Canadian Social Research Newsletter
March 16, 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 1882 subscribers.

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

Canadian content

1. Legislation to Implement Budget 2008 Measures and Protect Canada’s Fiscal Framework (Department of Finance Canada) - March 14
2. Québec Budget 2008-2009 - March 13
3. What's new from The Wellesley Institute:
--- Canada's homeownership markets plummet - March 14
--- Tackling health inequalities: 2007 Status Report on the Programme for Action - March 13
4. What's New from Statistics Canada:
--- National Income and Expenditure Accounts, Quarterly Estimates - March 14
--- Labour productivity, hourly compensation and unit labour cost, fourth quarter 2007 - March 14
--- National balance sheet accounts, fourth quarter 2007 and annual 2007 - March 14
--- Employer pension plans (trusteed pension funds), Third quarter 2007 - March 13
--- Study: Canadians living abroad, 2004 - March 13
--- Study: Income security in retirement among the working population, 1983 to 2004 - March 10
5. What's new from the Childcare Resource and Research Unit (Toronto) - March 14

International content

6. Poverty Dispatch: U.S. media coverage of social issues and programs (Institute for Research on Poverty - University of Wisconsin-Madison)
7. [U.K.] Lifetime Homes, Lifetime Neighbourhoods: A National Strategy for Housing in an Ageing Society (Communities and Local Government) - February 25
8. Australian Policy Online Weekly Briefing - selected recent content:
--- Childcare : Families that work - Posted 12-03-2008
--- 2007 Longitudinal study of Australian children research conference - Posted 12-03-2008
--- State tax reform: prospects and progress - Posted 12-03-2008
9. CRINMAIL 965 (March 13, 2008) - Special edition on the UN Human Rights Council (Session 7) (Child Rights Information Network - CRIN)

Minister Flaherty Tables Legislation to Implement
Budget 2008 Measures and Protect Canada’s Fiscal Framework
News Release
March 14, 2008
The Honourable Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance, today introduced legislation in the House of Commons to implement key measures from Budget 2008. The bill also includes language to protect the Government’s fiscal plan from the effects of Bill C-253.
- incl. * the new Tax-Free Savings Account starting in 2009 * the new consolidated Canada Student Grant Program * streamlining and modernizing the Canada Student Loans Program, modernizing the immigration system, improving the management and governance of the Employment Insurance (EI) program (through the creation of the Canada Employment Insurance Financing Board), providing $110 million to the Mental Health Commission of Canada to support five innovative demonstration projects across the country, increasing the Guaranteed Income Supplement earnings exemption for working seniors, and more...
Source:
Department of Finance Canada

Related link:

Federal Budget 2008 (February 26, 2008)
- links to all budget documents

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

[NOTA: les liens français paraissent ci-dessous.]

Québec Budget 2008-2009 (March 13, 2008)

* Budget Speech(PDF file - 44 pages, 657 Kb)
* Budget Plan (PDF file - 362 pages, 1.93 Mb)
* Additional Information on the Budgetary Measures
(PDF file - 196 pages, 2.52 Mb)
* Press Releases

[QC budgets for earlier years]

Quebec's Liberals get ADQ support for 'balanced' budget
Spring election averted
March 13, 2008
Quebec's minority Liberal government tabled a $62.9-billion budget Thursday aimed at boosting the economy, helping seniors and families, and keeping an election at bay.
Source:
CBC News

Related Web/News/Blog links:

Google Search Results Links - always current results!
Using the following search terms (without the quote marks):
"quebec budget 2008-2009"
- Web search results page
- News search results page
- Blog Search Results page
Source:
Google.ca

NOTE: Saskatchewan's 2008-09 Budget will be tabled on Wednesday, March 19.

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

Français:

Budget 2008-2009 du Québec
Le 13 mars 2008

* Discours sur le budget
(44 pages, 661 Ko) Format PDF

* Plan budgétaire
(362 pages, 2,03 Mo) Format PDF

* Renseignements additionnels sur les mesures du budget
(208 pages, 2,41 Mo) Format PDF

* Communiqués

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

What's new from The Wellesley Institute:

Canada's home ownership markets plummet
March 14, 2008
By Michael Shapcott
Home ownership in Canada is at its most unaffordable level since the "housing recession" of 1990. That's the grim news today from RBC Economics and its latest quarterly housing affordability report. Outside of Alberta, housing affordability has deteriorated in every market and for every type of housing.
Source:
Wellesley Institute Blog
[ The Wellesley Institute ]
The Wellesley Institute advances the social determinants of health through rigorous community-based research, reciprocal capacity building, and the informing of public policy.

