release
October 3, 2007
"(...)The increase will take place in three stages that will see the
minimum wage move to $8.25 per hour on January 1, 2008, to $8.60 on May
1, 2008 and to $9.25 per hour on May 1, 2009. The minimum call out pay,
which is three times the level of the minimum wage, will also increase
accordingly. An adjustment will also be made to minimum wage in 2010 to
bring the minimum wage to the Low Income Cut-off (LICO). Along with
this increase, legislation will be introduced that permits the minimum
wage to be indexed in future years annually on May 1, to the consumer
price index. Indexing the minimum wage beginning in 2010 will ensure
that minimum wage workers are able to maintain a standard of living
equivalent to the LICO. ...) There are approximately 12,400 minimum
wage earners in Saskatchewan."
Source:
Saskatchewan Labour
[ Government of Saskatchewan ] Related links:
Saskatchewan's
minimum wage earners get a boost
October 3, 2007
Source:
CBC Saskatchewan
Minimum
wage raises mega reactions
October 4, 2007
Source:
Saskatoon
StarPhoenix
-------------------------------------------------
From the Labour Program of Human Resources and Social Development Canada:
Minimum
Wage Database Introduction
Great description of minimum wages in Canada - history, current
situation, legislation, boards, special categories of workers, etc.
Current and forthcoming minimum wage levels for adult workers in Canada
Hourly
Minimum Wages in Canada for Adult Workers - 1965 to 2014
NOTE: this information is broken up into five files - one for each
decade.
The link takes you to the latest ten-year period; click the date links
at the top of the page to open pages for earlier periods.
Current And Forthcoming Minimum Wage Rates
in Canada for Young Workers and Specific Occupations
Customized
Search for Minimum Wages in Canada
Extensive information on minimum wages in Canada - historical and
current rates for each jurisdiction in Canada for experienced workers
and special categories of workers. This database lets you customize a
search for minimum wages in any given jurisdiction from 1965 to date.
Related link:
Employment Standards Legislation in Canada
- Go to the Minimum Wage /Living Wage Links
page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/minwage.htm
- Go to the Saskatchewan Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/skbkmrk.htm
|
4. Reducing
Work-Life Conflict: What Works and What Doesn't - October 2007 |
Reducing
Work-Life Conflict: What Works and What Doesn't (PDF file -
3.4MB, 212 pages)
By Dr. Chris Higgins, Dr. Linda Duxbury and Sean Lyons
*October 2007
Source:
Health Canada
<begin date rant.>
* Hey, Health Canada --- how about dating your reports???
I couldn't find a single date in this entire 212-page report.
According to the Properties menu of the PDF file, this report was
produced in either September or October 2007.
<end date rant.>
This is the fifth report in a series of six.
Links
to the four earlier reports:
* Report One: The 2001 National Work–Life Conflict Study
* Report Two: Work–Life Conflict in Canada in the New Millennium: A
Status Report
* Report Three: Exploring the Link between Work–Life Conflict and the
Use of Canada’s Health Care System
* Report Four: Who Is at Risk? Predictors of High Work–Life Conflict
* Report Five: Reducing Work–Life Conflict: What Works? What Doesn’t?
Yet to come:
* Report Six : Work–Life Conflict in Canada in the New Millennium: Key
Findings and Recommendations from the 2001 National Work–Life Conflict
Study
Source:
Public
Health Agency of Canada
- Go to the Health Links
(Canada/International) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/health.htm
- Go to the Work-Life Balance Links page:
http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/work_life_balance.htm
|
5. New [passport]
guarantor policy in effect -
October 1 |
New
[passport] guarantor policy in effect
News Release
October 1, 2007
Gatineau, Québec - The Honourable Maxime Bernier, Minister of
Foreign Affairs today announced a new guarantor policy for Canadian
passports. This new policy allows most Canadian adult passport holders
residing in Canada or the U.S. to act as guarantors for passport
applications. (...)
Under the new policy effective today, an
eligible guarantor must:
* Be a Canadian citizen 18 years of age or older;
* Hold a five-year Canadian passport that is valid or has been expired
for no more than one year;
* Have been 16 years of age or older when they applied for their own
passport; and
* Have known the applicant personally for at least two years.
Source:
Passport Canada
NOTE: this news has nothing whatsoever to do with social justice,
poverty or welfare.
But if you've ever had to ask your dentist or lawyer to act as
guarantor in the passport process, you'll want to thank Canada's New
Government for making your life simpler.
