Canadian Social Research Newsletter
June 23, 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 1890 subscribers.

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

IN THIS ISSUE:

Canadian content

1. Are Statistics Canada's Low-Income Cutoffs an absolute or relative poverty measure?? (Richard Shillington and Andrew Mitchell) - June 20
2. The Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) and Henson Trusts (Reena) - June 2008
3. The Welfare Enigma: Explaining the Dramatic Decline in Canadians’ Use of Social Assistance, 1993–2005 (C.D. Howe Institute) - June 2008
4. Report on the State of Public Health in Canada 2008 (Public Health Agency of Canada) - June 18
5. The federal contribution to reducing poverty in Canada - Senate Committee hearings on poverty (39th PARLIAMENT, 2nd SESSION)
6. Canada Child Tax Benefit (CCTB) payment amounts, tax years 1998 to 2007 (Canada Revenue Agency)
7. What's New from Statistics Canada:
--- Have patterns of living in owned versus rented dwellings changed since 1985? - June 19
--- Consumer Price Index, May 2008 - June 19
--- Canadian Community Health Survey, 2007 - June 18
--- Health reports (focus on obesity) - June 2008
--- City of Québec 1608-2008: 400 years of censuses - June 2008
--- Social Indicators, 1981-2004 (selected years) - June 2008
--- Education Matters: Insights on education, learning and training in Canada, June 2008 - June 16
8. What's new from the Childcare Resource and Research Unit (Toronto) - June 20
9. Canada and the United Nations Human Rights Council: A Time for Serious Re-Evaluation (Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights) - June 2008

International content

10. Poverty Dispatch: U.S. media coverage of social issues and programs
11. Australian Policy Online Weekly Briefing - selected recent content
--- Growing up in Australia: the longitudinal study of Australian children (Australian Institute of Family Studies) - Posted 19-06-2008
12. World Report 2008 (Human Rights Watch) - January 2008
13. Summer reading and resource list: OECD Online
14. CRINMAIL - (Child Rights Information Network - CRIN)

Have a great week!

Are Statistics Canada's Low-Income Cutoffs
an absolute or relative poverty measure??
How to reduce the poverty rate down from 64% to 5% without spending a penny.
June 20, 2008
By Andrew Mitchell and Richard Shillington

The recent release of estimates of the Low Income Cut-offs and the Low Income Measures has raised a number of crucial issues about the measurement of poverty or "low income" in Canada. LICOs haven't been "re-based" to reflect the rise in Canadian living standards since 1992, leaving the authors wondering whether StatCan is discreetly allowing LICOs to slip into irrelevance and obsolescence as a measure of poverty.
An excerpt:
"Since Statistics Canada no long re-bases the LICOs then we should refer to them as an absolute measure of poverty which does not change, at least not automatically, and not recently with general living standards. Past experience would suggest that re-basing the LICO would increase the income thresholds and increase the number of families below that threshold. We have no way of knowing how much of the trend of falling poverty rates over the last 15 years is due simply to the fact that the LICOs have not been rebased."
Source:
Richard Shillington is an Ottawa based social policy consultant.
Andrew Mitchell is the Senior Research Consultant with the Social Assistance in the New Economy Project at the University of Toronto and independent consultant.

Related links from Statistics Canada:

"On poverty and low income" - by Ivan Fellegi (1997)
The Chief Statistician of Canada explains why his agency's low income cut-offs should not be used as the "official" poverty line for Canada.

Low income cut-offs (LICOs) for 2007 and low income measures (LIMs)for 2006 - June 4, 2008
- description of LICOs and LIM + link (in the left margin) to the PDF file with the LICOs for 2007 and LIMs for 2006

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

New resource for Ontario parents
of children with physical or developmental disabilities

Ontario parents who are getting on in years and who are caring at home for a child with a developmental or physical disability have a new resource, just released by Reena, a Thornhill, Ontario social services agency established by parents of children with developmental disabilities, as a practical alternative to institutions. The new 34-page brochure, entitled What you can do to enhance the quality of life for a family member with a disability - Consider a Henson Trust, will help those parents who have some savings in setting up a trust fund to cover their child's special or emergency needs without affecting his/her eligibility for government financial assistance.