Complete RBC report:

Housing Affordability:
Alberta on watch (PDF file - 475K, 8 pages)
March 2008
Source:
RBC Economics Research

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

Also from The Wellesley Institute:

Tackling health inequalities: 2007 Status Report on the Programme for Action
March 13, 2008
The status report provides a review of developments against the data since the publication of the Programme for Action in 2003. It considers progress against the Public Service Agreement (PSA) target, the national headline indicators and against government commitments.

From the U.K. Department of Health:

* Tackling health inequalities: 2007 Status Report on the Programme for Action (PDF file - 2.2MB, 111 pages)
* Tackling health inequalities: 2005 Status report on the Programme for Action
* Tackling health inequalities: 2003-05 data update for the national 2010 PSA target
* Tackling health inequalities: A Programme for Action

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

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

March 14, 2008
New products
National Income and Expenditure Accounts, Quarterly Estimates
Main page
Current issue:
Canadian Economic Accounts Quarterly Review
Fourth quarter 2007
- includes links to detailed analysis and data tables for each of the following topics:
* GDP by income and by expenditure * GDP by industry * Balance of international payments * Financial flows * Labour productivity * International investment position * National balance sheet accounts

[ Earlier editions of this review - back to 2002 ]
[ more StatCan links to Economic Accounts ]

March 14, 2008
Labour productivity, hourly compensation and unit labour cost, fourth quarter 2007
The labour productivity of Canadian businesses fell for the first time in more than a year in the fourth quarter, limiting the growth rate for 2007 to 0.5%.

March 14, 2008
National balance sheet accounts, fourth quarter 2007 and annual 2007
National net worth reached $5.5 trillion by the end of the fourth quarter of 2007, or $165,400 per capita. National net worth grew by $77 billion in the quarter, an increase of 1.4% over the previous quarter, a somewhat faster pace than the 1.0% in the previous quarter.

March 13, 2008
Employer pension plans (trusteed pension funds), Third quarter 2007
Growth in the value of employer-sponsored pension funds stalled in the third quarter of 2007. The market value of assets in these pension funds amounted to $957.2 billion for the three-month period ending September 2007, essentially unchanged from $956.9 billion in the second quarter.

March 13, 2008
Study: Canadians living abroad, 2004
Canadian emigration abroad is just as selective as incoming migration to Canada, according to a new report published today in Canadian Social Trends. The report, "Canadians abroad," focuses on emigrants who went to five countries: Australia, Italy, Poland, the United Kingdom and the United States, using data on immigration provided by those countries.

Complete article:

Canadians Abroad
By Margaret Michalowski and Kelly Tran
March 13, 2008
HTML
PDF (149K, 9 pages)
Source:
Canadian Social Trends
[ earlier issues of this report ]
[ more StatCan links to Society and Community ]

March 10, 2008
Study: Income security in retirement among the working population, 1983 to 2004
On average, Canadian workers had family disposable incomes at age 75, when most are retired, that were 80% of their incomes at age 55, when they were working, according to a new study. However, the extent to which they maintained their income in retirement varied with their level of income.

Income Security and Stability During Retirement in Canada
by Sébastien LaRochelle-Côté, John Myles and Garnett Picot
Main page - includes a summary and related links
Complete report (PDF file - 480K, 59 pages)
Source:
Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series ===> links to earlier reports on a wide range of issues

- Go to the Federal Government Department Links (Fisheries and Oceans to Veterans Affairs) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/fedbkmrk2.htm
- Go to the Social Statistics Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/stats.htm
- Go to the Brain Drain Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/hightax.htm
- Go to the Seniors (Social Research) Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/seniors.htm

What's new from the
Childcare Resource and Research Unit (CRRU) :

March 14

Lunchbox Speaker’s Series: ECEC--Where does Canada stand and what does the future hold?
14 Mar 08
- Colloquium featuring Martha Friendly and Linda White on the present and future state of early childhood education and care in Canada.