<Hey - did I just say something nice about CNG? Ack!!>
|
6. What's New from
Statistics Canada: |
What's New from The Daily [Statistics Canada]:
October 3, 2007
Employment
Insurance Coverage Survey, 2006
The number of people who have received regular Employment Insurance
benefits has declined significantly during the past four years.
However, an analysis of new data from the Employment Insurance Coverage
Survey shows that this decline has been due mainly to a drop in
unemployment, rather than a change in the composition of the unemployed.
October 2, 2007
Study:
Birth outcomes by neighbourhood income
and recent immigration in Toronto, 1996 to 2001
Despite improvements over time in indicators such as infant
mortality, adverse birth outcomes continue to be a concern in
industrialized countries. This is especially true for preterm birth,
which is the single most important cause of perinatal mortality. Unlike
socio-economic disadvantage, recent immigration is less well understood
as a dimension of potential disparities in birth outcomes.This article,
published today in Health Reports, analyzes differences in birth
outcomes in Toronto on the basis of neighbourhood income and recent
immigration.
Source:
Health
Reports
[ earlier
editions of Health Reports ]
- Go to the Federal Government Department Links (Fisheries and Oceans to Veterans Affairs) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/fedbkmrk2.htm
|
7. Lost in the
Shuffle : The Impact of Homelessness on Children's Education in Toronto - October 1 |
Thousands
of homeless children losing out on education (208K, 1 page)
News Release
October 1, 2007
TORONTO – A groundbreaking new report shows at least 2,000 homeless
children in Toronto are needlessly at risk of slipping through the
cracks of the education system every year. Lost in the Shuffle, by the
Community Social Planning Council of Toronto and Aisling Discoveries
Child and Family Centre, is the first study in Canada to document the
impact of homelessness on children's education in Toronto.
Complete report:
Lost
in the Shuffle : The Impact of Homelessness on Children's Education in
Toronto (PDF file - 5.9MB, 131 pages)
Phase 3 Report of the Kid Builders Research Project
Source:
Community Social
Planning Council of Toronto
Aisling Discoveries
Child and Family Centre
Related link:
Homeless
kids neglected
Report says educational, emotional support lacking for students living
in shelters
October 01, 2007
Every year about 3,000 school children in Toronto live in homeless
shelters, says a new study to be released today. Yet despite this
long-standing problem – the number of affected children has remained
steady for the last five years –there are no government or school board
policies to ensure the educational and emotional needs of these
vulnerable children are being met, says Lost in the Shuffle, the first
Canadian study on the issue.
Source:
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 (A-C) page:
http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/onbkmrk2.htm
| 8. What's
New from The
Tyee (BC): --- Wages (British Columbia) - August-October 2007 --- Ending Poverty Five easy steps towards a just society - September 4 |
Wages (BC)
August-October 2007
A laugh–till–you–cry account of one man's remarkable working life or
attempt at a lack thereof.
This eccentric, irreverent, and witty chronicle is vintage John
Armstrong, excerpted in 14 chapters in The Tyee.
See especially:
Wages: Working
Around Welfare (Chapter 5)
September 4, 2007
"(...) Downtown Eastside ... was the low point on the cultural map, and
those unfit for hard-working, tax-paying, product-buying society rolled
downhill until they got there and then bumped to a halt."
Source:
The Tyee
---------------------------------------------
Ending Poverty
Five easy steps towards a just society*
October 5, 2007
1 – Increasing income assistance
2 - Removing barriers to getting assistance
3 – Removing the 100 per cent clawback on additional income
4 – Raising the minimum wage
5 – Building 2000 units of affordable housing per year
*NOTE: this article contains links to 15 related articles!
- Go to the Non-Governmental Sites in British
Columbia (C-W) page:
http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/bcbkmrk3.htm
| 9. What's New
- from the Childcare Resource and Research Unit - October 5 (CRRU- University of Toronto) |
What's New - from the Childcare
Resource and Research Unit (CRRU) - University of Toronto
The Childcare Resource and Research
Unit offers a free weekly "e-mail news notifier" service.
Here's the content of the latest issue of this bulletin.
For more information about this
service, including subscription information,
see http://www.childcarecanada.org
5- Oct-07
---------------------------------------------------
What's New
---------------------------------------------------
DELIVER ON FULL-DAY KINDERGARTEN PROMISE,
PARTIES TOLD
Open letter sponsored by Margaret McCain and signed by over 60 Ontario
child advocates calls on all "political parties in the next legislature
to prioritize the promise of full-day kindergarten."
