Canadian Social Research Newsletter
December 14,  2008

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 1938 subscribers.

IN THIS ISSUE:

Canadian content

1.  Welfare Incomes in Canada, 2006 and 2007 (National Council of Welfare) - December 10
2. A Poverty Reduction Plan for BC (Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives) - December 11
3. National Rental Vacancy Rate Decreases in 2008 (Canada Housing and Mortgage Corporation) - December 11
4. Online Pre-Budget Consultations for Budget 2009 (Finance Canada)
5. Corporate welfare now a $182 billion addiction : A fiscal update on business subsidies in Canada (The Fraser Institute) - December 10
6. 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights - December 10
7. Precarious & Vulnerable: Lone Mothers on Income Assistance [British Columbia] (Social Planning and Research Council of BC) - December 9
8. Quebec Provincial Election Results - December 9
9. Ontario's new anti-poverty strategy - more reactions (various sources)
10. Generosity in Canada and the United States: The 2008 Generosity Index (The Fraser Institute) - December 8
11. Early bird registration : Growing Home: Housing and Homelessness in Canada - February 18-20, 2009 (University of Calgary)
12. Call for Abstracts : Canadian Social Forum (Calgary, May 19-22, 2009) - Canadian Council on Social Development
13. New from the Canadian Council on Social Development:
--- Poverty Reduction in Canada: Advancing a National Anti-Poverty and Supports Agenda - November 2008
--- Poverty Reduction Initiatives in Canada - November 2008
14. What's New in The Daily (Statistics Canada):
--- Police Resources in Canada, 2008 - December 12
--- Police personnel and expenditures, 2008 - December 12
--- Employer pension plans (trusteed pension funds), second quarter 2008 - December 11
--- Labour productivity, hourly compensation and unit labour cost, third quarter 2008 - December 10
--- Adult and youth correctional services: Key indicators, 2007/2008 - December 9
15. Toronto Social Justice Magazine
16. Essential reading: The week in 7 stories (CBC News) - December 12
17. What's new from the Childcare Resource and Research Unit (Toronto) - December 10

International  content

18. Poverty Dispatch: U.S. media coverage of social issues and programs (Institute for Research on Poverty - University of Wisconsin-Madison)
19. New from the U.S. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities:
--- Two State Budget Updates: State Budgets Troubles Worsen - December 10
--- Overview of States and the Weak Economy - December 10
20. [International] Child Development Index launched (Save the Children UK) - December 11
21. The State of World Population 2008 (United Nations Population Fund) - November 12
22. The child care transition: A league table of early childhood education and care in economically advanced countries (UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre) - December 2008
23. Australian Policy Online Weekly Briefing - selected recent content
24. CRINMAIL (December 2008) - (Child Rights Information Network - CRIN)

Have a great week!
Gilles Séguin

Welfare Incomes, 2006 and 2007
Since 1986 , the National Council of Welfare has been producing the Welfare Incomes series, which consists of annual estimates of the incomes of individuals and families on welfare in each Canadian jurisdiction. In addition to an extensively-annotated table of welfare benefit levels for single clients (able-bodied and disabled) and families (one adult + one child and two adults + two children), the report includes information on prevailing welfare asset and income exemption levels in each province/territory, comparisons of welfare incomes over time and comparisons of current welfare incomes with various benchmarks.

Poverty line is being cracked, but not broken.
Cross-Canada action needed as economy worsens, National Council of Welfare says
News Release
Toronto, December 10 – While incomes for most Canadians on welfare were stuck far below the poverty line, some cracked that line in 2007, the newest report by the National Council of Welfare says. But tough economic times mean it will be tough to really break through, unless comprehensive, nationwide action is taken, says the advisory body to the federal government. Welfare Incomes, 2006 and 2007 looked at the circumstances of Canadians on welfare in all provinces and territories. The study by the National Council of Welfare found that in the case of the lone parent with a pre-school age child living in Quebec, welfare income for 2007 reached 100 per cent of the Market Basket Measure (MBM), a poverty line measurement that takes into account the cost of meeting basic needs in different parts of Canada.

Complete report:

Welfare Incomes, 2006 and 2007
PDF version (16.6MB, 157 pages)
HTML version - table of contents with links to smaller PDF files for each chapter
Table of contents: * Message from the Chairperson * Patterns and Trends * What is Welfare? * Adequacy of Welfare Incomes * Welfare Incomes Over Time * Welfare Incomes and Child Benefits * Total Welfare Incomes and Poverty Over Time * Concluding Thoughts * Appendices * Fact Sheet: 2007 Provincial Welfare Rates Compared to the MBM
NOTE : the HTML version of the report also includes links to earlier editions of this report back to 1999

Source:
National Council of Welfare
The mandate of the National Council of Welfare is to advise the Minister of Human Resources and Social Development in respect of any matters relating to social development that the Minister may refer to the Council for its consideration or that the Council considers appropriate.

Welfare Income series - includes archives back to 1999
Council Research & Publications

Related links:

A cross-Canada look at welfare rates
December 10, 2008
Click on any province or territory on the map and you'll see a chart showing the estimated welfare income in 2007 in that jurisdiction for a single employable person and for a couple with two children, along with an indication of the change in that income since 1997 and a comparison with the Market Basket Measure.
[ Based on Welfare Incomes, 2006 and 2007 ]
Source:
CBC News

Welfare recipients poorer than Canadians imagine: report
December 09, 2008
OTTAWA - Amid fears a souring economy will throw more Canadians onto provincial welfare rolls, a federal advisory body is issuing a bleak report that says most people living on social assistance are so impoverished that adequate housing, jobs and recreational activities are beyond their reach. With the exception of some residents of Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador, the country's 1.7 million welfare recipients subsist on incomes far below what most Canadians can imagine living on, the National Council of Welfare says in a massive report being released Wednesday which documents welfare incomes in 2006 and 2007.
Source:
Canada.com

