Canadian Social Research Newsletter
April 30, 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 1590 subscribers.
Scroll to the bottom of this newsletter to see some notes and a disclaimer.

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IN THIS ISSUE:

Canadian Content

1. Canada appearing before the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in early May (National Anti-Poverty Organization and two dozen other NGOs)
2. Alternative Federal Budget 2006: Moving Forward (Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives) - April 27
3. The Incredible Shrinking $1,200 Child Care Allowance: How to Fix It (Caledon Institute of Social Policy) - April 2006
4. What's New from the Canadian Council on Social Development:
--- The Progress of Canada's Children & Youth 2006 - April 26
--- Making Connections: Social and civic engagement among Canadian immigrants - April 2006
--- Stats & Facts - new CCSD feature
5. What's New from Finance Canada:
--- First-Ever Federal Pre-Budget Web Consultations Conclude Successfully - April 24
--- Canada's New Government to Table its First Budget on May 2
6. What's New from Statistics Canada:
--- Study: How students fund their postsecondary education, 2001/2002 - April 26
--- Consolidated government finance: Assets and liabilities, March 31, 2004 - April 25
--- Local government finance: Assets and liabilities, December 31, 2003 - April 25
--- Access to StatCan's Electronic Publications is now FREE! - April 24
7. What's New from the BC Office of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives - April 24
--- Budget Savings on the Backs of the Poor: Who Paid the Price for Welfare Benefit Cuts in BC
--- A Better Way to Set Welfare Rates
--- Welfare rates opinion poll results
8. What's New from the Childcare Resource and Research Unit (University of Toronto) - April 28

International Content

9. Poverty Dispatch Digest : U.S. media coverage of social issues and programs --- April 27

Have a great  week!

Canada fails to meet economic and social rights obligations, United Nations told
Media advisory
April 28, 2006
OTTAWA - Canada is going backwards on its commitments to implement the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, a network of Canadian non-governmental organizations say in presentations they will make to a UN Committee on May 1. Though Canada is one of the wealthiest nations in the world with low unemployment and record Federal budget surpluses, too many people are being denied the human rights guaranteed by the Covenant, such as the rights to an adequate standard of living, to social security, to housing, to food, to health, and fair working conditions including fair wages. (...) Over 25 representatives of non-governmental groups will be presenting their evidence to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which meets in Geneva beginning on May 1. (...) The Canadian government will appear before the Committee on May 5 and 8. The Committee is expected to issue its Concluding Observations including recommendations on what needs to be done to improve Canada's human rights compliance on or shortly after May 19.
Source:
CNW Group
("the nation’s number one resource for time-critical news and information from more than 10,000 sources coast to coast and around the world")

Why are Canadian NGOs using their skimpy budgets to send people to Geneva for the meetings of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, you ask?
1. Because Geneva is so beautiful at this time of year.
2. Because NGOs are exploiting poverty in Canada to increase their own budgets, especially the travelling to Switzerland part.
3. Because federal accountability to the Canadian public for welfare programs suffered a serious blow on April 1, 1996, when the Canada Assistance Plan was replaced by the Canada Health and Social Transfer as the vehicle for federal contributions to provincial-territorial welfare and social service spending [ See http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/cap.htm]. Except for the Supreme Court, there is *no* forum in Canada where the federal government can be held accountable for its role in the evolution of our social assistance and social service programs to their current pitiful state. The same holds true for the provincial and territorial welfare authorities - there are no Canadian benchmarks against which they could be held accountable, and there's no recourse except for welfare appeals systems, and those tend to be pretty watered down compared with the appeals systems of "the good old days" (y'know, when Canada was more compassionate and caring...).
The correct answer's pretty obvious --- given the current state of affairs, NGOs have no choice but to hold our governments accountable on the international stage for non-compliance with Canadian commitments under international human rights covenants.