What you can do to enhance the quality of life
for a family member with a disability - Consider a Henson Trust*(PDF - 972K, 34 pages)
By Harry Beatty, Mary Louise Dickson and John Stapleton
"Caring for a family member with a disability, and planning for their support for a whole lifetime, is a big responsibility. It poses special problems and challenges. A trust can be an ideal solution if you want to provide some money for a relative. With a trust, your loved one can continue to receive Ontario Disability Support (ODSP) benefits [Ontario's needs-tested social assistance program for people with disabilities]. The trust money can help with extra expenses such as items and services they need, and holidays. (...) This booklet is written specifically for families who want to help support a relative who receives ODSP benefits. It explains how you can help your family member without affecting their ODSP benefits."

[* A "Henson Trust" is a trust which gives the trustee or trustees absolute discretion to make decisions on behalf of the beneficiary, following the precedent established by the Henson case decided by the Ontario Courts in the 1980s [from the report's glossary]. Aging parents who are no longer able to care for their disabled child at home may apply on behalf of the child for benefits in his/her own right under the Ontario Disability Support Program. If those parents have some savings that they wish to pass along to cover some of the needs their disabled child, they have to be careful to avoid disqualifying their child from ODSP by exceeding the asset limit exemption levels.]

This brochure will also interest (1) organizations for groups of parents in similar situations in other Canadian jurisdictions, and (2) anyone who wants to learn more about needs-tested social assistance for people with disabilities in Ontario
- incl. links to related resources online

Source:
Reena
"...a non-profit social service agency dedicated to integrating individuals who have a developmental disability into the mainstream of society. Reena was established in 1973 by parents of children with developmental disabilities, as a practical alternative to institutions."

Related links:

Planned Lifetime Advocacy Network (PLAN)
PLAN is a BC-based non-profit organization, established in 1989 by and for families committed to future planning and securing a good life for their relative with a disability.

PLAN's BC Resources
- includes In Trust: How to Set Up Your Own Trust & Still Be Eligible for Disability Benefits in BC, 1999 (PDF - 541K, 44 pages)

Lifetime Networks Ottawa

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

Dramatic Decline in Welfare Dependency in Canada,
Several Factors Responsible: C.D. Howe Institute (PDF - 40K, 3 pages)
Communiqué
June 19, 2008
Canada has experienced a dramatic decline in welfare dependency since the early 1990s, according to new study by the C.D. Howe Institute, which notes that Canada’s Social Assistance (SA) dependency rate fell by approximately half from the early 1990s to 2005, taking the country’s rising population into account. In The Welfare Enigma: Explaining the Dramatic Decline in Canadians’Use of Social Assistance, 1993-2005, authors Ross Finnie and Ian Irvine provide a nationwide analysis of the factors responsible for the truly remarkable decline, and draw implications for policymakers.

Complete study:

The Welfare Enigma: Explaining the Dramatic
Decline in Canadians’ Use of Social Assistance, 1993–2005 (PDF - 548K, 32 pages)
Commentary
June 2008
"(...) Keeping people off welfare in the first instance, rather than attempting to get them off once on, is likely the most effective means of affecting caseloads and reducing longer-run welfare dependency."
Source:
C.D. Howe Institute
The C.D. Howe Institute is Canada’s leading independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit economic policy research institution. Its individual and corporate members are drawn from business, universities and the professions.

Related links:

Jobs, government cutbacks cut Canadian welfare rolls in half: report
OTTAWA — More available jobs, with a kick from stingy government policies, has contributed to a dramatic decrease in the number of Canadians receiving welfare cheques, says a new study by the C.D. Howe Institute.
Source:
Google News

Solving the welfare enigma
By Ross Finnie and Ian Irvine
Source:
National Post

COMMENT:
It appears that every eleven years or so, the C.D. Howe Institute, minions of the business, university and professional elite, trot out another earth-shattering study about how reducing access to welfare results in fewer people on welfare. Well, Whoop-De-Doo. That's about as informative an observation as "It's better to be rich and healthy than poor and sick."