Google.ca Web Search : "welfare incomes report, canada"
Google.ca News Search : "welfare incomes report, canada"
Source:
Google.ca

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WELFARE IN CANADA 101:

If you're not sure how welfare works in Canada, I highly recommend the first chapter of Welfare Incomes 2006 and 2007 (PDF - 17MB, 167 pages) entitled What is Welfare? from the National Council of Welfare. That chapter contains information on the administrative rules and financial eligibility criteria (asset and income exemptions) and the estimated total income of selected types of households receiving welfare in each province and territory.
Welfare Incomes 2006 and 2007 also includes information on: * Patterns and Trends * What is Welfare? * Adequacy of Welfare Incomes * Welfare Incomes Over Time * Welfare Incomes and Child Benefits * Total Welfare Incomes and Poverty Over Time * Concluding Thoughts * Appendices * Fact Sheet: 2007 Provincial Welfare Rates Compared to the MBM.
Source:
National Council of Welfare.

Another source of information on how welfare works in Canada:

Social Assistance in Canada: An Overview (9 pages)
(This is the second chapter of Social Assistance Statistical Report: 2005 - August 2006
produced by the Federal-Provincial-Territorial Directors of Income Support)
- includes a description of, and statistics related to, the welfare system in each province and territory, information about federal-provincial-territorial jurisdictional and funding issues, historical info on the Canada Assistance Plan and the Canada health and Social Transfer, etc.
Check the table of contents for more information nuggets

------------------------

- Go to the Key Provincial/Territorial Welfare Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/welfare.htm

Poverty reduction commitment needed from all BC political parties
Concrete plan more important than ever in economic downturn: report
Press Release
December 11, 2008
VANCOUVER - As the provincial election draws closer, a new report calls on BC’s political parties to commit to legislated targets and timelines to dramatically reduce poverty and homelessness. British Columbia has the highest poverty rate in Canada, and has had the highest child poverty rate for five years running, despite years of strong economic growth and record low unemployment.

A Poverty Reduction Plan for BC
By Seth Klein, Marjorie Griffin Cohen,
T. Garner, Iglika Ivanova, Marc Lee, Bruce Wallace and Margot Young
December 2008
Complete report (PDF File, 752K, 65 pages)
Summary (PDF - 711K, 12 pages)
Excerpts:
"(...) Five provinces in Canada have either adopted poverty-reduction plans, or are in the process of developing them. With the highest poverty rates in Canada, now is the time for BC to set clear goals, with concrete targets and a system of transparency. That way, the public can measure the results, even when the government changes hands."

Essential elements of a comprehensive and meaningful plan
* Targets and Timelines * Accountability * Comprehensive approach * Special focus on marginalized groups * Community Involvement

Recommended targets and timelines
• Reduce BC’s poverty rate from 13 per cent to 9 per cent in four years, and to 3 per cent in 10 years (using Statistics Canada’s low income cut-off after tax, or LICO-AT). This means a one third reduction within the mandate of the next government — or about 170,000 fewer people in poverty — and a 75 per cent reduction within a decade.
• Ensure the poverty rate for children, lone-mother households, single senior women, Aboriginal people, people with disabilities, and recent immigrants likewise declines by 30 per cent in four years, and by 75 per cent in 10 years, in recognition that poverty is concentrated in these populations.
• Within two years, ensure there are no British Columbians living 50 per cent or more below the poverty line.
• Eliminate street homelessness in five years
• more (see the report or summary for more recommendations in the areas of affordable housing, food security, low wages and public housing)

Cost
$3–4 billion per year (once fully implemented). British Columbia has recorded budget surpluses of this amount for the last four years. By contrast, BC’s total provincial government budget is about $40 billion, and the size of the overall BC economy is about $190 billion.

Related link:

BC Poverty Poll Results: British Columbians Want Action (PDF - 63K, 1 page)
December 11, 2008
"(...) Over 90 per cent of British Columbians believe that, if other counties can reduce poverty, so can Canada"

Source:
CCPA BC Office
[ Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives - CCPA]

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

What's new from the Canada Housing and Mortgage Corporation:

National Rental Vacancy Rate Decreases in 2008
News Release
OTTAWA, December 11, 2008 — The average rental apartment vacancy rate in Canada's 34 major centres1 decreased to 2.2 per cent in October 2008 from 2.6 per cent in October 2007, according to the Rental Market Survey released today by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

Note: Scroll halfway down the above news release for links to the following 2008 CMHC rental market reports:
1. Rental Market Reports — Major Centres (incl. more coverage of the secondary rental market in selected centres)
2. Rental Market Report — Provincial Highlights — summary of rental market statistics for urban centres with a population of over 10,000 in each province and two of the three territories
3. Rental Market Report — Canada Highlights — at-a-glance rental market information for Canada's 34 major centres
4. Rental Market Statistics Report — a sourcebook of statistical tables with national, provincial and local rental housing market data.
- the news release also contains tables of vacancy rates, availability rates and rents.

