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Page révisée le 29 janvier 2012
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Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives : National
Update
January 27
Recent releases from the
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives:
* A recent CCPA study explores the distressing
impact of federal cutbacks:
http://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/reports/cuts-behind-curtain
* Our new study on Canada's economic recovery
finds that—despite claims to the contrary—things aren't so rosy:
http://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/reports/canada%E2%80%99s-incomplete-mediocre-recovery
* Our latest infographic depicts disturbing trends
in income inequality:
http://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/commentary/infographic-99-vs-1
* A round-up of the latest (and numerous!) blog
posts:
http://www.behindthenumbers.ca/
--- More Than 1.4 Million Unemployed, by Erin Weir
--- When Will the Baby Boomers Retire?, by Andrew Jackson
--- It’s up to the Senate to stop the Crime Bill, by Paula Mallea
--- The “Other” Side of the Story, by Karen Foster
--- The Harper House Rules: An Intervention, by Erika Shaker
--- Deregulation: A Bad Idea Crosses the Atlantic, by Erin Weir
--- Are There Labour And Skills Shortages In Canada? by Andrew Jackson
--- The Cuts Behind the Curtain, by David Macdonald
--- The Race To The Trough: What Did Corporate Tax Cuts Deliver?, by Andrew
Jackson
On her blog dedicated to progressive issue framing,
Framed in Canada [ http://framedincanada.com/
], CCPA's Trish Hennessy recently posted a great piece on economic austerity
entitled The Mysterious Case of Austerity Amnesia:
http://framedincanada.com/2012/01/24/the-mysterious-case-of-austerity-amnesia/
Source:
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA)
http://www.policyalternatives.ca/
The CCPA is an independent, non-partisan research institute concerned with issues
of social and economic justice.
Scroll down to the second red bar below for more CCPA site content.
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New from the
Caledon Institute of Social Policy:
Counsel for the Council (PDF - 32K,
3 pages)
http://www.caledoninst.org/Publications/PDF/973ENG.pdf
By Sherri Torjman
January 2012
The Council of the Federation was created in 2003 to help promote cooperation
and closer ties among provinces and territories. While the Council tackles a
range of issues, it has focused considerable attention in recent years on health
care. Subsequent to its meeting in July 2011, the Council issued a statement
on Health Sustainability. Nearly a decade ago, Premiers published an accord
that preceded the 10-year Canada Health Transfer agreement with the federal
government. Like the current Council of the Federation communiqué, the
2003 First Ministers’ Accord on Health Care Renewal identified primary
care reform and catastrophic drug coverage as major concerns. But another area
that figured prominently at the time – home care – has not appeared
(at least explicitly) on the Council of the Federation’s statements.
There can be no fundamental reform of health care in the absence of improved
supports for long-term care, home care and informal caregivers. Community care
should figure prominently when the Premiers resume their conversations at their
upcoming meeting in Victoria on January 16 and 17, 2012.
Disability Papers
Sherri Torjman, January 2012
These three articles are contributions to a book published by the Council of
Canadians with Disabilities. It sets out 30 years of achievements since 1981,
the International Year of Disabled Persons, which have contributed to increased
inclusion and participation by people with disabilities. The celebration was
held on November 2, 2011, with special honours for the political champions responsible
for the major milestones.
The first article discusses the work of the House of Commons Committee on the Disabled and the Handicapped, which produced the Obstacles report. The second entry summarizes the conclusions of In Unison, a vision paper published in 1998 by the Federal-Provincial/Territorial Ministers Responsible for Social Services. The third article summarizes the work of the Technical Advisory Committee on Tax Measures for Persons with Disabilities that reported to the Minister of Finance and the Minister of National Revenue.
Obstacles : 1981 House of Commons Committee
on the Disabled (PDF - 32K, 2 pages)
http://www.caledoninst.org/Publications/PDF/970ENG.pdf
November 201
In Unison: A Canadian Approach to Disability
Issues (PDF - 32K, 2 pages)
http://www.caledoninst.org/Publications/PDF/971ENG.pdf
Technical Advisory Committee
http://www.caledoninst.org/Publications/PDF/972ENG.pdf
November 2011
---
Provincial/Territorial Policy Monitor - December
2011*
(PDF - 108K, 7 pages)
http://www.caledoninst.org/Publications/PDF/974ENG.pdf
The Caledon Institute of Social Policy (www.caledoninst.org) regularly scans
provincial and territorial government websites in order to follow policy developments
related to our core work and interests. These include: Disabilities, Education,
Health, Housing, Income Security, Poverty Reduction, Recreation, Seniors and
Youth. This tracking is intended to inform our analysis of policy trends.
**RECOMMENDED READING!
Source:
Caledon Institute of Social Policy
http://www.caledoninst.org/
More site content from the Caledon Institute of Social Policy - this link takes you further down on the page you're now reading
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Recent blog posts from the
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA):
CCPA's national blog, Behind the Numbers
[ http://www.behindthenumbers.ca/
], delivers timely, progressive commentary on issues that affect Canadians,
including the economy, poverty, inequality, climate change, budgets, taxes,
public services, employment and much more. Throughout December, our bloggers
were busy!
Go behind the numbers with these latest posts:
* Social Insurance Benefits Increase for
2012, by Andrew Jackson
December 31st, 2011
http://www.behindthenumbers.ca/2011/12/31/social-insurance-benefits-increase-for-2012/
* Flaherty’s Christmas List —
all Mixed Up, by Toby Sanger
December 23rd, 2011
http://www.behindthenumbers.ca/2011/12/23/flahertys-christmas-list-all-mixed-up/
* Is Money Enough? The Meaning of 6% and
Flaherty’s Health “Plan”, by Armine Yalnizyan
December 21st, 2011
http://www.behindthenumbers.ca/2011/12/21/is-money-enough-the-meaning-of-6-and-flahertys-health-plan/
* Government intervention needed to address
youth unemployment, by Graham Cox
December 20th, 2011
http://www.behindthenumbers.ca/2011/12/20/government-intervention-needed-to-address-youth-unemployment/
* Sitting on the Sidelines: Young People
Miss Out on the Recovery, by Andrew Jackson
December 15th, 2011
http://www.behindthenumbers.ca/2011/12/15/sitting-on-the-sidelines-young-people-miss-out-on-the-recovery/
A
Progressive Alternative to the Harper Agenda
November 18, 2011
By Andrew Jackson
The Harper government is set to cut spending on public services and social programs
in the name of deficit reduction, but implemented mainly to increase reliance
on the market, to create new sources of profit for the private sector, and to
finance future tax cuts. This ideological agenda will take place against the
background of a sluggish economy, a very weak job market, rising inequality,
and increased insecurity for the great majority of working families. The
Harper government agenda must be confronted by an equally coherent alternative
which resonates with currently centrist voters.
(...)
Here are five key social democratic propositions which
can frame specific policies which attract broad support.
1. More – not less – public investment is needed
to increase private sector productivity and future economic growth.
2. Expanding public programs is a more equitable, and
also a much more cost effective, way to provide the services we all need.
3. Expanding public programs is key to shoring up an
equal opportunity, middle class society.
4. We need a strong and productive private sector as
well.
5. Unions shape an equal society.
This is a debate that social democrats need not be afraid
of, a debate that we can win.
Source:
Behind the Numbers.ca --- A blog from the CCPA
http://www.behindthenumbers.ca/
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA)
http://www.policyalternatives.ca/
More site content from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives - this link takes you further down on the page you're now reading
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Recent Release from the
Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS):
http://www.csls.ca/
On December 21, 2011, the Centre for the Study
of Living Standards released the
Fall issue of the International Productivity Monitor:
http://www.csls.ca/ipm/ipm22.asp
This issue contains five articles:
* Don Drummond : Confessions of a Serial Productivity Researcher
* Pierre Therrien and Petr Hanel : Innovation and Productivity: Summary
Results for Canadian Manufacturing Establishments
* Daniel Lind : The Myths and Reality of Deindustrialization in Sweden:
The Role of Productivity
* Michael-John Almon and Jianmin Tang : Industrial Structural Change and
the Post-2000 Output and Productivity Growth Slowdown: A Canada-U.S. Comparison
* Ricardo de Avillez : A Half-Century of Productivity Growth and Structural
Change in Canadian Agriculture: An Overview
Press release / Highlights:
Release of the Fall 2011 Issue of the
International Productivity Monitor (small PDF file, 2 pages)
http://www.csls.ca/ipm/22/PressRelease.pdf
Source:
Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS)
http://www.csls.ca/
More site content from the Centre for the Study of Living Standards - this link takes you further down on the page you're now reading
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Former
Liberal mandarin Tom Kent dies
November 16, 2011
Tom Kent, former Liberal Party mandarin and one of the key figures in 1960s
Canadian public policy, has died. He was 89.
(...) Kent [became] the intellectual driving force behind the federal Liberal
party's shift toward a more active role in social policy in the 1960s, helping
to create the features of Canada's modern welfare state. He helped organize
the party's famous Kingston Conference in 1960 that attracted 200 leading thinkers.
His speech at the policy conference contained many of the radical ideas that
later became party policies, such as medicare and federal funding for welfare.
Source:
Canada.com
COMMENT: Supporters of progressive social policy recognize and applaud the contributions of Tom Kent to the kinder, more compassionate Canada that we knew from the mid-1960s until the roof caved in in the mid-1990s with the demise of the Canada Assistance Plan --- but that's a whole other eulogy. Interesting how the relationship between Tom Kent and the Prime Minister of the day, Lester Pearson, led to some major social policy advances, just like the relationship between Tom Flanagan and Stephen Harper. <sarcasm>
Rest in peace, Tom Kent.
You will be fondly remembered.
--------------
Selected writings of Tom
Kent for the
Caledon Institute of Social Policy:
Health
Care in a Renewed Federalism (67K, 19 pages)
April 2011
Federalism
Renewed (PDF - 135K, 45 pages)
http://www.caledoninst.org/oldsite/WWW/Publications/PDF/623ENG.pdf
March 2007
A
Short Path to Revitalized Federalism (PDF file - 118K, 5 pages)
January 2004
Caledon Institute of Social Policy
More site content from the Caledon Institute of Social Policy - this link takes you further down on the page you're now reading
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Recent
developments in the
National Commission on Community Health and Social Services
October 23, 2011
[ NOTA : La version française de cette mise a jour se trouve au bas de
la version anglaise au lien ci-dessus. ]
Are you aware of interesting innovations in service
planning, organization or delivery; or of service success stories; or of cost
savings through cooperative planning or use of resources; which might be a useful
model for the Commission to consider? If so, please let us know.
Contact us at commission@ccsd.ca
The latest buzz:
* We have been approached by a research centre which is a joint initiative of the University of Montreal and the Government of Quebec, to develop a research partnership with the Commission. This centre focuses on community collaborative planning and “network governance” of services. As part of the agreement, the Commission would facilitate the development of a network of researchers in Canada who have similar research interests.
* It has been suggested that the commission look at the increasing involvement of for-profit organizations in service delivery.
* The project is being encouraged by a community health centre in Ottawa and recommended for funding support to a group of centre directors.
* We were invited to present the Commission project at a University of Victoria conference (October 14 and 15), as an example of linking the (essentially) non-profit service sector to multi-level governance.
* We now have more than forty volunteers across the country, helping with communications, research support and local coordination. More are welcome and your support is needed. Please join us and help as you can, and also forward this update to friends and colleagues.
Source:
National
Commission on Community Health and Social Services
[ Version française :
Commission
nationale sur les services de santé communautaires et services sociaux
]
The Canadian Council on Social Development and other national and provincial organizations wishing to join in, may organize a National Commission (a “non-royal” commission) on services for people who need the support of their community (including both publicly-mandated and community-mandated services). The Commission will be a catalyst for the thoughts and actions of thousands of local service organizations to tackle long-standing problems and impending new challenges, to improve service systems and the service environment.
On the
Commission website's home page, you will find links to the following:
- the purpose and reasoning for a Commission
- how the Commission will be organised
- what can be achieved
- how you can become involved
- what people are saying about this initiative
Source:
Canadian Council on Social
Development
Through our research and partnerships with organizations across the country,
we continue to act as a catalyst for innovative, evidence-based approaches to
reducing poverty and building resilient, hopeful thriving Canadian communities.
More Canadian Council on Social Development site content - this link takes you further down on the page you're now reading.
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From the
National Council of Welfare (NCW):
Over the years, the Council has produced many reports on poverty and welfare, but there are three that stand out in my mind as milestone reports on the history of welfare in Canada, at least since the 1980s.
1.
Welfare
in Canada: The Tangled Safety Net (PDF - 2.7MB, 131 pages)
November 1987
Tangled Safety Net examines the following issues in Canadian social assistance
network of programs:
* Complex rules * Needs-testing * Rates of assistance * Enforcement * Appeals
* Recommendations
This report is the first comprehensive national analysis of social assistance
programs operated by the provincial, territorial and municipal governments.
These programs function as the safety net for Canadians and are better known
by their everyday name ‘welfare’.
Version française :
Le
bien-être social au Canada : Un filet de sécurité troué
(PDF - 3Mo., 138 pages)
Novembre 1987
____________
2.
Welfare
Reform (PDF - 2.8MB, 61 pages)
Summer 1992
This report is an update of the 1987 Tangled Safety Net, but it presents
information by jurisdiction rather than by issue - covers all provinces and
territories.
Version française:
Réforme
du bien-être social (PDF - 3,5Mo., 63 pages)
____________
3.
Another
Look at Welfare Reform (PDF - 6.75MB, 134 pages)
Autumn 1997
- an in-depth analysis of changes in Canadian welfare programs in the 1990s.
The report focuses on the provincial and territorial reforms that preceded the
repeal of the Canada Assistance Plan and those that followed the implementation
of the Canada Health and Social Transferin April 1996.
Version française:
Un
autre regard sur la réforme du bien-être social (PDF
- 8Mo., 148 pages)
Source:
National Council of Welfare
[ Conseil national du
bien-être social ]
Established in 1969, the Council is an advisory group to the Minister of Human
Resources and Skills Development Canada (originally the Minister of Health and
Welfare Canada). The mandate of the Council is to advise the Minister regarding
any matter relating to social development that the Minister may refer to the
Council for its consideration or that the Council considers appropriate.
More National Council of Welfare website content - this link takes you further down on the page you're now reading
NOTE : The links below will take you further down on this
page to a description of and link to each organization's website and, in most
cases, selected site content.
Research
Resources for the Social Sciences - Craig McKie (Carleton University,
Ottawa)
Vast selection of (mainly Canadian) social research
links covering a wide range of topics in the social sciences.
On
this page, you'll find links to : General Resource Searchers - Content to
Browse - Reference Materials - Aggressive Pattern Searchers - Virtual Library
at Coombs - Data Archives - Sociology and Anthropology - News and Journalism -
Psychology - Law and Law Enforcement - Demography - Political Science - Economics
- Geography - Women's Studies - Security Services - Miscellaneous - Site Information
Related links: Merrill
Lynch and Capgemini Release World
Wealth Report page Complete report: World Wealth Report 2007 (PDF file - 3.9MB, 36 pages) Source: |
Social
and Enterprise Development Innovations (SEDI)
" ... a national
charitable organization dedicated to enabling poor, unemployed and under-employed
people to become self-sufficient"
Asset-Building
(Powerpoint presentation - 498K, 18 pages)
How SEDI plans to offer low-income
Canadians new ways of finding economic independence by helping them save and build
assets.
Learn$ave
"SEDI has partnered with the Social
Research and Demonstration Corporation (SRDC), a leading expert in the field
of social research and evaluation, to design and implement learn$ave. This multi-year
(planned to 2009) demonstration of Individual Development Accounts for learning
is funded by Human Resources Development Canada. The largest demonstration of
its kind in the world, learn$ave will reach 4,875 low-income Canadians who volunteer
to take part in one of 10 designated locations (cities/counties)across Canada."
Home$ave
"(...)
Existing government home buyer and tax credit programs are out of reach for low-income
earners, and in major cities like Toronto where home prices are so high, there
isn’t nearly enough affordable housing to meet the demand. SEDI is piloting
a project called that will give low-income Canadians a place to turn. By putting
money aside in an Individual Development Account (IDA), participants can build
their personal savings and earn a credit for a matching amount. The savings don’t
have to be big, as long as they are consistent. Bit by bit, enough money is collected
to put a downpayment on a home. SEDI is currently working in partnership with
community groups, financial partners and government agencies to get this project
started."
More
info on Home$ave - April 2002 (small PDF file)
-------------------------
Wealth,
Low-Wage Work and Welfare:
The Unintended Costs of Provincial Needs-tests
(PDF - 604K, 8 pages)
April 2008
"(...)Assets do matter as an important,
but so far largely undervalued, factor in well-being. Assets are more than stored-up
income, they are stored-up hope, agency and aspiration. To the degree that welfare
policy is ultimately concerned with well-being - and we believe it is - far greater
attention should be paid to assets." (Excerpt, p.7)
- includes detailed
info on what constitutes assets in the Canadian welfare system as well as asset
exemption levels in all Canadian jurisdictions and a number of options for provincial/territorial
governments wishing to promote greater asset development within their welfare
program.
Source:
Asset-building
Program
SEDI
Program Areas
To fulfill SEDI's mission statement and to pursue its
organizational objectives, SEDI has been working in four broad issue areas: self-
employment, youth, asset-building and financial capability. Click the link
above and then, on the next page, select one of the programs areas in the left-hand
margin for more detailed information and further links.
Source:
Social
and Enterprise Development Innovations (SEDI) :
SEDI is a national charitable
organization dedicated to enabling poor and unemployed Canadians become self-sufficient.
We take a variety of leading-edge social and economic approaches to this goal
in areas such as policy development, program management, capacity building, public
education, and research.
