Canadian Social Research Newsletter
October 8, 2006

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 1704 subscribers.
Scroll to the bottom of this newsletter to see some notes and a disclaimer.

Canadian Content

1. Current federal government cuts will seem like "small potatoes" (Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) - October 5
2. Vital Signs 2006 : Annual Community Checkups [Toronto - Ottawa - Vancouver - Victoria] (Community Foundations of Canada) - October 4
3. Measuring the Sustainability of Public Health Insurance in Canada (Fraser Institute) - October 2006 + reaction from CUPE & Can. Health Coalition
4. What's New from the BC Office of the Provincial Health Officer:
--- Food, Health and Well-Being in British Columbia (2005 Annual Report)- October 4
--- Health and Well-Being of Children in Care in British Columbia - October 2006
5. What's new from the British Columbia Ministry of Employment and Income Assistance:
--- Child Care Subsidy transferred to the Ministry of Children and Family Development - October 2
--- Community Assistance Program improved for "more-barriered" welfare clients - October 2
6. Housing Matters BC (Rental Assistance Program, etc.) BC Housing- October 3
7. International Day of Older Persons (Public Health Agency of Canada / United Nations) - October 1
8. Put Poverty on the Political Agenda (The Toronto Star) - October 3
9. More Flexibility to Seniors in the Management of Their Life Income Funds (Department of Finance Canada) - October 4
10. What's New from Statistics Canada:
--- Interreligious unions in Canada - October 3
--- Junior comes back home: Trends and predictors of returning to the parental home - October 3
--- Violence Against Women: Statistical Trends, 2006 - October 2
11. 2007 BC Budget must tackle poverty, homelessness ( British Columbia Office - Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives) - September 27, 2006
12. Revisiting NAFTA: Still not working for North America's workers (Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives - National Office) - September 28
13. Beyond the Street : A National Conference (Youth and Communities Taking Action on Homelessness) - September 26-29
14. The New Federal Policy Agenda: Where does the voluntary sector fit in? (Queen's University) - Conference (Oct. 20-21)
15. Federal cuts to literacy programs add to Canada’s low-literacy dilemma, says ABC CANADA (ABC CANADA Literacy Foundation) - September 26
16. What's New from the Childcare Resource and Research Unit (University of Toronto) - October 6

International Content

17. Poverty Dispatch: U.S. media coverage of social issues and programs
18. World Food Day - October 16 (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations)

Have a great week!

Current federal government cuts will seem like "small potatoes"
Oct 5, 2006
- incl. a good summary of the cuts that CUPE thinks will most severely affect Canada's communities, as well as a link to an editorial by Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives economist Ellen Russell, who argues that "between the Tories promised tax cuts ($9.9 billion in the first budget), increases in defence spending ($4 billion) and other initiatives, the government is actually short $17 billion."
Source:
Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE)

- Go to the Federal Government Department Links (Agriculture to Finance) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/fedbkmrk.htm

Community Foundations of Canada
"Our mission: To build stronger communities by enhancing the philanthropic leadership of community foundations"

Community Foundations release first report cards on health of communities
Vancouver, Victoria and Ottawa join Toronto in measuring their cities’ Vital Signs
News Release
October 4, 2006
OTTAWA – Community foundations in several of Canada’s largest cities published their first report cards today as part of Vital Signs, a new national project aimed at measuring the vitality of communities on an annual basis. The report cards track and grade each community’s quality of life in key areas such as the economy, health, housing, learning and the environment.

Vital Signs
Vital Signs is an annual community check-up conducted by community foundations across Canada that measures the vitality of our cities, identifies significant trends, and assigns grades in at least ten areas critical to quality of life. Vital Signs is based on a project of the Toronto Community Foundation and is coordinated nationally by Community Foundations of Canada.

***

Toronto Community Foundation
The Toronto Community Foundation (TCF) is a charitable organization dedicated to improving life in Toronto. TCF helps philanthropic citizens establish endowment funds and invests charitable gifts from a range of donors into a pooled income-earning fund. Each year, TCF identifies areas of need and provides support to donors to help ensure grants from fund earnings will have the greatest impact on Toronto's vital signs.

Toronto's Vital Signs 2006
Our Toronto’s Vital Signs® report is an annual fall check-up on the health of our city that measures and monitors key issue areas that affect our shared quality of life. It is also the core of TFC’s strategy to help donors achieve high-impact philanthropy across all of their charitable areas of interest.
PDF version – (11.4MB, 32 pages)
Expanded PDF version - with additional indicators, footnote and web links

***

Community Foundation of Ottawa
The Community Foundation of Ottawa is a public, non-profit organization created by and for the people of Ottawa. As an independent centre for community philanthropy, it connects donors who care with causes that matter and serves as a trusted resource for addressing issues and leveraging opportunities in the community.

Ottawa's Vital Signs 2006
October 4, 2006
PDF version (1.9MB, 24 pages)
HTML version - includes additional indicators and footnote links
"(...)Trends show that the gap between rich and poor is widening in Ottawa, and is greater in our city than the national average. In 2000, the highest income earners in Ottawa (those in the 90th percentile) earned 12 times more in after-tax income than the lowest income earners (10th percentile). Having a job is not necessarily a ticket out of poverty. In 2001, 13% of Ottawa's unattached individuals and 11% of families were the working poor. 38,691 people used Ottawa's food banks in 2005, continuing the steady increase seen in recent years. 39% of those using food banks are children." [Excerpt]

***

Victoria Foundation
The Victoria Foundation is dedicated to improving the quality of life in our community through the stewardship of permanent funds and other gifts and by grantmaking for charitable purposes on Southern Vancouver Island and beyond.

Victoria’s Vital Signs is an annual check-up that evaluates the Capital Region as a place to live, learn, work and grow. It measures the health of our city and assigns grades in a number of areas that are critical to Victoria’s vitality. Information included in the report has been gathered in cooperation with numerous sources that are researching and collecting data on Victoria.

***

Vancouver Foundation
Mission Statement: Through the growth and stewardship of permanent endowment funds and the distribution of income to a broad range of eligible organizations, Vancouver Foundation, in meeting community needs, provides philanthropic leadership to improve the quality of life for all British Columbians.

Vancouver's Vital Signs
"The online version of Vancouver’s Vital Signs provides comprehensive data, as well as source information links on indicators of the city’s livability and wellness in 12 key areas. Our citizen panel of nearly 200 individuals, with deep knowledge of Vancouver issues, provided Citizen Grades and Priorities in each key area."

***

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

Paying More, Getting Less 2006::
Measuring the Sustainability of Public Health Insurance in Canada (PDF file - 645K, 36 pages)
October 2006
"The analysis in this study show that, if provincial governments continue to pursue policies that lead to the same rates of growth in health spending and revenue that have been observed in the recent past, public health-care expenditures will soon exceed the capacity of governments to pay for them."
News Release (October 2/06)

Source:
Fraser Institute
[What's the Fraser Institute? - from Wikipedia]

Related Links:

From the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE):

How rising drug costs swallowed my health care*
October 6, 2006
"The Fraser Institute’s third annual report on the financial sustainability of provincial health insurance just found, to no-one’s surprise, that “health care financing, as it is currently structured in Canada, is not financially sustainable” and that reform is needed to increase privatization of the system. But their approach is highly faulty. It extrapolates 60 years ahead based on the recent averages and it doesn’t confront the fastest growing component of health care: the rising costs of drugs. The study simply took the most recent five-year annual average for provincial health care spending for each province and projected that rate of growth 60 years into the future. It then measured “sustainability” by comparing this to similar projections for provincial revenues and GDP. They claim that health care spending is on track to bankrupt all provinces within 60 years."
...and here's my favourite part, from the "bio notes" at the bottom of the article [Gilles]
"Toby Sanger is an economist with the Canadian Union of Public Employees (...) If he continues to gain weight at the same rate that he has over the past month, he will weigh approximately 132,735 pounds when he is 64 years old – and will weigh more than the Empire State Building if he lives to 91."
PDF version of this article (198K, 3 pages)
*NOTE: the PDF version includes a graph showing "escalating provincial spending on drugs"which doesn't appear in the HTML online version unless you click on the mysterious wavy lines beside the title of the article.