Rental Market Survey 2008 (PDF - 1.2MB, 11 pages)
NOTE: I can't provide a direct link to the rental market survey because the CMHC website is built using software that doesn't allow direct linking to reports.
To access the survey, go to Canadian Housing Statistics and click on CHS: Rental Market Survey (2nd report in the list).
- the rental market survey includes data for Major Centres / Provinces with detailed data for each market area. Tables contain data on availability rates, average rents or vacancies, by bedroom size (bachelor, one, two bedroom units, etc.) and by building type (i.e. row homes and apartments)

Source:
Canada Housing and Mortgage Corporation (CMHC)
<Boo to CMHC for making their site so user-not-friendly.>

Confirmed: Deepening rental housing crisis in Canada, Ontario, Toronto
December 11, 2008
By Michael Shapcott
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation has confirmed this morning what Canada’s 3.9 million renter households already know: Private rental housing has slipped into a much deeper crisis. The national rental vacancy rate has dropped by a staggering 15% over the past year down to a critically low 2.2% - the lowest level in six years. Across Canada, rents are rising faster than the rate of inflation.
- incl. highlights from the national, Ontario and Toronto rental market numbers
Source:
Wellesley Institute Blog
[ 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

Online Pre-Budget Consultations for Budget 2009
December 11, 2008
"The following ideas have been proposed as ways of providing stimulus in Budget 2009. Please rank them according to the priority they should have in the Government’s plan. If you’ve got another idea, rank that one as well. You will have the opportunity to spell out your ideas on the next screen."
Here are the six ideas you are asked to rank:
* Expedite Infrastructure Spending
* Invest in Housing
* Build strong sustainable labour markets and training incentives
* Support traditional and emerging industrial sectors
* Improve Access to Credit
* Your Idea: If you believe Budget 2009 should have a different stimulus priority, assign a ranking to this box. You will be able to explain this priority on the next screen

Source:
Department of Finance Canada

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

'Corporate welfare bums' cost Canadians $182-billion: report
By Eric Beauchesne
December 10, 2008
OTTAWA -- Canadians have handed out more than $182-billion -- or $13,639 per taxpayer -- in business subsidies, bailouts and loans over the past dozen years, a right-wing think tank says in an attack on what a former NDP leader coined as "corporate welfare bums." The report from the Fraser Institute, however, comes as an entire industry is holding out its had for billions more in financial aid from taxpayers as the economy slumps into recession.
Source:
The National Post

Complete report
from The Fraser Institute:

Corporate welfare: Now a $182 billion addiction
A fiscal update on business subsidies in Canada (PDF - 104K, 8 pages)
December 2008
When the Fraser Institute published the first study on corporate welfare one year ago, the tally between April 1, 1994 and March 30, 2004 amounted to $144 billion. That was the amount Canadian governments distributed to businesses in the form of subsidies from federal, provincial, and municipal treasuries (i.e., taxpayers) over the 10-year period. One year later, and with two more years of data available, that figure has climbed to over $182 billion for the 12 years between 1994 and 2006.

Canadian tab for corporate welfare exceeds $180 billion; no evidence that subsidies provide net benefits
News Release
December 10, 2008
VANCOUVER, BC—While politicians in Ottawa argue over how much additional money the government should give business in the name of economic stimulation, a new report from independent research organization the Fraser Institute shows that Canadians already provided more than $182 billion in corporate welfare to businesses between 1994 and 2006.

Source:
The Fraser Institute
"A free and prosperous world through
choice, markets and responsibility"
[ Sourcewatch calls The Fraser Institute
"a libertarian think tank based in Vancouver." ]

- Go to the Banks and Business Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/bookmrk3.htm
- Go to the Social Research Organizations (II) in Canada page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/research2.htm

Happy 60th anniversary - Universal Declaration of Human Rights
December 10, 2008
By Michael Shapcott
Today (December 10) marks the 60th anniversary of the United Nation's Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Human rights form the cornerstone of national and global economic, political and social policy. Every person, instead of being reduced to pleading for special favours, is recognized to have universal rights - and governments are obliged to also recognize those rights.

The Universal Declaration was forged in the aftermath of the second world war and the great depression of the 1930s, when the world had grown tired of bloodshed and inequality. The opening sentences recognize the importance of human rights and the perils of ignoring them: "disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people."

Source:
Wellesley Institute Blog
[ Wellesley Institute ]

Related links from the United Nations:

Human Rights Day - "Dignity and justice for all of us"
December 10, 2008
- incl. video statements from Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navanethem Pillay, along with a schedule of events for Human Rights Day 2008 at UN Headquarters in New York.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
On December 10, 1948 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights the full text of which appears in the following pages. Following this historic act the Assembly called upon all Member countries to publicize the text of the Declaration and "to cause it to be disseminated, displayed, read and expounded principally in schools and other educational institutions, without distinction based on the political status of countries or territories."

--------------------------------

Found in The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2008.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights Celebrates 60th Anniversary
[The text at the bottom explains what you'll find in each of the links below.]

Universal Declaration of Human Rights Marks 60th Anniversary
http://www.voanews.com/english/AmericanLife/2008-12-09-voa49.cfm

Cuban activists say they were beaten on eve of 60th human rights anniversary
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/1211/p25s02-woam.html

BBC News: World Marks UN Human Rights Day
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7771429.stm

Human rights violations in our own backyard
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/12/09/ED5S14KPD6.DTL

Mary Robinson: Climate change is an issue of human rights
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/mary-robinson-climate-change-is-an-issue-of-human-rights-1059360.html

Human Rights Day 2008
http://www.un.org/events/humanrights/2008/index.shtml

United Nations Audio Library: Radio Classics
http://www.unmultimedia.org/radio/library/classics/date.html

This Wednesday marked the 60th anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights. A number of groups around the world, including the United Nations and Amnesty International, used the observation of this event to bring attention to some of the continued human rights challenges and abuses around the world. Of course, sixty years ago, just getting the Declaration approved by the new U.N. General Assembly was quite a challenge, as individual countries had their own separate ideas about what constituted human rights. As Larry Cox, the director of Amnesty International USA, points out: "It was no longer a question of individual states doing whatever they want to for their citizens, because the way that governments treat their citizens affects the whole word and especially the peace and security of the whole world." Also this week, a number of commentators, such as Mary Robinson, the former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights remarked that global climate change may be the next frontier in terms of thinking about human rights, especially in regards to the world's poor. [KMG]

The first link above will lead visitors to a piece from the Voice of America News which talks about the legacy and future of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The second link leads to a piece from this Thursday's Christian Science Monitor which comments on a group of Cuban activists who said they were beaten while readying for a rally related to the anniversary of the Declaration. The third link will lead visitors to an excellent site created by the BBC to commemorate this event. The site includes a news article, an interactive slideshow, and a general Q&A section about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Moving on, the fourth link leads to an editorial by Sumayyah Waheed on the state of California's prison youth system, which appeared in Wednesday's San Francisco Chronicle. The fifth link will whisk users away to an impassioned piece by Mary Robinson about the relationship between climate change and human rights. The sixth link leads to the official United Nations homepage on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Here, visitors can read the text of the Declaration in hundreds of different languages, watch short video presentations, and take a look through the "World Voices" project. Finally, the last link leads to a fascinating collection of audio documentaries produced by the United Nations over the past sixty years. While visitors do have to register to listen in, the range of voices is quite accomplished. The archive includes Edward Murrow talking about needy children in a post-WWII Europe, Helen Hayes narrating reports on the Korean War, and the unbeatable troika of Michael Redgrave, James Mason, and Orson Welles narrating the history of diplomacy.

Review by:
The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2008.

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

British Columbia:

Precarious & Vulnerable: Lone Mothers on Income Assistance
News Release
December 9, 2008
By Penny Gurstein and Michael Goldberg
The British Columbia government introduced sweeping changes to its income assistance program in 2002. Although the changes made life more difficult for everyone on income assistance, lone mothers and their children were particularly hard hit. This report explores the impact that these changes have had on lone mothers with young children.

Complete report:

Precarious & Vulnerable: Lone Mothers on Income Assistance (PDF - 235K, 31 pages)

Source:
SPARC BC
The Social Planning and Research Council (SPARC) of BC is a non-partisan, charitable organization operating in BC since 1966. We work together with communities on Accessibility, Community Development Education, Income Security, and Community Social Planning.

- Go to the Non-Governmental Sites in British Columbia (D-W) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/bcbkmrk3.htm

Élections québécoises
Mince majorité pour le PLQ
Valérie Dufour
Mise à jour 09/12/2008
Jean Charest a gagné son pari: les électeurs québécois ont élu hier un gouvernement libéral majoritaire, rétabli le Parti québécois, envoyé un premier solidaire à l'Assemblée nationale et servi une sévère correction à l'Action démocratique du Québec à tel point que son chef a jeté l'éponge.
Source:
Le journal de Montréal

---------------------------------------

Charest gets his wish
Liberal Majority; PQ surges back as Action Démocratique fades to shadow
December 9, 2008
Jean Charest won his gamble on a snap election that nobody else seemed to want as the Liberals were returned to power in yesterday's provincial election with a slim majority of National Assembly seats. With counting nearly complete, the Liberals were elected or leading in 66 of the province's 125 ridings, followed by the Parti Québécois in 51, and the Action démocratique du Québec in seven.
Source:
Montreal Gazette

- Rendez-vous à la page de liens de recherche sociale au Québec: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/qcbkmrk.htm
- Go to the Political Parties and Elections Links in Canada (Provinces and Territories) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/politics_prov_terr.htm
- Go to the Québec Links (English) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/qce.htm

Provincial Coalition calls for greater focus
on People with Disabilities as Poverty Plan rolls out (Word file - 43K, 1 page)
December 5, 2008
While welcoming the government’s poverty reduction strategy and its plan to review social assistance, the ODSP Action Coalition encourages the government to include a greater focus on people with disabilities. People with disabilities experience higher rates of poverty than the general population. “I was disappointed when I looked at the page of the government’s strategy that related to people with disabilities and found no new supports to help me get out of poverty,” says Terrie Meehan, an activist with the Coalition. The strategy indicates that the government will be undertaking a review of social assistance, which includes the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP). The Coalition would like to see the review focus not only on supporting people to move from ODSP into the workforce but also how to make the program easier to access and more responsive to the individual needs of people with disabilities.
Source:
ODSP Action Coalition
[ODSP = Ontario Disability Support Program]

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Ontario's new anti-poverty plan at a glance
December 8, 2008
By Noor Javed, Tanya Talaga, Laurie Monsebraaten
A look at the expectations and outcomes of key issues highlighted in Ontario's new anti-poverty plan.
- includes what advocates wanted, what they got and the reaction in each of the following areas : welfare - communities - employment - chid care
Source:
Toronto Star

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Long years of poor bashing finally brought to an end
Deb Matthews sought out information from those with direct experience of poverty
December 8, 2008
By Pat Capponi
Source:
Toronto Star

* Pat Capponi is a facilitator for Voices From the Street,
a program that teaches advocacy and leadership to those with histories of homelessness and poverty.

Also by Pat Capponi:

We are a force to be reckoned with
A message from Pat Capponi to supporters of the 25 in 5 Network
December 6, 2008
"Dear friends:
The end of the beginning of our struggle was a truly auspicious day. I wish you could have all been with us in Toronto on Thursday as we huddled together in our makeshift campaign office in the back of the Queen’s Park cafeteria, portable computers clattering and Blackberries blackberrying as news that Ontario was turning the corner on poverty was sent out across the province to our partners in 25 and 5.
(...)
The next stage of our struggle begins now: and the first order of business is to ensure that people on OW and ODSP see increases that will enable them to do more than survive. This must be part of a stimulus package that will put money in the pockets of those who are sure to spend it in local communities so that we get the economy moving again. "
Source:
25 in 5 Poverty Reduction Network

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The Economic Crisis Will Lead To A Social Assistance Crisis:
How Ontario's Poverty Reduction Strategy Will Fail
December 5, 2008
The Poverty Reduction Strategy announced this week has been scaled down from a “poverty reduction strategy” to a “child poverty reduction strategy”. Single people on welfare and disability will see no benefit whatsoever from the new plan. The strategy claims it will reduce child poverty by 25% in 5 years but, people on social assistance will continue to get poorer.
Source:
Ontario Coalition Against Poverty
OCAP is a direct-action anti-poverty organization based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. We mount campaigns against regressive government policies as they affect poor and working people.

