Canadian Social Research Newsletter
March 13, 2005

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 1371 subscribers.
Scroll to the bottom of this newsletter to see some notes and a disclaimer.

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IN THIS ISSUE:

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

March 11, 2005
Labour Force Survey, February 2005
Employment edged up by an estimated 27,000 in February after three months of little change. The unemployment rate held steady at 7.0% as more people were participating in the labour force in February.

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

CANADA: Researching Resilience in Children and Youth [conference]
15-17 June 2005
University of Kings College
Halifax, Nova Scotia
"The International Resilience Project (IRP) is a research project that is using different types of research methods to examine what helps children and youth cope with the many challenges they face in life. The project is working with children, youth, and elders in 12 countries and on 5 continents around the world. It is a 3-year pilot study funded by the government of Canada through Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada. The Project is hosting an international conference to present leading edge innovations in building, sustaining and researching resilience in children and youth, globally.(...) Researchers, policy makers, child advocates, clinicians, and community workers globally are being invited to share their work. "
- Keynote speakers include: James Garbarino * Hamilton McCubbin * Laura McCubbin * Cindy Blackstock * Zahava Solomon
- The following sub-themes will be explored at the conference: (A) Theories of resilience in children and youth across cultures (B) Research methods in the study of resilience across cultures and contexts (C) Interventions to build resilience in children and youth, including prevention and treatment.
Source:
"The International Resilience Project (IRP) is an international research project that is using different types of research methods to examine what helps children and youth cope with the many challenges that they face in life. It looks at this from the perspective of youth, elders and others in each community that participates. The project is working with children, youth, and elders in twelve countries and on five continents around the world. It is a 3-year pilot study funded by the government of Canada through Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada."

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Speaking of kids and conferences, don't forget Beyond Rhetoric: Canada’s Second Conference on Bullying, March 21-23, 2005 at the Congress Centre in Ottawa.
Conference at a Glance
Source: Bullying Awareness Network
Related Link: Child and Youth Friendly Ottawa

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Speaking of kids' conference programs, the program for the 6th National Child Welfare Symposium (May 26 - 27, 2005, Mont Royal Centre, Montreal) is now online:
Program (PDF file - 1.4MB, 14 pages)
Registration will be available online on Monday, May 7, 2005.
Conference Themes: domestic violence * mental health * child protection * drug abuse * intellectual disabilities
Source : Centre of Excellence for Child Welfare

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- Go to the Conferences and Events Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/confer.htm
- Go to the Children, Families and Youth Links (NGO) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/chnngo.htm

No child deserves to be poor
By CAROL GOAR
March 11, 2005
Life was supposed to get better for Canada's poorest children when the federal government introduced its national child benefit supplement seven years ago. For approximately half the 1 million kids living below the poverty line, it did. The other half got nothing. The difference: their parents' source of income. (...)
This week, a coalition of child welfare organizations, faith groups, women's shelters, legal aid clinics, unions and municipalities launched a public appeal to the Ontario government to treat all low-income children equally. The campaign is called Hands Off! It is designed to convince Dalton McGuinty that it is wrong to snatch money out of the pockets of parents who can't afford groceries, decent housing or school supplies."
Source:
The Toronto Star

Related Links:

Hands Off! Stop Taking Our Baby Bonus!
A campaign to stop the clawback of the National Child Benefit Supplement (NCBS)
"The Hands off! Campaign asks the Provincial and the Federal government to do 2 things:
* End the clawback of the National Child Benefit Supplement from families on social assistance, now!
* Fund the reinvestment programs that work for low-income families out of other provincial and federal revenues.
- includes links to : Take Action | Send an e-Card | Lobby MPP / MP | Endorse Campaign | Links | Income Security Advocacy Centre | Contact Us
Source:
Income Security Advocacy Centre (ISAC)

NCBS Clawback Court Challenge (ISAC)
In December 2004, a legal challenge to the clawback was filed in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice by the Income Security Advocacy Centre, the Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation (CERA)and the Charter Committee on Poverty Issues.
NOTE: for more info on the NCBS Clawback challenge, go to the Case Law / Court Decisions / Inquests page:
http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/caselaw.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]:

March 8, 2005
Study: Becoming Canadian, 2001
Immigrants who arrive in Canada are much more likely to become naturalized citizens than those who go to many other nations, including the United States, according to a new report. The study "Becoming Canadian: Intent, process, and outcome," based on census data and published in the spring edition of Canadian Social Trends, shows that 84% of eligible immigrants in Canada were Canadian citizens in 2001.
Complete report:
Becoming Canadian: Intent, process and outcome (PDF file - 373K, 6 pages)
Source:
Social Trends --- Free Articles
NOTE: the "Free Articles" link contains links to the following free content from past issues:
* You can't always get what you want: Retirement preferences and experiences
* Blacks in Canada: A long history
* Across the generations: Grandparents and Grandchildren
* Would You Live Common-law?
* Couples living apart
* Traumatic life events
* Is your community child-friendly?
* Time alone
* Better things to do or dealt out of the game? Internet dropouts and infrequent users
* Driven to excel: A portrait of Canada's workaholics
[I highly recommend the workaholics article (PDF file - 335K, 6 pages) to some of my former colleagues in Social Development Canada (hey, you know who you are...) and other federal departments. In the real world, though, I know that the very folks who are the subject of the article will never read it because they're way too busy to read this.]

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

‘Freedom from want’ – from charity to entitlement (PDF file - 162K, 18 pages)
March 4, 2005
By Louise Arbour
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Speech by Louise Arbour, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (LaFontaine-Baldwin lecture) on March 4, 2005 about human rights and poverty issues in Canada.
Source:
LaFontaine Baldwin Lecture 2005

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

Investing in our Future: Government of Canada reports on progress in early childhood development
News Release
February 28, 2005
"OTTAWA—The Government of Canada today reported on a wide range of initiatives designed to support children and families. Ken Dryden, Minister of Social Development, Ujjal Dosanjh, Minister of Health and the Minister responsible for the Public Health Agency of Canada, and Andy Scott, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians, today released the Early Childhood Development Activities and Expenditures: Government of Canada Report 2003-2004 and the Early Learning and Child Care Activities and Expenditures: Government of Canada Report 2003-2004."
Source:
Social Development Canada

Early Childhood Development Activities and Expenditures
Early Learning and Child Care Activities and Expenditures
Government of Canada Report 2003–2004
February 2005
HTML version
PDF version (1.44MB, 141 pages)

Recommended reading!
This report provides information on a broad range of federal and provincial-territorial government child-related programs and initiatives, including : Cash Transfers in Support of the Early Childhood Development Agreement - Maternity and Parental Benefits - the Child Care Expense Deduction - the Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program - the Community Action Program for Children - the Federal Strategy on Early Childhood Development for First Nations and Other Aboriginal Children - Federal Transfers Supporting Health and Social Programs - New Measures Introduced in the Federal Budget (March 2004) - Healthy pregnancy,birth and infancy initiatives - Parenting and Family Supports - Community Action Program for Children - Early Childhood Development, Learning and Child Care -Canada Child Tax Benefit Supplement - National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth - Understanding the Early Years - much, much more.

Source:
The Social Union website
(Federal-Provincial-Territorial website)

- Go to the Government Early Learning and Child Care Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/ecd.htm

Canada Celebrates International Women's Day
News Release
March 8, 2005
OTTAWA -- The Honourable Liza Frulla, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Minister responsible for Status of Women, today joined Canadians in celebrating International Women's Week (IWW), March 5 to 12, 2005, and its highlight, March 8, International Women's Day. 'After successfully leading the Canadian delegation to the Beijing +10 meeting at the United Nations in New York last week, I am pleased Canada has strongly reaffirmed its commitment to the goals of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action on Gender Equality,' Minister Frulla said. 'What matters most now is that Canada is looking forward - building on our strengths, learning from our own and others' experience, and meeting challenges head on.'"
Source:
Status of Women Canada