- Go to the Asset-Based Social Policies Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/assets.htm
More links to website content from
SEDI (this link takes you further down on the
page you're now reading)
Caledon Institute
of Social Policy
Canada's Voice for Progressive, Practicable Social Policy
The Caledon Institute of Social Policy does rigorous, high-quality
research and analysis; seeks to inform and influence public opinion and to foster
public discussion on poverty and social policy; and develops and promotes concrete,
practicable proposals for the reform of social programs at all levels of government
and of social benefits provided by employers and the voluntary sector.
| Prudently
Progressive : Caledon's First Decade as a Social Policy Think Tank
(PDF file - 137K, 5 pages) January 2003 By Michael J. Prince (University of Victoria) Source: University of Victoria |
-------------------------------------------
NOTE: For links to hundreds of Caledon reports, go to the home page of their website and click on "Publications By Date" in the left margin.
-------------------------------------------
Selected site content:
The
UK in 2011 is not Canada in 1996 (PDF - 419K,
9 pages)
May 10, 2011
By Michael Mendelson
Excerpt from the Conclusion:
The lesson from Canada is not about how to cut the deficit: it is about when
to cut the deficit. Nor was it cuts that created economic growth: rather it
was economic growth that created the room for cuts. The effects of fiscal contraction
in Canada were more than offset by the strongly growing economy with its foundation
in exports to the US. Employment in Canada rose continuously during the period
of fiscal contraction, due to the strength of the export-dominated market sector,
enhanced by monetary policy...
Source:
Caledon Institute of Social Policy
[ More links to reports from the Caledon Institute of Social Policy - this link takes you further down on the page you're now reading
Related link:
(found in the bibliography of the
above article by Michael Mendelson)
The
impact of recessions in the United States on Canada
March 2009
Excerpt from the Conclusion:
Recessions in Canada and the US are often, but not always, closely synchronised.
Moreover, there is a large disparity in the magnitude of the downturns since
the severity of a recession in Canada is usually determined by the course of
domestic demand, not exports. Of course, domestic spending is influenced by
global trends, especially the impact of commodity prices on business investment.
The record drop of our terms of trade late in 2008 suggests that the global
recession will play a determinant role in domestic spending.
Source:
Canadian
Economic Observer (March 2009) (Feature article)
[ Canadian
Economic Observer - main product page ]
[ Statistics Canada ]
---
People’s
Review Panel: Getting the Ontario Social Assistance Review issues straight
… from people with lived experiences of poverty (PDF - 49K,
5 pages)
By Anne Makhoul and Richard Matern
January 2011
A People’s Review Panel composed of 18 members from across Ontario will
provide input into Ontario ’s Social Assistance Review. People with lived
experience of poverty are working with Voices from the Street and Daily Bread
Food Bank to record, analyze and summarize the policy barriers which currently
impede them.
---
Social
Inclusion Consultation Workbook (PDF - 34K, 22 pages)
Sherri Torjman and Anne Makhoul
January 2011
The Caledon Institute of Social Policy has been asked by the Community Services
Department of the City of Hamilton to prepare a Social Inclusion Vision in respect
of their role as co-host of the 2015 Pan-Am Games. A draft Consultation Workbook
was prepared to help kick start the community conversations about social inclusion.
---
Provincial/Territorial
Policy Updates, December 2010 (PDF - 58K, 4 pages)
Caledon Institute of Social Policy
December 2010
Caledon regularly scans provincial and territorial government websites in order
to follow policy developments related to its core work and interests. This tracking
is intended to inform Caledon's analysis of policy trends.
- includes a range of topics such as education, income security, poverty reduction,
seniors, youth, etc.
---
Poverty
and Disability: My Lived Experience (small
PDF file - 3 pages)
By Calvin Wood
December 2010
On behalf of People First, an organization of people with intellectual disabilities,
Calvin Wood was invited to speak at the “Disabling Poverty/Enabling Citizenship:
End Exclusion 2010” conference in Ottawa in early November 2010. Calvin’s
presentation to the Ottawa conference speaks to the everyday reality of the
Canadians trapped and marginalized by the current income (in)security system.
---
Poverty
Reduction in Québec: The First Five Years (small PDF file
- 9 pages)
By Sherri Torjman
December 2010
This report is part of a series of papers on provincial poverty reduction strategies
prepared for the Vibrant Communities project*. The report focuses upon the first
five years of the poverty reduction initiative – though it should be noted
that Québec recently renewed for another five years its commitment to
reduce poverty and social exclusion. Some community groups have questioned the
government's genuine commitment to tackling the problem of low income. Québec
nonetheless has been a leader in many important respects, including the introduction
of a legislative base as a foundation for poverty reduction, a series of linked
actions in diverse fields, a long-term time frame within which to carry out
this work, and an associated research and monitoring capacity.
[ * Vibrant Communities project : On the
Caledon website home page, click "Special Projects" in the top
menu, then
"Vibrant Communities" for a description of this initiative PLUS links
to dozens of Vibrant Communities reports ]
---
Make
Tax Time Pay: Program and Systems Change Successes (small PDF file
- 8 pages)
By Anne Makhoul and Mark Cabaj
December 2010
Most poverty-related issues present opportunities for programmatic and systemic
responses. Edmonton’s “Make Tax Time Pay” initiative confirmed
that both can be done simultaneously. Communities can do some things to improve
a situation, while government can work on the structural challenges.
---
How did
the just society become just don't care?
One in an occasional series in which Canadian thinkers challenge the faltering
federal Liberal party to do some fresh thinking in advance of a policy conference
slated for March.
By Sherri Torjman, Ken Battle and Michael Mendelson
[ Caledon Institute of Social Policy
]
January 6, 2010
"(...) Poverty is the symptom of an unsettling malaise – a poverty
of passion. Canada can be so much greater than just a society. The Liberals
should use their upcoming conference as a significant moment to reclaim their
vision and their voice. It's time for the Liberals to rekindle the flame for
a nation that cares about its citizens."
Source:
Toronto Star
Related articles
in The Toronto Star:
* 'Tough
on crime' stance needs scrutiny
January 3/10
Increasing jail time may have political appeal but
it accomplishes little. To limit crime, Liberals need to consider what works,
not what sounds good
* Canada
must sit at international table
December 30/09
We have moved to the sidelines under the Harper government.
To restore our crumbling image abroad, Michael Ignatieff must shape a convincing
Liberal response to global upheavals
* How
to sell a (gasp!) tax hike
December 30/09
Restoring the GST to 7% will go a long way toward fighting
Ottawa's ballooning deficit. That's just good economics. Ignatieff's challenge
is to make it good politics, too, and persuade consumers (read: voters) to buy
into it.
* Redefining
Canada's Liberal party
December 27/09
Priorities of equality and community should guide its future progressive agenda
---
December 02, 2009
Developing
a Deprivation Index: The Research Process (PDF - 548K, 27 pages)
Richard
Matern, Michael Mendelson and Michael Oliphant
December 2009
This paper
tells the story of the development of the Ontario Deprivation Index by the Daily
Bread Food Bank and the Caledon Institute of Social Policy. A ‘deprivation
index’ is a list of items which are widely seen as necessary for a household
to have a standard of living above the poverty level so that most households not
in poverty are likely to have these items, but households in poverty are likely
to find some of them unaffordable and so not have all those items. The index should
therefore contain those items that distinguish the poor from the non-poor in the
prevailing social and economic conditions.
A three-stage community-based research process was used to develop the measure, engaging those with lived experience of poverty. Statistics Canada has now refined this list and incorporated it as a supplement to their Labour Force Survey, under the sponsorship of the Government of Ontario. The result of the process was the creation of the Ontario Deprivation Index, which constitutes one part of the multi-indicator “Child and Youth Opportunity Wheel” in the Ontario Poverty Reduction Strategy. This is the first poverty measure to be developed through a unique partnership of a community organization, a policy think tank, government and Statistics Canada. It is also the first time a deprivation index has been developed in North America . The deprivation index is an innovative way of measuring poverty, different than all the other measures now used in Canada .
December
02, 2009
Testing
the Validity of the Ontario Deprivation Index (PDF - 122K, 13 pages)
Richard
Matern, Michael Mendelson and Michael Oliphant
December 2009
Using an empirical
methodology based on a series of surveys and focus groups, Daily Bread Food Bank
and the Caledon Institute of Social Policy have developed a deprivation index
for Ontario . A ‘deprivation index’ is a list of items which are widely
seen as necessary for a household to have a standard of living above the poverty
level so that most households not in poverty are likely to have these items, but
households in poverty are likely to find some of them unaffordable and so not
have all those items. The index should therefore contain those items that distinguish
the poor from the non-poor in the prevailing social and economic conditions.
This paper is a preliminary test of the validity of the Ontario Deprivation Index using the results of a Statistics Canada survey of 10,000 Ontario households. We look at the performance of the index against 6 variables: income, education, employment status, immigration, family type and housing tenure. A similar method for testing the validity of the new Irish deprivation index was also used, although in this paper we are presenting only the most basic tests. Based on this early analysis, the Ontario Deprivation Index fully meets the tests of validity in relation to these variables.
Source:
Caledon
Institute of Social Policy
and
Daily
Bread Food Bank
[NOTE: You'll also find links to both reports on the
Daily Bread website.]
Related links:
New
measure for the pain of poverty
December
3, 2009
By Laurie Monsebraaten and Tanya Talaga
One in eight Ontario children
live in families that can't afford fresh fruits and vegetables every day, or can't
afford to replace a broken appliance or share the occasional meal with friends
or family. These are a few of the 10 indicators listed
in a new provincial poverty measure called the Ontario Deprivation Index, introduced
Wednesday by Children's Minister Laurel Broten as part of the government's first
annual report on the province's poverty reduction plan. The
10 "deprivation indicators" are not intended to be a comprehensive list.
Instead, they are a sample of items and activities common to most Ontarians but
out of reach for poor households, the report says.
Source:
Parent
Central
[ Toronto Star ]
Where
are you on the Deprivation Index?
By Laurie Monsebraaten
December
2, 2009
One in eight Ontario children is living in poverty, according to a
new provincial measure released Wednesday that looks at whether families can afford
items on a list of basic necessities. Families not able to afford two or more
items from a list of 10 indicators on the Ontario Deprivation Index are considered
as "having a poverty level standard of living," the McGuinty government
says in its first annual report on Ontario's poverty reduction strategy.
Source:
Toronto
Star
---
National
Post editorial board: A new way to overstate poverty
December 4,
2009
(...) The McGuinty government has chosen to use a measure of relative
poverty known as a “deprivation index,” popular in England, Scotland,
New Zealand and elsewhere. Any Ontarian unable to eat fresh fruit and vegetables
daily, or meat, fish or “a vegetarian equivalent” every second day is
considered poor. (...) We have long argued that Statistics Canada’s Low-Income
Cut Off (LICO) — a commonly cited measurement of poverty in Canada —
was a useless, relativist index. But we think Ontario’s deprivation index
is even worse. No doubt, however, the bureaucrats like it just fine — for
it justifies the case for more government intervention in the economy.
Source:
National
Post
A
Poverty Reduction Strategy for Nova Scotia (PDF - 47K, 9 pages)
By
Sherri Torjman
November 2009
In December 2007, the Government of Nova Scotia
passed Bill 94, An Act to Establish a Poverty Reduction Working Group in Nova
Scotia. The mandate of the Working Group was to prepare a report recommending
strategies and priorities to reduce poverty. Based on the recommendations of the
Working Group, the Government of Nova Scotia released on April 3, 2009 its Poverty
Reduction Strategy entitled Preventing Poverty, Promoting Prosperity. The Strategy
puts forward a framework for tackling the needs of persons living in and at risk
of falling into poverty, while promoting prosperity for the province. Preventing
Poverty, Promoting Prosperity is a multi-year plan with four main goals: enable
and reward work, invest in households in need, focus on children, and coordinate
and collaborate. The paper describes the various measures that have been undertaken
or are being planned in order to achieve each of these goals.
The
Three Ghosts of Poverty (PDF - 36K, 3 pages)
Sherri Torjman
October 2009
Three ghosts stalk far too many households
involved in providing personal care and support to relatives with severe disabilities,
or sick and aging parents. First, many persons with disabilities and seniors live
on low incomes and caregivers spend much of their own money for basic food, heat
and shelter. Second, caregivers’ own employment status and income can be
jeopardized by the pressures of caregiving responsibilities. Third, caregivers
often pay the additional costs of disability-related goods and services not covered
by medicare or private insurance. The commentary considers various policy solutions:
reforming the disability income system, expanding the Compassionate Care Leave
under Employment Insurance, providing a modest caregiver allowance, turning caregiver
tax measures into refundable tax credits and investing in the supply of disability
supports.
Why
We Need a First Nations Education Act (PDF - 120K, 36 pages)
By
Michael Mendelson
October 2009
This paper discusses
the need for a First Nations Education Act. The first step in achieving ‘Indian
Control of Indian Education’ was for the federal government to cede control
over First Nations education, and this has largely been done. But the second and
more crucial step is for First Nations to step into the vacuum and create the
necessary organizational and financial infrastructure for a high-quality First
Nations education system, and this has not been done. Despite many First Nations
attempts to establish needed educational infrastructure, only bits and pieces
of an education system have so far been set up on various reserves across Canada
. For the most part, the major elements of an education system for First Nations
are missing. The paper describes those missing pieces and sets out a plan for
how they may be put into place across Canada . It is a proposal for a new Act
of Parliament which would allow First Nations that wished to do so to establish
properly funded First Nations school boards with clear legal empowerment and the
necessary regional educational agencies to support them.
Talking
Turkey on Taxes (PDF - 32K, 2 pages)
By Sherri Torjman
October
2009
This commentary gives thanks to the three million Canadians who provide
informal care to infirm or aging parents, or to relatives with severe disabilities.
While most caregivers would not want to give up their caregiving role, many admit
that it can create onerous financial strains, which threaten to push them into
poverty. These pressures arise from paying for basics for family members unable
to work; reducing work hours or leaving employment altogether; and covering additional
age- or disability-related expenses. In recognition of these three ghosts of poverty,
Ottawa provides modest income tax relief through the caregiver credit and infirm
dependant credit. The paper discusses the limitations of these measures and proposes
preferred options for caregiver support.
Student
Aid Meets Social Assistance (PDF - 278K, 77 pages)
By Sherri Torjman
September 2009
This study explores the interaction between student aid and
social assistance - the two main systems in Canada that provide financial support
to post-secondary students. Both systems are complex in themselves because they
are governed by a wide range of rules and regulations. Their complexity is exacerbated
by the constitutional nature of Canada . This paper focuses on the interface issues
because of an overriding concern: Students from low-income households are under-represented
in the post-secondary educational system - particularly at the university level.
They face multiple barriers, including information and motivational factors, to
participation. Another major problem, not surprisingly, is their limited income
and assets relative to the cost of post-secondary education.
All
Aboard Manitoba’s Poverty Train (PDF - 47K, 10 pages)
By Sherri
Torjman, Ken Battle and Michael Mendelson
September 2009
This report summarizes
the core elements of the newly-introduced poverty reduction strategy in Manitoba
. Announced on May 21, 2009, All
Aboard represents an annual investment of $744 million, including $212 million
in new funding. To tackle the numerous factors that create and sustain poverty,
the province is investing in four clusters of intervention: safe affordable housing;
education, jobs and income support; strong and healthy families; and coordinated
programs and services. The strategy has several elements of success: It is a whole-of-government
approach rather than the effort of a single department. It invests in recognized
pathways out of poverty and engages partners outside government in the diverse
interventions. The strategy provides direct (albeit modest) payments to households
with children to boost their incomes immediately. All Aboard includes a process
to coordinate its many components and monitor its impact.
New
Ingredients for the Health Care Mix (PDF - 35K, 3 pages)
By Sherri
Torjman
September 2009
As the aging population puts more pressure on scarce
resources, the debates as to who gets selected for essential health care services
will become increasingly contentious. The typical response is to look for ways
to reform health care in order to ration services more efficiently. Another answer
is to shore up the supply of nurses. This paper argues for additional supports
for the estimated three million informal caregivers in Canada . Options include
greater provision of home supports and workplace policies that allow flexibility
for elder care. Another possibility involves the development of secondary suites,
an affordable housing option that enables the provision of care at home. The paper
argues that urban design makes an important policy contribution to our social
challenges.
Supporting
Working Canadian Families:
The Role of Employment Insurance Special Benefits
(PDF - 105K, 33 pages)
By Michael J. Prince
September 2009
This paper
explores the Employment Insurance (EI) policy objective of encouraging long-term
labour market attachment by providing temporary income support during absences
from work due to life events such as illness, childbirth and caring for a terminally
ill family member. The study was undertaken as part of an ongoing assessment of
the policies and programs of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, which
is examining how EI may need to adjust to better align with current shifts in
the labour market and society. The report examines five EI special benefits: the
Family Supplement, Sickness, Parental, Maternity and Compassionate Care. The paper
also includes a chronology of major developments in family-related benefits in
EI policy from 1941 to 2006. Because EI special benefits operate at the intersection
of labour market policy, income security policy and family policy, these benefits
enable a better balance between work and family life, and have important implications
for each of these policy domains.
Canada's
Shrinking Safety Net:
Employment Insurance in the Great Recession
(PDF - 41K, 5 pages)
Michael Mendelson, Ken Battle and Sherri Torjman
April
2009
Belt-tightening changes made to Employment Insurance
in the 1990s have decimated the program’s coverage over the years and substantially
reduced the value of payments. Today only three in ten unemployed Canadians receive
regular EI benefits in contrast to eight in ten in the last recession, in 1990.
There is a gender gap in coverage, and it has widened. Both eligibility for benefits
and the maximum duration of benefits vary widely from community to community and
province to province, leading to unfair treatment of the unemployed. Caledon
proposes several immediate changes to strengthen EI, including: a uniform set
of rules governing entrance requirements and length of benefits, increasing the
earnings-replacement rate from the current 55 to 70 percent of insurable earnings,
and setting premium rates higher in good economic times and lower in bad times.