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Economic Crisis and the Poor:
Probable Impacts, Prospects for Resistance
December 8, 2008
By John Clarke
In poor communities, this [current economic] crisis comes after a long process of pushing them down during the decades of neoliberalism. There is already anger and the realization that bad is going to get much worse – and it will make large numbers of people look for answers. The issue is to demonstrate in practical forms of organized resistance that these worsening conditions are not unstoppable and inevitable. That is the starting point for a movement that can respond to this crisis and pose a bold anti-capitalist vision of what it is fighting for.
Source:
(Author John Clarke is with the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty)
The Socialist Project
At a meeting in Toronto in the fall of 2000, some 750 activists responded to a call to “rebuild the left” by developing a structured movement against capitalism. (About this site)

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Related link:

Ontario's Poverty Reduction Strategy
- this is the Ontario Government's poverty reduction website.
- intro and links to : * Breaking the Cycle : Ontario's Poverty Reduction Strategy * The Vision * Where We've Been * Our Strategy * Targets and Measures * Ontario Child Benefit * Education and Early Learning * Stronger Communities * Smarter Government * Long-Term Commitment * Current programs for Families
[ Government of Ontario ]

- Go to the Anti-poverty Strategies and Campaigns page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/antipoverty.htm
- Go to the Ontario Government Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/onbkmrk.htm

The Fraser Institute: Manitoba Rated as Canada's
Most Generous Province but Data Shows Americans Are Far More Generous
Press Release
December 8, 2008
VANCOUVER -- Manitoba continues to be Canada's most generous province, according to the Fraser Institute's annual generosity index. The report, Generosity in Canada and the United States: The 2008 Generosity Index, shows that Manitoba has the highest percentage of tax-filers among all provinces donating to registered charities (28.1 per cent). The total amount donated is also the highest in Canada at 1.14 per cent of total income earned in the province.

Complete report:

Generosity in Canada and the United States: The 2008 Generosity Index (PDF - 90K, 10 pages)
"(...) The highest-scoring Canadian province is Manitoba (3.9 out of 10.0), but its performance ranks only 37th overall out of 64 North American jurisdictions."

Source:
The Fraser Institute

- Go to the Voluntary Sector Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/voluntary.htm
- Go to the Social Research Organizations (II) in Canada page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/research2.htm

Growing Home: Housing and Homelessness in Canada
Second Canadian Conference on Homelessness
Calgary, February 18 to 20, 2009
Growing Home, the second national conference on homelessness, will be held in Calgary, Alberta from February 18 to 20, 2009. You are invited to submit a proposal and to register for this national conference, where you can engage in an exchange of promising practices from direct service. Learn about administrative and research perspectives, and policy formulation for all levels of government. Explore the development of a national coalition of homeless service constituents.

Building on the momentum of the First Canadian Conference on Homelessness , held in 2005 at York University, Growing Home: Housing and Homelessness in Canada supports continuance of the following goals:
* Providing a venue for sharing ideas, experiences, research and practices about homelessness in Canada.
* Addressing a broad range of issues contributing to the complexity of homelessness and focus on diverse homeless sub-populations.
* Engaging all stakeholders in discussions about homelessness in order to reduce the socio-economic, sectoral, and geographical divisions that act as barriers to knowledge mobilization
In addition, Growing Home: Housing and Homelessness in Canada has added a fourth goal:
* Developing a national coalition of persons dedicated to ending the Canadian housing crisis

Early Bird Registration (Until December 15, 2008)

Sponsored by:
Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary

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

From the Canadian Council on Social Development:

Canadian Social Forum
(Calgary, May 19-22, 2009)
The Canadian Council on Social Development (CCSD) invites you to the first Canadian Social Forum, which will take place in Calgary, May 19-22, 2009. We're bringing together a dynamic combination of unusual suspects from social development, public health, environment, community safety and recreation to brainstorm about poverty.

Call for Abstracts (deadline is January 6, 2009)
The Canadian Social Forum invites submission of proposals in five key theme areas, central to current efforts to reduce poverty and create sustainable and prosperous communities where all members can participate equitably in social and economic life. The deadline for the submission of abstracts is January 6, 2009.
Key Theme Areas:
• Addressing poverty as a factor of homelessness in Canada;
• Addressing systemic discrimination: Policies to advance the economic security of historically marginalized groups;
• Addressing the poverty of Aboriginal people in Canada’s cities;
• Addressing poverty in economic hard times;
• Addressing poverty and care: Poverty reduction strategies that take gender into account.

* Complete Call for Abstracts (PDF - 87K, 6 pages)
- including detailed notes and instructions

* Abstract Submission Form (PDF - 177K, 4 pages)

* Preliminary Program (updated October 10, 2008)

* Registration info
NOTE : the early bird registration rate in effect until January 31st, 2009

Source:
Canadian Council on Social Development

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

Recent releases from the Canadian Council on Social Development:

Poverty Reduction in Canada: Advancing a National Anti-Poverty and Supports Agenda (PDF - 423K, 16 pages)
[posted November 20, 2008]
- presentation by CCSD's Katherine Scott at the CACL 50th Anniversary Conference in November, 2008.

Poverty Reduction Initiatives in Canada (447K, 16 pages)
[posted November 20, 2008]
- presentation by Katherine Scott at the CDPAC Poverty and Action in Canada conference, November 2008.