Here's the earlier C.D. Howe study:

Alberta welfare reforms
a model for other provinces, says C.D. Howe Institute study (PDF file - 668K, 38 pages)
April 1997
Kenneth J. Boessenkool, Prime Minister Steve's occasional confidant and advisor, produced this study praising the 1993-1996 Alberta welfare reforms, for other provinces to emulate.

See the Alberta section of Another Look at Welfare Reform (1997) from the National Council of Welfare for a different perspective on Alberta's welfare reforms.

- Go to the Social Research Organizations (II) in Canada page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/research2.htm
- Go to the Welfare and Welfare Reforms in Canada page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/welref.htm

Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer Targets Health Inequalities in First Annual Report
News Release
June 18, 2008
OTTAWA — Today the first annual report of the Chief Public Health Officer of Canada, Dr. David Butler-Jones, was tabled in Parliament by Steven Fletcher, MP for Charleswood-St. James-Assiniboia and Parliamentary Secretary for Health, on behalf of the Honourable Tony Clement, Minister of Health. The report is an assessment of the state of public health in Canada, and was prepared to take a broad look at the overall health of Canadians as well as disparities in health and other issues.

Complete report:

Report on the State of Public Health in Canada 2008
HTML version
PDF version - 101 pages
Inequalities in health status are partially due to social and economic factors that influence health behaviours and health outcomes.
Socio-economic and personal factors profiled within this report include: * income * employment and working conditions * food security * environment and housing * early childhood development * education and literacy * social support systems * health behaviours * access to health care.

Executive summary (HTML)
Report-At-A-Glance (PDF - 1.4MB, 16 pages)

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

Excerpt from the Income section of the report:
"(...) While there is some debate as to how to measure poverty, and in the absence of a consistent national definition, this report uses the after-tax low-income cut-off (LICO). LICO is a reference point for the income level at which an individual or families may find it difficult to meet their basic needs.213 Poverty, however, is more complex than just lack of money (material poverty). It also includes social poverty (or the ability to be a part of society). This is particularly relevant considering the long-term impacts on children growing up in poverty."

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

Source:
Public Health Agency of Canada

Related link:

Reducing child poverty urged as health priority
June 20, 2008
By Joanna Smith
Ottawa–Reducing child poverty will benefit the health of all Canadians, the country's chief public health officer recommended in his first annual report on the physical and mental well-being of the population. "Every dollar spent in ensuring a healthy start in the early years will reduce the long-term costs associated with health care, addictions, crime, unemployment and welfare," Dr. David Butler-Jones wrote in his report on the state of public health in Canada.
Source
The Toronto Star

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

[ NOTE: as at June 22, some of the Committee pages of the Parliamentary website are showing up as "Server Error".
If you get an error message clicking any of the links below, you might still be able to find the content by starting on the
home page of the Parliament of Canada website. ]

**********

The federal contribution to reducing poverty in Canada:
Evidence presented at Meetings of the Standing Committee
on Human Resources, Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities
(39th PARLIAMENT, 2nd SESSION)

Valuable insights on poverty and poverty measurement in Canada and elsewhere in the world --- recommended reading!

Meeting No 25 (45 printed pages)
April 17, 2008
Topics : Women, un/employment and poverty, anti-poverty strategies, relative and absolute measures of poverty,
food security, municipal quality-of-life reporting, and more...
Witnesses:
Shawn Pegg (Manager, Policy and Research, Canadian Association of Food Banks)
Wayne Hellquist (Chief Executive Officer, Regina and District Food Bank, Canadian Association of Food Banks)
Michael Buda (Acting Deputy Director, Policy, Federation of Canadian Municipalities)
Michel Frojmovic (Consultant, Federation of Canadian Municipalities)
Monica Townson (Research Associate, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, As an Individual)
Chris Sarlo (Professor, Department of Economics, Nipissing University, As an Individual)

Meeting 24 (43 printed pages)
April 15, 2008
Topics : urban poverty, strategies and solutions related to women's poverty, composite poverty line, seniors and poverty,
Witnesses:
Richard Shillington (Senior Associate, Informetrica Limited)
Katherine Scott (Vice-President, Research, Canadian Council on Social Development)
Drummond White (Social Worker and Board of Director Member - Ontario, Canadian Association of Social Workers)
Dr. Glenn Drover (Social Worker and Social Policy Consultant, Canadian Association of Social Workers)

Meeting No. 23 (40+ printed pages)
April 10, 2008
Topics : the federal contribution to reducing poverty in Canada, including an extended discussion of the relative merits of the low-income
measures in use in Canada (LICOs, LIMs and MBMs ) and elsewhere in the world - and more...
Witnesses:
Frank Fedyk (Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic Policy and Research, Department of Human Resources and Social Development)
Sylvie Michaud (Director, Income Statistics Division, Statistics Canada)
Garnett Picot (Director General, Socio-Economic and Business Analysis Branch, Statistics Canada)
Sheila Regehr (Director, National Council of Welfare)
Doug Murphy (Assistant Director, Economic Security Policy, Department of Human Resources and Social Development)
Shawn Tupper (Director General, Social Policy Development, Department of Human Resources and Social Development)

Source:
Standing Committee on
Human Resources, Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities (HUMA)
[ Parliament of Canada website ]

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

Canada Child Tax Benefit (CCTB) Payment Amounts

- includes, for each tax year : basic benefit - supplement for 3rd and following child(ren) - supplement for children under age seven - base threshold - benefit reduction rates, one child - benefit reduction rates, two or more children - NCBS amount for first child - NCBS amount for second child - NCBS amount for each additional child - NCBS threshold - NCBS phase-out rate, one child - NCBS phase-out rate, two children - NCBS phase-out rate, three or more children - Child Disability Amount (CDB) - CDB base threshold, one child - CDB phase-out rate, one child - CDB phase-out rate, two children - CDB phase-out rate, three or more children

* Tax Years 1998 to 2002
* Tax Years 2003 to 2007

Source:
Canada Child Tax Benefit (CCTB)
[ Child and Family Benefits - includes links to : * Canada Child Tax Benefit (CCTB) * Universal Child Care Benefit (UCCB) * GST/HST credit ]

The Canada Child Tax Benefit may include:

* the National Child Benefit Supplement (NCBS)
* the Child Disability Benefit (CDB)

Provincial and territorial child benefit and credit programs
that are related to the Canada Child Tax Benefit (CCTB):
* Alberta Family Employment Tax Credit * BC Family Bonus (and British Columbia Earned Income Benefit) * New Brunswick Child Tax Benefit * Nova Scotia Child Benefit * Newfoundland and Labrador Child Benefit (and Mother Baby Nutrition Supplement) * Northwest Territories Child Benefit * Nunavut Child Benefit * Ontario Child Benefit * Yukon Child Benefit
[NOTE: residents of Québec must apply to the Régie des rentes for the child assistance payment.]

Source:
Canada Revenue Agency

Editorial Comment (by Gilles)
When I added the above links to the CCTB amounts for all tax years, I thought I should also update the list of provincial and territorial child benefit programs that are related to the CCTB, all under the umbrella of the National Child Benefit (NCB) initiative. As I read that list for myself, my heart went out to the hapless analysts in government and non-governmental researchers whose job duties include comparing welfare rates across jurisdictions, especially for families with kids. Since the launch of the NCB initiative in 1998, many provinces and territories have been creating separate children's benefits programs for all children in low-income families, not only those on social assistance. And thus I came to understand what David Ross (former Director of the Canadian Council on Social Development and a respected champion of social justice issues) had meant when he said back in the early 1990s something about "taking kids off welfare". In the case of families in receipt of welfare, it's generally child-related costs that constitute the so-called "welfare wall", which is the loss of non-cash benefits like vision, drug and dental coverage when a household head leaves welfare for a job. I wholeheartedly support the provincial-territorial government trend towards paying child-related financial benefits to *all* low-income households outside of welfare, so that families can leave welfare more readily without losing their children's benefits. HOWEVER, because Canadian jurisdictions have adopted different approaches in their treatment of the CCTB and provincial-territorial child benefits for welfare rate calculations, it's getting exceptionally difficult to compare welfare rates across provinces and territories, especially for families with children.

The National Council of Welfare has been doing interprovincial welfare rate comparisons going back to 1986 (annually since 1989) for various family types and sizes, and their rate information is always vetted for factual accuracy by government officials in each jurisdiction prior to release. The latest complete annual report in this series was Welfare Incomes 2005 (PDF file - 1.4MB, 116 pages), released in August 2006. The comparative rate tables in this report take into account the treatment of child benefits in the welfare system of each jurisdiction. There's also a brief overview of the different approaches that provinces and territories have adopted concerning child benefits and welfare. For more detailed information on child benefit clawbacks and pass-ons, see Approaches to Replacing Social Assistance Benefits for Children - from the 2005 National child Benefit Progress Report.

For more than 20 of my 30 years in the federal civil service, I was responsible for producing and maintaining detailed welfare rate information for each province and territory for the administration of the Canada Assistance Plan. Part of my job was supporting the Council in the production of their welfare incomes series, and I can vouch for the rigid verification process that the Council followed to ensure a high-quality report.
See the Council's Welfare Incomes series of reports (only recent years are posted on the Council's website, including some welfare income fact sheets for 2006).
It's the ONLY source that I'd recommend for longitudinal welfare rate comparisons across Canada.

On behalf of welfare researchers everywhere, I'd like to thank the provincial and territorial government officials who take the time to provide thoughtful feedback about rates for their jurisdiction in each edition of Welfare Incomes and thus ensure that the series is a factually-accurate, credible resource for all to use freely. Thanks also to the National Council of Welfare for continuing to produce this excellent benchmark report!

- Go to the Children, Families and Youth Links (Government) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/chnbkmrk.htm

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

June 19, 2008
New products
Have patterns of living in owned versus rented dwellings changed since 1985?
By Heather Dryburgh and Michael Wendt
Between 1985 and 2006, the percentage of Canadians living in dwellings where someone in the household was the owner gradually increased from about 70% to 78%. Many different factors could have influenced this general increase, including the aging of the population and trends in home-ownership patterns for people at particular times when housing changes are common.
* Go to full text of article in HTML
* Download PDF of article (532K, 4 pages)
[ more StatCan links re. families, households and housing ]

June 19, 2008
Consumer Price Index, May 2008
Consumer prices rose 2.2% in May compared with May 2007, up from the 1.7% increase reported in April, as drivers faced significant increases in gasoline prices. The 0.5 percentage point acceleration in the all-items Consumer Price Index was the sharpest since September 2007

June 18, 2008
Canadian Community Health Survey, 2007
Statistics Canada today releases extensive new data on more than 20 health indicators from the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS), a comprehensive survey of more than 65,000 Canadians conducted between January 2007 and December 2007. Data for all indicators are available at the national and provincial and territorial level, as well as for 118 health regions across Canada.

Health Reports
A Canadian peer-reviewed journal of population health and health services research
June 2008
Table of contents:
* Sedentary behaviour and obesity - by Margot Shields and Mark S. Tremblay
* Screen time among Canadian adults: A profile - by Margot Shields and Mark S. Tremblay
NOTE: on the health reports page, you'll find links to articles from earlier reports in 2008
[ more health studies and reports from StatCan ]

June 17, 2008
City of Québec 1608-2008: 400 years of censuses
by Gwenaël Cartier
June 2008
HTML version
PDF version (292K, 8 pages)
[ version française - HTML ]
Table of contents:
* The founding of Québec City
* Jean Talon conducts the first census
* The census of 1681
* Other censuses of the French regime
* Québec City under the British Empire
* Québec City, capital of Lower Canada
* The first censuses in the 19th century
* Decennial censuses
* The 1851 and 1861 censuses
* Confederation
* The 20th century
* The 21st century
* The municipal mergers of 2002
* The 2006 Census
* Québec City on its 400th anniversary
Source:
Canadian Social Trends, Number 85