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=109772
A THRONE SPEECH FOR ALL PARTIES
Paper from the Caledon Institute of Social Policy offers key social
policy proposals for the upcoming Throne Speech; includes investment in
high-quality child care.
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=109779
WHY SOMETHING CALLED THE SPENDING POWER MATTERS
Globe and Mail op-ed by Bob Rae discusses the role of the federal
government and the need for "flexibility, courage and capacity".
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=109771
THE FRENCH EARLY CHILDHOOD SYSTEM
Now Online: Presentation from the French American Foundation provides
an overview of early childhood education and care in France.
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=109780
--------------------------------------------------
Child care in the news
--------------------------------------------------
Advocates criticize Tory over daycare [CA-ON]
Toronto Star, 5 Oct 07
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=109764
B.C. government to extend day care funding to
private sector
operators [CA-BC]
Canadian Press, 2 Oct 07
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=109765
Birth of a notion: How to make life better for
our kids [CA-ON]
Toronto Star, 29 Sep 07
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=109763
Childcare giant could lift fees [AU]
Courier Mail, 16 Sep 07
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=109768
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * *
This message was forwarded through the Childcare Resource
and Research Unit e-mail news notifier. For information on the
CRRU e-mail notifier, including instructions for (un)subscribing,
see http://www.childcarecanada.org
The Childcare Resource and Research Unit
University of Toronto, Canada
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Related Links:
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
Link to the CRRU home page:
Childcare Resource and
Research Unit (CRRU) - University of Toronto
- Go to the Non-Governmental Early Learning and Child Care Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/ecd2.htm
| 10. Poverty
Dispatch: U.S. media coverage of social issues and programs |
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.
Source:
Institute for Research on Poverty
(IRP)
[ University of Wisconsin-Madison ]
This week's issues of Poverty Dispatch:
October
4, 2007
* State Children's Health Insurance Program
* States and Medicaid Reforms
* The Homeless and Supportive Housing - Maine
* Homeless Children and Educational Services - Hawaii
* Report: Payments to Foster Parents
* Health Coverage for Foster Children - New Jersey
* Rural Workers and the Earned Income Tax Credit
* Minimum Wage Increase - Washington
* Payday Lending Regulation and the Military - Utah
* Out-of-state Prisoner Transfers
* No Child Left Behind and State Testing Standards
October
1, 2007
* State Children's Health Insurance Program
* Opinions: Poverty and Children's Health - Wisconsin
* Medicaid Drug Copays - Rhode Island
* The Working Poor, Costs of Living, and Stress
* Low-income Energy Assistance - Iowa
* Health Care Disparities - New York City
* Affordable Housing - Connecticut, Mississippi, Georgia
* Minimum Wage Ordinance - Santa Fe, NM
* Editorial: Poverty Measurement
* No Child Left Behind - Missouri, Kentucky
* Income Inequality - Vermont
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
- links to two dispatches a week back to June 2006
Poverty
Dispatch Digest Archive - archive of weekly digests* of
dispatches from August 2005 to May 2006
(*For a few years prior to the creation of this new web page for the
Dispatch, I was compiling a weekly digest of the e-mails and
redistributing the digest to my mailing list with IRP's permission.
This is my own archive of weekly issues of the digest back to
August 2005, and most of them have 50+ links per issue. I'll be
deleting this archive from my site gradually, as the links to older
articles expire.)
- 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
|
11. The
impact of minimum wage increases on single mothers (U.S.) - September 2007 |
The impact of minimum wage increases on single mothers - U.S. (PDF file - 604K, 31 pages)
By J. J. Sabia
September 2007
"(...)Taken together, the 1990s and early 2000s saw important economic
changes for single mothers. Employment rates, work hours, and wage
income rose, while poverty rates and welfare use declined. The evidence
presented in this study suggests that while pro-work welfare reforms, a
growing macro-economy, and expansions in the Earned Income Tax Credit
program may have each played a role in these positive economic trends,
that minimum wage increases reduced less-educated single mothers’
employment, hours worked, and wage income, while failing to alleviate
poverty. The results of this study should serve as a caution to
policymakers who view minimum wage hikes as a way to help single
mothers."
Source:
Employment Policies Institute -
U.S.
Whoa.