Source:
Canadian Council on Social Development

- Go to the Anti-poverty Strategies and Campaigns page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/antipoverty.htm

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

December 12, 2008
Police Resources in Canada, 2008
Following a period of decline throughout the 1990’s, police strength in Canada has increased over the past decade. At 196 officers per 100,000 population, the 2008 rate was 8% higher than in 1998, although 5% lower than its peak in 1975. While police officer strength has been increasing, Canada's police reported crime rate has been decreasing. The 2007 crime rate was at its lowest point in over 30 years. At the same time, the proportion of crime solved by police reached a 30 year high.
- incl. two interesting charts:
* Rates of police officers and civilian personnel, 1963 to 2008
* Police officer strength among the provinces, 2008
Complete report (PDF - 427K, 60 pages)
[ earlier editions of this report - back to 1999 ]

Related link:
Police personnel and expenditures, 2008
Canada had just over 65,000 police officers as of May 15, 2008. Following a period of general decline throughout the 1990s, police strength has generally increased over the past decade. At 196 officers per 100,000 population, the 2008 rate was 1% higher than in 2007 and 8% higher than a decade earlier.

December 11, 2008
Employer pension plans (trusteed pension funds), second quarter 2008
The market value of assets held in employer-sponsored trusteed pension funds amounted to $958.9 billion at the end of the second quarter of 2008, up 0.2% from the first quarter. These results do not reflect the impact of the volatility in the financial markets beyond the second quarter. It was the fourth consecutive quarter in which the value of retirement savings of 4.6 million Canadian workers had shown little growth prior to the current economic downturn.

December 10, 2008
Labour productivity, hourly compensation and unit labour cost, third quarter 2008
After declining for four consecutive quarters, labour productivity in the business sector remained unchanged in the third quarter of 2008. Meanwhile, unit labour costs, a barometer of long-term inflationary pressure, slowed substantially as growth in hourly wages decelerated.

December 9, 2008
Adult and youth correctional services: Key indicators, 2007/2008
Canada's incarceration rate in 2007/2008 rose by 2% from the previous year, the third consecutive annual increase. The gain was driven by the growing number of adults being held on remand in provincial/territorial jails while awaiting trial or sentencing.

The Daily Archives - select a month from the drop-down menu to view releases for that month in chronological order

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

Toronto Social Justice Magazine
John Bonnar, Independent Journalist

I just stumbled across this social issues blog that appears to be a couple of years old, but it's quite current and informative.
Recommended reading!

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

Essential reading:
The week in 7 stories
December 12, 2008
- includes links to more detailed info for each story
* Michael Ignatieff acclaimed as Interim Liberal Leader
* Charest hangs on in Quebec
* Auto bailouts
* Harper's Senate appointments
* U.S. Senate seat sale alleged
* Greek riots
* Bank rates
Source:
CBC News

From the Childcare Resource and Research Unit (CRRU):

December 10, 2008

The child care transition: A league table of early childhood education and care in economically advanced countries
11 Dec 08
- UNICEF Innocenti Report Card 8 compares ECEC in wealthy countries; Canada ranks at the bottom of 25 countries, meeting only one of ten key benchmarks.

UNICEF Canada calls for measurable standards, guidelines, appropriate funding for child care, and solutions by 2009
11 Dec 08
- Press release from UNICEF Canada.

Opposition parties respond to UNICEF report card
11 Dec 08
- Press releases from the NDP and Liberals commenting on Canada's poor ranking in the UNICEF childcare report.

Aiming high: A professional workforce for the early years
10 Dec 08
- New issue from Children in Europe examining the early childhood workforce and how it can become more professional.

Greater trouble in greater Toronto: Child poverty in the GTA
10 Dec 08
- Report from GTA Children’s Aid Societies and the Social Planning Network on child poverty. Affordable, quality childcare remains a significant challenge for single mothers.

Breaking the cycle: Ontario’s poverty reduction strategy
10 Dec 08
- Report from the Government of Ontario on the province’s plan and commitment to reduce poverty in Ontario for children and families.

more WHAT'S NEW ONLINE »

child care in the news

· Child-care report card: Canada fails [CA]
11 Dec 08

· Hardship of welfare getting harder [CA]
10 Dec 08

· Parents join protesters in battle to save crèches [IE]
10 Dec 08

· Australia childcare center gets government funds [AU]
10 Dec 08

· Ofsted to privatize early years [UK]
4 Dec 08

more CC IN THE NEWS »

Related Links:

Subscribe to the CRRU email announcements list
Sign up to receive email notices of updates and new postings on the CRRU website which will inform you of policy developments in early childhood care and education, new research and resources for policy, newly released CRRU publications, and upcoming events of interest to the child care and broader community.

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

Source:
Childcare Resource and Research Unit (CRRU)

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

Poverty Dispatch (U.S). ===> the content of this link changes twice a week
IRP compiles and distributes Poverty Dispatches twice a week. Each issue of the dispatch provides links to U.S. web-based news items dealing with topics such as poverty, welfare reform, child welfare, education, health, hunger, Medicare and Medicaid, etc.
Each Dispatch lists links to current news in popular print media.