The current state of Canadian family finances
14 Mar 08
- Report from the Vanier Institute of the Family on the latest Canadian trends in incomes, spending, savings, debt and net worth across family and household types.

Designing subsidy systems to meet the needs of families: An overview of policy research findings
14 Mar 08
- Report from The Urban Institute exploring key strategy and policy options states have been implementing to help eligible families gain and retain subsidies.

Good governance of early childhood care and education: Lessons from the 2007 EFA Global Monitoring Report
14 Mar 08
- Policy brief from UNESCO reviews how nations govern early childhood care and education systems, the successes, challenges and lessons learned.

Broadening and deepening our understanding of quality: Working toward inclusion and equity
14 Mar 08
- Presentations and notes from conference session focusing on understanding quality beyond commonly identified criteria.

more WHAT'S NEW ONLINE »

child care in the news

· Perfect chance to improve child care [AU]
14 Mar 08

· More spaces for child care [CA-QC]
13 Mar 08

· Reducing kids to numbers [AU]
12 Mar 08

· Extra fees sought for ‘free’ childcare [NZ]
12 Mar 08

· Play: The Swedish way [SE]
11 Mar 08

· Alberta spends less on daycare than it gets in federal funding [CA-AB]
7 Mar 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
- links to news items from the American press about poverty, welfare reform, child welfare, education, health, hunger, Medicare and Medicaid, etc.

March 13, 2008
* Proposed Welfare Changes - Rhode Island
* Food Stamp Programs - Michigan, Iowa, Connecticut
* State Children's Health Insurance Program - Texas
* Hospitals and Medicaid Cuts
* Editorial: Medicaid Cuts - Florida
* Oregon Health Care Plan
* Low-income Tenants, Eviction, and Foreclosure - California
* Effects of Foreclosures on Cities and Communities
* The Rights of People Living in Cars - Minnesota
* Single Homeless People - Hawaii
* Earned Income Tax Credit - Michigan, Texas
* Payday Lending Legislation - Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Colorado
* Study: Women and Economic Equality - South Carolina
* Opinions: Fighting Poverty Regionally

March 10, 2008
* States and Medicaid Cuts
* Medicaid Reimbursement Rates - Illinois
* Oregon Health Care Plan
* Child Welfare Program - Colorado
* Food Stamp Program - Michigan
* Increasing Need for Food Assistance
* People Living in Poverty - Nevada, South Carolina, California, Tennessee
* Minorities, Subprime Loans, and Home Foreclosures - Richmond, VA
* Home Foreclosures and Renters - Florida, Arizona
* Energy Assistance and Increasing Need - Detroit, MI
* Paid Sick Leave - Ohio, Washington DC
* Earned Income Tax Credit - Michigan, Washington
* Youth Justice and Corrections - Missouri
* Community Colleges and Student Preparation - Iowa
* States and Spending on Higher Education
* Payday Lending Legislation - Virginia
* Prescription Drug Card - Tennessee

Search Poverty Dispatches
IRP compiles and distributes Poverty Dispatches, links to Web-based news items dealing with poverty, welfare reform, and related topics twice a week. Each Dispatch lists links to current news in popular print media. Persons wishing to receive Poverty Dispatches by e-mail should send a request to rsnell@ssc.wisc.edu.

Past Poverty Dispatches - back to June 2006

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

United Kingdom:

Lifetime Homes, Lifetime Neighbourhoods:
A National Strategy for Housing in an Ageing Society
25 February 2008
The ageing of the population will be one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century for housing. This strategy sets out our response to this challenge, our plan to create Lifetime Homes in Lifetime Neighbourhoods. It outlines our plans for making sure that there is enough appropriate housing available in future to relieve the forecasted unsustainable pressures on homes, health and social care services.

Lifetime Homes, Lifetime Neighbourhoods
A National Strategy for Housing in an Ageing Society (PDF file - 5.7MB, 176 pages)
February 2008
Source:
Housing and Older People - includes links to several related documents
[ Communities and Local Government ]
Communities and Local Government is the government department that sets UK policy on local government, housing, urban regeneration, planning and fire and rescue.