Reducing
Poverty in Ontario: A Place-Based Approach
Ontario
Poverty Conference (PDF - 3MB, 8 pages)
June 10-12, 2009
The
release of Ontario’s first comprehensive anti-poverty strategy makes now
the ideal time for community leaders from across Ontario to come together and
be inspired by the stories and experiences from Vibrant
Communities and other successful poverty reduction initiatives throughout
Canada that are producing real results. The purpose of
Reducing Poverty in Ontario: A Place-Based Approach – a three-day
learning event in Kitchener, Ontario from June 10 to 12 – is to offer community
leaders a rich learning experience that will explore the distinction between reducing
and alleviating poverty, and introduce concepts and tools that demonstrate how
to build and sustain the multi-sector teams needed to engage citizens in comprehensive
poverty reduction efforts.
Speakers include:
· Deb Matthews, Minister
of Children & Youth Services and Minister Responsible for Women’s Issues
·
Sherri Torjman, Vice-President of the Caledon Institute of Social Policy
·
Robin Cardozo, CEO of The Ontario Trillium Foundation
· Tim Brodhead,
CEO of The J.W. McConnell Family Foundation
· Frances Lankin, CEO of
United Way Toronto
· Liz Weaver, Director of the Hamilton Roundtable
for Poverty Reduction
· Mark Chamberlain, Chair of the Hamilton Roundtable
and CEO of Trivaris; and,
· Paul Born, CEO of the Tamarack Institute
for Community Engagemen
The
Forgotten Fundamentals (PDF - 47K, 5 pages)
By Ken Battle, Sherri
Torjman and Michael Mendelson
December 2008
Strong social programs can play
a vital part in an economic stimulus package. Ottawa has at its disposal several
effective social programs that can play an important part in an economic stimulus
package to combat the recession. Boosting three geared-to-income programs –
the Canada Child Tax Benefit, refundable GST credit and Working Income Tax Benefit
– would put additional money into the hands of lower-income households who
are most likely to spend it immediately. Employment Insurance, which now serves
only four in ten unemployed Canadians, must be restored and strengthened. Ottawa
should also bolster its transfers to the hardest hit provinces and territories
so that they do not bear the full burden of social assistance and other recession-linked
cost increases.
Source:
Caledon Institute
of Social Policy
The Caledon Institute of Social Policy does rigorous,
high-quality research and analysis; seeks to inform and influence public opinion
and to foster public discussion on poverty and social policy; and develops and
promotes concrete, practicable proposals for the reform of social programs at
all levels of government and of social benefits provided by employers and the
voluntary sector.
---------------------------------------
Poverty
Policy (PDF - 119K, 36 pages)
By Sherri Torjman
October 2008
This
paper discusses ten major policy areas that comprise the core of a comprehensive
poverty reduction strategy:
* affordable housing * early childhood development
* high school completion and improved literacy proficiency * demand-driven customized
training * improved minimum wages and enhanced supplementation of low earnings
and of income * a restored and improved unemployment insurance system * adequate
income and appropriate supports for persons with disabilities * assistance with
the creation of assets for low- and modest-income households, support for the
social economy * strong social infrastructure * place-based initiatives that fashion
integrated approaches to intervention and that create effective responses to tackling
poverty through creative combinations of resources and approaches.
---------------------------------------
Federal
Election – Politicians refuse to admit that deficits are inevitable
(PDF - 35K, 3 pages)
By Michael Mendelson
October 2008
This article,
which first appeared in the Toronto Star, argues that Canada will be caught in
a prolonged recession in the US. If so, most governments in Canada will end up
with deficits in the next few years, and it is better to plan for this eventuality
than to just hope it does not happen. The real challenge is to maintain fiscal
discipline even when deficits are permitted. If governments plan sensibly, they
can establish ‘fiscal rules’ setting out what deficit financing can
be used to pay for and how large deficits can be.
---------------------------------------
Make
Work Pay (PDF - 34K, 2 pages)
Ken Battle and Sherri Torjman
September 2008
This Labour Day commentary explores various actions that governments
and employers can take to improve the earnings of the working poor. One in four
Canadian workers makes just $10 an hour or less and close to half (44 percent)
of low-income households have at least one working adult. Key policy reforms include
increasing and indexing minimum wages, investing in education and training, ensuring
an adequate supply of decent affordable housing and enhancing the Canada Child
Tax Benefit. This commentary focuses upon essential changes to the amount and
design of the Working Income Tax Benefit - the federal policy measure whose intended
purpose is to help make work pay.
---------------------------------------
Social
Profits (PDF - 49K, 7 pages)
Sherri Torjman
September 2008
This
essay discusses the various dimensions of the social economy - a unique and burgeoning
sector of the economy in which business enterprises and economic activity seek
not only to generate revenue but also to advance social goals. There are hundreds
of thousands of hybrid businesses, also known as social enterprises, which are
taking their place on the world stage - and increasingly in stock market portfolios.
They try both to generate profit and create social value. They are sometimes referred
to as ‘blended value’ organizations because that is precisely what they
do. This paper explores their many different forms and puts forward policy proposals
to bolster social enterprises within the Canadian economy.
---------------------------------------
Canadians
Need a Medium-Term Sickness/Disability Income Benefit (PDF file -
112K, 36 pages)
By Michael J. Prince
January 2008
This paper focuses
upon a serious weakness in Canada’s income security system. There is a major
gap in social insurance coverage for millions of Canadians whose work and earnings
are interrupted on a temporary or recurring basis because of illness or disability.
This paper examines the current relationship between Employment Insurance (EI)
sickness benefits and Canada Pension Plan (CPP) disability benefits, and explores
possibilities for stronger linkages between these programs. Various options for
a medium-term sickness/disability income benefit are considered along with their
respective strengths and weaknesses.
---------------------------------------
A
Tale of Two Pension Plans: The Differing Fortunes of the Canada and Quebec Pension
Plans (PDF file - 192K, 46 pages)
By Ed Tamagno
January 2008
The
Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and the Quebec Pension Plan (QPP) are headed towards
an historical crossroads. The most recent actuarial valuation of the CPP shows
that the federal scheme is sound in its financing and should remain financially
sound for the foreseeable future, without the need for any increase in its contribution
rate over the next 75 years. Not entirely so, however, for the QPP. Although the
Quebec plan is in no imminent financial difficulty, its most recent actuarial
valuation indicates that changes to the QPP’s financing or benefits must
be made well before 2050 or the scheme will be unable to meet its commitments
fully after that year. This paper examines the reasons for the divergence in the
financial projections of the Canada and the Quebec Pension Plans and proposes
ways in which the parallelism of the two schemes, which has been a mainstay of
federal and provincial policy for over four decades, can be maintained.
---------------------------------------
Caledon
Response to Liberal
Poverty Strategy (PDF file - 264K, 9 pages)
by
Ken Battle, Sherri Torjman,
Michael Mendelson and Ed Tamagno
November 2007
"(...)The
renewed focus on poverty is long overdue. Strong and explicit federal leadership,
along with cooperation with the provinces and territories in several key areas,
are essential to attain significant reductions in poverty. But real progress will
not be possible unless sound policy measures are employed to achieve this crucial
goal.
---------------------------------------
Repairing
Canada's Social Safety Net (PDF file - 276K, 14 pages)
Sherri Torjman,
May 2007
The Department of Human Resources and Social Development Canada invited
departmental representatives and four outside panelists to a roundtable to consider
options for repairing Canada’s social safety net. This paper summarizes the
highlights from Caledon’s contribution, which made the case for the need
to reform Employment Insurance and welfare in concert and in association with
labour market changes...
(Read the complete abstract)
Other
Caledon reports - links to all 500+ reports from May 1993 to date
Search Caledon
publications
---------------------------------------
Tax
Fairness According to Canada's New Government (PDF file - 70K, 13
pages)
Ed Tamagno and Ken Battle
November 2006
Federal Finance Minister
Jim Flaherty’s surprise announcement on October 31, 2006, shutting down income
trusts was front page news across Canada. Little media attention, however, was
given to other changes to the income tax system announced at the same time. These
include two of particular importance to seniors: a proposal to allow couples to
split pension income and an increase in the age credit. This commentary analyzes
these proposed changes to the tax system and who will benefit if they are implemented.
It shows that the splitting of pension income will provide windfall benefits to
some of the wealthiest seniors, only modest benefits to middle-income seniors,
and nothing at all to the poorest of Canada’s elderly. The commentary goes
on to present an alternative approach - involving changes to the age credit and
pension income credit - that is fairer and that would cost no more, and probably
even a bit less, than the government’s proposals.
---------------------------------------
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.
---------------------------------------
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.
Related Links:
Choice
in Child Care Allowance - from the website of the
Conservative Party of Canada
-
incl. information on the Child Care Allowance, along with links to 20 news videos
and articles about the Allowance.
Sample video:
December
12
News
Conference, Rona Ambrose
NOTE: This is streaming video that you may not
be able to access on a computer that's on a network either at the office or in
a university. If you're interested in the area of child care and early learning,
I highly recommend that you read the articles on the Conservative website...
Google
Web Search Results : "Choice in Child
Care Allowance"
Google News search Results : "Choice
in Child Care Allowance"
Source:
Google.ca
---------------------------------------
The
Choice in Child Care Allowance: What you See Is Not What You Get (PDF
file - 63K, 7 pages)
Ken Battle, January 2006
The
Conservatives’ plan for a “Choice in Child Care Allowance” is seriously
flawed. Because the new program will trigger reductions in federal and provincial/territorial
income-tested benefits and increases in income taxes, most families will end up
with less – for modest-income families in the $30,000-$40,000 range, much
less - than the gross $1,200 annual payment for every child under 6. The Child
Care Allowance also will favour one-earner couples over single parents and two-earner
families. The proposed scheme is really a child benefit, not a child care program.
Caledon contends that it would be better to invest in further increases to the
existing Canada Child Tax Benefit, a modern and effective social program that
suffers from none of the failings of the proposed Choice in Child Care Allowance.
---------------------------------------
There's
Madness to this Method (PDF file - 18K, 4 pages)
Sherri Torjman,
January 2006
The November 2003 Report of the Auditor
General, released in February 2004, set in motion a chain of events that led to
an obsession with accountability. The November 2005 report of the Auditor General,
by contrast, barely created any interest – despite several important recommendations
that could help the federal government and voluntary organizations do their jobs
more effectively. The latest audit looked at federal policies and practices around
the creation, coordination and oversight of ‘horizontal initiatives.’
The Auditor General instructed central agencies to provide more explicit guidance
for horizontal practice related to common application procedures, funding instruments,
data collection, reporting practices and evaluation frameworks.
---------------------------------------
Evaluation
Framework for Federal Investment in the Social Economy: A Discussion Paper
(PDF file - 97K, 33 pages)
Eric Leviten-Reid and Sherri Torjman, January 2006
This
paper was prepared on behalf of Social Development Canada to support the department
and its partners in developing an evaluation framework for potential federal investment
in the social economy. It also informed the efforts of government partners in
their formulation of a horizontal Results Based Accountability Framework for the
social economy initiatives announced in the 2004 federal Budget. The
report discusses the nature of the social economy, identifies issues and challenges
involved in evaluating its activities and proposes a learning-oriented approach
to its evaluation. The paper also presents a logic model for conceptualizing the
work of the social economy, including the broad societal objectives it seeks to
achieve, major types of investment and support to sustain this activity, and results
for households, organizations, communities and the social economy sector as a
whole.
---------------------------------------
Vibrant
Communities Calgary: Awareness, Engagement and Policy Change (PDF
file - 36K, 9 pages)
Anne Makhoul and Eric Leviten-Reid, January 2006
By
educating Calgarians about the complex realities of poverty and influencing the
development of responsive public policies, Vibrant Communities Calgary is trying
to create a profound shift in thinking. It seeks to move from a climate that sees
poverty as a personal problem to one in which systemic change makes it possible
for individuals and households to improve their circumstances. This is the second
in a series of stories which describe the poverty reduction work of the six Vibrant
Communities Trail Builders.
---------------------------------------
Strategies
for Achieving Equity and Prosperity in Saskatchewan (PDF file - 50K,
15 pages)
Rick August, January 2006
This paper focuses
on the coexistence of strong labour demand in Saskatchewan, and a chronically
underemployed segment of the population that is not achieving full economic citizenship.
It argues that these circumstances afford an opportunity to strengthen the province’s
labour force and economy, while at the same time increasing the economic inclusion
of its disadvantaged citizens. The paper proposes a strategy
to reduce economic disadvantage through employment and productivity growth. On
a practical level, it argues for a partnership between government and employers
that would help potential workers to prepare for entry-level employment, and from
this base of employment, to improve their employment security and income through
productivity growth. The analysis relies on enabling approaches to public policy
that are designed to influence market forces towards more equitable outcomes,
and harness human motivations and energies to improve personal and societal outcomes.
The paper argues that a fair distribution of wealth is achievable within the context
of a competitive market economy, and that an employment inclusion and productivity
growth strategy could lead to sustainable gains in both Saskatchewan’s aggregate
wealth and its distributional equity.
A
Working Income Tax Benefit That Works (PDF file - 15K, 3 pages)
Ken
Battle and Michael Mendelson, November 2005
Like the National Child Benefit,
the Working Income Tax Benefit should be debated and developed as a national –
not just federal, nor just provincial/territorial – social policy reform.
Anyone
Got a Plan? (PDF file - 19K, 4 pages)
Michael Mendelson, November
2005
Caledon Senior Scholar Michael Mendelson challenges governments to start
thinking and talking about – and planning for – an inevitable looming
crisis: the next recession.
The
Disability Savings Plan: Contribution Estimates and Policy Issues
(PDF file - 133K, 47 pages)
Keith Horner, November 2005
The
Disability Savings Plan: Policy Milieu and Model Development (PDF
file - 86K, 35 pages)
Richard Shillington, November 2005
Intergenerational
Dimensions of Canada's Fiscal System (PDF file - 81K, 27 pages)
Joe
Ruggerri, Yang Zou and Shannon Garrett, November 2005
real
leaders volume 15 - Senator Landon Pearson (PDF file - 29K, 4 pages)
Anne
Makhoul, November 2005
Senator Landon Pearson – the Senator for Children
and the Children’s Senator – retires from her seat in the Senate in
November 2005. This issue of ‘real leaders’ is dedicated to a woman
whose life has been devoted to the task of advocating for children and youth.
Measuring
child benefits: Measuring child poverty (PDF file - 270K, 73 pages)
February
2005
By Michael Mendelson
"This report addresses two critical questions
in social policy: what is child poverty and how much is an adequate child benefit?
To answer these questions, the report provides an analytic basis to distinguish
between poverty among families with children and that element of their poverty
that is properly understood as ‘child poverty.’ It argues that child
benefits should cover the incremental cost of raising a child in a family living
just above poverty levels. But to estimate an adequate child benefit, we must
then define ‘poverty.’ Building upon a critical review of Canadian and
international research, the report describes two alternative methodologies that
could be adopted to develop a well-grounded Canadian poverty line. The report
provides a number of preliminary quantitative estimates of the value of an adequate
child benefit according to these methodologies. This report will challenge your
understanding of ‘child poverty,’ how it should be measured and the
role of child benefits in addressing it."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Presentation
to the Finance Committee Pre-Budget Consultation
November 2004
Sherri
Torjman, Ken Battle and Michael Mendelson
"This paper (...) discusses
several key principles to help guide the spending of the federal surplus: transparency,
balance and purpose. The paper proposes that the surplus not be directed towards
debt reduction but rather towards a combination of program and tax reduction measures.
With respect to program expenditure, the authors have identified three top priorities
from a wide range of proposals they have put forward over the years: child benefits,
early childhood care and learning, and community supports for persons with disabilities
and the aging population. Possible tax reductions related to employment and education
would be directed towards low- and modest-income households."
Presentation (PDF file - 56K, 13 pages)
Related links:
- go to the Canadian Government Budgets Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/budgets.htm
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Transitions
Revisited: Implementing the Vision
By John Stapleton
September 2004
"Transitions, the landmark 1988 report of the Social Assistance
Review in Ontario, created a new vision for social assistance and related programs
that called for a radically redesigned set of child benefits, a new income program
for persons with disabilities and a new direction to bring welfare recipients
into the mainstream of community life. Although some early investments were made
to implement the vision, these reforms were largely dismantled in the mid- to
late-1990s. John Stapleton, a former public servant and senior policy advisor
to members of the Social Assistance Review Committee from 1986-1988, argues that
there has never been a better time to bring some of the key proposals of Transitions
up to date and to seriously consider implementing them."
[Abstract]
Complete report (PDF file - 135K, 38 pages)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aboriginal
People in Canada's Labour Market: Work and Unemployment, Today and Tomorrow
Abstract
in English and French + link to the complete report in both official languages
(46 pages in English)
[ version française : Les Autochtones sur le
marché du travail canadien : travail et chômage, aujourd'hui et demain
]
Michael Mendelson
April 2004
"Has the labour market situation
of Aboriginal people in Canada been improving over the last several years? This
paper uses data from the 1996 and 2001 censuses to present comprehensive, factual
answers to this question."
Related Links: go to the Canadian Social
Research Links First
Nations page
Learning
and Evaluation for Poverty Reduction
Abstract in English and French
+ link to the complete report in both official languages
L'Apprentissage et
l'évaluation dans le cadre d'initiatives de réduction de pauvreté
Sherri
Torjman and Eric Leviten-Reid
March 2004
"This is the sixth in a series
of papers written in support of the Vibrant Communities project, a four-year national
effort to explore promising local solutions to reduce poverty. The paper discusses
various aspects of community learning. It describes how the Pan-Canadian Learning
Partnership, which comprises the foundation of Vibrant Communities, engages in
a process of continual learning to inform and improve local efforts. The paper
also explores the challenges involved in evaluating comprehensive community initiatives.