December 11, 2008
* Census Bureau Release: American Community Survey (ACS)
* ACS: Income, Poverty, and Unemployment
* ACS: Housing and Rents
* ACS: Education
* ACS: Ethnic Diversity
* Unemployment and Joblessness
* Food Assistance Programs and Increasing Need
* State Budgets, Medicaid, and Health Insurance Plans
* Kids Count Report - Texas
* Homelessness and Housing
* Access to Higher Education
* Home Energy Assistance Programs
* Poverty and Welfare Reform - Canada, UK
* Poor Countries, Climate, and Energy
* Zimbabwe Cholera Outbreak
* Prisoner Re-entry Programs

December 8, 2008
* Unemployment and Joblessness
* Recession and State Budgets
* Food Assistance Programs
* Welfare-to-Work Programs - Colorado, Minnesota
* Medicaid Costs and Programs - Louisiana, Washington
* Healthy Families Program - California
* Poverty and Child Brain Development
* No Child Left Behind and School Progress
* Child Care Costs
* Payday Lending
* Welfare Reform - UK
* Poverty Reduction Plan - Ontario, CA

Past Poverty Dispatches
- links to two dispatches a week back to June 2006

Search Poverty Dispatches

If you wish to receive Poverty Dispatches by e-mail,
please send a request to rsnell@ssc.wisc.edu

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

New from the U.S. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP):

TWO STATE BUDGET UPDATES:
STATE BUDGET TROUBLES WORSEN
Updated December 10, 2008
By Elizabeth C. McNichol and Iris Lav
Selected High/Lowlights
* In total, 43 states are facing shortfalls in their fiscal 2009 and/or 2010 budgets.
* Mid-year shortfalls totaling $31.2 billion have opened up in the 2009 budgets of at least 37 states and Washington, DC. Joining this list since the last update: Nebraska and South Dakota.
* This new round of mid-year shortfalls is in addition to the budget gaps of $48 billion that 29 states closed as they adopted their budgets for this fiscal year.
* Twenty-eight states already project shortfalls totaling more than $60 billion for fiscal 2010. Joining this list since the last update: Delaware, Idaho, Nebraska, Ohio and South Dakota.
* The total 2010 state budget gaps will likely grow to about $100 billion, based on the rate at which states’ revenue bases are deteriorating and the history of prior recessions.

This periodically-updated analysis is posted to:
http://www.cbpp.org/9-8-08sfp.htm
http://www.cbpp.org/9-8-08sfp.pdf [ 9pp. ]

---------------------------

POLICY POINTS:
OVERVIEW OF STATES AND THE WEAK ECONOMY
Updated December 10, 2008
This snapshot of state budget problems has been updated to reflect the new data on 2009 and 2010 state budget shortfalls included in the above analysis.

This periodically-updated analysis is posted to:
http://www.cbpp.org/policy-points10-20-08.htm
http://www.cbpp.org/policy-points10-20-08.pdf [ 2pp. ]

Source:
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities is one of the nation’s premier policy organizations working at the federal and state levels on fiscal policy and public programs that affect low- and moderate-income families and individuals.

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

Child Development Index
December 2008
Save the Children UK has just launched a ground-breaking publication - The Child Development Index. This is the first-ever global index comparing countries' performance on child well-being. It uses child-specific indicators in health, education and nutrition to rank countries in every region of the world. It is a vital tool for policy-making and development analysis worldwide.

The Child Development Index:
Holding governments to account for children’s wellbeing (PDF - 227K, 30 pages)
December 2008
"(...) we are highlighting three areas that warrant much more sustained attention and decisive action on the part of national governments, the international donor community, development
NGOs, and the private sector : child malnutrition, equitable development and women’s education and empowerment."
- Canada is third-best of 137 countries, after Japan and Spain.

Source:
Save the Children UK
We’re the world’s independent children’s rights organisation. We’re outraged that millions of children are still denied proper healthcare, food, education and protection and we’re determined to change this. Save the Children UK is a member of the International Save the Children Alliance, transforming children’s lives in more than 100 countries.

- Go to the International Children, Families and Youth Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/chn2.htm
- Go to the Children's Rights Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/chnrights.htm

Recent release from the United Nations Population Fund

New report shows cultural sensitivity critical
to successful development strategies, women's equality( (Word file - 86K, 2 pages)
12 November 2008
Press Release
UNITED NATIONS, New York, 12 November 2008—Development strategies that are sensitive to cultural values can reduce harmful practices against women and promote human rights, including gender equality and women’s empowerment, affirms The State of World Population 2008 report from UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund. Reaching Common Ground: Culture, Gender and Human Rights, launched 12 November 2008, reports that culture is a central component of successful development of poor countries, and must be integrated into development policy and programming. The report, which coincides with this year’s 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, is based on the concept that the international human rights framework has universal validity. Human rights express values common to all cultures and protect groups as well as individuals. The report endorses culturally sensitive approaches to development and to the promotion of human rights, in general, and women’s rights, in particular.
Source:
Press kit & Resources
* The Reports * Media Outreach * Feature Stories * Contact Information * Graphs and Tables * Photographs

Complete report:

The State of World Population 2008
Reaching Common Ground:
Culture, Gender and Human Rights (PDF - 2.5MB, 108 pages)
November 2008
Contents :
* Overview * Human Rights * Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality * Reproductive Health and Reproductive Rights * Poverty, Inequality and Population * War, Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment *
Conclusions

Source:
United Nations Population Fund
The United Nations Population Fund is an international development agency
that promotes the right of every woman, man and child to enjoy a life of health and equal opportunity.