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Related Links:
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From the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights:

United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights [CESCR], 36th Session (1 - 19 May 2006)
This is the best starting page if you want to examine all of the Canadian Government and non-governmental submissions and related info from the Committee.
I highly recommend this site as an excellent source information on welfare and other social programs - if you take the time to read the submissions by both the governments and the NGOs, you'll find that the truth sometimes lies sort of halfway between the rosy "ain't-we-doing-such-a-dandy-job-on-human-rights" perspective of Canadian governments and the "wheels-are-falling-off-Canadian-social-policy" assertions of some advocacy groups.
The CESRC page includes links to the following info (corresponding to the headings on the table on that page):
- State Reports --- the governments of Canada have now submitted their 4th and 5th reports
- Core Documents --- each state report is an update to that state's core (or "basic") document, which is a collection of statements about human rights
- Lists of Issues --- matters of concern to the Commitee, brought to the attention of state governments re. state reports or concerns raised by NGOs
- Written Replies --- replies by the state to "Lists of issues"
- Delegation List & Statement --- this column is currently empty
- Information from other sources --- input from the non-governmental sector, the view from the front lines...
- Concluding Observations --- the Commitee's final report for that reporting period, taking into account all written submissions by governments and NGOs as well as the discussions from the meeting in Geneva.

- Click on the link above for links to Canadian governments' 4th and 5th Periodic Reports and to the submissions of the following Canadian non-governmental organizations (as at April 30/06):
African Canadian Legal Clinic * Alternatives North * Amnesty International * Assembly of First Nations * Canadian Bar Association * Canadian Council for Refugees * Canadian Human Rights Commission * Canadian Human Rights Commission: A matter of Rights * Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action and National Association of Women and the Law * First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada * Forward * Global initiative to end all corporal punishment of children * Justice for girls * Kairos * Ligue des Droits et Libertés * Low Income Families Together * Lubicon Lake Indian Nation * National Anti-Poverty Organization * Native Women’s Association of Canada * Organic Agriculture Protection Fund * Poverty and Human Rights Center * Together for Human Rights

Compilation of NGO submissions, March 31/06 (PDF file - 474K, 82 pages)
- this a good overview if you don't have time to read the two dozen submissions above, bearing in mind that some submissions arrived too late for inclusion in the compilation. Let's hope that a revised final compilation covering all submissions will soon be available...

CESCR Day of General Discussion on “The Right to Social Security”
15 May 2006
During its 36th session (1-19 May 2006), the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights will host a Day of General Discussion (DGD) on the Right to Social Security (Article 9 of the Covenant). The aim of the DGD is to foster a deeper understanding of the contents and implications of article 9 of the Covenant. (...) The DGD will help the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to elaborate a General Comment on this right. This will in turn enable the Committee to better monitor the right to social security and assist States parties to the Covenant implement their obligations under article 9 of the Covenant."

[CESCR Website Home Page]

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The "sample" links below to submissions of the National Anti-Poverty Organization and Amnesty International Canada are only two of the almost two dozen submissions to the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR).

From the National Anti-Poverty Organization:

Canada not living up to its human rights commitments,
NAPO tells the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (PDF file - 234K, 16 pages)
April 18, 2006
The National Anti-Poverty Organization will be presenting a report to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in Geneva on May 1, 2006 on areas where Canada is not living up to its obligations as a signatory to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. NAPO points out that there are problems with Canada's respecting the right to work freely chosen, the right to just and favourable conditions of work including fair wages, the right to social security and the right to an adequate standard of living. See full NAPO submission...

Human Rights and Poverty
- includes background info on the process involved in Reporting Poverty to the United Nations and an invitation for you to Tell your story to the United Nations, as well as many other resources to help explain why NAPO and many other non-governmental groups send representatives to Geneva for this important event.

From Amnesty International Canada:

Canada must do more to protect economic, social, and cultural rights, says Amnesty International
27 April 2006
News Release
The record of Canada on economic, social, and cultural rights will be under scrutiny by the United Nations in Geneva on 5 and 8 May. As part of a regular review by the UN the Canadian government must show what it is doing and what more can be done. Amnesty International, and other activist organizations, have submitted to the UN Committee a number of concerns and recommendations about Canada’s approach. It Is A Matter Of Rights, from Amnesty International highlights a number of areas that need immediate attention."

IT IS A MATTER OF RIGHTS: Improving the protection of economic,
social and cultural rights in Canada (PDF file - 230K, 27 pages)
Briefing to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on the occasion of the review of Canada’s fourth and fifth periodic reports concerning rights referred in the International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Submitted March 27, 2006

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From Human Rights Program of Canadian Heritage:

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
- Fifth Report of Canada
Covering the period September 1999 – December 2004

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
- Fourth Report of Canada
Covering the period October 1994 - September 1999

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
- Third Report of Canada
Covering various periods (1987, 1992, 1994)

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
- incl. links to six other relevant texts

Canada's Reports on UN Human Rights Treaties and Related Official Documents
- links to dozens of reports and publications

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

Moving Forward: Alternative Federal Budget puts the surplus to work
Press Release
April 27, 2006
OTTAWA—The federal government has the resources to maintain and build on the commitments made in the 2004-05 minority Parliament and use upcoming surpluses to move forward on a progressive agenda, says the 2006 Alternative Federal Budget.