From the Canadian Health Coalition:
["The Canadian Health Coalition is a public advocacy organization dedicated to the preservation and improvement of Medicare. Our membership is comprised of national organizations representing nurses, health care workers, seniors, churches, anti-poverty, women and trade unions as well as affiliated coalitions in 9 provinces and one territory."]

National Pharmaceutical Strategy:
Where’s the Federal Government?
Press Release
September 21, 2006
(Ottawa) - The Canadian Health Coalition today welcomed the Progress Report on the National Pharmaceutical Strategy (NPS). The Strategy to improve pharmaceutical management will lead to more equitable access, better health outcomes and better value for money spent on drug therapy.

Progress Report on the National Pharmaceutical Strategy
June 2006
* English version (PDF file - 1.3MB, 48 pages)
* Version française (PDF file - 1.4MB, 57 pages)

More for Less:
A National Pharmacare Strategy (PDF file - 185K, 28 pages)
February 2006 (Updated May 26, 2006)
"The Canadian Health Coalition renewed its call today for a national Pharmacare plan to:
- Replace our patchwork U.S.- style drug insurance plans that drive up spending and leave millions without access
- Provide universal, first-dollar coverage for cost-effective and safe drugs
- Pay only for what’s safe and works – save lives, money and competitiveness."

- Go to the Health Links (Canada/International) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/health.htm

What's New from the British Columbia Office of the Provincial Health Officer:

A Better Diet Will Reduce Health Care Costs
News Release
Oct. 4, 2006
VANCOUVER – The Provincial Health Officer’s 2005 annual report finds B.C.’s commitment to a healthier, fitter population is the best way to reduce future health-care costs and provide British Columbians with the benefits a safe, nutritious diet can bring to their lives. “We can reduce health-care costs and broaden the ability of all British Columbians to access safe and nutritious food if we pay more attention to what we eat, reduce our portions and remain physically active. These are all basic health tenets,” said Provincial Health Officer Dr. Perry Kendall.

Complete report:

Food, Health and Well-Being in British Columbia:
Provincial Health Officer's Annual Report for 2005:
October 2006
(PDF file - 4.6MB, 166 pages)

Also, under Public Health Special Reports (Ministry of Health):

Joint Special Report:Health and Well-Being of Children in Care in British Columbia:
Report 1 on Health Services Utilization and Mortality
September 2006
Children in care are known to have generally poorer outcomes than children who have never been in care. As the guardian of these children (through the Director under the Child, Family and Community Service Act), government has a special responsibility to develop strategies to improve these outcomes.
- incl. links to the complete report, an executive summary, highlights,

Source:
Annual Reports
[ Office of the Provincial Health Officer ]
[ Ministry of Health ]
- see also Ministry of Health Publications

What's new from the Ministry of Employment and Income Assistance:

October 6, 2006
Child Care Subsidy
As of October 02, 2006 the transfer of the Child Care Program to the Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD) is complete. MCFD will obtain full responsibility for the administration and the delivery of the Child Care Subsidy Program.

October 2, 2006
Employment Programs and Community Services
Community Assistance Program (CAP)
The Community Assistance Program has been revised to provide individual services and supports designed to meet the needs of more barriered BC Employment and Assistance clients. The purpose is to enhance their quality of life and to help them participate more fully in their communities. The employment elements of the original CAP have been removed to the BC Employment Program (BCEP), launched in July 2006.

- Go to the BC Government Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/bcbkmrk.htm

New from BC Housing:

Housing Matters BC
Housing Matters BC is an innovative and comprehensive housing strategy helping those in the greatest need access safe, affordable housing. Launched by the Province of British Columbia in October 2006, the strategy provides programs and resources that will help British Columbians, from the homeless to low-income, working families, meet their housing needs.

New Strategy Improves Housing for Families, Homeless
News Release
October 3, 2006
VICTORIA – Housing Matters BC, an innovative and comprehensive housing strategy to help British Columbians access affordable housing, was unveiled by Minister Responsible for Housing Rich Coleman today. “This strategy will immediately assist approximately 15,000 low-income working families and homeless individuals,” said Coleman. “It’s also a new direction for housing, designed to provoke discussion about long-term solutions. We can only address homelessness and housing affordability if we all work together – long-term solutions require the co-operation of all levels of government, as well as organizations and volunteers dedicated to housing.”

NOTE: this news release includes a detailed backgrounder on all aspects of Housing Matters BC and links to more info for each component of the strategy--- the Rental Assistance Program (see the link below), the Provincial Homelessness Initiative, Homeless Outreach Projects, Independent Living BC, Home Ownership and Affordable Housing, and Modernization Strategy

Rental Assistance Program
The Rental Assistance Program provides direct cash assistance to eligible low-income, working families with children under the age of 19 and a household income less than $20,000 per year. The families must have lived in British Columbia for the last 12 months.

Related links:

B.C. subsidies aim to help families pay rent
VANCOUVER -- In an effort to ease British Columbia's swelling crisis in affordable housing, the provincial government is opting to give low-income families cash to better afford their rent. "This is not about building more [housing] units. This is about helping more people immediately," cabinet minister Rich Coleman said as he announced a $40-million rental aid program aimed at helping an estimated 15,000 families with annual incomes under $20,000.
Source:
The Globe and Mail

Housing an experiment
October 05, 2006
British Columbia's experiment with rent subsidies for low-income families is an interesting step for a government coping with a booming economy and a desperate shortage of housing. (...) British Columbia's experiment is to give families earning less than $20,000 a year a subsidy they apply to the rent in apartments of their choice. Housing advocates on the political left deride these subsidies as welfare for landlords and say landlords will just jack up their rents in response.
Source:
Victoria Times Colonist

- Go to the BC Government Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/bcbkmrk.htm

Celebrating International Day of Older Persons - October 1
The General Assembly of the United Nations designated October 1st as International Day of Older Persons. This Day was observed for the first time throughout the world on October 1st, 1991. By designating a "Special Day" for seniors, the Assembly was giving recognition to the contributions of seniors to development and also drawing attention to a demographic phenomenon: the greying of the population, the "age of aging".
Source:
Public Health Agency of Canada

From the U.N.:

International Day of Older Persons
The General Assembly designated 1 October the International Day of Older Persons by resolution 45/106 of 14 December 1990, following up on initiatives such as the Vienna International Plan of Action on Ageing, adopted by the 1982 World Assembly on Ageing and endorsed later that year by the General Assembly.

The theme of the International Day for 2006 is
"Improving the Quality of Life for Older Persons: Advancing UN Global Strategies." (PDF file - 9K, 1 page)

Source:
U.N. Conferences and Events
[ United Nations ]

- Go to the Seniors (Social Research) Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/seniors.htm
- Go to the United Nations Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/un.htm

Put poverty on political agenda
Asking why reveals we can do better, says Sarah Blackstock
October 3, 2006
"Ask why 4.8 million people in Canada are poor — and insist on better. We should all be outraged and ashamed reading the Star's campaign on the working poor, but we shouldn't be surprised. We have chosen to allow poverty to flourish by permitting wages to stagnate, setting welfare rates at dangerously low levels, failing to regulate the growing temporary work industry, failing to provide adequate training for those who do not have marketable skills and refusing to recognize foreign credentials. It doesn't have to be this way..."
Source:
Toronto Star

NOTE: This is one in a series of commentaries in the Toronto Star following a series on working poor families that started with the story of Maheswary Puvaneswaran, "one of 650,000 Canadians struggling to make ends meet." If you click the link in the preceding sentence of this paragraph, you'll see that the next page includes both the article and links to six related articles. In my website and newsletter, I rarely provide links to articles in most mainstream media (e.g., The Star, The Globe and Mail) because, for the most part, the links expire after a predetermined period and the article is moved to a pay-per-hit archive. However, I encourage you to explore the media websites and to use their on-site search tools - you'll be able to retrieve and read all articles that are still in the "public" domain.
For example, I did the following sample searches on October 4 in the Toronto Star's 7-day free search feature:
"working poor" ===> 10 results (+ a link to "Search our paid archives")
But...
"working poor" ===> 20 results using "Search our paid archives" - and all results are free in this case...
And...
"Maheswary Puvaneswaran" ===> 6 results
<go figure.>

Related Link:

Income Security Advocacy Centre (ISAC)
The Income Security Advocacy Centre works with and on behalf of low income communities in Ontario to address issues of income security and poverty.
[Sarah Blackstock is Research & Policy Analyst with ISAC.]

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

October 4, 2006
More Flexibility to Seniors in the Management of Their Life Income Funds
The Honourable Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance, today announced that the regulations to immediately remove the requirement to convert federally regulated life income funds (LIFs) to life annuities at age 80 have now come into force. The regulations were published in the Canada Gazette. Seniors have asked for a greater degree of control over their retirement savings and this initiative will help give it to them," stated Minister Flaherty. A LIF is a special registered retirement income fund into which funds from pension plans or other locked-in retirement funds can be transferred.
Source:
Department of Finance Canada

- Go to the Federal Government Department Links (Agriculture to Finance) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/fedbkmrk.htm
- Go to the Seniors (Social Research) Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/seniors.htm

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

Interreligious unions in Canada
by Warren Clark
This article uses data from the Census of Population and the 2002 Ethnic Diversity Survey to examine the prevalence of interreligious unions and social and demographic factors associated with their occurrence.
October 3, 2006
HTML version
PDF version (97K, 11 pages)

Junior comes back home: Trends and predictors of returning to the parental home
by Pascale Beaupré, Pierre Turcotte, and Anne Milan
October 3, 2006
This paper examine patterns in adult children returning to the family home across the last few decades, the reasons for coming back, and the socio-demographic and economic factors that influence this process.
HTML version
PDF version (112K, 7 pages)

Source:
Canadian Social Trends
(Statistics Canada's publication on emerging social issues)

Earlier Issues of Canadian Social Trends - hundreds of articles going back to 1996
Articles by Subject - the same articles as in the previous link are organized according to the following themes:
Aboriginal People - Income, Expenditures and Housing - Aging, Seniors and Retirement - Justice - Caregiving and Disabilities - Leisure and Religion - Children and Youth - Marriage and Families - Cities, Neighbourhoods and Rural
Canada - Miscellaneous - Education, Training and Literacy - Technology - Employment - Time use - Health - Volunteering and Participation - Immigration, Diversity and Language

October 2, 2006
Violence Against Women: Statistical Trends, 2006
Statistics Canada today released a comprehensive summary of what is currently known about the prevalence and severity of violence against women in Canada. The report pulls together previously released data from victimization surveys, police services, courts and service agencies to assess the nature of violence against women. It addresses its impact, associated risk factors, institutional and community responses and the use of services by victims. The report updates a 2002 report titled Assessing Violence Against Women: A Statistical Profile, which introduced a number of violence indicators. It expands on these indicators, organizing them into five central themes: prevalence and severity; impact; risk factors for violence; institutional and community-based responses; and victims' use of services.

Complete report:

Measuring Violence Against Women: Statistical Trends 2006
By Holly Johnson, Statistics Canada
- follow the links in the left margin of the home page of this report for an executive summary, findings, a PDF version of the report, almost 70 tables and figures, etc.

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

What's New from the British Columbia Office of the
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives:

2007 BC Budget must tackle poverty, homelessness
Press Release
September 27, 2006
(Vancouver) Amid rising public concern about poverty and homelessness, the provincial government is being urged to adopt a comprehensive anti-poverty strategy in its next budget. “With a surplus that is likely to pass the $4 billion mark next year, there is no reason why we can’t address the growing problem of poverty amidst plenty,” says Marc Lee, CCPA–BC’s Senior Economist.

Complete report:

Taking Action on Poverty:
Submission to the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services,
Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
BC Budget 2007 Consultation (PDF file - 281K, 11 pages)
September 2006
Presented by Seth Klein, BC Director and Marc Lee, Senior Economist
"There is no excuse for poverty in a province as wealthy as BC (projected GDP in 2007 will be approximately $187 billion). There is nothing inevitable about our unacceptably high poverty rates, our growing inequality and our rising homelessness. These facts result from poor policy choices, and jurisdictions that choose to prioritize these issues have been very successful in substantially reducing poverty."

