Canadian Social Research Newsletter
June 11, 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 1621 subscribers.
Scroll to the bottom of this newsletter to see some notes and a disclaimer.

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IN THIS ISSUE:

Canadian Content

1. What's New in Nova Scotia?
--- Single Mothers' Survival Guide (Nova Scotia Public Interest Research Group)
--- Programs for Seniors 2006 (Nova Scotia Department of Health)
2. National Hunger Awareness Day (Canadian Association of Food Banks) - June 6
3. Who's Hungry: 2006 Profile of Hunger in the Greater Toronto Area (Daily Bread Food Bank) - June 6
4. Expert Panel Reports on Equalization and Territorial Formula Financing (Department of Finance Canada) - June 5
5. What's New from The Daily [Statistics Canada]:
--- Labour Force Survey, May 2006 - June 9
--- Study: Relationship between reading literacy and education outcomes, 2004 - June 7
-- Study: Employment and earnings among lone mothers, 1980 to 2000 - June 7
--- Aboriginal people as victims and offenders, 2004 - June 6
--- Study: Neighbourhood income, maternal education and birth outcomes in Quebec, 1991 to 2000 - June 6
--- Canada Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating, 2004 - June 5
6. Homeless Individuals and Families Information System Bulletin - April 2006 issue (National Homeless Initiative)
7. What's New from the Childcare Resource and Research Unit (University of Toronto) - June 9

International Content

8. Poverty Dispatch Digest : U.S. media coverage of social issues and programs
9. G8 Meetings in Saint-Petersburg Russia 2006 (Finance Canada Info and Links to Official G8 Website)

Single Mothers’ Survival Guide - (Nova Scotia focus)
2006
In 1989, single mom and activist Brenda Thompson, published the first Single Mothers’ Survival Guide. The guide recognized the economic, social, and political hardships experienced by single mothers and offered specific and practical information on how to cope when living in poverty in the metro-Halifax area. This is the online version of the fifth edition of the book.

- incl. links to : Introduction - Single Mothers and Poverty Laws in NS - Social Assistance - Attitudes Towards "Welfare" Mothers - Legal Aid - Maintenance and Child Support - Children's Aid and Child "Welfare" - Employment - Education - Daycare - Housing - Transition Houses - Food and Food Banks - Sex Lives of Single Moms! - How To Become Politcally Active - Single Mothers Speak - Numbers to Know in Nova Scotia

Source:
Nova Scotia Public Interest Research Group (NSPIRG)
NSPIRG is a non-profit, non-partisan social and environmental justice research and resource centre. Our mandate is to empower, educate, and inspire action on social justice and environmental issues at Dalhousie University, as well as in the broader Halifax community and Nova Scotia generally. We are a student and volunteer-driven organization working within an anti-oppression framework, and providing a range of events, opportunities, working groups, and campaigns to community members.
- incl. links to: Home - About Us - Events Calendar - Working Groups - Library - Funding - Links - Media - Contact Us - Advanced Search - Single Mothers' Survival Guide

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Programs for Seniors 2006 (PDF file - 9.8MB - LARGE download , 148 pages)
Source:
Senior Citizens' Secretariat
[ Nova Scotia Department of Health ]
Suggestion to the Senior Citizens' Secretariat web team:
- if you don't want seniors to expire at their computers waiting for this giant download from the Web, you can do *two* PDF versions --- one with all the fancy graphics and stuff (i.e., 9.8MB), and the other with formatted text only.
The average size of a simple PDF file shouldn't be more than 3-4 KB per page.

- Go to the Nova Scotia Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/nsbkmrk.htm

National Hunger Awareness Day
June 6th, 2006 marks the launch of the inaugural National Hunger Awareness Day in Canada. The goal is to raise public awareness of domestic hunger at both the National and Local level. A cross-sector of sponsors and stakeholders will be engaged ranging from media, faith-based groups, national corporations, politicians and the general public. Local activities will also take place in an effort to raise food and funds through our various members. Learn more about Hunger Awareness Day and how you can take part!
- incl. links to : Our Mission - Events - Photo Album - Media Room - Related Links - FAQs

Related Links:

Canada:
Canadian Association of Food Banks

U.S.:
National Hunger Awareness Day
America's Second Harvest - The Nation's Food Bank Network
- Hunger in America 2006
"The America's Second Harvest Network produced "Hunger in America 2006 ," a comprehensive profile of the incidence and nature of hunger and food insecurity in the U.S. Our study provides extensive demographic profiles of emergency food clients at charitable feeding agencies and comprehensive information on the nature and efficacy of local agencies in meeting the food security needs of clients.The study is the largest of its kind. More than 52,000 individuals agreed to share their personal stories with us through face-to-face interviews at charitable emergency hunger-relief agencies like pantries, soup kitchens, and shelters. Nearly 31,000 local emergency hunger-relief agencies completed survey questionnaires about their efforts to serve millions of hungry Americans."