* Budget in Brief: Alternative Federal Budget 2006: Moving Forward (PDF file - 535K, 14 pages)
* Alternative Federal Budget 2006: Moving Forward (PDF file - 1320K, 70 pages)

Source:
Alternative Federal Budget
[ Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives ]

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

The Incredible Shrinking $1,200 Child Care Allowance: How to Fix It (PDF file - 121K, 26 pages)
Ken Battle, April 2006
As proposed to date, the new $1,200 Child Care Allowance will be a flawed scheme creating deep inequities. Working poor and modest-income families will end up with low net benefits, and one-earner couples will get more than single parents and two-earner couples. For example, an Ontario two-earner couple with net family income of $30,000 would end up with just $199, while a $200,000 one-earner couple would get a net benefit of $1,076. The paper explores several options to fix the flaws in the Child Care Allowance. First, Ottawa should not go ahead with its plan to eliminate the $249 young child supplement, which is part of the Canada Child Tax Benefit. Second, the Allowance could be exempt from the calculation of net family income. Third, it could be designed as a universal non-taxable benefit. Fourth, it could be delivered through the existing Canada Child Tax Benefit. Caledon favours the first and fourth of these options.

Source:
Caledon Institute of Social Policy

Related Links:

From Caledon:

Finding Common Ground on Child Care (PDF file - 15K, 3 pages)
Ken Battle, Sherri Torjman and Michael Mendelson
February 2006
The proposed $1,200 Choice in Child Care Allowance is a stealth program that will in fact deliver smaller benefits than advertised. Caledon proposes that the federal government instead deliver the $1,200 through the tried and true Canada Child Tax Benefit.

The Choice in Child Care Allowance:
What you See Is Not What You Get (PDF file - 63K, 7 pages)
Ken Battle
January 2006

From The Globe and Mail:

Child-care proposal gives least to poorest
Eliminating separate assistance program reduces Ottawa's payment to most needy
April 26, 2006
OTTAWA — Low- and middle-income families will realize the smallest net benefit from the Harper government's $1,200-a-year child-care payment in part because the Conservatives are scrapping a separate assistance program. The Conservative plan for meeting the country's child-care needs is to give families a direct payment of $100 a month, $1,200 annually, for every child under 6. The specifics of how that plan will be unveiled are expected to be in next Tuesday's budget.

From the National Anti-Poverty Organization:

Avoid a claw back by delivering the Choice in Child Care Allowance through the Child Tax Benefit
March 13, 2006
By Dennis Howlett, Executive Director, National Anti-Poverty Organization
There is a danger the Conservative ’s Choice in Child Care Allowance could be clawed-back by some provincial governments from some of the poorest families, namely those receiving social assistance.

From the Conservative Party of Canada:

Choice in Child Care Allowance

Google Web Search Results : "Choice in Child Care Allowance"
Google News search Results : "Choice in Child Care Allowance"
Source:
Google.ca

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

What's New from the Canadian Council on Social Development:

Some families losing ground
in effort to provide stable family incomes
Media Release
April 26, 2006
OTTAWA – One-third of Canadian children living in poverty have a parent who works at a full-time job, according to a new report by the Canadian Council on Social Development (CCSD). The Progress of Canada's Children and Youth 2006 also shows that this situation is deteriorating. In 1993, one-quarter of poor children had a parent who worked full time. "Family income is recognized as one of the keys to healthy child development," says Dr. Peter Bleyer, CCSD President. "Yet job security eludes many Canadian parents, and that has an enormous impact on what their kids eat, how they learn, and where they play." Temporary, part-time, contract, and seasonal employment now make up 37% of Canadian jobs, compared to 25% in the mid-1970s. The CCSD report also shows that investing in children through government transfers brought the child poverty rate down from 27% to 18% in 2003.

Complete report:

The Progress of Canada's Children & Youth
HTML version
- incl. links to : Portrait - Family Life - Economic Security - Physical Safety - Community Resources - Civic Vitality - Health Status - Social Engagement - Learning - Labour Force Profile of Youth - Data Sources - Web-Only Supplementary Data - Tools - Contact Us - Français
PDF version (2.5MB, 84 pages)
Tools - links to individual PDF files for each chapter of the report, plus fact sheets, press release, etc.

Source:
Canadian Council on Social Development (CCSD)

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Making Connections:
Social and civic engagement among Canadian immigrants
April 2006
By Katherine Scott, Kevin Selbee and Paul Reed

New Canadians participate, despite obstacles
April 24, 2006
OTTAWA – Immigrants give larger donations, on average, than the Canadian-born population but they are slightly less likely to volunteer their time than people born in Canada, according to research by the Canadian Council on Social Development (CCSD). Making Connections: Social and Civic Engagement among New Canadians also shows that the rate of volunteering is increasing, particularly among recent immigrants.

* Full Report (PDF format, 1.5MB, 50 pages)
* Executive Summary (PDF file - 240K, 4 pages)

Related Links:

Go to the main page of the report for links to the following content:
* Powerpoint Slideshow
* Fact Sheet #1: Patterns in Participation, Engagement, and Informal Caring
* Fact Sheet #2: Profile of Volunteering
* Canadian Story #1: Building a Life in Canada
* Canadian Story #2: Organizing Ourselves
* Canadian Story #3: Finding a New Direction
* Canadian Story #4: Keeping Faith
* Appendix 1: The Changing Face of Canadian Immigrants, using 2001 Census data
* Appendix 2: Portrait of Canadian Immigrants, using 2000 NSGVP data
* Appendix 3: Data Sources
* Letter to the editor, March 3 2006
* Selected Charts
o Chart 1: Volunteer rate and average hours volunteered, by length of time in Canada, 2000
o Chart 2: Volunteer rate and average hours volunteered, by age group, 2000
o Chart 3: Volunteer rate and average hours volunteered, by level of education, 2000
o Chart 4: Donor rate and average donation, by length of time in Canada, 2000
o Chart 5: Donor rate by age group, 2000
o Chart 6: Membership rate by level of education, 2000
o Chart 7: Voting rate by age group, 2000

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Stats & Facts - New!
[Added to the CCSD site April 13, 2006]
Stats & Facts, a new on-line service of the Canadian Council on Social Development, provides accessible and accurate statistical information. This site is intended for anyone with an interest in timely data on social and economic indicators. We anticipate that Stats & Facts will be frequently used by policy analysts, community planners, activists, journalists, and students. Users will find informative facts sheets organized by topic areas covering demographics, families, and education. Plans are underway to add more fact sheets on the labour market, health, and economic security in the coming months. All of these fact sheets will be regularly updated to reflect the most current data available.

Stats & Facts replaces the CCSD website's Free Statistics section. All historical poverty and income data, as well as welfare rates, will be archived and available in the economic security section of Stats & Facts.
[If you haven't checked out the Free Stats section of the CCSD site, you'll be impressed with the wealth of social program stats that you'll find there!]

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

Budget 2006 Information Options
- this is the page where you'll find links to all 2006 federal budget info on May 2
- options include HTML and PDF versions of budget papers as well as multimedia presentations and a Livecast of the federal Finance Minister delivering the budget

2006 Federal Budget Information - May 2
Shortly after the 2006 budget is tabled on May 2, 2006 at approximately 4:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), all budget documents will be available free of charge on the Department of Finance website at www.fin.gc.ca. Internet users will also be able to view multimedia budget presentations, including a live video broadcast of Minister of Finance Jim Flaherty delivering the budget speech in the House of Commons.

Toll-Free Information Line
Budget information will be available through the Government of Canada toll-free information line on May 2, 2006, from 6:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. EDT, and on subsequent weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. EDT (across Canada):

1 800 O-Canada (1 800 622-6232)

TTY: 1 800 926-9105 (telecommunications device for the speech and hearing impaired/deaf)
You can also order printed copies of all budget documents on this page.

First-Ever Federal Pre-Budget Web Consultations Conclude Successfully
April 24, 2006
On behalf of Minister of Finance James M. Flaherty, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance Diane Ablonczy today thanked the thousands of Canadians who responded to the invitation to offer on-line comments on the upcoming budget. The initiative, which is the first Web-based consultations with the public by a federal Minister of Finance, concluded on April 20. "Over 5,600 Canadians took the time to send the Minister their comments," Mrs. Ablonczy said. "These will be a great help in shaping the budget measures because they provide real insights into the hopes and concerns of Canadians from all provinces and territories."

Source:
Department of Finance Canada

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

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

April 26, 2006
Study: How students fund their postsecondary education, 2001/2002
In general, no single source of funding was sufficient to cover the basic cost of postsecondary programs for a majority of students during the 2001/02 academic year, according to a new study. This study used data from the 2002 Postsecondary Education Participation Survey to examine costs of education involving tuition, fees, books and supplies, and financial support for students aged 18 to 24 (17 to 24 in Quebec) who pursued postsecondary studies during that year.

Complete study:

How Students Fund Their Postsecondary Education: Findings
from the Postsecondary Education Participation Survey (487K, 39 pages)
April 2006

April 26, 2006
Employment Insurance, February 2006 (preliminary) Previous release
An estimated 500,440 Canadians received regular Employment Insurance benefits in February (seasonally adjusted), virtually unchanged from January. There was very little change observed among the provinces, ranging from a decline of 1.3% in Nova Scotia to a 2.1% increase in Saskatchewan. At the national level, the number of regular beneficiaries fell 5.1% from February of last year. Regular benefit payments in February totalled $691.7 million, while 217,430 people made initial and renewal claims.

April 25, 2006
Consolidated government finance: Assets and liabilities, March 31, 2004
The consolidated net financial debt of the federal, provincial, territorial, and local governments, defined as the excess of liabilities over financial assets, increased to $798.4 billion as of March 31, 2004, up $3.9 billion or 0.5% from March 31, 2003. An increase of $17.2 billion in financial assets and $21.1 billion in liabilities accounted for the rise.

April 25, 2006
Local government finance: Assets and liabilities, December 31, 2003
The net financial debt of local governments, defined as the excess of liabilities over financial assets, hit $11.4 billion as of December 31, 2003, down 6% (-$699 million) from a year earlier. Their financial assets stood at $53.9 billion, while total liabilities reached $65.4 billion.

April 24, 2006
Access to Statistics Canada's electronic publications at no charge
Effective today, all electronic publications on Statistics Canada's Web site will be available free of charge. [bolding added]
The Agency has been steadily increasing the volume of free content on its Web site to respond to the information needs of Canadians. This latest move makes available at no charge more than 150 electronic publications for which fees were previously charged. Statistics Canada will continue to charge for print versions of publications and for other electronic products and services, such as CD-ROMs, specialized data tables and customized retrievals from CANSIM and the Canadian International Merchandise Trade database.

Free Internet publications from Statistics Canada:
- complete list
- list by subject - click on the plus sign ("+") beside a subject to expand that part of the list.

- 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 Education Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/education.htm
- Go to the Canadian Universities and Colleges Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/univbkmrk.htm

What's New from the British Columbia Office of the
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives:

CCPA calls on province to raise welfare rates
Arbitrary cuts, inflation have driven down benefit rates by 30% since mid-90s
Press Release
April 24, 2006
(Vancouver) The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives is calling on the provincial government to immediately raise welfare rates, so that people can meet basic needs. Arbitrary cuts since the mid-1990s mean rates are now lower in absolute dollars than they were twelve years ago, and combined with inflation their value has plummeted by about 30%. (Rates for disabled recipients have increased slightly in absolute dollars but after inflation have also decreased.) 'In 2002, the province made a series of arbitrary cuts to welfare benefits as part of its budget reduction plan. The cuts took more than $92 million directly out of the poorest British Columbians’ pockets in the two years after they were made,' says Seth Klein, the CCPA’s BC Director and author of Budget Savings on the Backs of the Poor: Who Paid the Price for Welfare Benefit Cuts in BC, released today. The $92 million savings to government was calculated using figures obtained through Freedom of Information requests.

Complete report:

Budget Savings on the Backs of the Poor:
Who Paid the Price for Welfare Benefit Cuts in BC (PDF file - 585K, 4 pages)
April 2006
By Seth Klein and Andrea Smith
In January 2002, in the wake of tax cuts that induced the largest deficit in the history of British Columbia, the provincial government announced a massive budget cut at the Ministry of Human Resources (the ministry responsible for welfare). MHR’s operating budget was to be reduced by $581 million, or 30 per cent, over the course of three years.