It discusses the ‘logic model’ of evaluation. This approach is based
on the assumption that there is a sequence of events which must take place, and
that build upon each other in a logical fashion, in order to effect any complex
change. The intermediary steps along the way can then be identified and assessed."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reflections
on Vibrant Communities
Eric Leviten-Reid
March 2004
(version
française : Reflexion sur le projet collectivité dynamiques)
"This
is the seventh in series of papers written in support of the Vibrant Communities
project. This paper reflects on the first 18 months of the Vibrant Communities
experience and the Face-to-Face Forum in Guelph, Ontario, September 22-24, 2003.
This Forum provided an opportunity for participants in Vibrant Communities to
reflect on their experience in order to sharpen their focus and refine strategies
for the next phases of the work. The aim of this paper is to capture some of the
key lessons and observations from the early days of Vibrant Communities."
Complete
report (PDF file - 73K, 20 pages)
Document
complet en français (fichier PDF - 83Ko., 24 pages)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Three
Choices for the Future of Medicare
Gregory P. Marchildon
April
2004
This paper argues that Canadians are at a crossroads in terms of the future
of medicare. Critical directional decisions will be made at the First Ministers
Meeting in a few months. Ottawa must decide its role before it negotiates with
the provinces the future of a policy that is an integral part of the country’s
identity.
Complete
report - (PDF file - 88K, 20 pages)
Related Links: go to the
Canadian Social Research Links Medicare
Debate Links page
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The
Repair of Taxation
December 2003
Tom Kent
"...argues that
federal taxation has become so unfair and so slack, so undermined by avoidance
and evasion, that its repair is now the urgent social reform on which others depend.
(...)The paper offers a combination of reforms to increase government revenues
in ways both better for the economy and more progressive for society."
Complete
report (PDF file - 88K, 26 pages)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
New
Ingredients for the Fiscal Pie
Sherri Torjman, December 2003
"...argues
the need for exploring possible methods of expanding the ‘fiscal pie.’
It explores one possible model put forward by PLAN (Planned Lifetime Advocacy
Network), a group of parents of children with severe disabilities. The group proposes
a combination of private savings and public spending to help develop caring communities.
(...) The proposal represents one idea in a range of possible savings and investment
mechanisms to expand the fiscal pie – a direction which we should be debating
seriously as a nation."
Complete
report (PDF file - 19K, 3 pages)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Community-based
Poverty Reduction: The Québec Experience
by William Ninacs
September
2003
Full report
(PDF file - 47K, 17 pages)
Highly recommended!
This is an excellent primer
for people who want general information on how Quebec's social protection system
works. It contains a brief overview of the evolution of Quebec's social, political
cultural and economic fabric, with a special focus on community economic development
-
Table of contents : Population and territorial organization - The ‘Quiet
Revolution’ (1960 -66) - Culture - Economic development - Health and welfare
- Community organizations and related social movements - Evolution of Québec
government policies toward poverty reduction - Local and community economic development
- Key theoretical constructs - Social development - Social economy
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Child
Benefits Levels in 2003 and Beyond: Australia, Canada, the UK and the US
Michael
Mendelson
April 2003
Abstract
"Australia, Canada, the UK and the
US all have programs providing cash benefits to families with children. This study
is a detailed comparison of current child benefit rates in the four countries,
for a representative lone parent family with one child and a two-parent family
with two children. It also compares Canada’s child benefits in 2007, when
all announced increases are implemented, to those in Australia, the UK and the
US. The paper calculates the changes that would be needed to replicate UK child
benefits in Canada, and analyzes the implications of these changes."
Full
Document (PDF file - 75K, 13 pages)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Canada
needs social policy that works, says new Caledon report
Press
Release/Abstract
September 25, 2002
"We look to next week’s
Speech From the Throne to advance the ideas put forward in our social policy-that-works
agenda."
Proposals include:
- increasing the the maximum annual
Canada Child Tax Benefit
- boosting federal transfers to the provinces and
territories for early childhood development
- improving paid parental leave
-
replacing welfare with a Basic Income Support system (Basic Wage + Training Allowance
+ Basic Support for those who can't work)
- indexing minimum wages and examining
minimum wages
- launching a national Employment Skills and Learning Strategy
-
developing a policy framework to support community economic development
- offering
supplementary health benefits to all low- and modest-income Canadians
- improving
targeted tax relief
- creating a Disability Supports Fund; improving tax benefits
for Canadians with disabilities; developing a new National Disability Benefit.
-
helping to build a strong social foundation for cities
Complete report
online:
Social
Policy That Works: An Agenda (PDF file - 68K, 22 pages)
by
Ken Battle and Sherri Torjman
September 2002
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A
New Era in British Columbia: A Profile of Budget Cuts Across Social Programs
(PDF file - 36K, 10 pages)
Caledon Institute of Social
Policy
July 2002
"This paper is a summary of the wide range of reductions
and cuts the BC Liberals have introduced to social programs over the past year.
It documents changes in the areas of health care, education, income security,
justice, and services for children, women and persons with disabilities."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fiscal
Imbalances and the Financing of National Programs (PDF file - 23K,
5 pages)
Joe Ruggeri, July 2002
"This
paper explores the state of government finances in Canada. It focusses upon the
growing fiscal imbalance, commonly known as vertical fiscal imbalance (VFI), between
the federal and provincial/territorial levels of government."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Canada
2015: Globalization and the Future of Canada’s Health and Health Care
(PDF file - 114K, 35 pages)
Michael Mendelson and Pamela Divinsky
July
2002
This report describes four scenarios for future global economic and political
structures – called Global Club, Shared Governance, Cyberwave and Regional
Dominators – and looks at the future of health and health care in Canada
within each of these scenarios. The report is part of the ‘Future of Global
and Regional Integration’ project, sponsored by the Institute of Intergovernmental
Relations at Queen’s University, where the scenarios originally were developed.
The report is meant to speculate not so much on what will be, as what could be,
in an effort to stimulate consideration of our health system’s relationship
to global futures.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The
Canada Pension Plan Disability Benefit
February 2002
"This
report presents a policy history of the Canada Pension Plan disability benefit.
It discusses the strengths and unique features of this national program, trends
in caseload and cost, key issues related to the disability benefit, appeals procedures
and options for reform."
Complete
Text (PDF file - 150K, 62 pages)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Medicure
February 2002
"This op ed points out how the loss of the Canada
Assistance Plan in 1996 shook the foundation of community supports that help keep
people out of hospital and decimated the systems of community care that enable
patients to return or remain at home. The lack of community supports has created
serious pressures for Canada’s health care system."
Complete
Text (PDF file - 15K, 2 pages)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From Trade-Off to Trade-Up
February 2002
"This
paper, presented at the Arthur Kroeger College of Public Affairs, argues that
economic competitiveness and social cohesion are not a trade-off, but rather are
intrinsically linked. It discusses three key means of advancing an integrated
economic and social agenda: through practices, decision-making and trade standards
that integrate competitiveness and cohesion."
Complete
Text (PDF file - 50K, 17 pages)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Equalization: Will The Attacks Ever End?
February
2002
"In this commentary, the author contends that a recent misinterpretation
regarding the equalization formula not only would undermine the constitutional
foundations of the equalization program but also would threaten the existence
of social programs, including health care, education and social assistance."
Complete
Text (PDF file - 17K, 3 pages)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Enterprising Non-profits
February 2002
"This story describes the development of a program in British Columbia
which supports non-profit organizations in their bid to diversify revenue sources
by launching business enterprises. Started as a pilot project in 1997, the Enterprising
Non-profits Program (ENP) was initiated by a partnership between VanCity Community
Foundation, Vancouver Foundation, United Way of the Lower Mainland and VanCity
Credit Union."
Complete
Text (PDF file - 30K, 8 pages)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reaching Past the Barricades: Conflict Resolution at International Summit
Events
February 2002
"World summit events have recently
been marked by violence, injury and property destruction. A process for engaging
police, media, politicians, activists and the general public has been developed
by a team at Saint Paul University in Ottawa in the hope that an inclusive approach
to crowd management can direct the planning and implementation of such events."
Complete Text
(PDF file - 72K, 8 pages)
Source : Hot
Off The Press (Caledon institute of Social Policy)
TIP : Click
this link to see another dozen Caledon reports dating back to October 2001
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Relentless
Incrementalism: Deconstructing and Reconstructing Canadian Income Security Policy
(PDF file - 170K, 59 pages)
by Ken Battle
June 2001
This article was originally
published in Keith Banting, Andrew Sharpe and France St-Hilaire (eds.) The Review
of Economic Performance and Social Progress. The Longest Decade: Canada in the
1990s (Montreal and Ottawa: Institute for Research on Public Policy and Centre
for the Study of Living Standards, 2001)
Maytree Foundation
Principal funder of the Caledon Institute of Social Policy,
the Maytree Foundation is a Canadian charitable foundation established in 1982.
Maytree believes that there are three fundamental sets of issues which threaten
political and social stability: wealth disparities between and within nations;
mass migration of people because of war, oppression and environmental disasters;
and the degradation of the environment
Canadian Centre
for Policy Alternatives
"The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
is an independent, non-partisan research institute concerned with issues of
social and economic justice. Founded in 1980, the CCPA is one of Canada’s
leading progressive voices in public policy debates. By combining solid research
with extensive outreach, we work to enrich democratic dialogue and ensure Canadians
know there are workable solutions to the issues we face. "
Site map - links to everything on one page
About
the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
- includes a brief description
of the CCPA and links (in the left margin of the page)
to separate pages for the National CCPA Office and each of its provincial offices.
-
each CCPA Office page has links to : Contact Us * Publications * Research Associates
* Board of Directors; immediately below, you'll find links to the 'home page'
for each provincial office and its publications page
British
Columbia Office
- Publications
Saskatchewan
Office
- Publications
Nova Scotia
Office
- Publications
Alternative
Federal Budget
"Our alternative budgets
show that governments budgets can be created in a way that is both fiscally and
socially responsible. The CCPA has been coordinating the Alternative Federal Budget
(AFB) since 1994, and our provincial offices produce alternative provincial budgets.
NOTE:
click on the provincial links above for their respective Alternative Budgets
| For
more Government budget info (incl. federal pre-budget consultations and provincial-territorial
budgets): Go to the Canadian Social Research Links Canadian Government Budgets page |
GrowingGap.ca
The
growinggap.ca is an initiative of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives’
Inequality Project, a national project to increase public awareness about the
alarming spread of income and wealth inequality in Canada.
Research
and Publications
Whether you're looking for a research study with detailed
findings, short commentary on current affairs, articles from The Monitor (our
national magazine), books by some of Canada's leading thinkers, or Our Schools/Our
Selves (a quaterly journal about education), you'll find it here. The CCPA publishes
on a wide range of social, economic and environmental issues, including:
*
Aboriginal issues * Health, Health care system, Pharmacare * Agriculture * Housing
and homelessness * Alternative budgets * Human rights * Biotechnology * Inequality
and poverty * Children and youth * International relations, Peace & conflict
---------------------------------------------------
Selected reports from the CCPA:
In
the Red
Hennessy's Index: A number is never just a number
By Trish Hennessy
September 30, 2011
[ PDF
version of this index - 81K]
Excerpts* from In the Red (October
2011)
(*Click either of the two links above for the complete list of numbers for the
October Hennessy Index.)
===> 1.57 Trillion --- Canadians’ household
debt in the second quarter of 2011, reaching an all-time high this year.
===> 150.8% --- Canadians’ household debt ratio to personal disposable
income in the second quarter of 2011, higher than our U.S. neighbours.
===> 7.6% --- Percentage of Canadian disposable income that goes toward interest
payments.
===> 27% --- Percentage of non-retired Canadians who don’t commit to
any type of savings, not even for retirement.
===> 1/3 --- Proportion of retired Canadian households carrying an average
debt load of $60,000 into retirement.
Earlier
editions of Hennessy's Index
* It's a living (September 2011)
* Gone Fishin' (August 2011)
* Canada vs the OECD (July 2011)
* Minimum Wage vs Living Wage (June 2011)
* Election Jawdroppers (May 2011)
* Democracy (April 2011)
* Security/Insecurity (March 2011)
* Inequality (February 2011)
Hennessy's
Index: Gone Fishin'
July 29, 2011
Hennessy's Index is a monthly listing of numbers, written by the CCPA's Trish
Hennessy, about Canada and its place in the world. This August, Hennessy's Index
looks at vacation time - how do Canadian vacations stack up?
Earlier
editions of Hennessy's Index
* Canada vs the OECD (July 2011)
* Minimum Wage vs Living Wage (June 2011)
* Election Jawdroppers (May 2011)
* Democracy (April 2011)
* Security/Insecurity (March 2011)
* Inequality (February 2011)
March
2011: Security/Insecurity
By Trish Hennessy
February 28, 2011
Trish Hennessy of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives presents a monthly
listing of numbers about Canada and its place in the world.
[ PDF
version - 464K, 1 page]
Excerpts* from Security/Insecurity (March 2011)
(*Click the link above for the complete list of numbers for the March Hennessy
Index.)
===> 1.4 million = Number of Canadians officially unemployed in January 2011
===> 1.2 million = Population size of the nation’s
capital, Ottawa
===> 14.4% = Canada’s youth unemployment rate
in January 2011 (age 15-24); nearly twice the national average for all unemployed.
===> 867, 948 = Number of Canadians who used food banks in March 2010; record
high.
===> $5 billion = Estimated new additional annual
costs of running provincial and federal jails by 2015/16 due to the latest Harper
government crime law.
===> $220 billion = Total cost of Harper government tax cuts between 2006
and 2013/14. (Source)
February
2011 : Inequality
February 1, 2011
[ PDF
version - 67K, 1 page ]
Excerpts:
===> $6.6 million = The average compensation of Canada’s best-paid 100
CEOs in 2009.
===> $42,988 = The average wage for Canadians working full-time, year-round.
===> 155 times = How much the best-paid 100 CEOs earn more than average wage.
===> 0 = The number of women among the best-paid 100 CEOs in Canada in 2009.
===> 20th = Canada ranks 20th, behind the U.S., in a global ranking of women’s
equality
Source:
The
Hennessy Index- "A number is never just
a number"
The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives' Trish Hennessy has long been a
fan of Harper Magazine's one-page list of eye-popping statistics, Harper's Index.
Instead of wishing for a Canadian version to magically appear, she's created
her own -- a monthly listing of numbers about Canada and its place in the world.
Hennessy's Index -- a number is never just a number -- comes out on the first
of each month.
---
Five
reasons to say no to more corporate tax cuts
By Armine Yalnizyan
January 28, 2011
The Harper government ’s commitment to further reduce
the general corporate income tax rate while the nation struggles with budgetary
deficits has been championed by – surprise! – the corporate sector.
But the majority of Canadians, including business owners, and those who work
for them, say no to these cuts now.
Here are five economic reasons not to keep reducing the
federal corporate tax rate this year or next.
* Least effective job creation measure
* Little Impact on investments
* Pay more tax to cut taxes
* False economies
* The question of working capital
[ 422 comments ]
Source:
Globe and Mail
Author Armine Yalnizyan is a senior economist with the Canadian
Centre for Policy Alternatives
---
Income
inequality bad for everyone: Richard Wilkinson
(video, duration 7:52)
December 17, 2010
The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) was pleased to co-sponsor
a three-city lecture tour featuring Richard Wilkinson, co-author of the best
selling book The Spirit Level, which examines income inequality among
developed nations. During his stop in Toronto, he sat down with the CCPA's Trish
Hennessy to talk about the book.
The
Spirit Level:
Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger
By Kate Pickett and Richard Wilkinson
January 2010
- more information about the book ($28) and where to buy it, as well as links
to 17 reviews, commentaries and blog posts.
Source:
Bloomsbury Press
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The
Spirit Level from Wikipedia,
the free encyclopedia
The costs of inequality:
* Community life and social relations
* Mental health and drug use
* Physical health and life expectancy
* Obesity: wider income gaps, wider waists
* Educational performance
* Teenage births: recycling deprivation
* Violence: gaining respect
* Imprisonment and punishment
* Social mobility: unequal opportunities
Source:
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
(CCPA)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Richest 1% income
shares at historic high
News Release
December 1, 2010
TORONTO – Canada’s richest 1% are taking more of the gains from economic
growth than ever before in recorded history, says a report by the Canadian Centre
for Policy Alternatives (CCPA). The Rise of Canada’s Richest 1% looks at
income trends over the past 90 years and reveals the 246,000 privileged few
who rank among the country’s richest 1% took almost a third (32%) of all
growth in incomes between 1997 and 2007. That's a bigger piece of the action
than any other generation of rich Canadians has taken,” says Armine Yalnizyan,
CCPA senior economist and the report’s author.
Complete report:
The Rise of Canada's
Richest 1% (PDF - 739K, 22 pages)
By ArmineYalizyan
(...) Combine record-breaking growth in incomes with historically low top tax
rates, and the richest 1% is taking a bigger piece of the economic pie today
than at any time in the past century. The report also touches on the concentration
of wealth, but 2005 was the last time Statistics Canada examined the distribution
of wealth in Canada, a study it has no plans to repeat. A recent private sector
study shows that by the end of 2009, 3.8% of Canadian households controlled
$1.78 trillion dollars of financial wealth, or 67% of the total. [Excerpt
from p. 4]
Source:
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
(CCPA)
Related link:
The rich really
are getting richer
By Joe Friesen
December 1, 2010
The super rich are, in one respect, not that different from ordinary Canadians:
they work for their money. It’s just that they’re rewarded at a rate
most people only dream of. The top 0.01 per cent of Canadian income earners,
the 2,400 people who earn at least $1.85-million, aren’t just basking in
investment income and business profits. Nearly 75 per cent of their income comes
from wages, just like the average Canadian, according to a new study from the
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
[ The rewards of the rich - infographic
]
[ 146 comments ]
Source:
Globe and Mail
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ed
Broadbent’s Canada: More equal, more optimistic
"We need to bring back an agenda of social equality..."