- Go to the Food Banks and Hunger Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/foodbkmrk.htm
- Go to the Links to American Non-Governmental Social Research (A-J) Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/us2.htm

Daily Bread's Who's Hungry report illustrates depth of hunger crisis
Survey examines hunger in the GTA and Daily Bread advances solutions
(PDF file - 96K, 1 page)
News Release
June 6, 2006
TORONTO, ON Food bank use across the GTA has risen a dramatic 79% since 1995, according to the report Who's Hungry: 2006 Profile of Hunger in the GTA released today at BCE Place. The results of Daily Bread’s annual survey paint a picture that cannot be ignored of the struggles and financial plight of the diverse population relying on food banks. The 894,017 people who accessed emergency food services last year through GTA food banks, 38% of whom were children, would not go hungry if the issue of poverty were addressed. So, in conjunction with the report, Daily Bread advances the Blueprint to Fight Hunger.

Complete report:

Who's Hungry:
2006 Profile of Hunger in the Greater Toronto Area
(PDF file - 1.9MB, 13 pages)

Source:
Daily Bread Food Bank - Toronto

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

Minister of Finance Receives Expert Panel Reports
on Equalization and Territorial Formula Financing
News Release
June 5, 2006
The Honourable Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance, announced today that he has received the final reports on Equalization and Territorial Formula Financing from the Expert Panel mandated by the Government of Canada to review these programs.

Equalization Report
HTML
PDF (1.9MB)

Equalization Executive Summary
HTML
PDF (338K)

Territorial Formula Financing Report
HTML
PDF (1.2MB)

Territorial Formula Financing Executive Summary
HTML
PDF (335K)

Source:
Expert Panel on Equalization and Territorial Formula Financing Website
- incl. links to : Home - About the Panel - Consultations - Submissions - Research and Analysis - Media - Contact Us - Links
[ Finance Canada]

Related Links:

Include resource money in equalization program, experts say
June 5, 2006
An expert panel has recommended the federal equalization program be increased by nearly $900 million annually, by including at least some natural resource revenues in the way the historic program is calculated. Appointed by the former Liberal government, the panel has been studying ways to revamp the $10.9-billion program that pays money to have-not provinces. Its report comes in the midst of an unexpectedly fierce political fight over the program. Premiers from some of the wealthier provinces like Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia fear a too-enriched equalization scheme could eat into their tax base and tie Ottawa's hand.
Source:
CBC News

Google.ca News Search Results:
"provincial premiers, equalization"
Google.ca Web Search Results:
"provincial premiers, equalization"
Source:
Google.ca

NOTE: As of June 11, there was no news release about the day-long meeting of Canadian premiers in Edmonton on The Council of the Federation's website.

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

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

June 9, 2006
Labour Force Survey, May 2006
Employment increased by an estimated 97,000 in May, matching the high reached in January 2002. This increase drove the unemployment rate down 0.3 percentage points to 6.1%, the lowest since December 1974.

Complete report:

Labour Force Information for the Week ending May 20, 2006 (PDF file - 369K, 58 pages)
Earlier editions of Labour Force Information - links to monthly editions going back to the fall of 2002

June 7, 2006
Study: Relationship between reading literacy and education outcomes, 2004
Young Canadians who have high levels of proficiency in reading are more likely to graduate from high school, and to pursue postsecondary education, according to a new study

Complete report:

Educational Outcomes at Age 19
Associated with Reading Ability at Age 15 (PDF file - 419K, 33 pages)

June 7, 2006
Study: Employment and earnings among lone mothers, 1980 to 2000
Two major demographic developments have been behind big gains in employment and earnings during the past two decades among lone mothers aged 40 and over, according to a new study.