Related link:

The State of World Population 2008
http://www.unfpa.org/swp/2008/en/
In November 2008, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) put out its State of World Population book, along with a Youth Supplement, and both are available in their entirety on the UNFPA website. The book is entitled "Reaching Common Ground: Culture, Gender and Human Rights" and the Youth Supplement is entitled "Generation of Change: Young People and Culture". This website offers so much worthwhile information to the visitor, in part because the entire 108 pages can be downloaded as a pdf by clicking on "Download PDF" under Resources on the left side of the page. The information in each of the nine chapters is eminently readable, extremely heart wrenching, and definitely eye-opening. However, the book does offer hope, as it includes the considerable successes by the UNFPA, which were achieved by being culturally sensitive to the traditions and beliefs of the groups with which they were working. To read the stories from the Youth Supplement, scroll down slightly and choose, from on the left, one of the young people's stories, such as "Grita", "Tsehay", or "Seif". Child marriage, females playing in male sports, becoming a Vietnamese hip-hop sensation, youth in politics, are all examples of topics found among these youth's stories. Visitors should not miss checking out the Photo Gallery, which can be accessed by scrolling down to the middle of the page, and clicking "View," located on the left side of the page. The line "there is laughter every day in the terrible streets of Calcutta," from a Jack Gilbert poem comes to mind upon seeing these photographs.
Review by:
From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2008.
http://scout.wisc.edu/

- Go to the Social Statistics Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/stats.htm
- Go to the United Nations Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/un.htm

Just released by the UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre:

The child care transition: A league table of
early childhood education and care in economically advanced countries
[including Canada]
Innocenti Report Card #8
By Peter Adamson drawing on research by John Bennett
Publication date 11 Dec 08

* The child care transition (report) - (PDF - 602K, 40 pages)
* The child care transition (summary) - (PDF)
* Canada's status at a glance
"(...) Canada invests about 0.2 per cent GDP in early child care and education (for 0-6 years) according to the OECD Canada Review (2006). Investing in quality services available to all children who need them would cost about 1 per cent of GDP."

Background information:
* Early childhood services in the OECD countries
* Benchmarks for early childhood services in OECD countries

Related resources:
* Press releases - UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre (incl. summary, other press material, background papers, etc.)

--------------------------------------------

Response from UNICEF Canada:

UNICEF Canada calls for measurable standards,
guidelines, appropriate funding for child care, and solutions by 2009
UNICEF Canada press release
Publication date 11 Dec 08

--------------------------------------------

Opposition parties respond to UNICEF report card
* New Democrat Olivia Chow to send UNICEF card to Harper to highlight report of Canada missing the mark in childcare. 11 Dec 08
* UN report shows Conservatives’ failed childcare strategy: Canada ranks last among OECD countries. Liberal Party of Canada, 11 Dec 08
Source:
Childcare Resource and Research Unit (CRRU)
CRRU focuses on research and policy resources in the context of a high quality system of early childhood education and child care in Canada
NOTE: the links above are from the CRRU website, the UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre website and the UNICEF Canada website

--------------------------------------------

From CTV.ca :

Canada tied for last in UNICEF child care ranking
December 11 2008
Canada is tied for last place in a UNICEF ranking of the early child-care services offered by 25 developed countries. Canada failed to meet nine out of 10 of the proposed benchmarks UNICEF used to rank the countries. The 10 proposed benchmarks included parental leave of one year at 50 per cent or more of salary, a national plan with priority for the disadvantaged, and child poverty rates of less than 10 per cent.

- Go to the Children, Families and Youth Links (NGO) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/chnngo.htm
- Go to the International Children, Families and Youth Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/chn2.htm
- Go to the Government Early Learning and Child Care Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/ecd.htm
- Go to the Non-Governmental Early Learning and Child Care Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/ecd2.htm

APO Weekly Briefing
The content of this page changes each week, and it includes links to a few book/report reviews, about two dozen new reports, a few job ads and 60 events (mostly conferences) of interest to social researchers...
Source:
Australian Policy Online (APO) - home page
With nearly 120 member centres and institutes, Australian Policy Online offers easy access to much of the best Australian social, economic, cultural and political research available online.
NOTE: the APO home page includes links to the five most popular reports on the APO website, and this list is updated each week.

APO Archive
The APO archive is grouped into 23 subject areas, with entries appearing in reverse chronological order.
* Ageing *Asia and the pacific * Citizenship and the law * Disability * Economics and trade * Education * Employment and workplace relations * The environment * Foreign policy and defence * Gender and sexuality * Health * Housing * Families and households * Immigration and refugees * Income, poverty and wealth * Indigenous * Media, communications and cultural policy * Politics and government * Population, multiculturalism and ethnicity * Religion and faith * Rural and regional * Science and technology * Social policy * Urban and regional planning * Youth

- Go to the Social Research Links in Other Countries (Non-Government) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/internatngo.htm

From the Child Rights Information Network (CRIN):

11 December 2008 - CRINMAIL 1041
* 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights [news]
* AFRICA: Youth Charter awaits ratification [news]
* CHILD CARE: The child care transition: A league table of early childhood education and care in economically advanced countries [publication]
* GLOBAL: The Child Development Index: Holding governments to account for children's wellbeing [publication]
* WHO: World Report on Child Injury Prevention [publication]
* EMPLOYMENT: Right to Education Project
**NEWS IN BRIEF**
**QUIZ** Special on the UDHR

9 December 2008 - CRINMAIL 1040
* UNICEF: Climate Change and Children: a human security challenge [publication]
* MEXICO: Children Paid to Strip at Rural Fair [news]
* DRC: Sexual abuse of minors doubles in Kasai Occidental town [news]
* AUSTRALIA: Child employees put at risk [news]
* CAMBODIA: Children miss out on school because of corruption [news]
* EDUCATION: Illustrated versions of the CRC
* EMPLOYMENT: Save the Children Sweden - War Child
**NEWS IN BRIEF**

Earlier issues of CRINMAIL
- links to 300+ earlier weekly issues, many of which are special editions focusing on special themes, such as the 45th Session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Source:
CRINMAIL(incl. subscription info)
[ Child Rights Information Network (CRIN) ]

- Go to the Children's Rights Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/chnrights.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 ]

------------------------

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

A plethora of puns

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

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And, in closing...

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* OC Transpo Strike 2008 [blog]
* OC Transpo Community Forum

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Country Travel Reports (including the most recent Travel Warnings)
Holiday Travel Tips (travel documentation)
Source:
Voyage.gc.ca

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