Also in Canadian Social Trends:

Social indicators (1981-2004, selected years):
* Economic <=== incl. prime lending rate, conventional 5-year Mortgage rate, U.S. dollar exchange rate, personal savings rate, Gross Domestic Product, consumer spending, Consumer Price Index, total consumer bankruptcies,new housing starts, new Housing Price Index, new motor vehicle sales, household borrowing, annual percentage change in wages, salaries and supplementary labour income in Gross Domestic Products, corporate finances, operating profit, ratio of profit margin, government accounts, expenditures, surplus, net international investment position, liabilities as a percentage of Real Gross Domestic Product,balance of international payments, national net worth,
* Health <=== incl. total fertility rates, low birth weight in infants, total infant deaths, mortality rate per 1,000 live births, life expectancy in years (female/male), causes of death for men and women, Body Mass Index (males and females), percentage of smokers, suicide rates
* Income <=== incl. average market and total income, prevalence of low income after tax, female-to-male earnings ratio, and more
* Justice <=== incl. number of offences (Criminal Code, crimes of violence, property crimes, motor vehicle theft, drugs, traffic, rate per 100,000 population, adult prison court sentences, percentage sentenced cases resulting in prison term, average length of sentence in months, and more
* Labour Force <=== incl. labour force participation rates by age group for men and women, unemployment rate, percentage of workers in service-producing sector, percentage of workers employed part-time, percentage of workers self-employed, percentage of employees in temporary jobs, percentage of employees unionized, and more [The rise of the McJob...]
* Population <=== incl. (1971 to 2005, selected years) population of Canada, population by province/territory, population by age groups, dependency ratio ( ratio of the combined young and senior populations to the working-age population, components of population change, population for largest census metropolitan areas, (Montréal - Toronto - Vancouver - Ottawa-Gatineau), interprovincial net-migrants, more...

June 16, 2008
Education Matters: Insights on education, learning and training in Canada, June 2008
- includes links to two articles:
* Adult learning and the world of work
* Doctoral graduates in Canada 2004/2005
[ previous issues of Education Matters ]

- Go to the Federal Government Department Links (Fisheries and Oceans to Veterans Affairs) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/fedbkmrk2.htm
- Go to the Health Links (Canada/International) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/health.htm
- Go to the Social Statistics Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/stats.htm
- Go to the Québec Links (English) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/qce.htm
- Rendez-vous à la page de liens de recherche sociale au Québec: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/qcbkmrk.htm

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

June 20, 2008

Designed environments for young children: Empirical findings and implications for planning and design
20 Jun 08
- Paper from Gary Moore at the University of Sydney discussing the impact of the physical environment in early childhood settings.

For-profit early childhood education and care in Sub-Saharan Africa
20 Jun 08
- Fourth seminar in the International Centre for the Study of the Mixed Economy of Childcare series focusing on the ECEC for–profit sector in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Early childhood development in B.C.: First Call’s framework for action
20 Jun 08
- Position paper from First Call B.C. outlining their framework for action for early childhood development in British Columbia.

Reducing work-life conflict: What works? What doesn’t?
20 Jun 08
- Report commissioned by Health Canada examining the strategies applied by the key stakeholders in the work-family equation to help employees cope with work-life conflict.

more WHAT'S NEW ONLINE »

child care in the news

· Ontario lags on day care [CA-ON]
20 Jun 08

· Call to train up childcare workers [AU]
20 Jun 08

· N.B. scores low on child care [CA-NB]
19 Jun 08

· Forget equality, Japan needs female workers for survival’s sake [JP]
18 Jun 08

· Back-to-work aid urged for all mums [NZ]
17 Jun 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

Canada and the United Nations Human Rights Council: A Time for Serious Re-Evaluation (PDF - 260K, 49 pages)
June 2008
"(...) The Human Rights Council remains a deeply troubled institution that, in the Committee’s view, spends more time throwing obstacles in the way of effective human rights promotion than in fulfilling its role as the primary human rights mechanism in the international system. The Committee is very concerned that the advances made in the last two years are not enough, and without strong initiatives taken by Member states to work towards building consensus and objective, balanced resolutions, the Human Rights Council is destined to flounder."
Source:
Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights
[ Parliament of Canada website ]