Ed Broadbent, one of Canada’s most respected progressive sages, sat down
with the CCPA’s Trish Hennessy to talk about the Canada he grew up in and
how it’s changed over his lifetime. During this candid video conversation
-- in Mr. Broadbent’s own Ottawa backyard -- he reflects on the profound
shift away from equality.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The
Power of Taxes:
The Case for Investing in Canadians
By Stephen Dale and Trish Hennessy
October 26, 2010
When you think about taxes, do you think about the $10,000 having a baby could
cost if you lived in the U.S. and didn't have health insurance? Do you think
about an education system that allows even the children of poor families to
become doctors, teachers, or engineers? Government inspectors,
who make sure highway overpasses are repaired before they fall down, that meat
packing plants don't poison their customers, that a city's water is safe to
drink?
Read more about what our taxes buy us in this new primer.
The Power of Taxes:
The Case for Investing in Canadians PDF - 3.7MB, 6 pages)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Canada’s
Poverty Hole
New income data suggests troubling poverty trends are unfolding in Canada
By Armine Yalnizyan
June 21, 2010
Every recession ushers in a rising tide of poverty. As jobless and underemployed
people struggle to make ends meet, the nouveau poor swell the ranks of the déjà
poor. The most recent statistical update on incomes in Canada was released last
week, telling us that in 2008, as the nation headed into a brutal recession,
there were just over 3 million Canadians living in poverty using the standard
measure, Statistic Canada’s after-tax low-income cut-off (LICO). Statistics
on income data come in two years after the fact and much has happened since
2008. But if past recessions are any guide, between 750,000 and 1.8 million
more Canadians will be counted as poor before recovery is complete. More than
one in seven Canadians may have tumbled into poverty before this is over. Many
of them will be working.
( ...)
It is not possible to predict how rapidly poverty will increase, but without
question it will rise. Despite the relatively short span of the current recession,
brutal job losses, tattered safety nets and the tentative nature of the job
recovery suggest a rise in poverty may be unfolding that is closer to the pattern
of the 1990s than the 1980s. That would mean the body count of Canadians finding
themselves in straightened circumstances might be pushing five million –
more than one in seven Canadians trying to get by. That’s no way to run
a recovery.
Related link:
June 17, 2010
Income
of Canadians, 2008
Source:
Statistics Canada
Another recent CCPA release:
The
Rise and Fall of Economic and Social Rights : What Next? (PDF -
110K, 8 pages)
May 29, 2010
By Ed Broadbent, former federal leader of the New Democratic Party
Adapted from a speech Mr. Broadbent delivered in Montreal on May 29
to the Congress of the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences
(CCFHSS).
In his address to the CCFHSS on May 29th, the former leader of the NDP summarizes the journey of generations and issues a challenge to today's leaders: stop ignoring the threat of rising inequality, tackle poverty, and show Canadians your progress.
"It is time to reverse the growing trend to deep inequality in Canada. It is time for the federal government to
fulfill its legal responsibilities for enforcing the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The Covenant
is quite clear on its obligations. We are required, to the maximum of our available resources, to progressively
realize its quite specific list of rights. This requires positive action by governments, among other
obligations, to build hospitals and schools, provide adequate pensions, ensure employment insurance for
all workers, guarantee equal pay for men and women, and create and enforce laws enabling workers to have
unions." [Excerpt, page 7]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harper’s
"tough-on-crime" bills costly, counterproductive
By Paula Mallea
March 16, 2010
The Harper government is reintroducing its proposed “tough-on-crime”
laws that were killed when Harper prorogued Parliament in January. These crime
bills, if passed, will result in the lengthy incarceration of hundreds of additional
offenders under harsh conditions. Many Canadians approve. Fine, they say—whatever
it takes to get the crime wave under control. But there is no crime wave.
Austerity
is the wrong move
Harperite budget can only prolong the recession
By Mel Watkins
March 11, 2010
The Harper government's economic policy, as enunciated in the Throne Speech
and the Budget, is properly described by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty as "stay
the course" or business-as-usual (that is, what business wants business
gets). That is, we are offered more of the same old neo-liberalism and globalization
with wealth for the few and austerity for the many — with only a brief
panic-stricken Keynesian moment — that got us into the messes we're in.
Owning
the podium, selling the stadium
By Bruce Campbell
March 10, 2010
The Harper government portrays itself as standing up for Canada, but it is preparing
a major selloff of Canadian interests that will compromise our cultural sovereignty,
national identity and national security. In the Speech from the Throne, the
Harper government signaled its intent to throw open the doors of foreign ownership
in three strategic, previously protected, sectors: telecommunications, satellites
and uranium.
Deficit
hysteria no excuse to end economic stimulus
By Hugh Mackenzie
March 2, 2010
As Canada's recession winds down, there is growing talk of housing and debt
bubbles but there is an even bigger bubble that's set to burst. It's the Harper
government bubble – that carefully crafted, out-of-touch universe our Prime
Minister has been living in since recession threw hundreds of thousands of Canadians
out of work.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Watch
Senior Economist Armine Yalnizyan of the
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
discuss'Job creation in a recession'
(The Agenda, TV Ontario)
January 28, 2010
On January 25th, 2010, the CCPA's Armine Yalnizyan appeared on Television Ontario's
'The Agenda' to discuss 'Job creation in a recession', part one of the show's
look at the state of employment today. Armine warns that the 'triple threat'
of household debt, growing inequality, and poor job/social security is still
a big challenge for Canadians.
Panelists:
Karl Moore, associate professor with the Desautels Faculty
of Management at McGill University
Carmi Levy, independent technology analyst and journalist based in London,
Ontario
Don Drummond, senior VP and chief economist with TD Bank Financial Group
Armine Yalnizyan, senior economist at the Canadian Centre for Policy
Alternatives
Steve Maich, editor of Canadian Business magazine
Source:
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
Related links:
The Agenda with Steve Paikin
[ TV Ontario ]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Soft
landing for Canada’s CEOs
News Release
January
4, 2010
TORONTO—Canadians may have been hit hard by a worldwide economic
recession, but it appears Canada’s 100 highest paid CEOs are enjoying a soft
landing. A report on executive compensation by the Canadian Centre for Policy
Alternatives (CCPA), a progressive think tank, reveals Canada’s 100 highest
paid CEOs pocketed an average $7.3 million in 2008, the year recession broadsided
the nation.
A
Soft Landing:
Recession and Canada’s 100 Highest Paid CEOs
(PDF - 432K, 17 pages)
By Hugh Mackenzie
January 4, 2010
"...the
total average compensation for Canada's 100 highest paid CEOs was $7,352,895 in
2008—a stark contrast from the total average Canadian income of $42,305.
They pocketed what takes Canadians earning an average income an entire year to
make by 1:01 pm January 4—the first working day of the year."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Beyond the crisis:
Ten propositions for a resurgence of the progressive movement
by Ed Broadbent
December 3, 2009
[The Hon. Ed Broadbent was the lunchtime speaker at a CCPA
Alternative Federal Budget Roundtable held in Ottawa in November 2009.]
HTML
version
Video version:
English
Français
Our task is to restore the dream for social justice. We know it’s desirable
and possible to create a Canada with more involvement by our citizens, a Canada
where we see our neighbours, not as competitors but as friends, a Canada that
is healthier and happier in every respect. Our task is to demonstrate in every
conceivable way, that with more equality this Canada is possible.
Source:
CPAC Video on Demand
(Canadian Parliamentary Affairs Channel)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Old
Age Security system needs strengthening: report
Press Release
November
25, 2009
OTTAWA—Canada’s Old Age Security system needs improvement
in order to help ensure the economic security and dignity of Canadians in retirement,
says a new report released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
(CCPA). The report, by pension expert and CCPA Research Associate Monica Townson,
reviews OAS and its associated programs of the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS)
and the Allowance and discusses measures that could be taken to strengthen this
part of Canada’s pension system.
Complete report:
A
Stronger Foundation: Pension Reform and Old Age Security (PDF - 146K,
7 pages)
By Monica Townson
November 2009
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Economy
still not recovering: Study
Press Release
October 29, 2009
OTTAWA
- Canada's economy is still mired in recession and a long way from recovery, despite
months of "green shoot" speculation, says a report released today by
the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).
Complete study:
Canada’s
Long Road to Economic Recovery (PDF - 350K, 18 pages)
October 2009
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Can
we have an adult conversation about taxes?
October
26, 2009
By Hugh Mackenzie
Research Associate,
Canadian
Centre for Policy Alternatives
At the risk of insulting a generation of
4-year-olds, it's time we had an adult conversation in Canada about taxes and
public services. Most 4-year-olds have figured out that when you go to the store
to get something you want, you have to be prepared to pay for it. Yet Canada's
political leaders and business interest lobbyists would rather spit nickels than
admit this basic fact. It's a problem with all political leaders and parties –
not just those I disagree with.
Source:
Toronto
Star
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pension
system needs urgent attention: report
Press Release
October
8, 2009
OTTAWA— Canada’s pension system needs urgent attention, says
a new report released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).
The report, by CCPA Research Associate and pension expert Monica Townson, outlines
some of the problems with Canada’s pension system and examines some of the
options that have been proposed to deal with them.
What
Can We Do About Pensions? (PDF - 147K, 9 pages)
By Monica Townson
October
2009
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now
You See It, Now You Don’t
How federal and provincial benefits get wiped
out with wage increases (PDF - 123K, 3 pages)
By Michael Goldberg
and Steve Kerstetter*
October 6, 2009
(...) Increases in wages are eroded
or erased by a combination of increases in taxes and other payroll deductions,
along with reductions in benefits from government programs that were set up mainly
to help low-income people in the first place.
* Michael
Goldberg is the former research director for the Social Planning and Research
Council of B.C., and
Steve Kerstetter is the former director of the National
Council of Welfare.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recession
sidelines polices to address women’s poverty: study
Press
Release
September 1, 2009
OTTAWA—Canada still has shockingly high rates
of women’s poverty but the recession seems to have sidelined anti-poverty
policies, says a new study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).
Women’s Poverty and the Recession reveals even after taking into account
government transfers and tax credits, almost one-quarter(24%) of Canadian women
raising children on their own and 14% of single older women are poor, compared
to 9 % of children. “Child poverty seems to win political points but Canadian
governments are ignoring the very real and private struggle of women on their
own who are living in poverty at shockingly high levels,” says CCPA Research
Associate Monica Townson.
Complete report:
Women’s
Poverty and the Recession (PDF - 662K, 54 pages)
September 2009
By Monica Townson
"(...) In Canada, the groups most vulnerable to poverty are Canadians from
racialized communities, recent immigrants (many of whom are also from racialized
communities), Aboriginal people, and persons with disabilities. Most of these
groups have much higher rates of poverty than the general population. But in
all the vulnerable groups, poverty rates for women are higher than those for
men.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now,
more than ever, Canadians count on Premiers' leadership to reduce poverty
Editorial
By Laurel Rothman & Trish Hennessy
August 5, 2009
Canada has been plunged into a worldwide recession that is harsher than any
economic downturn since the Great Depression. Now, more than ever, citizens
are counting on their governments for vision, compassion, and leadership. This
week’s upcoming Premiers’ talks create a vital opening to start now
on an economic recovery plan that reduces poverty, prevents more Canadians from
falling into poverty, and puts all of Canada’s provincial economies back
on steady footing. The recession hit Canada last October,
and since then, about 370,000 Canadians have been thrown out of work. But the
federal Employment Insurance (EI) program isn’t there for half (52%) of
the nation’s unemployed. As Premiers, the fallout
from this recession is landing squarely on their shoulders. Without an adequate
EI program, Canada’s unemployed will be turning to social assistance, food
banks, homeless shelters, and other provincially funded programs. Provincial
poverty rates are bound to soar – with dizzying speed in some regions.
Authors:
Laurel Rothman works at Family Service Toronto and is National Coordinator,
Campaign 2000.
Trish Hennessy is director of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives’
Inequality Project
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Canada's
Growing Gap Explained
A video about how the income gap between the rich and the rest keeps growing
by Trish Hennessy & Armine Yalnizyan
July 31, 2009 | National Office
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Canada’s
“He-cession”
Men bearing the brunt of rising unemployment
by Trish Hennessy & Armine Yalnizyan
July 24, 2009 | National Office
Prime working age men are bearing the brunt of Canada's recession, says a new
report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA). According to the
report, 71% of those who have lost their jobs in the recession so far are men.
Canada's unemployment gender gap is wider now than at any time since Statistics
Canada began collecting monthly gender unemployment statistics in 1976.
[ Report: Canada’s
“He-cession”: Men bearing the brunt of rising unemployment
- PDF file, 152K, 3 pages]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Understanding
the Link Between Welfare Policy and the Use of Food Banks
(PDF - 401K, 34 pages)
April 2009
By Michael Goldberg and David A. Green
This report examines who uses food banks in Canada and how food bank use relates
to changes in government welfare policy. Data collected by Food
Banks Canada show that food bank use increased dramatically from just
over 700,000 Canadians using food banks during March 1998 to over 840,000 in
March 2004. This increase occurred in spite of increases in employment rates
and average wages and decreases in the number of welfare recipients over this
period. Since then, the numbers using food banks have declined to levels near
those in the late 1990s but this indicates that the prolonged economic boom
simply by-passed a substantial number of the least well-off in our society.
Now that the boom appears to be over, the number of persons using the food banks
will almost certainly swell. The report makes several recommendations to help
ensure that all residents have a right to adequate and appropriate food.
Related link:
Welfare
cuts drive up food bank use, study confirms
April 30, 2009
By Laurie Monsebraaten
Canada's booming economy helped reduce food bank use before the recession, but
it didn't erase the surge that followed provincial welfare cuts of the 1990s,
says a study to be released today. And unless federal and provincial governments
repair the country's tattered social safety net, more Canadians will be forced
to rely on food banks as the economic crisis deepens, the study warns.The study,
by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, is the first national analysis
of how welfare policy affects food bank use.
Source:
Toronto Star
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recession
packs biggest wallop since 1930s: Study
April 28, 2009
Press
Release
OTTAWA – This recession is hitting Canada harder and faster than
any previous downturn and Canadians are more exposed to economic ruin than they’ve
been since the 1930s, says a report released by the Canadian Centre for Policy
Alternatives (CCPA). Exposed: Revealing Truths About Canada’s Recession examines
the previous 13 economic downturns and discovers two troubling signs: no other
recession since the Great Depression has come on this strong and Canadians face
greater vulnerability than at any time since the 1940s because of low savings,
high household debt and a weakened social safety net.
Complete report:
EXPOSED:
Revealing Truths About Canada’s Recession (PDF - 1.3MB, 43
pages)
By Armine Yalnizyan
This report looks at the signs of the current recession and compares it to Canada’s
13 other recessions, going all the way back to 1926. It discovers that, including
the Great Depression, Canada’s economy has only had six experiences of
economic decline lasting two quarters or more. It reveals how this recession
has several things in common with the two biggest downturns in post-war history,
but there are also important, and troubling, differences.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Deceptive
economic glimmers
By Thomas Walkom
April 29, 2009
"(...) In the Great Depression, it took more than 12 years for the unemployment
rate to return to 1929 levels. By a similar measure, the recession of the '80s
lasted seven years. [Armine] Yalnizyan's remedy for this slump is to have government
do more, more and more again – for the simple reason that there is nowhere
else to turn. She makes a convincing case that Canada, in spite of entering
this downturn from a relatively strong position, is more exposed than it has
been at any time since the 1930s.
Source:
Toronto Star
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Public
services a bargain for Canadians: Study
Press Release
April
15, 2009
TORONTO – The majority of Canadian households enjoy a higher
quality of life because the public services their taxes fund come at a solid bargain,
according to a new study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).
Canada’s Quiet Bargain: The Benefits of Public Spending responds
to incessant calls for tax cuts and concludes public services make a significant
contribution to the majority of Canadians’ standard of living – worth
at least 50% of their income.
Complete report:
Canada's
Quiet Bargain:
The Benefits of Public Spending (PDF - 1.3MB, 40 pages)
April 2009
By Hugh Mackenzie and Richard Shillington
[ Version française : L'aubaine
discrète du Canada ]
"(...) This path-breaking study raises serious questions about continuing
Canada’s tax cut agenda and provides robust evidence that the taxes Canadians
pay contribute substantially to their standard of living by providing them with
some of the best public services in the world. "
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fact
Sheet:
Public services...a quiet bargain (PDF - 198K, 2 pages)
(...)
The tax cuts implemented by federal and provincial governments over the past
15 years have reduced the living standards of the majority of Canadians.
The majority of Canadians would be better off if their governments had invested
in improving and expanding local public services instead of cutting taxes.
75% of Canadians would be better off if their provincial governments invested
in public services instead of broad-based income tax cuts.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leadership
for Tough Times:
Alternative Federal Budget Fiscal Stimulus Plan
(PDF - 330K, 28 pages)
January 2009
OTTAWA—Today the Canadian Centre
for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) released the Alternative Federal Budget (AFB) fiscal
stimulus plan, a one-year package that would create 407,000 jobs, boost the economy
by 3%, and help protect Canadians from the worst of a recession.
Banner
year for Canada's CEOs:
Record High Pay Increase (PDF - 390K, 17
pages)
January 2009
By Hugh Mackenzie
Ready
for Leadership:
Canadians’ perceptions of poverty (PDF - 516K,
25 pages)
October 2008
By Trish Hennessy & Armine Yalnizyan
The
majority of Canadians believe Canada should try to distinguish itself in the world
as a country where no one lives in poverty, according to an Environics Research
poll conducted for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA). The national
poll reveals 90% of Canadians say they would be proud if their Premier took the
lead in reducing poverty in their province; 88% want Canada to be a leader in
poverty reduction; and 77% say a recession is all the more reason to act now.