Every now and then, it's important to remind ourselves that we're not all on the same team here, and that some of the guys on the other team out there in cyberspace tend to stretch or distort reality from time to time. I enthusiastically support open dialogue between supporters of differing viewpoints. What I object to is the misrepresentation of mission and objectives, as typified by the case of Rick Berman and the Employment Policies Institute.
Here's an excerpt from what SourceWatch*
has to say about the Employment Policies Institute:
The Employment Policies Institute (EPI) is
one of several front groups created by Berman & Co., a Washington,
DC public affairs firm owned by Rick Berman, who lobbies for the
restaurant, hotel, alcoholic beverage and tobacco industries
[bolding added]. (...) EPI has has been widely quoted in news stories
regarding minimum wage issues, and although a few of those stories have
correctly described it as a "think tank financed by business," most
stories fail to provide any identification that would enable readers to
identify the vested interests behind its pronouncements. Instead, it is
usually described exactly the way it describes itself, as a "non-profit
research organization dedicated to studying public policy issues
surrounding employment growth" that "focuses on issues that affect
entry-level employment." In reality, EPI's mission is to keep the
minimum wage low so Berman's clients can continue to pay their workers
as little as possible [more bolding added]."
Source:
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Employment_Policies_Institute
[ *SourceWatch is a collaborative project of the Center for Media and Democracy to produce a directory of the people, organizations and issues shaping the public agenda. A primary purpose of SourceWatch is documenting the PR and propaganda activities of public relations firms and public relations professionals engaged in managing and manipulating public perception, opinion and policy. SourceWatch also includes profiles on think tanks, industry-funded organizations and industry-friendly experts that work to influence public opinion and public policy on behalf of corporations, governments and special interests. Over time, SourceWatch has broadened to include others involved in public debates including media outlets, journalists and government agencies." ]
CAVEAT:
The "About..." page of any website should *always* include clear
statements concerning who is 'behind' the site, whether they're called
sponsors, funders partners, supporters or whatever, and what the site
hopes to accomplish. In the case of the EPI, there's no mention on their About Us page
of the vested interests of the industries that stand most to gain from
the information that EPI disseminates. To say that "EPI sponsors
nonpartisan research..." is a blatant falsehood.
The Bottom Line:
Beware of websites that misrepresent themselves.
Ask questions.
Use SourceWatch
-----------------------------------------
If you want to read some *credible* U.S. research
on the American minimum wage, see this site:
Source:
Economic Policies Institute
The Economic Policy Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think
tank that seeks to broaden the public debate about strategies to
achieve a prosperous and fair economy.
- Go to the Minimum Wage /Living Wage Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/minwage.htm
|
12. October 4, 2007 -
CRINMAIL 921 |
From the Child Rights
Information Network (CRIN)
4
October 2007 - CRINMAIL 921
- UNICEF: "Will you listen?” – Young Voices from Conflict Zones
[publication]
- IRAN: Girl, 16, hanged [news]
- EDUCATION: Powerful Partners - Adolescent Girls? Education and
Delayed Childbearing [publication]
- CHILD SOLDIERS: Call for more States to sign pact [news]
- NORWAY: Tunza International Children's Conference on the Environment
[event]
- EMPLOYMENT - ECPAT (3) - Save the Children Sweden [job postings]
**NEWS IN BRIEF**
**QUIZ**
Earlier
issues of CRINMAIL
- links to 200+ 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, the Convention on the Rights of
the Child and the launch of the EURONET Website.
Source:
CRINMAIL(incl. subscription
info)
[ Child Rights Information
Network (CRIN) ]
- Go to the Children's Rights
Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/chnrights.htm
| |
Forty Things An Alzheimer's Caregiver Needs
To Remember
http://blogcritics.org/archives/2007/10/01/131321.php
My beloved mother passed away early in 2005 after ten years in a
wheelchair (after a stroke in 1995), with diminishing cognitive
abilities resulting from vascular dementia (the second
most common form of dementia after
Alzheimer's disease). It was a rough ten years for her and (to a
much
lesser extent) for me, her only child, and it was a blessed
relief
when she suffered no more - even though I miss her to this day.
| |
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
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Thanks, CUPE!
If you wish to subscribe to the e-mail version of newsletter, go to the
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You can unsubscribe by going to the same page or by sending me an
e-mail message [ gilseg@rogers.com ]
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Privacy Policy:
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I promise not share any information on this list, nor to send you any
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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
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http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/news.htm
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Cheers!
Gilles
E-MAIL:
gilseg@rogers.com
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And in closing...