[ The United Nations Human Rights Council is a body that was established in Geneva in June 2006 to replace the Human Rights Commission. ]

Related (??) links:

US: Leaving UN Rights Council Fails Victims of Abuse
(Geneva, June 6, 2008) – A decision by the United States to disengage from the UN Human Rights Council amounts to an abandonment of human rights defenders and victims, Human Rights Watch said today. The United States announced today at its daily State Department briefing that it will only participate in debates at the council when absolutely necessary and it feels compelled to do so by “matters of deep national interest.”
Source:
Human Rights Watch

Toews attacks Arbour in House
Calls human rights campaigner "a disgrace" on floor of Commons
June 17, 2008
OTTAWA - One of Stephen Harper's senior cabinet members called Louise Arbour "a disgrace" on the floor of the House of Commons Tuesday. Vic Toews, a Manitoba Conservative MP and the President of the Treasury Board, yelled "she's a disgrace" during Question Period as a Liberal MP, Martha Hall Findlay, was calling on the government to acknowledge Arbour's work as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Arbour is to retire from that position later this month. During her question, Hall Findlay alleged that the government had ordered diplomatic staff abroad not to talk about Arbour's work.

Shame on you, Vic Toews.

Louise Arbour: Welcome Home
April 10, 2008
By Chris Donovan
Last month, former Supreme Court Justice Louise Arbour announced that she will not seek a second term in her current role as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Her four year term comes to a close on June 30th of this year.
- includes detailed biographical notes and a partial list of Mme Arbour's accomplishments.
Source:
The Court
An initiative of Osgoode Hall Law School, The Court is a site where scholars, practitioners and other interested citizens can discuss the recent work of the Supreme Court of Canada.

* Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
* United Nations Human Rights Council

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

Latest issues of the Poverty Dispatch:

June 12, 2008
* 2008 Kids Count Data Book
* 2008 Kids Count Data Book - Midwest States
* Medicaid Reform and Spending - West Virginia, Utah
* State Children's Health Insurance Program - Colorado
* Rent Assistance Program for Hurricane Katrina Victims
* Food Stamp Debit Cards and Subsidies for Grocers - Iowa
* Unemployment Insurance Benefits
* Paid Sick Leave - Ohio
* Health Coverage and the Underinsured

June 9, 2008
* Report: Child Poverty - Philadelphia, PA
* Study: Living Arrangements of Foster Families
* Single Parent Families and Assistance Programs - Texas
* Families and Access to Grocery Stores
* Food Stamp Program Enrollment - Ohio, South Dakota
* Earned Income Tax Credit
* Gas Prices and Income of Rural Workers
* Low-income Home Energy Assistance
* Low-income Students' Success in College - Michigan
* Post-Katrina Temporary Housing
* U.S. Unemployment Rate
* Trade Adjustment Assistance Program
* Federal Minimum Wage Increase - El Paso, TX
* Immigrant Families and Immigration Laws and Enforcement

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

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.

Selected recent content from APO:

Growing up in Australia: the longitudinal study of Australian children
Posted 19-06-2008
Australian Institute of Family Studies
This report, the third in a series, focuses on early trends emerging from a second wave of data collection, as well as recent research findings and dissemination activities completed in the past year. In particular it exams breastfeeding and return-to-work patterns.

Source:
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...
[ Australian Policy Online (APO) ]

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

2008 Report: Democracy Charade Undermines Rights
Human Rights Watch Highlights Abuses in Pakistan, Kenya, China, Somalia
News Release
Washington, DC
January 31, 2008
The established democracies are accepting flawed and unfair elections for political expediency, Human Rights Watch said today in releasing its World Report 2008. By allowing autocrats to pose as democrats, without demanding they uphold the civil and political rights that make democracy meaningful, the United States, the European Union and other influential democracies risk undermining human rights worldwide.