Why
Inequality* Matters: Presentation to the Canadian Labour Congress Convention
(PDF - 106K, 6 pages)
May 27, 2008
By Armine Yalnizyan
"(...) Unions are [also] looking at poverty through new lenses — not
just the importance of improving inadequate incomes, but the necessity of affordability
for basics like housing, child care, education, to make sure we are all set
on the right path in life.
-----
* NOTE: To avoid duplication of links as much as possible,
all links pertaining to inequality of incomes or of wealth can be found in the
Inequality Links page of this site: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/inequality.htm
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Spooked by the prospect of recession?
Toronto-based social policy analyst John Stapleton teaches us a valuable history
lesson with his new piece The ‘Last Recession Spook’: A Very
Curable Disease, released by the CCPA as part of its Ontario Alternative
Budget technical paper series. This paper looks at the history of public investments
during economic downturns and finds the ghost of the last recession (in the
1990s) still haunts Canadians, limiting our thinking of what’s possible
to modest terms. Exhorting Canadians to start real change and improvement, he
writes, “The last recession was unlike all others and rather than reducing
government programs during recessions, we used to increase them.”
The
‘Last Recession Spook’: A Very Curable Disease (PDF File,
157K, 5 pages)
Source:
CCPA
Ontario Alternative Budget series
Related link:
Open
Policy Ontario
(John Stapleton's personal website, incl. links to
more commentaries and presentations)
Want to
learn more about the growing gap between the rich and the rest of us?
Check
out our Growing Gap website, the
ultimate resource on income inequality.
Why
Charity Isn’t Enough:
The Case for Raising Taxes on Canada’s Rich
(PDF file - 216K, 12 pages)
December 2007
By Andrew Jackson
This Alternative
Federal Budget Technical Paper makes a clear and simple case for raising taxes
among the richest of Canadians, to fund the kinds of things Canadians say they
want and need to continue to be productive citizens: public health care, affordable
housing, reasonable university tuition, better public infrastructure, public transit,
and affordable child care.
Source:
CCPA
Alternative Federal Budget Project
Canada’s
rich not contributing fair share in taxes: study
Press
Release
November 8, 2007
TORONTO – More than a decade’s worth
of tax cuts have disproportionately lined the pockets of Canada’s most affluent
families, says a new tax study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
The study finds the top 1 percent of families in 2005 paid a lower total tax rate
than the bottom 10 percent of families.
Complete report:
Eroding
Tax Fairness:
Tax Incidence in Canada, 1990 to 2005 (PDF File
- 967K, 44 pages)
November 2007
The
Shock Doctrine
Naomi Klein speaks
about her new book at CCPA event
September 5, 2007
- includes a
brief excerpt from her speech
(Vancouver) Footage of Naomi Klein speaking about
her new book, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism,
is now available online at www.youtube.com/policyalternatives
or www.policyalternatives.ca/naomi_klein_videos.
The set of six videos is from a CCPA fundraiser in Vancouver in February 2007.
The
Expressive Liberty of Beggars:
Why it matters to them, and to us
(PDF file - 282K, 28 pages)
September 2007
Restrictions on peaceful panhandling—such
as City of Winnipeg Bylaw No. 128/2005—constitute an illegitimate use of
state power, says a study released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
The study, by Arthur Schafer, director of the Centre for Professional and Applied
Ethics at the University of Manitoba, says there is no moral or legal justification
for turning peaceful beggars into criminals.
Rising
Profit Shares, Falling Wage Shares - (PDF File, 301K, 16 pages)
June
2007
OTTAWA – Canadians are working harder and smarter, contributing to
a growing economy, but their paycheques have been stagnant for the past 30 years,
says a new study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
Related link:
www.GrowingGap.ca
GrowingGap.ca
is a project of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
"(...)What
does the growing gap look like? In 2004, the richest 10% of families raising children
earned 82 times more than the poorest 10% -- almost triple the ratio of 1976,
when they earned 31 times more. In after-tax terms the gap is at a 30-year high"
The
Art of the Impossible: Fiscal Federalism and Fiscal Balance in Canada
- (PDF file - 1350K, 57 pages)
By Hugh Mackenzie
July 2006
* Executive
Summary - PDF File, 164 Kb
* Résumé
- Fichier PDF, 170Ko.
Canada’s
high-income earners are not overtaxed—report
Press
Release
October 13, 2005
"Despite recent reports to the contrary, Canada’s
high-income earners do not pay a disproportionately large share of personal income
tax. A new analysis by Prof. Neil Brooks of Osgoode Hall Law School, released
today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, takes a closer look at the
numbers in Statistics Canada’s “Tax Incidence in Canada.” The Stats
Can report sparked a series of news stories this spring claiming the top 10% of
income earners pay 52% of the total tax bill but Brooks finds these figures both
misleading and incomplete in assessing the fairness of the tax system.
The Statistics Canada study showed that the share of federal income taxes paid by the top 10% increased from 46% in 1990 to 52.6% in 2002. Brooks points out, however, that this increase is not a result of the tax system becoming more progressive. Instead, the main reason for the increase was because the share of earned income going to the most affluent among us increased by 12.6% over that same period, while the share going to the bottom 50% of tax-filers declined."
Complete analysis:
The
Share of Income Tax Paid by the Rich:
The Business Press Gives another Lesson
on How to Deceive with Statistics (PDF file - 115K, 7 pages)
CCPA
report to House of Commons Finance Committee predicts large surpluses ahead
News
Release
August 22, 2005
"OTTAWA—The Canadian Centre for Policy
Alternatives, one of the independent forecasters commissioned by the House of
Commons Standing Committee on Finance, announced today that is once again forecasting
surpluses much higher than the official government figures. In her report to the
Committee CCPA Senior Economist Ellen Russell is predicting a surplus of $6.8
billion in 2004/05 and $9.5 billion in 2005/06, while the government is projecting
surpluses of $3 billion and $4 billion, respectively. The CCPA’s calculations
include the additional spending that was negotiated by the NDP and included in
Bill C-48."
Complete report:
Federal
Fiscal Forecasting Round 3:
Report to the House of Commons Standing Committee
on Finance (PDF file - 208K, 25 pages)
Don’t
believe the hype: What’s really behind the Fraser Institute’s “Tax
Freedom Day”
News Release
June 16, 2005
"OTTAWA—Each
summer the Fraser Institute announces the arrival of 'tax freedom day': the day
when Canadians allegedly stop 'working for the government' and start 'working
for themselves.' A study by Neil Brooks, released today by the Canadian Centre
for Policy Alternatives, takes a closer look at Tax Freedom Day and finds that
to arrive at this politically loaded and heavily-reported date the Fraser Institute’s
calculations understate the income of Canadians, overstate their taxes and misuse
the concept of averages."
Tax
Freedom Day: A Flawed, Incoherent, and Pernicious Concept (PDF file
- 216 K, 27 pages)
2005
By Neil Brooks
"(...)In the guise of helping
Canadians to understand their tax system, the Institute presents information that
is deeply flawed and misleading — information that in fact seriously limits
the public’s ability to understand and participate
meaningfully in the
shaping of tax policy." (Excerpt, p.6)
Related Links from the Fraser Institute: Canadians
Celebrate Tax Freedom Day on June 26th Tax
Calculator -------------------------------------------------------------- "Tax
Freedom Day" Google.ca Web Search |
RIP, CPRN.
|
Here's the CPRN website, frozen in time.
Canadian Policy Research
Networks - CPRN
[ version française:
Réseaux canadiens de recherche en politiques publiques - RCRPP
]
Canadian Policy Research Networks is a non-profit, charitable policy think tank
based in Ottawa with a voluntary board of directors. (...) CPRN's mission is
to create knowledge and lead public dialogue and debate on social and economic
issues important to the well-being of all Canadians. Our goal is to help make
Canada a more just, prosperous and caring society.
- incl. links to : About CPRN * People * Newsroom * Publications * Contact Us
CPRN's research areas comprise:
*
Children, Youth and Families
* Cities and Communities
* Citizen Engagement
* Democracy, Governance
and Citizenship
* Diversity
* Education and Learning
* Health and Health Human
Resources
* Job
Quality
* Labour
Market/ Vulnerable Workers
* Social
Protection
Click on a research area link to see a description of CPRNs
research in that area along with links to related sub-areas and publications.
Publications
- links to 1500+ research reports, briefs, presentations and more, going right
back to 1993
News Releases -
links to 150+ releases back to 1996 --- includes links to related publications
and themes
What's New -
links to the latest 20 or so items posted to the CPRN site
National Council of Welfare
- New site launched July 2010
Since the Government Organization Act of 1969, the National Council of Welfare
serves as advisory group to the federal Minister responsible for the welfare
of Canadians - in 2010, that's the Hon. Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources
and Skills Development Canada - regarding "any matter relating to social
development that the Minister may refer to the Council for its consideration
or that the Council considers appropriate."
[ Read more in About Us
]
Special features of the Council's new website,
all accessible from the home page, include:
* an interactive map of welfare incomes for 2008
(bottom of the page)
* customized tables and charts (Datasets : Total Welfare Incomes - Adequacy
of Welfare Incomes - Poverty Rates)
* media summaries on poverty and related topics
- includes links to the following information
and resources:
* About Us * Council Members * Research and Publications * News Room * Public
Statements * Provincial and Territorial Contacts * Frequently Asked Questions
* Sites of Interest * Mailing List * Get RSS Feed * Site Map
* Communities (Cost of Poverty - Solving Poverty - Welfare
Incomes - Poverty Profile * Datasets (Total Welfare Incomes - Adequacy of Welfare
Incomes - Poverty Rates)
"Techie note":
If you've saved any links to content from the Council's now-superseded original
website, you'll have to update those links starting from their new home page,
because the new site has been completely overhauled, right down to the new domain
name ( cnb-ncw.gc.ca - replacing
ncwcnbes.net ) and the new site format (JavaServer Pages, replacing HTML).
At this point in time, there's no auto-redirect for individual links from the
old site (except for the splash page), nor is there a site-wide "global"
fix --- each link in your old list (and mine - argh...) must be updated.
Endorsement by me*
As a Canadian welfare chronicler since 1975, I've always had the highest
regard for the National Council of Welfare as a valuable source of advice for
the federal Minister responsible for the welfare of Canadians. In addition,
the Council offers a wealth of information for social researchers. If you do
research on welfare incomes, the Welfare Incomes series of reports is the FIRST
source that I recommend, because it's the only source whose work is verified
for factual accuracy by provincial-territorial government welfare authorities
before it's published. And it's the only source that offers a consistent approach
across all Canadian jurisdictions and annual reports back to 1986. The Council
also does some impressive work with respect to the cost (to Canada) of poverty,
how to solve poverty, and poverty profiles.
Check out the new National Council of Welfare website, and use the terrific
new interactive research tools that are now available!
* Gilles
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Selected Council reports:
(reverse chronological order)
The Dollars and Sense of Solving Poverty
Canada
urged to spend smarter to cut poverty
September 28, 2011
By Laurie Monsebraaten
It would have taken $12.6 billion to give the 3.5 million Canadians living in
poverty enough income to live above the poverty line in 2007. And yet Canadians
spent at least double that amount treating the consequences of poverty that
year, says the National Council of Welfare. Clearly, this spending pattern doesn’t
make good economic or social sense, the council says in its report “The
Dollars and Sense of Solving Poverty,” being released Wednesday.
Source:
Toronto
Star
----------------------------------------
The
Dollars and Sense of Solving Poverty - report home page
The report shows the high dollar cost we are currently paying for the consequences
of poverty. It examines why investments to end poverty make better economic
sense, and it shows how ending poverty would save money and improve wellbeing
for everyone. It concludes with recommendations for the way forward.
The report:
The Dollars and Sense of Solving Poverty
* HTML
version
* PDF
version (3.6MB, 116 pages)
Table of contents:
PART ONE – SENSE
1. Costs, benefits and the difference between spending and investing
2. The economy and poverty
3. Society and poverty
4. Social and economic relationships
PART TWO – DOLLARS
5. Comprehensive cost/benefit calculations
6. Specific cost/benefit examples
PART THREE – DOLLARS AND SENSE
7. Governance and public policy
8. Canadian policy in practice
PART FOUR – SENSIBLE INVESTMENT
9. Taking action: Council recommendations
Related materials:
The Dollars and Sense of Solving Poverty:
In Brief
* HTML
version
* PDF
version (488K, 8 pages)
The Dollars and Sense of Solving Poverty
: Comprehensive Bibilography
Recommended resource --- almost 300 links!
* HTML
version
* PDF
version (271K, 48 pages)
Table of contents:
Section 1 : Canadian Studies / Études canadiennes
1.1 General / Généralités
1.2 Policies and Programs / Politiques et programmes
1.3 Housing / Logement
1.4 Early Education Programs / Programmes d'éducation de la petite enfance
1.5 Education / Éducation
1.6 Health / Santé
Section 2 : American Studies / États-Unis
Section 3 : International Studies / Autre pays
Section 4 : Newspaper Articles / Articles de journaux
Source:
National Council of
Welfare
The National Council of Welfare is an advisory group to the Minister of Human
Resources and Skills Development Canada. The mandate of the Council is to advise
the Minister regarding any matter relating to social development that the Minister
may refer to the Council for its consideration or that the Council considers
appropriate.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
Welfare
Incomes 2010
September 2010
The National Council of Welfare has just updated its cross-Canada welfare incomes
report to reflect the estimated incomes (in constant and current dollars) for
2010 of four typical welfare households in each province and territory:
- a single employable person
- a single person with a disability
- a lone parent with a 2-year-old child
- a two-parent family with two children aged 10 and 15
Click the link above, then move your cursor over each province or territory
to view welfare incomes by household type for 2010 .
Click on a province or territory to see a chart of welfare incomes over time
for that jurisdiction. This feature requires Macromedia Flash; if you don't
have Flash or if you've disabled it, click the link below the map of Canada
to access the same information in HTML.
Adequacy
of Welfare Incomes
This isn't the most user-friendly interface I've ever used, but once you get
the hang of it, you can compare welfare benefit levels for all jurisdictions
and all household categories for all years from 1986 (1989 for a person with
a disability) to 2010 using any one of five measures of adequacy: After-tax
average income - After-tax LICO - After-tax median income - Before-tax LICO
- Market basket measure (MBM).
[ earlier editions of the Welfare Incomes report ]
Special features on the
Council's home page:
* You can subscribe to the RSS feed (in the left margin) if you're into RSS.
* You can test your welfare income smarts by answering the NCW Quiz question
of the week.
[ Do *you* know which province increased the adequacy
of its welfare benefits for a single employable person the most from 2009 to
2010?
Answer the NCW Quiz and find out!]
* In the top right corner of the home page, you'll find links to media summaries
on issues of interest to the Council.
These summaries include links to the full articles, they're posted to the site
every two days, and the Council's website includes an extensive
archive of media summaries (back to October 2010) to browse through. (Or
subscribe to the RSS feed to receive the media summaries in your RSS reader.)
|
|
|
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The
Cost of Poverty and the Value of Investment
Can we afford to solve poverty?
Can we afford not to?
Canadians want an end to poverty, but even those most committed to the solutions
can still wonder if we can afford to. We know there is a correlation between
poverty and other areas of spending like health, education and justice, but
just how much is poverty costing us? (...) The National Council of Welfare is
seeing a growing number of reports and articles addressing the costs associated
with poverty and we’ve set out to find what has been done and what it tells
us.
- includes more info about the Council's new (February 2010) initiative and
links to the complete report or individual sections in PDF format.
Click the link immediately below for the complete report in one file.
|
-------------------------------------------------------------
|
Solving
Poverty - It Can Be Done!
Press release
January 25, 2007
"In a report to the federal government made public today, the National
Council of Welfare (NCW) advises Canadian governments that a workable solution
to poverty is within their reach and that Canada can have the kind of success
that other countries are achieving."
Complete report:
Solving
Poverty: Four cornerstones of a workable national strategy for Canada
(PDF file - 1MB, 29 pages)
Winter 2007
"(...) When the National Council
of Welfare started looking into anti-poverty strategies, it became quickly apparent
to us that if there is no long-term vision, no plan, no one accountable for carrying
out the plan, no resources assigned and no accepted measure of results, we will
continue to be mired in poverty for generations.
The
four cornerstones:
1) creating a national anti-poverty strategy with targets
and timelines;
2) developing a coordinated plan of action;
3) ensuring
accountability; and
4) establishing official poverty indicators.
Related Link:
Report
on responses to the
Poverty and Income Security Questionnaire (PDF file - 1.1MB, 36
pages)
Prepared by MiroMetrica Inc.
January 2007
Google
Search Results Links - always current results!
Using the following
search terms (without the quote marks):
"National Council of Welfare,
Solving poverty report"
Web search
results page
News search results page
Blog
Search Results page
Source:
Google.ca
RECHERCHISTES
FRANCOPHONES:
Vous pouvez accéder à la version française
de ces textes en vous rendant
sur le site Web du Conseil
national du bien-être social
---------------------------------------------------------------
Related Links:
- go to the Poverty Measures Links page:
http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/poverty.htm
----------------------------------------------------------------
|
Canadian
Council on Social Development
"The Canadian
Council on Social Development (CCSD) is one of Canada's most authoritative voices
promoting better social and economic security for all Canadians. A national, self-supporting,
non-profit organization, the CCSD's main product is information and its main activity
is research, focussing on concerns such as income security, employment, poverty,
child welfare, pensions and government social policies."
Put
an "X" on this one - it will be on the final exam. You must visit this
site if you're looking for anything to do with poverty, welfare, income, health,
family, social indicators, etc.
What's New on
the CCSD site --- all new material is on the home page link (above)...