- Go to the Homelessness and Housing Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/homeless.htm
- Go to the Seniors (Social Research) Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/seniors.htm

APO Weekly Briefing ===> the content of this link changes each week
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)
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.

Recent content from the APO Weekly Briefing:

Childcare : Families that work
Posted:12-03-2008
Deborah Brennan outlines a new agenda for parental leave and child care in Australia. This is the text of a lecture delivered on 6 March as part of So, What?, a series of public lectures in contemporary humanities and social sciences at the University of New South Wales.
- includes a critique of ABC Learning's control over daycare in Australia
Source:
Social Policy Research Centre (University of New South Wales)

2007 Longitudinal study of Australian children research conference
Posted 12-03-2008
Source:
Australian Institute of Family Studies
A number of presentations from this conference are now available on the Growing Up in Australia website. Topics covered included: Family structure, quality of the co-parental relationship, post-separation parenting and children’s socio-emotional wellbeing; Working families' use of child care; and Parent involvement and children’s early learning competence.

State tax reform: prospects and progress
Posted 12-03-2008
Robert Carling
Source:
Centre for Independent Studies
This paper identifies major structural flaws in Australia's current taxation system, and develops a set of proposals to put them right.

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):

13 March 2008 - CRINMAIL 965
Special edition on the UN Human Rights Council - session 7
- UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL: Child rights highlights [news]
- NGO SIDE EVENTS: Round-up of child rights events [reports]
- UN: High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour (Canada) to step down in June [news]
- UN SPECIAL PROCEDURES: Facts and Figures 2007 [publication]
- INTERVIEW: Juan Miguel Petit
- EMPLOYMENT: International Bureau for Children’s Rights [job posting]
**NEWS IN BRIEF**
**QUIZ**

United Nations Human Rights Council
In June 2006, the Human Rights Council replaced the Commission on Human Rights as the main UN body in charge of monitoring and protecting fundamental rights and freedoms.

Seventh session of the Human Rights Council (Geneva, 3 - 28 March 2008)

Human Rights Council News - includes the Draft resolution on the rights of the child (14/03/2008)

Crinmail Archive - Child Rights at the Human Rights Council

Earlier issues of CRINMAIL
- links to 200+ 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

Ten New Uses for Newspaper

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

“Newspaper, by design, is a very absorbent product, because it has to absorb ink. But that also means it is equipped to absorb all sorts of moisture, including moisture and the resulting odors found in shoes, in vegetable drawers, and elsewhere,” says Chris Morrissey, vice president of marketing for Sun Chemical, in Northlake, Illinois, the world’s largest printing-ink manufacturer.

Use Newspaper to:

1. Deodorize food containers. Stuff a balled-up piece of newspaper into a lunch box or thermos, seal it, and let sit overnight.

2. Ripen tomatoes. Wrap them individually and leave them out at room temperature.

3. Pack delicate items.Wrap frames and figurines with several pieces of newspaper, then crumple the remaining sections to fill extra space in the box.

4. Wipe away tough streaks on glass. Use newspaper with cleaning fluid to clean mirrors and windows.

5. Preserve antique glass. Some older frames have finishes on the glass that can be damaged by cleaning solutions. Remove smudges by rubbing with newspaper dipped in a solution of one part white vinegar and one part warm water. Let air-dry.

6. Dry shoes. Place crumpled paper in them overnight.

7. Wrap gifts. Use the comics to wrap a child’s birthday gift, or try the wedding announcements for an engagement gift.

8. Create a home for slushy snow boots. During the winter, keep a pile of newspaper near the entryway. When your little snowmen and -women come home, they can toss their winter wear onto the newspaper instead of creating puddles on the floor.

9. Prepare a garden. In the fall, mow a patch of lawn to make room for a dedicated bed. Cover it with four layers of newspaper, then a four-inch layer of shredded leaves or bark mulch. Hose it down. Come spring, the compost blanket will have smothered the grass roots, and the bed will be primed for planting.

10. Keep the refrigerator vegetable drawer dry and free of smells. Line the bottom with newspaper.


Source:
http://www.realsimple.com/realsimple/gallery/print/0,22304,1030084,00.html
Click the link to see ten new uses for:
* lemon * coffee filters * olive oil * dryer sheets * baking soda * vinegar * ziplock bags * velcro * salt)



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And in closing...
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