Complete report:

Why did employment and earnings rise
among lone mothers during the 1980s and 1990s?(PDF file - 863K, 29 pages)

June 6, 2006
Aboriginal people as victims and offenders, 2004
Using data from victimization, police and corrections surveys, a new report provides a statistical portrait of the extent and nature of victimization and offending among Aboriginal people in Canada during the past few years, as reported to the 2004 General Social Survey (GSS) on Victimization.

Complete report:

Victimization and offending among the Aboriginal population in Canada (PDF file - 321K, 31 pages)
by Jodi-Anne Brzozowski, Andrea Taylor-Butts and Sara Johnson

Source:
Juristat
This series of reports provides detailed statistics and analysis on a variety of topics and issues concerning Canada's justice system. Annual Juristats are produced on areas such as: crime, homicide, youth and adult courts, and corrections. Additional Juristats are also produced each year on current topics of interest to the justice community. This is a unique periodical, of great interest to those who have to plan, establish, administer and evaluate justice programs and projects, or anyone who has an interest in Canada's justice system.
Earlier issues of Juristat - links to free issues of this report back to the 1990s

June 6, 2006
Study: Neighbourhood income, maternal education and birth outcomes in Quebec, 1991 to 2000
"Women with lower levels of education and those who live in poorer neighbourhoods are more vulnerable to adverse birth outcomes, according to a new study. The study, which examined all births in Quebec from 1991 through 2000, found that the mother's level of education and the socio-economic status of the neighbourhood in which she lived were associated with higher risks of pre-term birth, small-for-gestational age birth, stillbirth, neonatal death and post-neonatal death. The impacts of maternal education were stronger than those of neighbourhood income, and were independent of neighbourhood income, according to the study.(...) The study "Effect of neighbourhood income and maternal education on birth outcomes: A Population-based study" published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, is a collaboration of Statistics Canada, the University of Montréal, and McGill University. The full text of the article is available free, in English only, at (http://www.cmaj.ca).

June 5
Canada Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating, 2004
Canadians are extremely generous with the money and time they give to charitable and other nonprofit organizations. But it is a relatively small proportion of the population that provides the bulk of the help, according to the latest survey on giving and volunteering.

Complete report:

Caring Canadians, Involved Canadians: Highlights from the
Canada Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating, 2004 (PDF file- 908K, 101 pages)

- Go to the First Nations Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/1stbkmrk.htm
- Go to the Federal Government Department Links (Fisheries and Oceans to Veterans Affairs) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/fedbkmrk2.htm
- Go to the Québec Links (English) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/qce.htm
- Go to the Voluntary Sector Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/voluntary.htm

National Homelessness Initiative – HIFIS Bulletin (PDF file - 58K, 5 pages)
April 2006 issue
[NOTE: HIFIS = Homeless Individuals and Families Information System ]

In This Issue:
• HIFIS 3.0 Software Release
• Testing HIFIS 3.0
• The Digital Inclusion Partnership (DIP) for Homelessness: Meeting the IT Needs of Shelters
• Building Networks: HIFIS Initiative and the Provincial Transition House Associations Meeting
• HIFIS Participation at The Salvation Army National Social Services Conference 2006
• The Ontario Budget Provides for Additional Affordable Housing
• Research Highlights

Earlier HIFIS Bulletins - links to a dozen issues back to 2004

Source:
National Homelessness Initiative

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

9-Jun-06

NOTE: CRRU provides links to recent excerpts from the House of Commons Hansard on the subject of early learning and child care.
See: http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=89609

---------------------------------------------------
What’s New
---------------------------------------------------

>> EVIDENCE-BASED UNDERSTANDING OF INTEGRATED FOUNDATIONS FOR EARLY
CHILDHOOD
by Corter, Carl; Bertrand, Jane; Pelletier, Janette; Griffin, Theresa;McKay, Donald; Patel, Sejal & Ioannone Palmina
Toronto First Duty Project summary concludes that integrated professional supports improve the quality of programs and reduce risks for parents and children.

>> ONTARIO COALITION FOR BETTER CHILD CARE PROGRESS REPORT ON CHILD
CARE IN ONTARIO
Report from OCBCC reviews the Ontario government’s Best Start Action Plan in light of the recent cancellation of the federal/provincial agreements.

>> INVESTING IN QUALITY: A SURVEY OF STATE CHILD CARE AND DEVELOPMENT FUND INITIATIVES
by Pittard, Melanie; Zaslow, Martha; Lavelle, Bridget & Porter, Toni
Report by National Association of State Child Care Administrators & Child Trends (US) provides a summary of US states’ investments in child care quality.

