Canadian Social Research Newsletter

Canadian Social Research Newsletter
June 18, 2006

Welcome to the weekly Canadian Social Research Newsletter,
a listing of the new links added to the Canadian Social Research Links website in the past week.

The e-mail version of this week's issue of the newsletter is going out to 1610 subscribers.
Scroll to the bottom of this newsletter to see some notes and a disclaimer.

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

IN THIS ISSUE:

Canadian Content

1. 50+ Organizations calling on Ontario Premier to delay public hearings on Bill 107 - human rights reform legislation (Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance) - June 15
2. International Monetary Fund Report Says Canada’s Economic Outlook Very Favourable (Department of Finance Canada) - June 16
3. Explanatory Notes to the Budget Implementation Act, 2006 (Department of Finance Canada) - June 15
4. A guide to the Conservative government’s child care doublespeak (Canadian Union of Public Employees) - June 15
5. Towards a New Architecture for Canada's Adult Benefits (Caledon Institute of Social Policy) - June 14
6. Canada 2020 - new think tank, conference
7. Campaign Launched to End Poverty in Canada (New Democratic Party) - June 1
8. What's New from Newfoundland and Labrador Human Resources, Labour and Employment:
--- Minimum wage going up to $6.75/hr. as of June 1
--- Province reaffirms commitment to poverty reduction - May 26
9. What's New from the Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services:
--- Ontario’s New Employment Innovations Fund - June 14
--- New Accessibility Standards for Ontarians with disabilities - June 13
--- Improving Opportunities For Social Assistance Recipients - June 12
10. The View from the Summit – Gleneagles G8 One Year On (OXFAM) - June 9
11. Health Care in Canada 2006 (Canadian Institute for Health Information) - June 7
12. What's New from The Daily [Statistics Canada]:
--- Health Indicators 2006 - June 13
13. What's New from the Childcare Resource and Research Unit (University of Toronto) - June 16

International Content

14. Poverty Dispatch Digest : U.S. media coverage of social issues and programs

Have a great week!

Gilles Séguin
Canadian Social Research Links
http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net

E-mail:
gilseg@rogers.com

1. 50+ Organizations calling on Ontario Premier to delay public hearings on Bill 107 (human rights reform legislation) - June 15
(Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance)

Outcry against Bill 107 grows: more than 50 organizations call on Premier for change
June 15, 2006
Former Human Rights Commissioner and member of 1992 Cornish Task Force Advisory Committee Tom Warner joined community leaders at a press conference this morning to release an open letter to Premier McGuinty. The letter was signed by more than 50 organizations representing racialized communities, seniors, gays and lesbians and people with disabilities. It sets out growing concerns over Bill 107, the government's human rights reform legislation, and condemns the Premier's plan to hold public hearings on the legislation in the summer when people are less able to attend and boards are unable to meet to approve submissions. The groups are calling on the Premier to hold the hearings in the fall and be prepared to make the necessary changes.

Background info on Bill 107

Source:
DisAbled Women's Network (DAWN) Ontario

Related Link:

Canada: Selected Issues (PDF file - 648K, 24 pages)
IMF Country Report No. 06/229
June 2006
"background documentation for the periodic consultation with the member country"
- incl. Regional Dimensions of the Canadian Economy- Canadian Inflation Targeting and Macroeconomic Volatility in Retrospect and Prospect - Conclusion and Policy Implications - Efficiency Gains from Reducing the GST Versus Personal Income Taxation in Canada - more..

Source:
Canada and the IMF
[ International Monetary fund ]
"The IMF is an organization of 184 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty."

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

3. Explanatory Notes to the Budget Implementation Act, 2006 - June 15
(Department of Finance Canada)

Explanatory Notes to the
Budget Implementation Act, 2006 Now Available
News Release
June 15, 2006
- includes a link to Explanatory Notes Relating to the Excise Tax Act, the Income Tax Act, the First Nations Goods and Services Tax Act, the Yukon First Nations Self-Government Act, and Related Acts and Notice of Ways and Means Motion to Implement Certain Provisions of the Budget

Notice of Ways and Means Motion to Implement
Certain Provisions of the Budget Tabled in Parliament on May 2, 2006
NOTE: see PART 6
UNIVERSAL CHILD CARE BENEFIT:
"168. The Universal Child Care Benefit Act is enacted as follows:
An Act to assist families by supporting their child care choices through direct financial support and to make consequential and related amendments to certain Acts."