International Women's Day - March 8
"This year's United Nations theme for IWD is 'Gender Equality Beyond 2005: Building a More Secure Future,' an appropriate theme considering that 2005 is a critical year for reinvigorating our efforts on women's human rights and gender equality."
Source:
Foreign Affairs Canada

More Promises to Women Not Kept
Press Release
March 8, 2005
"The Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies (CAEFS), Native Women's Association of Canada Strength in Sisterhood Society and Women 4 Justice are alarmed at what they consider to be tacit acceptance by the Canadian Human Rights Commission of the relative inaction of the Correctional Service of Canada. Four years ago today, CAEFS and NWAC, supported by more than 25 other national and international organizations, urged the CHRC to conduct a systemic review and issue a special report regarding the discriminatory treatment of federally sentenced women at the hands of the Canadian government."
Source:
Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies (CAEFS)
Native Women's Association of Canada (NWAC)
Strength in Sisterhood Society (SIS)

- Go to the Canadian Government Sites about Women's Social Issues page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/women.htm
- Go to the the Canadian Non-Governmental Sites about Women's Social Issues page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/womencanngo.htm
- Go to the Links to International Sites about Women's Social Issues page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/womeninternat.htm

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

What's New? - Links to 100+ Canadian, U.S. and international resources from Jan 2000 to the present.
Child Care in the News - 200+ media articles from January 2000 to the present
ISSUE files - links to 20+ theme pages, each filled with contextual information and links to further info
Links to child care sites in Canada and elsewhere
CRRU Publications - links to ~60 briefing notes, factsheets, occasional papers and other publications

Also from CRRU:

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

POVERTY DISPATCH Digest (Institute for Research on Poverty - U. of Wisconsin)
This digest offers dozens of new links each week to full-text articles in the U.S. media (mostly daily newspapers) on poverty, poverty, welfare reform, child welfare, education, health, hunger, Medicare and Medicaid, and much more...
The Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison offers a free e-mail service that consists of an e-mail message sent to subscribers each Monday and Thursday, containing a dozen or so links to articles dealing with the areas mentioned above. The weekly Canadian Social Research Links Poverty Dispatch Digest is a compilation, available online, of the two dispatch e-mails for that week --- with the kind permission of IRP.

Here's a one-day sample of the subjects covered in the Poverty Dispatch Digest:

Subscribe to the Poverty Dispatch!
Send an e-mail message to John Wolf < jwolf@ssc.wisc.edu > to receive a plain text message twice a week with one to two dozen links to media articles with a focus on poverty, welfare reform, child welfare, health, Medicaid from across the U.S.
And it's free...

Source:
Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP)
[ University of Wisconsin-Madison ]

POVERTY DISPATCH description/archive - weekly issues back to July 2004 , avg. 100+ links per issue before December 2004!
NOTE: this archive is part of the Canadian Social Research Links American Non-Governmental Social Research page.

For the current week's digest, click on the POVERTY DISPATCH link at the top of this section.
Recently-archived POVERTY DISPATCH weekly digests:

- March 3, 2005
- February 24
- February 17
- February 10
- February 3
- January 20

- 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

United States:

The Food Assistance Landscape, March 2005
Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Report
"Expenditures for USDA's 15 food assistance programs totaled $46 billion from October 1, 2003, to September 30, 2004, marking the second consecutive year in which spending exceeded the previous record high. The fiscal 2004 spending level represented a 10-percent increase from the previous fiscal year, the fourth consecutive year in which total food assistance expenditures increased. Five programs—the Food Stamp Program, the National School Lunch Program, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), the School Breakfast Program, and the Child and Adult Care Food Program—accounted for 94 percent of USDA's total expenditures for food assistance."