About the CCSD
Research
CCSD Publications
Free
Statistics
Policy Initiatives
Key
Events
CCSD Links
CCSD
Subsites
- The Disability Research Information
Page
- Crime Prevention Through Social Development
- The Cultural Diversity
Page
- The Social Indicators Site
- The Social Inclusion Conference
-
Community Social Data Strategy
Sample site content:
Recent
developments in the
National Commission on Community Health and Social Services
October 23, 2011
Are you aware of interesting innovations in service planning, organization or
delivery; or of service success stories; or of cost savings through cooperative
planning or use of resources; which might be a useful model for the Commission
to consider? If so, please let us know.
Contact us at commission@ccsd.ca
The latest buzz:
* We have been approached by a research centre which is a joint initiative of the University of Montreal and the Government of Quebec, to develop a research partnership with the Commission. This centre focuses on community collaborative planning and “network governance” of services. As part of the agreement, the Commission would facilitate the development of a network of researchers in Canada who have similar research interests.
* It has been suggested that the commission look at the increasing involvement of for-profit organizations in service delivery.
* The project is being encouraged by a community health centre in Ottawa and recommended for funding support to a group of centre directors.
* We were invited to present the Commission project at a University of Victoria conference (October 14 and 15), as an example of linking the (essentially) non-profit service sector to multi-level governance.
* We now have more than forty volunteers across the country, helping with communications, research support and local coordination. More are welcome and your support is needed. Please join us and help as you can, and also forward this update to friends and colleagues.
Source:
National
Commission on Community Health and Social Services
The Canadian Council on Social Development and other national and provincial
organizations wishing to join in, may organize a National Commission (a “non-royal”
commission) on services for people who need the support of their community (including
both publicly-mandated and community-mandated services). The Commission will
be a catalyst for the thoughts and actions of thousands of local service organizations
to tackle longstanding problems and impending new challenges, to improve service
systems and the service environment.
On the site's home page, you will find links to
the following:
- the purpose and reasoning for a Commission
- how the Commission will be organised
- what can be achieved
- how you can become involved
- what people are saying about this initiative
|
Perception
Magazine:
Volume 30, No. 1 & 2, 2008 (PDF
- 2,4MB, 24 pages)
Fall 2008
Table of Contents:
*
Editorial (by Peggy Taillon)
* Mapping Poverty-reduction Initiatives (by Pat
Steenberg)
* Rising Tides: Anti-poverty Work Growing in Atlantic Canada (by
David Jackson)
* An Interview with James Hughes, New Brunswick's Deputy Minister
of Social Development (by Patrick Flanagan)
* Atlantic Summer Institute: Making
the links
* Building Momentum for Real Change: the Canadian Social Forum
* Making Connections: Interview with Uzma Shakir
* Police Chiefs Speak Out
Against Poverty (by Chief Edgar MacLeod)
* Update: Tracking Social Development
(by Katherine Scott)
* The Weiler Award: 2009 Call for Nominations and 2008
Winner
Source:
Perception Magazine
<=== incl. links to 35+ back issues of Perception
[ Canadian
Council on Social Development (CCSD) ]
May
2008
The complete Poverty issue of Perception
Magazine is now online, with pieces about national and provincial anti-poverty
strategies, an article by Rob Rainer about a poverty-free Canada by the year 2020,
a report by John Stapleton about why it's so tough to get ahead, an article on
social data by Alanna Petroff, and much more. Plus we asked our readers and they
told us what else they're reading these days.
Perception:
Volume 29, No. 3 & 4, 2008 (PDF - 2.5MB, 28
pages)
Focus on Poverty :
* Defining the Problem
* Working Strategies * Measuring Success
[ version
française (PDF - 2,4Mo., 28 pages) ]
Table of Contents:
* Editorial
(by Marcel Lauzière)
* Defining and re-defining poverty in Canada
* Towards a National Ideal: Canada Without Poverty by 2020 (by Rob Rainer)
* Four Cornerstones of a Workable National Strategy for Canada (by Sheila Regehr)
* Newfoundland and Labrador's Action Plan to Reduce Poverty (by Minister Shawn
Skinner and Aisling Gogan)
* Quebec's Law Against Poverty and Social Exclusion:
An Interview with Alain Noel
* "Why is it so tough to get ahead?"
(A report by John Stapleton)
* Using social data for success (by Alanna Petroff)
* What's on your bookshelf?
* Resource: New report on economic well-being
of children in North America
* Update: Canadian Social Forum
Source:
Canadian
Council on Social Development
[ Conseil
canadien de développement social ]
2006
Low-Income Cut-offs
[March 27, 2008]
("... more commonly
known as Canada's unofficial poverty lines")
Stats
& Facts fact sheets: A Profile of the Labour Market in Canada
[March 12, 2008]
- links to three fact sheets containing an abundance of national
and provincial data about employment, earnings and labour force rates.
Attention,
fans of the
Canadian Social Welfare Policy Conference!
Canadian
Social Forum (PDF file - 58K, 1 page)
February 28, 2008
Mark Your
Calendars!
The Canadian Council on Social Development is in the process of
planning the first Canadian Social Forum which will take place in Calgary, Alberta,
May 19-22, 2009.
NOTE: the Canadian Social Forum will replace the Social Welfare Policy Conference, a biennial event going back to 1982, but "will integrate the best of that 25-year tradition", according to the CCSD.
Related link:
Canadian
Social Welfare Policy Conference
This is a link is to a page on the
CCSD website that contains links to the 11th and 12th CSWP conferences in this
mostly-biennial series that started way back in 1982. If you click each of the
two conference links and check out the "Papers" link for each event,
you'll find a list of presenters and the topics they covered; this will give you
a good sense of the broad scope of this conference series.
Based
on my own experience (I've attended all but one of the 12 events so far), CSWP
is a four-day multi-sectoral gathering of several hundred people from academia,
government and the NGO sector around social policy themes --- in brief, the perfect
place to learn, to exchange ideas and to expand your list of social policy contacts.
I highly recommend this conference/forum. (Tell 'em Gilles sent you - I might
get a discount on my registration fees...)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
November
15, 2007
Stats
& Facts: Economic Security
Chock full of information about income,
spending habits and poverty among Canadian families, the Economic Security Fact
Sheets are the latest in our Stats & Facts series. Along with the earlier
fact sheets on demographics, health, education and families, these latest fact
sheets provide a wealth of useful statistical data and analysis about the realities
of life in Canada.
Jason
Mogus on the Web
Jason Mogus was the keynote speaker at the CCSD Annual
General Meeting last month. He spoke about the ways in which the web is changing,
and how non-profits can benefit from that change, providing they’re prepared
to change with it. His speaking notes and an audio recording of his presentation
are available on our website.
CCSD’s annual report for 2006-2007 is now available.
Jordan’s
Principle
CCSD supports Jordan’s Principle, which urges a child-first
approach to the resolution of jurisdictional disputes involving the care of First
Nations children.
Urban
Poverty 2007 - updated October 18/07
A fresh batch of Urban Poverty
reports has been posted to the CCSD's Urban Poverty 2007 page. They include a
report on populations vulnerable to poverty, one on education and employment,
another on age, gender and family, and a final one on neighbourhood poverty. There's
also a new urban poverty bibliography.
"Poverty is not only about the numbers. It's about the stark realities of daily life for millions of Canadians. We hope that the numbers provided here will help communities share information, leverage resources and create solutions to the blight of urban poverty in Canada. Products in the Urban Poverty Project include community profiles, a time-series analysis of urban poverty trends over the 1990s, and a detailed snapshot of urban poverty using the 2001 Census data."
Click the link above to access the project files listed below:
*
Measuring Poverty: a backgrounder
* Media Release
* A Lost Decade - Urban
Poverty in Canada, 1990-2000
o Factsheet # 1: Looking Back
o Factsheet
# 2: Place Matters
o Factsheet # 3: Neighbourhood Poverty
* Detailed analyses
of different dimensions of urban poverty in 2000, presented in the following reports:
o Poverty by Geography
o Dimensions of Income Among Poor Households
o
Employment and Education
o Populations Vulnerable to Poverty
o Age, Gender
and Family
o Neighbourhood Poverty
* Community Profiles - an online database
containing demographic profiles of 111 communities across Canada;
* Poverty
Data Tables: Another online database, organized by levels of geography
* A
summary report on the Urban Poverty Project 2007 (forthcoming)
* UPP 2007
Bibliography
* Shelter - Homelessness in a growth economy:
Canada's 21st century paradox (by Gordon Laird, for the Sheldon Chumir Foundation)
* Talking about urban poverty: CCSD's Katherine Scott speaks to Senate Committee
on Social Affairs, Science and Technology (May 10, 2007)
* From the CCSD Archives:
Urban Poverty Project 2000
Related links:
* Measuring
Poverty
*
Media Release
* Community
Profiles
* From the CCSD Archives: Urban
Poverty Project 2000
Final
report of the meeting of
Social Planning Councils held in Toronto in May,
2006 (PDF file - 164K, 40 pages)
November 9, 2006
"A meeting
of Canadian social planning organizations was convened by the Canadian Council
on Social Development (CCSD) in Toronto, Ontario in early May 2006 with the support
of Human Resources and Social Development Canada. The planning group for the meeting
group included representatives from CCSD and social planning organizations from
across Canada. The [report] is a summary of discussion and next steps from this
meeting."
- includes links to websites of 30+ social planning organizations
and regional networks across Canada that participated in sessions to provide input
on the development of a pan-Canadian network
- also includes some interesting
contextual and historical information about the series of 12 (so far) biennial
Social Welfare Policy conferences going back to 1989 (although people of *my*
vintage recall that this series of conferences actually started in Calgary in
1982, and the role of social planning councils became more prominent starting
in 1989). I attended every one of the conferences in this series except the 1997
event in Regina, even the latest (2005) conference
in Fredericton that took place after I "retired". I always found
- along with many of my Ivory Tower colleagues at the time - that this venue was
invaluable in forging and nurturing good working relations with social researchers
in academia, the non-governmental sector and other federal and provincial government
officials. During my 30 years with the feds, I found that there were few other
self-development opportunities that offered me such a rich diversity of views
on government policy, and I was pleased and privileged to be a part of that. I
think all governments should make attendance at these cross-sectoral events mandatory
for their staff, as appropriate.
The
Health of Canadians
December 5, 2006
The
Health of Canadians is the newest addition to Stats & Facts,
a series of popular CCSD fact sheets that also includes:
* Demographics *
Family * Education * Health * Economic Security * Labour Market
- the health
fact sheet includes graphics and tables on the following topics:
Health
Care System
* Spending on Health Care * Spending on Prescription Drugs
* Access to Doctors * Patient Satisfaction
Health Behaviours
* Physical
Activity * Obesity * Smoking *
Health Status
* Self-rated Health
Chronic Health Conditions
* Asthma * Diabetes * Depression
Leading
Causes of Death
* Circulatory Disease * Cancer
[ Source:
Stats & Facts
]
The
Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector in Ontario (PDF file - 788K, 78 pages)
June
29, 2006
"This report kicks off a series of regional reports on the vital
'third pillar' of Canadian society. Written by Katherine Scott from the Canadian
Council on Social Development, the research is based on the National Survey of
Nonprofit and Voluntary Organizations, which was conducted by a consortium of
organizations in partnership with Statistics Canada."
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 2006
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.
Making
Connections:
Social and civic engagement among Canadian immigrants
April
2006
By Katherine Scott, Kevin Selbee and Paul Reed
New
Canadians participate, despite obstacles
Release
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
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!]
Perception
Magazine- Winter 2005
Cold Comfort - Volume 28, No. 1 & 2 (PDF
file - 1.2MB, 28 pages)
Table of Contents:
* Editorial (by Peter Bleyer)
* Lessons from Katrina: Preserving a civil society in the face of disaster (by
Paul Kovacs)
* Beyond wishful thinking: Emergency planning for persons with
disabilities (by Gail Fawcett)
* Why must chronic illness mean poverty and
isolation? (by Michel Martin)
* A cautionary tale from Australia (by Lynne
Wannan, Australian child care expert)
* The Progress of Canada's Children
and Youth 2006
* Battling stereotypes
* Changing from within
* Creating
safe and supportive environments for young Canadians (by Pam Joliffe)
* CCSD
Member Profile: St. Christopher House - A dynamo of social change
* A helping
hand up for the working poor (by Don Drummond and Gillian Manning)
* The World
We Have: Towards a new social architecture (by Katherine Scott)
* Rebuilding
Social Programs (by Ben Carniol)
Child
Poverty and the Canada Social Transfer: CCSD takes the Debate to the Prairies.
[October 6, 2005]
Let's
Make Productivity Work for Canadians
CCSD's Presentation to the Finance Committee
2005 Pre-budget Consultation
[October 5, 2005]
----------
2004-2005 CCSD Annual report (PDF file - 174K, 8 pages)
----------
Funding
Matters … For Our Communities:
Challenges and Opportunities for Funding
Innovation
in Canada’s Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector (PDF
file - 242K , 22 pages)
[September 8, 2005]
This report summarizes the findings
of workshops and presentations undertaken through this project, including common
themes and innovative community practice. It also includes an analysis of the
different proposals for funding reform raised over the course of the project.
Canadian
Social Welfare Policy Conference Proceedings
Fredericton - June 16-18,
2005
[Proceedings posted September 2005]
- incl. links to complete proceedings
and highlights for each of the three days of the conference; the link below is
to the complete proceedings.
----------
Conference
Proceedings with photographs (PDF file - 566K, 78 pages)
Related Links:
Canadian
Social Welfare Policy Conference Home Page
Highlights
from the Canadian Social Welfare Policy Conference in Fredericton:
*
Day 1 - June 16
* Day 2 - June 17
* Day 3 - June 18
*
(What conference?)
The
Weiler Award goes to --- Michael Goldberg!
On Day 2 of the Canadian
Social Welfare Policy Conference, the Weiler Award was presented to Vancouver-based
children's advocate Michael Goldberg on Friday at the Social Welfare Policy Conference
in Fredericton. This award honours Canadians who make outstanding contributions
to social justice and community development. For more information about the Award,
and about Mr. Goldberg and previous winners, see the Weiler
Award Page.
[Congratulations, Michael --- well done!]
----------
On
June 16, the Canadian Council on Social Development (CCSD) released two papers
in the New Social Architecture series.
This project is designed to
highlight and examine key social challenges facing Canada, and set out some strategic
options for change.
The
World We Have: Towards a New Social Architecture (PDF file - 316K,
49 pages)
June 2005
by Katherine Scott, CCSD
Postponed
Adulthood: Dealing with the New Economic Inequality (PDF file - 189K,
11 pages)
by John Myles, University of Toronto
Related Link:
The New Social Architecture Series and other CCSD Policy Initiatives
----------
Disability
Information Sheet #20
June 2005
"In this
Information Sheet, we examine the medication and health care patterns of children
with disabilities."
PDF
version - 221K, 8 pages
HTML
version
Source:
Disability
Research at the CCSD
NOTE: Click the link above for links to the complete
collection of information sheets, covering a wide range of disability-related
issues.
----------
Perception:
Volume 27, No. 3 & 4 - 2005 (PDF file - 879K, 32 pages)
Table
of Contents:
* The state of Canada's social programs
(by Peter Bleyer)
* View from Down Under: Lessons from the New Zealand Experience
(by Janet Creery)
* A New Social Partnership for Canada (by Ken Dryden)
* Addressing Child Poverty (by Ed Broadbent)
* A Strong Economy (by Monte
Solberg)
* Poverty in Canada: A matter of government priorities and societal
choices (by Christiane Gagnon)
* Universality of Social Programs versus Targeting:
Either neither, or both (by Richard Shillington)
* New challenges in social
development: Montreal, a case study (by Genviève Giasson, with assistance
from Marcel Cajelait and Jacques Savard)
* When Taxes are Good (by Jim Stanford)
* The Canada We Want? (by Al Hatton)
* 2005 Weiler Award Winner: Michael Goldberg
* In Their Own Words (Terrace Anti-Poverty Group Society; Pluri-elles; E.Fry Ottawa;
St. Joseph's Community Health Centre)
* George Davidson: Social Policy and
Public Policy Exemplar (book review by Michael Clague)
----------
What
Kind of Canada?
A Call for a National Debate on the Canada Social Transfer
April
8, 2004
"The CCSD is aware that the Canada Social Transfer, in and of
itself, will not resolve all Canada's social challenges. But it can, and should,
be a key instrument in our collective hands to help us address at least some of
these challenges. It is a useful starting point to get a healthy debate going.
A four-point agenda to renew the Canada Social Transfer is proposed:
1. The
Canada Social Transfer should be split into two parts: one for social programs
and the other for post-secondary education.
2. Funding for the Canada Social
Transfer should be restored to 1994-95 levels, and predictability and stability
of funding should be guaranteed.
3. Common principles and objectives for the
social transfer should be agreed to by all parties through a broad engagement
with Canadians.
4. A pan-Canadian body should be established to measure outcomes,
share innovation and foster citizen involvement."
Related Links:
Go
to the Canadian Social Research Links Canada
Assistance Plan/Canada Health and Social Transfer /Canada Social Transfer Resources
page
Proceedings
and Final Report on the Working Conference on Strategies to Ensure Economic Security
for All Canadians (PDF file - 150K, 24 pages)
November 28, 2003
by
Sally Lerner (University of Waterloo)
Urban
Poverty Project (part of the CCSD's Community
Social Data Strategy)
November 27, 2003
- incl. data on urban poverty
for municipalities and community-based organizations as a stand-alone product.
-
provides detailed information about low income down to
the level of Census Tracts, which have a population of 2,500 to 8,000 persons.
For smaller cities, available data will include Census dissemination areas, which
allow analysis of 400- to 700-person neighbourhood tracts.
- demographic characterisitics
: Income - Age - Education - Occupation - Labour force
status - Gender - Family status - Visible minority status - Aboriginal status
- Ethnic ancestry - Immigration - Language - People with disabilities - Mobility
"This information package will allow cities and non-profit organizations
to develop a more-thorough understanding of who in their area is living in low
income, and what are the characteristics of this population, such as where and
how they live, what their employment status is, and the like."