Related Links:

A Better Way to Set Welfare Rates (PDF file - 588K, 4 pages)
April 2006
By Steve Kerstetter
There are many shortcomings in the BC welfare system, but none as fundamental or appalling as the meager amount of financial support it provides to people in need. In its most recent budget, the provincial government once again chose not to increase welfare benefit rates, even though rates have not increased in 12 years, and over that time inflation has eaten away at the real value of a welfare cheque.

Welfare rates opinion poll results (PDF file - 67K, 1 page)
March 17, 2006
An Ipsos-Reid poll commissioned by the CCPA last month shows that 74% of British Columbians would support an increase in welfare rates.

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

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.

28-Apr-06

NOTE: CRRU has started providing links to recent excerpts from the House of Commons Hansard on the subject of early learning and child care.
See http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=87107

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

This week's CRRU notifier included links to three reports that I've covered elsewhere in this newletter, so I'll just mention them here:
- The progress of Canada's children and youth (Canadian Council on Social Development)
- The incredible shrinking $1,200 child care allowance: How to fix it (Caledon Institute of Social Policy)
- Moving forward: Alternative Federal Budget 2006 (Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives)

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

>> Check the figures: Letter to the Editor [CA]
by Battle, Ken / Globe and Mail, 28 Apr 06

>> Region halts plans to expand day care [CA-ON]
by Etherington, Frank / Record (Kitchener, Cambridge and Waterloo), 27 Apr 06

>> Minister rejects idea rich to benefit more from child-care plan [CA]
by Galloway, Gloria / Globe and Mail, 27 Apr 06

>> Child care proposal gives least to poorest [CA]
by Galloway, Gloria / Globe and Mail, 26 Apr 06

>> Minister stands firm on child care plan [CA]
by Bailey, Sue / Canadian Press, 26 Apr 06

>> Council pair aim to press Harper on day care [CA-AB]
by Landry, Frank / Edmonton Sun, 25 Apr 06

>> 'Huge betrayal' of children [CA-ON]
by Vincent, Donovan / Toronto Star, 25 Apr 06

>> Child care choices: Letter to the editor [CA-QC]
by Japel, Christa / Globe and Mail, 24 Apr 06

>> How will Practical Jack deal with child care? [CA]
by Walkom, Thomas / Toronto Star, 22 Apr 06

>> The baby and the bathwater [CA-QC]
by Wente, Margaret / Globe and Mail, 21 Apr 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
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Related Links:

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

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

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

Here's the complete collection of U.S. media articles in this week's Poverty Dispatch Digest:
(click the link above to read all of these articles)

April 27, 2006

Today's subjects include: Teacher Quality and Poverty Levels // Health Insurance Coverage // Marriage and Black Community – Opinion // Welfare Time Limits – Michigan // Welfare Changes and Education – New Hampshire // Child Support Enforcement Cuts – Minnesota // Health Care Bill – Wisconsin // Health Care Plan – Massachusetts, Tennessee // Children's Health Insurance Program – Illinois // Food Assistance – Wisconsin // Early Childhood Education – California // Academic Achievement Gap – Minnesota // College Preparedness – Indiana

April 24, 2006

Today's subjects include: High Gas Prices and Low-Income Americans // Welfare, Education, and Work // Reaction to "$10,000 Solution" // Plight of Young Black Men - Commentary // Plight of Retired Women // Tutoring and No Child Left Behind // Housing Disparity and Predatory Lending - Opinion // Measuring and Fighting Poverty - Louisville, KY // Welfare, Education, and Work - New Hampshire // Welfare Changes - Massachusetts // Child Care Gap - Washington // High School Dropout Rate - Milwaukee // Food Stamps - New York City // Health Care Debate - Tennessee // Minimum Wage - North Carolina, California, Utah // Homelessness - Delaware

Each of the weekly digests offers dozens of links or more to media articles that are time-sensitive.
The older the link, the more likely it is to either be dead or have moved to an archive - and some archives [but not all] are pay-as-you-go.
[For the current week's digest, click on the POVERTY DISPATCH Digest link above]

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

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

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

- April 20, 2006
- April 13
- April 6
- March 30
- March 23

POVERTY DISPATCH description/archive - weekly issues back to August 2005, 50+ links per issue
NOTE: this archive is part of the Canadian Social Research Links American Non-Governmental Social Research page.

- 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

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 ]

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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