Complete report:

The Food Assistance Landscape, March 2005 (PDF file - 247K, 6 pages)

Related Links:

Food & Nutrition Assistance Programs
Food Security in the United States

Source:
Economic Research Service (ERS)
[ U.S. Department of Agriculture ]

- Go to the Food Banks and Hunger Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/foodbkmrk.htm
- Go to the Links to American Government Social Research page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/us.htm

Federal Nutrition Programs Making Record
Difference for Families, Children and Elderly
Press Release
February 23, 2005
"FRAC Finds National and State Performance Gaps Remain;
Warns Budget Cut Proposals Could Add to Hunger"

Complete report:

State of the States: 2005
A Profile of Food and Nutrition Programs Across the Nation (PDF file - 469K, 86 pages)
February 2005
"Millions of American families are struggling with low and stagnant wages, rising energy, housing and child care costs, and shrinking employer-based health coverage. The growth in the use of nutrition programs is helping desperate families cope with the erosion of other private and public supports - - but they can only help so much. The programs can’t wholly replace lagging wages and benefits. And the amounts of assistance which the nutrition programs provide often are not adequate. Food stamps, for example, provide benefits at a level that can not deliver adequate nutrition throughout the month to a typical low-income family."

Source:
Food Research and Action Center - U.S.

- Go to the Food Banks and Hunger Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/foodbkmrk.htm
- Go to the Links to American Government Social Research page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/us.htm

Columbia Research Group Warns Against Ignoring Children in Social Security Debate
News Release
February 24, 2005
"Social Security is the single largest support program for children in the United States Although Social Security is the single largest program that provides support to American children, the debate over privatization has focused almost entirely on changes in benefits for retirees. (...) While it is true that retirees and their spouses are the largest block of beneficiaries from the program, over 5 million children in the United States benefit from Social Security, either directly as beneficiaries or indirectly as members of households that receive a monthly Social Security check. Of the 48 million people who currently receive Social Security benefits, one in three is not a retiree; one in 15 is a child under the age of 18."

Full Report:
Whose Security? What Social Security Means to Children and Families (PDF file - 90K, 10 pages)

Source:
National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP) - New York

Related NCCP Links:

New Policy Brief and Fact Sheet on Social Security and Children
"Although most discussions of Social Security focus on its retirement benefits, the program is more accurately described as a family insurance program. Social Security is the primary, if not the only, source of life and disability insurance for many U.S. families, especially those headed by younger workers. Social Security is responsible for keeping many middle- and low-income children from falling into poverty when a parent dies or becomes disabled."

Questions for policymakers on Social Security and Children
"...questions policymakers should consider before proposing changes in the program that would affect the children and spouses of deceased workers, and disabled workers and their families."

- Go to the Pension Reforms Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/pensions.htm
- Go to the Links to American Non-Governmental Social Research (M-Z) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/us3.htm

The Rights of Children & Youth
- incl. links to : Introduction - Rights at Stake - International and Regional Instruments of Protection and Promotion - National Protection and Service Agencies - Advocacy, Educational and Training Materials - Other Resources
Source:
Human Rights Education Associates (HREA)

Related HREA links:

Study Guides
"...present definitions, key rights at stake, human rights instruments, and protection and assistance agencies, [in addition to] links to the full text of international treaties relevant for the topic, and other useful resources on the HREA and University of Minnesota Human Rights Library web sites."
themes include : Children & youth - European human rights system - Ethnic and racial minorities - Food & water - Freedom of assembly and association - Freedom of expression - Freedom of movement - Freedom of religion or belief - Housing - Indigenous peoples - Inter-American human rights system - International humanitarian law -- Persons with disabilities - Refugees - Right to culture - Right to a family - Right to life - Right to means for adequate health - Right to vote - Rights of non-citizens - Slavery and forced labour - Sexual orientation and human rights - Sustainable development - The aged - United Nations human rights system

- Go to the Children's Rights Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/chnrights.htm
- Go to the Human Rights Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/rights.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 and submit your coordinates:
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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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 include a link back to the home page of Canadian Social Research Links.

Gilles

E-MAIL:
gilseg@rogers.com

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