- Go to the Non-Governmental Sites in British Columbia (A-C) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/bcbkmrk2.htm

Workers suffer continent-wide under NAFTA
Three-country study details effects on economies, labour markets
Press Release
September 28, 2006
Twelve years under the rules of the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, has had a perverse impact on the distribution of income, wealth, and political power across the continent. A new three-country report shows that NAFTA has not lived up to its promise of better jobs and faster growth for Mexico, Canada, and the United States. Instead it has promoted an integrated continental economy with rules set by and for the benefit of the political and economic elite. NAFTA Revisited, a report released today by the Economic Policy Institute, details the trade deal’s effects on the economies, working people and the labor markets of all three nations.

Complete report:

Revisiting NAFTA:
Still not working for North America's workers - PDF File, 745 K, 60 pages)

Source:
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives - National Office

- Go to the Globalization Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/global.htm

A Call to Action on Homeless Youth Agenda
On September 26 – 29, St. John’s, NL was the site of a very exciting event—Beyond the Street: Youth & Communities Taking Action on Homelessness, which drew the attention of the national media. Nearly 250 delegates from across the country came together for the first national conference dedicated to profiling initiatives to address youth homelessness—a group that is so frequently rendered invisible. But most importantly, the event heard directly from young people and developed a co-ordinated strategy to bring back to their communities.

Beyond the Street:
Youth & Communities Taking Action on Homelessness
September 26-29, 2006
St. John’s, NL
Conference home page
- sponsored by the NL provincial government and VOCM Radio Newfoundland Limited, the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation and a few others,

Conference Program (549K, 14 pages)

- Go to the Conferences and Events Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/confer.htm

The New Federal Policy Agenda:
Where does the voluntary sector fit in?
Seventh Annual National Forum
October 20-21, 2006
Public Policy & Third Sector Initiative
School of Policy Studies, Queen’s University

Program (PDF file -71K, 3 pages)

Source:
Conferences
[ School of Policy Studies ]
[ Queen’s University ]

- Go to the Conferences and Events Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/confer.htm

Federal cuts to literacy programs add to Canada’s low-literacy dilemma, says ABC CANADA
TORONTO, ON – September 26, 2006 – As part of the Conservative government’s spending cuts announced yesterday, $17.7 million, otherwise available to literacy organizations through Human Resources and Social Development (HRSD), will be slashed over the next two years. “ABC CANADA is disappointed that the resources available to literacy programs across this country have been significantly reduced,” says Margaret Eaton, ABC CANADA President. “At a time when there is an unprecedented need for funding to facilitate literacy skills upgrading in Canada, this is most unfortunate.” The cuts -- $5.8 million in 2006-2007, and $11.9 million in 2007-2008 – mean that local and regional literacy programs will no longer be funded by HRSD. The department’s new mandate is to concentrate on national and federal programs alone. This change jeopardizes the delivery of programs to many learners whose literacy challenges hinder their ability to function fully at home, in the community and in the workplace.
Source:
ABC CANADA Literacy Foundation
ABC CANADA Literacy Foundation is a national charity committed to promoting literacy to the general public and to the private sector. We are a partnership of business, labour, educators and government. We focus on public awareness programs, the development and execution of national literacy awareness campaigns; provide promotional support to local literacy groups; and conduct research to further the development of a fully literate Canadian population.

Related Link:

Backgrounder - Effective Spending
"Canadians want to know their hard-earned tax dollars are invested responsibly in effective programs that meet their priorities."
NOTE: this is where you'll find the official breakdown of the spending cuts, but it's still lacking in some of the specifics...
Source:
Treasury Board Secretariat

Response to Cuts:
a Coalition of Canadian non-profits building a Communities Agenda
"Welcome to the site of the coalition of Canadian non-profit agencies building a communities agenda for Canada. Here you will find information and events in response to the Federal Government's announcement of cuts to programs. We want to hear from you! Send us stories of how your organisation and your community is affected to nchaland@ccednet-rcdec.ca"
- the list of coalition members so far includes the Canadian Community Economic Development Network - the Learning Enrichment Foundation - le Chantier de l’économie sociale - the Toronto Student Adult Association - Literacy Nova Scotia - the Canadian Women’s Community Economic Development Council - the Community Social Planning Council of Toronto

For more information about the cuts and some analysis of the repercussions on the many groups affected, see the "New" section near the top of the Federal Government Department Links (Agriculture to Finance) page of this site: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/fedbkmrk.htm

Google Web Search Results:
"Canada, federal government, spending cuts"
Google News Search Results:
"Canada, federal government, spending cuts"
Source:
Google.ca

- Go to the Education Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/education.htm

What's New - from the Childcare Resource and Research Unit (CRRU) - University of Toronto

Each week, the Childcare Resource and Research Unit disseminates its "e-mail news notifier", an e-mail message with a dozen or so links to new reports, studies and child care in the news (media articles) by the CRRU or another organization in the field of early childhood education and care (ECEC). What you see below is selected content from the most recent issue of the notifier.

6-Oct-06

---------------------------------------------------
What's New
---------------------------------------------------

TORONTO’S VITAL SIGNS 2006
Annual socio-economic report from the Toronto Community Foundation finds that the number of children waiting to access subsidized child care in city almost doubled in 2006.
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=92137

TOWARDS AN EU STRATEGY ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD
European Commission’s Communication on the Rights of the Child proposes to “establish a comprehensive EU strategy to promote and safeguard the rights of the child in the EU’s internal and external policies.”
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=92134

FULL-TIME KINDERGARTEN IN BATTLEFORDS SCHOOL DIVISION #118 COMMUNITY SCHOOLS
Paper from the University of Saskatchewan’s Community-University Institute for Social Research reports on the successes of a full day kindergarten initiative in Saskatchewan's Battlefords School Division.
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=92136

SOCIAL CONSERVATISM IN CANADA: EXAMINING THE RISE OF THE FAR RIGHT THROUGH THE ISSUE OF CHILD CARE
Background paper from a Canadian Labour Congress conference.
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=92135

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Child Care in the News
--------------------------------------------------

City Hall looks at child-care involvement [CA-BC]
24 Hours Vancouver, 6 Oct 06
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=92127

ABC to pay staff to study childcare [AU]
The Australian, 5 Oct 06
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=92122

Tories drop funding for women's groups [CA]
Canadian Press, 5 Oct 06
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=92123

City's poor hurt by daycare crisis [CA-ON]
Toronto Star, 5 Oct 06
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=92128

Daycare stalled in city [CA-BC]
Georgia Straight, 5 Oct 06
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=92133

Our home and infertile land [CA]
The Tyee, 3 Oct 06
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=92124

Parents pay for designer daycare [AU]
Herald Sun, 1 Oct 06
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=92125

Head Start wants to unionize [US]
Lake County Record-Bee, 28 Sep 06
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=92126

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The latest issue of Children in Europe is now available in CRRU's print collection.
Contact CRRU (crru@chass.utoronto.ca) for information on accessing print materials.

Issue 11 of Children in Europe is entitled, “Managing the mix: Public and private sectors in early childhood services”. It discusses the relationship between public and private in the provision of services for young children in Europe today. An editorial proposes that there are four sectors providing formal ELCC services: the public sector, non-profit private sector, for-profit private sector, and the employer sector. Important questions are addressed. What do public’ and ‘private’ services look like in different countries? What are the roles of these sectors? What are the recent trends in public/private relationships? Are children’s services ultimately a private commodity or a public good?

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What's New? - Canadian, U.S. and international resources
Child Care in the News - media articles
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

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

Poverty Dispatch - U.S.
- links to news items from the American press about poverty, welfare reform, child welfare, education, health, hunger, Medicare and Medicaid, etc.
NOTE: this is a link to the current issue --- its content changes twice a week.

Past Poverty Dispatches
- links to two dispatches a week back to June 1 (2006) when the Dispatch acquired its own web page and archive.

Poverty Dispatch Digest Archive - weekly digest 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.

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

World Food Day - October 16
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations celebrates World Food Day each year on 16 October, the day on which the Organization was founded in 1945. The World Food Day and TeleFood theme for 2006 is "Investing in agriculture for food security".
Source:
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

- Go to the Food Banks and Hunger Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/foodbkmrk.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 ]

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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