Source:
Department of Finance Canada

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

4. A guide to the Conservative government’s child care doublespeak - June 15
(Canadian Union of Public Employees)

A guide to the Conservative government’s child care doublespeak (PDF file - 58K, 4 pages)
June 15, 2006
The Conservatives claim child care is one of their priorities, but everything they’ve said and done indicates they don’t believe in quality early learning and child care. Words such as 'choice', 'universal' and 'institutional' take on peculiar meanings when Stephen Harper and his ministers use them. It’s time to deconstruct the Conservative spin on child care..."
Source:
Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada
Found on the website of the
Canadian Union of Public Employees

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

5. Towards a New Architecture for Canada's Adult Benefits - June 14
(Caledon Institute of Social Policy)

Towards a New Architecture for Canada's Adult Benefits (PDF file - 143K, 37 pages)
Ken Battle, Michael Mendelson and Sherri Torjman
June 2006
Since its creation in 1992, the Caledon Institute of Social Policy has worked to modernize Canada’s social security system. We have made the case for major changes not just to individual social programs but to the basic structures and functions – the ‘architecture’, to use the current vogue term – of social policy. This paper advances our work on the modernization agenda in a large area of Canadian social policy that has for the most part defied successful reform – income security programs and supportive services for working-age adults, which Caledon has dubbed ‘adult benefits.’ The first part of the paper explains why current programs – especially welfare and Employment Insurance, the two core adult benefits – fail to meet the needs of working-age Canadians. Fundamental and comprehensive reform is required, through integrated changes to both federal and provincial/territorial programs and a realignment of governments’ roles and responsibilities. The second part offers our thinking on how to build a new architecture for adult benefits.
Source:
Caledon Institute of Social Policy

- Go to the Social Research Organizations (I) in Canada page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/research.htm

6. Canada 2020

Canada 2020 a Counter to the Conservative Think Tanks
Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore will deliver his message about global warming as the keynote dinner speaker at the Canada 2020 Progressive Policies, Practical Solutions conference in Mont Tremblant, Quebec on Wednesday, June 14th. Mr. Gore joins internationally renowned economist Jeffrey Sachs, Harper's Magazine Editor Lewis Lapham and former President of the European Bank Jacques Attali as part of a stellar program of progressive Canadian and international thinkers that is expected to be one of the most thought provoking and exciting forums in recent memory. More than 150 prominent Canadians from business, government, and academia will discuss ideas and debate progressive policies during the two-day session, June 13-15, 2006 at the Fairmont Tremblant Hotel. [See the Canada 2020 link below for more info about this conference.]
Source:
Canadian Democratic Movement
("Alternative News Media on Democracy, Energy, Politics, Trade, Environment, Military and Money")

Canada 2020 is a dynamic and networked “ideas generation council” that takes a unique approach to addressing Canada’s public policy opportunities and challenges.
Objectives:
a. to act as a non-partisan forum to address Canada’s policy opportunities and challenges;
b. to develop public policy solutions to address the opportunities and challenges Canada faces;
c. to promote and communicate ideas to government, media, and interested Canadians.

Canada 2020 Blog

- Go to the Social Research Organizations (I) in Canada page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/research.htm

7. Campaign Launched to End Poverty in Canada - June 1
(New Democratic Party)

NDP launches campaign to end poverty in Canada
News Release
1 Jun 2006
OTTAWA - The NDP today launched a national "End Poverty in Canada" campaign vowing to engage Canadians and their politicians in deciding what the fairest way forward is for all Canadians. "Our social safety net has become an incoherent, inefficient mess that must be repaired," said NDP Social Policy Critic Tony Martin (Sault Ste. Marie). "The working poor aren’t receiving sufficient wages, they’re unable to access Employment Insurance when they need it, and they can’t house and feed their families. Something is terribly wrong in Canada when people working full-time for a full year still can’t make ends meet." The NDP Social Policy Caucus cited recent United Nations and Ontario-based reports documenting the crisis which found:
* Over half of Canadians receiving social assistance still need food banks to survive.
* Most welfare levels are set at less than half the low-income cut-off, which the government’s own advisory body, the National Council on Welfare, calls an "utter disaster".
* About a third of low-wage workers do not earn sufficient income to make ends meet.
Source:
New Democratic Party

8. What's New from Newfoundland and Labrador Human Resources, Labour and Employment:
--- Minimum wage going up to $6.75/hr. as of June 1
--- Province reaffirms commitment to poverty reduction - May 26

Another 25 cent increase in minimum wage as of June 1, 2006
June 1, 2006
Paul Shelley, Minister of Human Resources, Labour and Employment, would like to remind employers and employees in the province that effective today the minimum wage has increased from $6.50 to $6.75 an hour.
Source:
Department of Human Resources, Labour and Employment

See also:

Canada's G8 Website (Govt. of Canada)
G8 Information Centre - at the University of Toronto

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

11. Health Care in Canada 2006 - June 7
(Canadian Institute for Health Information)

Heart attack survival rates improve—stroke death rates remain the same
In-hospital mortality rates within 30 days of admission with a new heart attack or stroke differ significantly among regions
News Release
June 7, 2006—Canadians admitted to hospital with a new heart attack are less likely to die in hospital within 30 days than in the past, according to a new report released today by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). (...) Health Care in Canada 2006, [is] CIHI’s seventh annual publication on the state of the health system. For the first time, this year’s report provides trends for two key health indicators: short-term mortality rates following admission with a new heart attack and short-term mortality rates following admission with a new stroke. It also examines how these death rates vary across the country and explores factors that may be associated with better or worse odds of survival, including age, sex and the types of care that patients receive.
- incl.Regional differences | Types of care influence survival rates | Different outcomes for different patients | Other highlights this year | Health Care in Canada 2006 | About CIHI | Figures | Report | Contact

Complete report:

Health Care in Canada 2006
June 2006
-download the report in sections or as one single file (PDF file - 784K, 113 pages)

Health Care in Canada 2006 - Fact Sheet (PDF file - 103K, 1 page)

Source:
Canadian Institute for Health Information

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

12. What's New from The Daily [Statistics Canada]:
--- Health Indicators 2006 - June 13

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

June 13, 2006
Health Indicators
Today's issue of Health Indicators features the latest data from the third cycle (2005) of Statistics Canada's Canadian Community Health Survey.

Complete report:

Health Indicators
Volume 2006, No. 1
Providing the latest readings on the health of Canadians - region by region
This publication, produced jointly by Statistics Canada and the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), is a compilation of over 80 indicators measuring health status, non-medical determinants of health, health-system performance and community and health-system characteristics.
HTML version - use the links in the left margin to navigate your way through this report
PDF version - 501K, 52 pages

Highlights

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

13. What's New from the Childcare Resource and Research Unit - June 16
(University of Toronto)

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

Each week, the Childcare Resource and Research Unit disseminates its "e-mail news notifier", an e-mail message with a dozen or so links to new reports, studies and child care in the news (media articles) by the CRRU or another organization in the field of early childhood education and care (ECEC). What you see below is selected content from the most recent issue of the notifier.

16-Jun-06

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

>> CCKM'S RESEARCH GUIDE TO CHILD CARE DECISION MAKING
Online guide from the Canadian Centre for Knowledge Mobilisation "provides easy access to quantitative summaries based on the findings of 66 reports."

>> FROM SHE TO SHE: CHANGING PATTERNS OF WOMEN IN THE CANADIAN LABOUR FORCE
by Roy, Francine
Article from Statistics Canada finds that women's labour force participation is increasing in the East (especially Quebec) and declining in Western Canada (particularly Alberta).

>> WHY IS HIGH-QUALITY CHILD CARE ESSENTIAL?
THE LINK BETWEEN QUALITY CHILD CARE AND EARLY LEARNING
Article from Canadian Council on Learning's Lessons in Learning series reviews research on child care quality; finds that high quality is key to "positive child development, early learning and school readiness."

>> ABC LEARNING CENTRES: A CASE STUDY OF AUSTRALIA'S LARGEST CHILD CARE CORPORATION
by Rush, Emma & Downie, Christian
Report from The Australia Institute investigates quality issues at ABC Learning Centres, as reported through surveys and interviews with ABC staff.

--------------------------------------------------
Child Care in the News
---------------------------------------------------

>> It's the mother of all myths [GB]
by Sarler, Carol / London Times, 15 Jun 06

>> Thousands of parents need to apply for new child-care benefit [CA]
CBC News Online, 15 Jun 06

>> Women leaving work out West [CA]
by Scoffield, Heather / Globe and Mail, 15 Jun 06

>> Tories push ahead with tax breaks to business for child care [CA]
by Greenaway, Norma / Ottawa Citizen, 13 Jun 06

>> Preschool empire flawed by its carers [AU]
by Horin, Adele / Sydney Morning Herald, 12 Jun 06

>> The growing child care divide [CA]
by Pitts, Gordon / Globe and Mail, 12 Jun 06

>> Wild goose chase turns child care into a game of hide and seek [AU]
by Alexander, Harriet / Sydney Morning Herald, 8 Jun 06

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
This message was forwarded through the Childcare Resource
and Research Unit e-mail news notifier. For information on the
CRRU e-mail notifier, including instructions for (un)subscribing,
see http://www.childcarecanada.org
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *