Canadian Social Research Newsletter
April 9, 2007

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 1787 subscribers.
Scroll to the bottom of this newsletter to see some notes and a disclaimer.

IN THIS ISSUE:

Canadian Content

1.The Charter's challenges (funding cuts to the Court Challenges program) - (The Toronto Star) - April 7
2. What's New from the Canadian Council on Social Development - April 2007
--- Letter to the Prime Minister - April 5
--- Perception magazine (latest issue) - April 5
3. When Working is not enough to Escape Poverty: An Analysis of Canada's Working Poor (Human Resources and Social Development Canada) - August 2006
4. Ontario’s housing allowance plan violates federal operating principles (Wellesley Institute Blog) - April 5
5. What's New from Statistics Canada:
--- Canada at a Glance, 2007 - April 5
--- Labour Force Survey, March 2007 - April 5
6. Manitoba Budget 2007 : The Building Budget - April 4
7. Literary Review of Canada - April 2007 Issue
8. The $1 billion child care cut: province-by-province (Canadian Union of Public Employees) - April 2
9. Bill Implementing Budget 2007 Measure Introduced (Department of Finance Canada) - March 29
10. Where's Home 2006: A Picture of Housing Needs in Ontario (Cooperative Housing Federation of Canada / Ontario Non-profit Housing Association) - March 14
11. Canada's New Government Meets Tories' New Rebel (Dissension in the ranks...) - April 4
12. What's New - from the Childcare Resource and Research Unit (University of Toronto) - April 5

International Content

13. Poverty Dispatch: U.S. media coverage of social issues and programs
14. The Mismeasure of Poverty: A more accurate index is long overdue ( Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace, Stanford University) - August/September 2006
15. U.S. Government Links
16. Global Action for Food Security (Centre for World Food Studies [ Netherlands] and International Food Policy Research Institute) - March 2007

Have a great week!

The Charter's challenges
The document is widely lauded but recent federal funding cuts have made challenges even more difficult to mount
April 7, 2007
By Tracey Tyler
To some, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Pierre Trudeau's greatest political legacy, was a supremely undemocratic development, weakening governments and handing judges the power to decide some of the most pressing social issues. But for the vast majority of Canadians, the Charter has become a symbol of national identity, taking its place alongside the Maple Leaf, hockey and snow. In poll after poll, most embrace the Charter as a kind of national mission statement, asserting the country's commitment to tolerance, fairness and equality.
Source
The Toronto Star

- Go to the Human Rights Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/rights.htm

Dear Steve...
April 5, 2007
CCSD has written a letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper about the importance of social development and the Canada Social Transfer to Canadians.

Perception
April 5, 2007
The latest double edition of our magazine, Perception, is now online. This issue focuses on crime prevention and social development.
Table of contents of this issue:
* Editorial (by Peter Bleyer)
* Marcel Lauzière returns to the CCSD
* Interview with Daniel Sansfaçon, former Deputy Director General of the International Centre for the Prevention of Crime (ICPC) Canada
* Widening the Thin Blue Line (by Gail Dugas)
* What the federal government has to say about tackling crime
* Behind the Headlines: how one community is working to overcome youth crime
* Crime Institute to study science of prevention
* Canadian Crime Statistics
* CPSD: A Cautionary Tale of Criminal Policy Change (by Dr. Ross Hastings)
* Thinking Outside the Box: Working hard or working smart? (by Gail Dugas)
* Research: Why progressive U.S. think tanks are losing the war of ideas
* Book Review: Less Law, More Order: The Truth About Reducing Crime, by Irvin Waller (by Chief Edgar A. MacLeod)
* Upcoming Report: The Health of North American Children
* Bookmark This!
* Strengthening Ties: SPOs meet face-to-face
* The Urban Poverty Project - a new resource tool for communities

Earlier issues of Perception - right back to 1994, each issue is around a specific theme. Over the years, themes have included "renovating" Canada's social programs, child care, minimum wage, social inclusion, racism, child and family poverty, etc.

Source:
Canadian Council on Social Development

- Go to the Social Research Organizations (I) in Canada page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/research.htm
- Go to the Canada Assistance Plan / Canada Health and Social Transfer / Canada Social Transfer Resources page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/cap.htm

When Working is not enough to Escape Poverty:
An Analysis of Canada's Working Poor
By Dominique Fleury and Myriam Fortin
Policy Research Group
Human Resources and Social Development Canada
August 2006
(Posted to the HRSDC website April 2007)
NOTE: the link above takes you to the title page, where you'll find links to two related publications (released in 2001 and 2002) from the same authors : What Does it mean to be Poor and Working? (2002) and The Other Face of Working Poverty (2001), as well as a link to the table of contents(see the next link below) and a link to the next page in the file.