Complete report:

World Report 2008
Human Rights Watch surveys the human rights situation in more than 75 countries.
- includes the U.S. but not Canada
HTML version - includes links to individual country sections (across the top of the page) along with an introduction, five essays. audio commentary, news conference, photography, news release, the complete report in PDF format
PDF version (PDF - 5.4MB, 581 pages)

* World Report 2007
* World Report 2006
[For earlier reports, see the far right column on the HRW Publications page

Source:
Human Rights Watch

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

Recommended summer reading:

OECD Online
(Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development)
OECD Online is to the world what Statistics Canada is to Canada - the number-crunchers' jackpot, Mother of all statistical agencies!
This is an enormous site containing a wealth of information on myriad subjects in the area of social programs. Plan to explore this site over several visits - it can be overwhelming...
- incl. links to:
* Browse (About OECD - By Topic - By Country - By Department) - From A to Z
* Find (Statistics - Publications & Documents - News Releases)
* Resources for (Journalists - Government Officials - NGOs & Civil Society and Parliamentarians)
* OnLine Services (OnLine Bookshop - OnLine Library - E-mail Alerts - MyOECD) - more...

OECD.Stat Extracts
- incl. links to:
* General Statistics (country statistical profiles for 2008, incl. Canada) * Agriculture and Fisheries * Demography and Population * Economic Projections * Education and Training * Finance * Globalisation * Health * Industry and Service Statistics * International Trade and Balance of Payments * Labour *Monthly Economic Indicators * National Accounts * Prices and Purchasing Power Parities * Productivity * Public Sector, Taxation and Market Regulation * Regional Statistics * Science, Technology and Patents * Social and Welfare Statistics * Non-member Economies * Others

Information by Country - links to country information for all OECD countries
Click on the country of your choice and all OECD documents pertaining to that country will be listed.
NOTE: includes cross-country comparisons

Information by Country : Canada --- from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
- all OECD documents pertaining to Canada

Country statistical profile - Canada

OECD Website Sitemap

Source:
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

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

From the Child Rights Information Network (CRIN):

CRINMAIL Online
- links to 300+  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

Social control

Start with a cage containing five monkeys. Inside the cage, hang a banana on a string and place a set of stairs under it. Before long, a monkey will go to the stairs and start to climb toward the banana. As soon as he touches the stairs, spray all of the other monkeys with cold water.

After a while, another monkey makes an attempt with the same result, all the monkeys are sprayed with cold water. Pretty soon, when another monkey tries to climb the stairs, the other monkeys will try to prevent it.

Now, put away the cold water. Remove one monkey from the cage and replace it with a new one. The new monkey sees the banana and wants to climb the stairs. To his surprise and horror, all the other monkeys attack him. After another attempt and attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the stairs, he will be assaulted.

Next, remove another one of the original monkeys and replace it with a new one. The new comer goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous newcomer takes part in the punishment with enthusiasm. Likewise, replace a third original with a new one, then a fourth then a fifth.

Every time the newest monkey takes to the stairs, he is attacked. Most of the monkeys that are beating him have no idea why they are not permitted to climb the stairs or why they are participating in the beating of the newest monkey.

After replacing all the original monkeys, none of the remaining monkeys have ever been sprayed with cold water. Nevertheless, no monkey ever again approaches the stairs to try for the banana.

Why not?

Because, as far as they know:
"THAT'S THE WAY IT'S ALWAYS BEEN DONE AROUND HERE"

Moral of the story :

SOMETIMES YOU'VE JUST GOTTA GRAB THAT BANANA!

Source:
http://www.vacilando.org/index.php?x=3072

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And, in closing...
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How CBC Lost Its Hockey Theme
Inside story includes angry account by composer's daughter
June 13, 2008
Source:
The Tyee

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The New CBC Hockey Night in Canada theme song (video - won't work if you're behind a security firewall at the office or school)

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The Green Car guide
http://www.edmunds.com/fueleconomy/index.html

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Popular Mechanics: Drive Green
http://www.popularmechanics.com/drivegreen