>> TESTING THE “WHOLE TEACHER” APPROACH TO PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: A STUDY OF ENHANCING EARLY CHILDHOOD TEACHERS’ TECHNOLOGY PROFICIENCY
by Chen, Jie-Qi & Chang, Charles
Article from Early Childhood Research & Practice “analyzed relationships among teachers’ attitudes, skills, and practices.”

--------------------------------------------------
Child Care in the News
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>> Better child care would ease welfare cases, YWCA says [CA-NS]
by Keilty, Lindsey / Daily News (Halifax), 8 Jun 06

>> City backs child care: Council joins campaign to push for federal funding [CA-BC]
by Hilborn, Dan / Burnaby Now, 7 Jun 06

>> Higher child care fees called essential [CA-YT]
by Skikavich, Julia / Whitehorse Daily Star, 6 Jun 06

>> Early learning is only civilized: Counterpoint [CA]
by Friendly, Martha / National Post, 6 Jun 06

>> Women vanishing from the job market [CA]
by Bryan, Jay / Sudbury Star, 3 Jun 06

>> Daycare issue not a big priority for western Canadians; Support for grants, national program about the same [CA]
by Roach, Robert & Berdahl, Loleen / Toronto Star, 3 Jun 06

---------------------------------------------------
George Brown College Centre
for Early Childhood Development Award
---------------------------------------------------

The Childcare Resource and Research Unit is proud to announce that Martha Friendly was honoured with George Brown College Centre for Early Childhood Development’s annual award for “exceptional contributions to the early childhood sector over the years”. The award was presented at a reception at the College following the Third Annual Summer Institute on Early Childhood Development.

Congratulations, Martha!

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

Related Links:

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

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, going all the way back to June 1 (2006) when the Dispatch finally 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. This is my own archive of weekly issues of the digest back to August 2005, and most of them have 50+ links per issue. the weekly digest. I'll shortly be deleting this archive from my site.

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 G8 Summit will take place July 15-17 in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
G8 Finance Ministers met on June 9-10, also in Saint Petersburg.

Pre Summit Statement by G8 Finance Ministers
June 10, 2006
"We met and discussed today a number of global economic issues in preparation for the annual Summit of G8 Heads of State and Government in St. Petersburg. We also had productive discussions with colleagues from Australia, Brazil, the People's Republic of China, India, the Republic of Korea and Nigeria." More...

G8 Finance Ministers Statement on Access to
Energy Services for the Millennium Development Goals
June 10, 2006

Minister of Finance Jim Flaherty to attend G8 Finance Ministers Meeting in St. Petersburg,
Russia, on June 10, and to visit London and Dublin, on June 12 and 13, 2006
Notice to the Media
June 7, 2006

Source:
International Activities
- incl. links to : General - G-7/G-8 - G-20 - International Monetary Fund (IMF) - Western Hemisphere Finance Ministers
- NOTE: be sure to check out the rich content of this Finance Canada subsite --- contains links to dozens of statements, reports, press releases and backgrounders, going back to 1999.
[ Department of Finance Canada ]

Related Links:

G8 Saint Petersburg Russia 2006:
Official Website of the G8 Presidency
of the Russian Federation in 2006
- incl. links to:
News - links to three pages of releases (50+ releases) issued in June 2006
G8 (including previous meetings back to Denver in 1997)
Agenda
Working Meetings - dates of all meetings taking place in 2006, including links to further info
Venue
Media
Contacts

A Call out to protest against G8 summit of 2006
in St. Petersburg, Russia July 15-17 2006
- from Peoples' Global Action

A Call for Action Against G8 Summit of 2006
- from all4all.org - global action database
- includes links to half a dozen related websites

Google.ca News Search Results:
"G8, St. Petersburg, 2006"
Google.ca Web Search Results:
"G8, St. Petersburg, 2006"
Source:
Google.ca

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

Dittograms

"The nose knows."  This aphorism is a classic example of a homophone pair, two adjacent words that have the same sound.  The soccer score "two to two" is a homophone triplet.  Words and phrases with repeated sounds are called dittograms.  Although many sentences contain dittograms ("A table for four, please.), the trick is to see how many dittograms you can get into one coherent sentence.