Table of Contents:
* Title Page * Acknowledgments * Executive Summary * Introduction * Chapter 1: Literature Review on Working Poverty * Chapter 2: Who Are the Working Poor? * Chapter 3: A Descriptive Profile of Working Poor Canadians for 2001 * Chapter 4: Determinants of Poverty Among Workers * Chapter 5: Greater Family Work Effort as a Means of Escaping Working Poverty * Chapter 6: Should Self-Employed and Salaried Working Poor Canadians be Treated Differently? * Chapter 7: Impact of Increasing Hourly Wages on the Earnings of Salaried Workers * Chapter 8: The Situation of Working Poor Canadians Over the Longer Term * Summary and Policy Considerations * Appendix A: Data * Appendix B: Logistic Regressions: Technical Details * Appendix C: Logistic Regressions: Methodological Details * Appendix D: Robustness of the Results to Definitional Changes * Appendix E: Earning Potential of Working Families * Appendix F: Limitations and Mechanics of Simulations Conducted to Assess the Impact on (Working) Poverty of Increasing the Minimum Wage * Bibliography

PDF version of this report (1.2MB, 174 pages)

En français :

Lorsque travailler ne suffit pas afin d'échapper à la pauvreté: une
analyse de la pauvreté chez les travailleurs au Canada
Page couverture
Table des matières
Format PDF (1,4Mo, 206 pages)

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

Ontario’s housing allowance plan
violates federal operating principles
April 5, 2007
Ontario’s $185 million housing allowance plan, announced in the 2007 provincial budget on March 22 and funded entirely with federal affordable housing trust fund dollars, violates the operating principles tabled by federal finance minister Jim Flaherty in the House of Commons in May of 2006.

Source:
Wellesley Institute Blog
[ The Wellesley Institute ]

- 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

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

April 5, 2007
Labour Force Survey, March 2007
Employment jumped by an estimated 55,000 in March, continuing the upward trend that began in September 2006. Despite this growth in employment, the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 6.1%, as more people entered the labour market.

Related link:

Labour Force Information, March 11 to 17, 2007
April 5, 2007

Canada at a Glance, 2007
April 5, 2007 (under "New Products")
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.
HTML version
PDF version (1.5MB, 27 pages)

Earlier Issues of Canada at a Glance - going back to 2000

- Go to the Federal Government Department Links (Fisheries and Oceans to Veterans Affairs) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/fedbkmrk2.htm
- Go to the General Federal Government Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/fed2.htm

Manitoba Budget 2007 : The Building Budget
April 4, 2007
- incl. links to : Minister's Budget Message - Speech - Budget In Brief - The Summary Budget - Budget Papers - The Manitoba Advantage - Manitoba's Action Strategy for Economic Growth - Estimates of Expenditure and Revenue -
Tax Savings Estimator - News Releases - 2007 Budget Documents Request Form

Budget 2007 Highlights

Earlier Manitoba Budgets

Google Search Results Links - always current results!
Using the following search terms (without the quote marks):
"Manitoba provincial budget 2007, analysis"
Web search results page
News search results page
Blog Search Results page
Source:
Google.ca

- Go to the Canadian Government Budgets Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/budgets.htm
- Go to the Manitoba Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/mbkmrk.htm

Literary Review of Canada (LRC)
The LRC is Canada’s leading magazine for discussions of public affairs and culture. No other magazine in Canada today has our fifteen-year track record of providing Canadians with robust, intelligent public discourse on a wide range of topics from the country’s very best thinkers and writers.

The table of contents of the April 2007 issue of LRC and subscription information are included in the PDF file below, along with the complete text of the following book review:

Don't It Always Seem to Go:
A review of Shereen Ismael's
Child Poverty and the Canadian Welfare State: From Entitlement to Charity (PDF file - 260K, 4 pages)
Review by John Stapleton
- from the April 2007 issue of the Literary Review of Canada

- Go to the Non-Governmental Organizations Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/ngobkmrk.htm

The $1 billion child care cut: province-by-province
April 2, 2007
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has cancelled the federal-provincial agreements that laid the foundation for a system of high-quality, regulated, non-profit early learning and care. As of April 1st 2007, the funding has ended. We are losing $1 billion to establish quality early learning and child care services. Here's how Harper’s $1 billion cut to child care breaks down by province.

Comparison_of_Federal_Transfers_Child_Care_Spaces.pdf
(PDF file - 69K, 1 page)

Source:
Canadian Union of Public Employees

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

Minister of Finance Introduces Bill Implementing Budget 2007 Measures
March 29, 2007
The Honourable Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance, today introduced a bill in the House of Commons to implement tax measures proposed in Budget 2007 and detailed in the Notice of Ways and Means Motion tabled on March 27, 2007.
Source:
Department of Finance Canada

- Go to the Canadian Government Budgets Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/budgets.htm

Ontario desperately seeking affordable apartments
Media Release
March 14, 2007
Toronto – There are not enough apartments to rent in Ontario and those that are available are unaffordable for the average worker. These are the findings of “Where’s Home? 2006: A Picture of Housing Need in Ontario.” The report is produced by the Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association (ONPHA) and the Cooperative Housing Federation of Canada (CHF).

Where's Home 2006:
A Picture of Housing Needs in Ontario (PDF file - 262K, 45 pages)
March 2007
This latest in a series of reports co-produced by ONPHA and the Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada, Ontario Council finds that there aren't enough apartments available in Ontario, and those that are available are unaffordable for the average worker

Fact Sheet (PDF file - 17K, 1 page)
Undated (PDF file is dated March 14/07)

Earlier reports in this series - back to 1999

Sources:

Cooperative Housing Federation of Canada
The Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada (CHF Canada) is the organized voice of the Canadian co-operative housing movement. We exist to unite, represent and serve the community of housing co-operatives across Canada and member organizations that support their operation and development.

Ontario Non-profit Housing Association (ONPHA)
ONPHA is the voice of non-profit housing in Ontario. ONPHA unites 770 non-profit organizations providing housing in 220 communities across Ontario. Our members include municipal and private non-profits of all sizes, with all types of funding.

Related links:

The Wellesley Institute
The Wellesley Institute advances the social determinants of health through rigorous community-based research, reciprocal capacity building, and the informing of public policy.

The Wellesley Institute Blog

Issue Pages: Housing and Homelessness
- incl. links to key online resources, presentations and blog entries on this issue

Affordable Housing - from the Ontario Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs

- 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

Fisheries Minister Hearn questions
use of slogan 'Canada's new government'
April 4, 2007
ST. JOHN'S, N.L. (CP) - More than a year after Prime Minister Stephen Harper was elected, his government continues to sell itself as "Canada's new government." But at least one federal cabinet minister says he avoids the oft-used partisan slogan and wonders why it's in every government news release. Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn, who was in St. John's today for a funding announcement, says he skips the catchphrase whenever it crops up in prepared speeches.
Source:
CBC

In an unrelated story:

Canada's New Government
Accepts Loyola Hearn's Resignation
April 5

- Go to the Canada's New Government Contest page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/personal/newgovt.htm

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 instructions for (un)subscribing, see http://www.childcarecanada.org

5-Apr-07

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

CHALLENGING NATIONAL REGIMES FROM BELOW: TORONTO CHILD CARE POLITICS
Article by Rianne Mahon from the current issue of Politics and Gender examines child care politics in Toronto.
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=98948

MANITOBA BUDGET 2007
Manitoba’s provincial budget “increases the provincial investment in child care by more than $14 million to backfill for withdrawn federal funds.”
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=98946

PORTRAIT OF THE CANADIAN POPULATION IN 2006
Statistics Canada has released the first data from the 2006 Census, covering population and dwelling counts.
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=98944

LEADERSHIP AND ACCOUNTABILITY NEEDED ON NATIONAL CHILD CARE ISSUES
Press release from the Canadian Child Care Federation says that while provinces and territories have varying needs there are common issues that need to be addressed at the national level.
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=98941

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Child care in the news
--------------------------------------------------

Tories flunk early childhood education test [CA]
Winnipeg Free Press, 4 Apr 07
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=98932

Close gender gap to boost global growth; Working women raise birthrate and GDP: Goldman
National Post, 4 Apr 07
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=98914

Child care a hot potato [CA]
The Record, 3 Apr 07
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=98936

Tories won’t establish national child care standards [CA]
National Post, 2 Apr 07
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=98842

Protest bridges child care gap [CA]
Ottawa Sun, 31 Mar 07
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=98844

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NEW HOME FOR SPECIALINK
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As of April 1st SpeciaLink, The National Centre for Child Care Inclusion completed its transition to its new home at the University of Winnipeg. SpeciaLink is now located in the UW’s Helen Betty Osborne Building in the second floor of 511 Ellice Avenue in downtown Winnipeg. After 15 years leading the organization she founded out of Cape Breton Island, Dr. Sharon Hope Irwin moves into the role of Senior Researcher for SpeciaLink. Debra Mayer assumes the role as Director of SpeciaLink as the organization completes its transition to its new home in Manitoba.

SpeciaLink’s very useful website remains at:
http://www.specialinkcanada.org/

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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
Try the Advanced Search feature, very handy!

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

The Mismeasure of Poverty
A more accurate index is long overdue
August-September 2006
By Nicholas Eberstadt
"(...) Central as the “poverty rate” has become to antipoverty policy — or, more precisely, especially because of its central role in such policies — the official poverty rate should likewise be discarded in favor of a more accurate index, or set of indices, for describing material deprivation in modern America. The task of devising a better statistical lodestar for our nation’s antipoverty efforts is by now far overdue. Properly pursued, it is an initiative that would rightly tax both our formidable government statistical apparatus and our finest specialists in the relevant disciplines. But such exertions would also stand to benefit the common weal in as yet incalculable ways."

Source:
Policy Review
August & September 2006

Past issues of Policy Review - back to 1995
Browse all Policy Review issues by Topic
- topics include:
* Economics & Finance * Education * Energy & Environment * Global Cooperation & Relations * History & Philosophy * Law * National Security & Defense * Politics, International * Politics, U.S. * Values & Social Policy ( including Welfare Reform )

Source:
Hoover Institution
The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace, Stanford University, is a public policy research center devoted to advanced study of politics, economics, and political economy—both domestic and foreign—as well as international affairs.

- Go to the Poverty Measures - International Resources page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/poverty2.htm

USA.gov - "Government Made Easy"
- incl. links to : * Agency Index * Federal Government * State Government * Local Government * Tribal Governments
Government Information by Topic :
* Benefits and Grants * Consumer Guides * Defense and International * Environment, Energy, and Agriculture * Family, Home, and Community * Health and Nutrition * History, Arts, and Culture * Jobs and Education
* Money and Taxes * Public Safety and Law * Reference and General Government * Science and Technology * Travel and Recreation * Voting and Elections

Senior Citizens' Resources - USA.gov
- incl. links to : * Consumer Protection for Seniors * Education, Jobs, and Volunteerism for Seniors * End-of-Life Issues * Federal and State Agencies for Seniors * Health for Seniors * Housing for Seniors * Laws and Regulations Concerning Seniors * Money and Taxes for Seniors * Retirement * Travel and Recreation for Seniors

Government Benefits, Grants and Financial Aid
Official information and services from the U.S. government

GovBenefits.gov - Your Benefits Connection
"...a partnership of Federal agencies with a shared vision - to provide improved, personalized access to government assistance programs."
[A Partner is a Federal, State or Local government organization that makes benefit program information available to the public on the GovBenefits.gov website. - from About GovBenefits.gov

www.grants.gov
"Grants.gov, which is part of President Bush's E-gov initiative, serves as a one-stop comprehensive web clearinghouse for information about federal grant opportunities and grant application materials."

DisabilityInfo.gov
"DisabilityInfo.gov is a comprehensive online resource specifically designed to provide people with disabilities with the information they need to know quickly. With just a few clicks, the portal provides access to disability-related information and programs available across the government on numerous subjects, including civil rights, education, employment, housing, health, income support, technology, transportation, and community life."
- Click on the tabs near the top of the home page to access a wealth of information on the following themes: Home - Employment - Education - Housing - Transportation - Health - Income Support - Technology - Community Life - Civil Rights.
Sample content:
Income Support --- incl. links to information about : Food Stamps - General - Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) - Supplemental Security Income (SSI) - Social Security Work Incentives - Temporary Assistance for Needy Families - Veterans Benefits - Welfare-To-Work

- Go to the Links to American Government Social Research Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/us.htm

Global Action for Food Security
March 2007
By Joachim von Braun and Michiel Keyzer
The Centre for World Food Studies at Vrije University in the Netherlands and the International Food Policy Research Institute have recently increased their collaborative activities. Both centers are working on a study of China's agricultural transition. Recently the directors of the two institutes joined forces to discuss global action for food security.

Global Action for Food Security is based on a presentation and discussion by the two authors on global mechanisms to reduce hunger, given at an expert meeting in Amsterdam on September 27, 2006 in celebration of World Food Day and dialogues thereafter.

Source:
Centre for World Food Studies at Vrije University in the Netherlands and
the International Food Policy Research Institute

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