Related Report:
Urban Poverty in Canada: A Statistical
Profile (April 17, 2000)
- Full
Report
- Backgrounder
- Communiqué
(April 17, 2000)
- Highlights
- Resource People
Community
Social Data Strategy
New CCSD Sub-site (November 7, 2003)
"The
Community Social Data Strategy is a new and exciting project through which municipalities
and community-based organizations can access and analyze detailed research findings
from Statistics Canada cost effectively. It is an initiative of the Canadian Council
on Social Development in partnership with Statistics Canada."
- incl.
community-level data covering a broad range of social and economic factors, including:
* Census * Urban Poverty * Small Area and Administrative Data * Business Register
* Survey of Household Spending * Labour Force Survey and Survey of Labour and
Income Dynamics * Uniform Crime Reporting Survey * Canadian Community Health Survey
* Population Projections * Geography Products
Community
Social Data Strategy brochure (PDF file - 329K, 12 pages)
Partnering
Primer (PDF file - 1MB, 6 pages) - "how you can get involved with
the Community Social Data Strategy"
Canadians
increasingly anxious despite positive indicators
Press Release
November
3, 2003
Personal
Security Index 2003:
A reflection of how Canadians feel five years later
-
incl. links to : Press Release - Full Report - Highlights (Economic Security,
Health Security, Physical Safety and Regional Differences) - Backgrounders
Full
Report [PDF file - 380K, 87 pages]
Imagining
a Future of Inclusion: CCSD's submission to the
House Of Commons Standing
Committee On Finance
2003 Pre-Budget Consultations (PDF file,
130kb).
September 24, 2003
Funding
Matters: The Impact of Canada's New Funding Regime on Nonprofit and Voluntary
Organizations (2003)
Katherine Scott
- incl. Summary Report,
Communiqué, Fact Sheets and the [free!] complete report broken down into
individual chapters. The full report is approx. 175 pages.
Communiqué
(June 15, 2003)
"Society’s Third Pillar – the Nonprofit and
Voluntary Sector – Shows Signs of Cracking Under Strain of New Funding Regime"
Sources:
Canadian Council on Social Development
Canadian
Centre for Policy Alternatives
When Worlds
Collide: Implications of International Trade and Investment Agreements for Non-Profit
Social Services
by Andrew Jackson and Matthew Sanger
Download
Table of Contents and Introduction (PDF file - 205K, 15 pages)
Place
an order for this report
Read
the news release (June 16, 2003)
"When Worlds Collide: Canada's non-profit
social services need to be protected in the new round of trade agreements
OTTAWA--A
new study jointly released by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA)
and the Canadian Council on Social Development (CCSD) has concluded that government
support for non-profit social services could be at risk despite Canadian government
assurances that social policies will not be adversely affected by international
trade obligations..."
Sources:
Canadian
Council on Social Development
Canadian
Centre for Policy Alternatives
11th
Canadian Social Welfare Policy Conference - It's Time to Act!
Ottawa
June
15, 16 and 17, 2003
CCSD research staff were responsible
for the development of Chapter 5 (Young
Children with Disabilities in Canada) of the Government of Canada's
report The
Well-Being of Canada's Young Children.
Boomers
Beware: People with Disabilities Falling Between the Cracks
Press
Release
May 20, 2003
"Too many Canadians with disabilities are failing
to get the medication or medical attention they need according to Gail Fawcett,
Senior Research Associate at the Canadian Council on Social Development (CCSD).
This situation is particularly worrisome at a time when the demographic bulge
of the baby boomers is heading into age groups which are at higher risk for disabilities."
Disability
Research Information (DRI) Page
[version
française]
The Disability Research Information Page provides
centralized access to all disability research of the Canadian Council on Social
Development.
The collection of Disability Information Sheets (12
in all) provides information on the following topics : disability research sources,
possible disability research themes, issues around longitudinal research, education
and employment, children with disabilities and computers and technology.
-
also includes links to the following articles and reports : Special Education
in Canada (Fall 2001) - Children and Youth with Special Needs (November 2001)
- Bringing Down the Barriers: The Labour Market and Women with Disabilities in
Ontario (May 2000) - Living with Disability in Canada: An Economic Portrait (1996)
- Urban Poverty in Canada: A Statistical Profile (April 2000 )
NOTE : I usually
try to include direct links to online reports in these pages, but many of these
information sheets include additional tables and charts that you can only find
by going to the Disability Information page on the CCSD website (the link above).
The contents of each of the eight information sheets appear below, but the links
to each of them are on the DRI page.
Complete
collection of Disability Information Sheets also provides information
on the following topics : disability research sources, possible disability research
themes, issues around longitudinal research, education and employment, children
with disabilities and computers and technology.
A
Lost Decade: Income Equality and the Health of Canadians
December
2, 2002
Presentation by Katherine
Scott, Senior Policy and Research Associate, at the Social Determinants of Health
conference in Toronto
Progress
of Canada's Children 2002
November 4, 2002
- incl. links to
: Communiqué - Highlights - Backgrounder - Ontario Backgrounder - Speaking
Notes
Child
Hunger Increasing in Canada as Gap Widens Between Haves and Have-nots, CCSD Report
Concludes
November 4, 2002
Communiqué
"The
number of Canadian children going hungry is on the rise and shows no sign of letting
up, according to a report by the Canadian Council on Social Development (CCSD).
The Progress of Canada’s Children 2002 says that approximately 75,000 families
with children under the age of 12 reported being hungry in 1996 (the last year
for which data are available) – an increase of one-third from 1994."
Related Link:
The
Progress of Canada's Children 2001
CCSD
Submission to the Three-Year Review of the Social Union Framework Agreement
November
1, 2002
HTML format
PDF
format (33K, 9 pages)
Canadian
Council on Social Development's Checklist
of Key Commitments in the Speech from the Throne
September
27, 2002
Includes proposals in the following areas:
Poverty:
-
raise the annual child tax benefit from the current maximum of $2,440 to $4,200
per child, available to all low, modest and middle-income families.
- improve
the plight of the poorest children in Canada by prohibiting the clawback of the
National Child Benefit Supplement from families on social assistance.
- broaden
the Early Childhood Development agreement to include meeting the needs of school-aged
children in such areas as special education; recreation; health and safety.
-
Increase the basic tax exemption for low-income working families.
- Invest
in quality early childhood education and child care services that are universal,
inclusive and accessible.
Housing:
- get back into the affordable
housing business. Immediately increase the number of new affordable units produced
to 20,000 annually and the number of refurbished units to 10,000 per year.
Disabilities:
-
introduce a refundable disability credit.
Community Non-Profits:
-
ensure support for Canada's non-profit community.
Background
info:
"There is some evidence that the National Child Benefit, in
combination with an improving job market, has slightly reduced the extent and
depth of child poverty. But children in the very poorest families have actually
become poorer."
With
A Little Help from Your Friends
Op-ed by Marcel
Lauzière and John Anderson
September 27, 2002
Whatever
Happened to Social Development?
Submission
to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance
by the Canadian Council
on Social Development
Presented on May 21, 2002
Andrew Jackson, Director
of Research,
Canadian Council on Social Development
"From the Red Book of 1993 to the most recent Speech from the Throne,
the Liberals have correctly recognized that economic progress alone does not guarantee
social development, and that investment in social development plays an important
role in economic growth. In a knowledge-based economy and in the face of looming
skill shortages, it is foolish as well as moral not to address social exclusion."
Related Link :
A
Community Growing Apart : Income Gaps and Changing Needs in the City of Toronto
in the 1990s
October 2001
This report was prepared by the
Canadian Council on Social Development for the United Way of Greater Toronto.
Social
Development "Olympics" : Canada Beats USA - But Loses Gold to Sweden
March 8, 2002
"... a look at 25
key indicators of social development, nicely summarized in a table, with a bit
of accompanying text and a medal ceremony to boot! Available in HTML format and
also in PDF (acrobat reader) format."
Percentage
of Persons in Low Income/Poverty Before Tax, Canada, 1990 and 1999
February 2002
From the Free Statistics
section of the CCSD website
Reclaiming
our Humanity (PDF file - 213K, 83 pages)
December 2001
"This
is a new paper written by Sherri Torjman of the Caledon Institute on behalf of
the Coalition of National Voluntary Organizations, the Canadian Council on Social
Development and United Way Canada. It looks at the current context of social development
in Canada and identifies future policy direction. The paper sets out a vision
of vibrant communities that provide support, promote inclusion and encourage learning.
[January 11, 2002]"
In partnership with :
Coalition of National
Voluntary Organizations
Canadian Council on Social Development
United
Way of Canada-Centraide Canada
Canadian
Council on Social Development 2001 Budget Analysis
(December 11, 2001)
Good
Year Tops Off a Lost Decade: A Preliminary CCSD Analysis of Income Trends in Canada
to 1999
November 29, 2001
Overall, the period from 1989
to 1999 stands as a lost decade in terms of the social progress of Canadians.
Income inequality increased, particularly in terms of the distribution of market
income – that is, income before the impact of income taxes and government
transfers is taken into account. Poverty rose, then fell over this period, but
overall, little or no progress was made. Child poverty has increased, even though
the 1990s were supposed to be the decade in which poverty among children was to
be eliminated...
A
NEW WAY OF THINKING?
TOWARDS A VISION OF SOCIAL INCLUSION
Co-sponsored
by the Laidlaw Foundation and the Canadian
Council on Social Development
Conference
Ottawa, ON
November 8-9,
2001
Conference theme : the social inclusion/exclusion of children, families
and communities as a potential framework for policy and program development in
Canada.
Presenters included several international and national commentators
on social inclusion, researchers and authors of social inclusion papers for the
Laidlaw Foundation, and other public policy experts/practitioners from within
and outside of government.
Final Conference Program
Focus
Papers: Some of these are brief statements of presenters' views on the
topic of their conference presentation, but others contain pages and pages of
information. I've copied the whole list below to give you a sense of the content
of the conference and the names of the presenters, but you'll have to go to the
Focus Papers
page to click on the individual links.
The Social Exclusion of Children
in North America, by Shelley Phipps and Lori Curtis (Acrobat PDF file)
Speaking Notes, by David Miller
The Causes of Persistent Low Income:
A Key Barrier to Social Inclusion, by Michael Hatfield
Housing and
Social Inclusion: Asking the Right Questions, by Sharon Chisholm
Social
inclusion through early childhood education and care, by Martha Friendly
Social Inclusion in Action - Transforming Public Policies and Institutional
Practices as It Relates to Community Services, by Lois Yelland
The
Role of Recreation in Promoting Social Inclusion, by Peter Donnelly and Jay
Coakley
Social Inclusion as Solidarity: Re-Thinking the Child Rights Agenda,
by Michael Bach
Focus Paper, by Josephine Grey
Focus Paper
for A New Way of Thinking, by Wayne Helgason
Social Inclusion and
Diversity: Fries or Stir-Fry?, by Jean Lock Kunz (Ph.D)
Social Inclusion,
Citizenship and Diversity,by Anver Saloojee
Why social inclusion matters
to me, by Marvyn Novick
Social Inclusion: The Role of School Boards,
by Marie Pierce
Jeter les bases de sociétés sans pauvreté,
c'est possible, à la condition de «rêver logique»,
par Vivian Labrie
Does Work Include Children?, by Andrew Jackson and
Katherine Scott
Social inclusion in context: From experiences of exclusion
to a vision of inclusion, by Catherine Frazee
Social Inclusion: The
Foundation of Civic and Community Life, by Caroline Andrew
Social
Inclusion and Community Participation, by Peter Clutterbuck
Social
Inclusion: Foundation of a National Policy Agenda, by Stephan Klasen
The Dynamics of Social Inclusion and Exclusion in Public Education in Canada,
by Terry Wotherspoon
Focus Paper, by John Godfrey
Related Link :
Brief
to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance
by the Canadian Council on Social Development
October 22, 2001
CCSD’s Budget Brief, October 2001
– the CCSD’s budget brief
calls for an annual federal commitment of at least $1 Billion to a flexible, capital
grants program for the construction of affordable, rental housing.
Gaining
Ground : The Personal Security Index 2001
July
9, 2001
This report - the third in a series - provides
a regional comparison of a variety of indicators and perceptions of economic security
and physical safety among Canadians.
The Progress
of Canada's Children 2001
March 27, 2001
Communiqué
Backgrounder
Highlights
Section
1: Table of Contents, Intro, Highlights (Acrobat
Reader required)
We need to build on the National
Children's Agenda and take it beyond early childhood development, to create a
national, coherent approach to providing supports for children of all age groups.
Low Income Trends
in the 1990s
January 2001
Includes
: Defining Low Income - The Causes of Low Income - An Overview of Low Income Incidence
and Trends in the 1990s - Depth of Low Income - Duration of Low Income - Future
Prospects
The
Early Childhood Development Initiative : Challenges for the voluntary sector
Perception (CCSD newsletter) - Volume 24, No. 3 - December
2000
"...the level of funding is clearly insufficient,
and there is a lack of clarity about exactly how the funds will be spent and how
governments will report back to Canadians"
NOTE
: Go to the Perception page
of the CCSD site to see selected content from issues going right back to 1994.
Here's sampling of the topics covered : racism; reducing child
and family poverty; school food programs; maternity leave & self-employment;
disability and labour force; international conference on social development; welfare
reform in BC; Aboriginal poverty; national children's agenda
Why
We Don't Have to Choose between Social Justice and Economic Growth:
The myth
of the equity/efficiency trade-off
Fall 2000
Complete report online - includes :
-
Introduction
- The Equity/Efificiency Trade-off in Practice:
Empirical evidence for North American and European OECD countries in the 1990s
- Which Model Works Best? A comparison of economic and social
performance in the 1990s
- Causes of Success and Failure
- What About Globalization?
- Conclusion
Time to Debate
Social Canada
October 31, 2000
It
is our hope that this will be an occasion for a major public debate on social
issues, and on the relative priority to be given to new social investments. It's
in this context that the CCSD has drafted a short commentary entitled Time
to Debate Social Canada.
Opinion
articles submitted by Andrew Jackson, Director of Research, CCSD
September 20, 2000
- to the Globe &
Mail: Can we grow together?
- to the Toronto Star: Soaring
energy prices: what will happen when winter comes?
The
Canadian Fact Book on Poverty 2000
July 19, 2000
Communiqué:
Poverty trends call for new approach in government policy
Highlights
Note
to readers
Chapter
1: Introduction
Chapter
10: Conclusion
** Chapter
2: Working Definitions of Poverty (PDF file, 250K) - posted to the web
August 3, 2000
Here are the main measures of poverty
in Canada in 2000 discussed in this 32-page chapter:
-
Statistics Canada's Low Income Cut-offs (LICO), calculated using both pre- and
post-tax income;
- Statistics Canada's Low Income Measure
(LIM);
- Canadian Council on Social Development Lines
of Income Inequality;
- Market Basket Measure (MBM)
under development by the federal, provincial and territorial governments;
- Fraser Institute poverty lines;
-
Montreal Diet Dispensary guidelines;
- Social Planning
Council of Metropolitan Toronto budget guides;
- The
Cost of Living Guidelines developed by the Social Planning Council of B.C.
In Chapter 2, you'll find recent and detailed information about
each one of the measures in the list above, plus an analysis of social assistance
rates and public opinion as benchmark comparisons, the depth of poverty and other
issues. Includes tables showing poverty levels in Canada according to each
measure for 2000.
What's
Behind a Poverty Line? Backgrounder on Statistics Canada's Income in Canada
June 9, 2000
Backgrounder
Personal Security Index 2000 (April 26, 2000)
- Communiqué
- Highlights
- Full Report
(PDF file, 2643K - 35 pages)
Urban Poverty in Canada:
A Statistical Profile (April 17, 2000)
- Full
Report
- Backgrounder
- Communiqué
- Highlights
- Resource People
Position
Paper on the 2000 Federal Budget
March 13, 2000
"On balance, Budget 2000 represents a step in the right
direction, but much work remains to be done to address the needs of poor Canadians."
The Progress of Canada's
Children into the Millennium
January 25, 2000
Progress 2000 tracks social and economic indicators
in a number of areas affecting the lives of Canadian children at home, at school
and in their neighbourhoods.
- includes links to Highlights
- Backgrounder - Communiqué - List of Resource People - Français
Child Poverty in
Canada: The time to act is now
A submission
by David Ross to the Op-ed Page of the Saint John Telegraph-Journal
November 2, 1999
CCSD's
submission to the Standing Committee on Finance, detailing our priorities for
the 2000 federal budget - October 26, 1999
-
"To lay the conditions for future social cohesion and sustainable economic
prosperity shared by all, the CCSD is calling for a Children's Budget focused
on the critical needs of Canadian children, youth and families"
- incl. "Reinvesting in the Social Infrastructure" - improvements
to the NCA and NCB, for example...
"The CCSD also
recommends that the government index the child benefit system to inflation (at
an estimated cost of $200 million per year) and ensure that benefits flow to all
poor children, including those living in families that rely on social assistance."
Income
and Child Well-being: A new perspective on the poverty debate (May 1999)
David P. Ross and Paul Roberts
Check out these complete IDRC reports online:
A
State of the Art Review of Income Security Reform in Canada
Jane
Pulkingham & Gordon Ternowetsky (1998)
International Development Research Centre*
(Click on the title of
the report above to go directly to the table of contents.
The entire
report is online)
- Includes an extensive, detailed
overview of income security reforms in Canada in the 1990s, specifically around
the Canada Health and Social Transfer, a review and typology of current research
in virtually every area of federal and provincial/territorial social programs
and a section on the impact of changes since the CHST and related social reforms.
- Recommended reading for anyone looking for information about the critical
forces that have shaped income security programs in Canada and that continue to
do so as we approach the new millennium.
- Topics covered include welfare
reforms, the National Child Benefit and child poverty, unemployment/employment
insurance reforms, pension reform and the retirement income system, labour market
policies, the Social Union, income security reforms in the broader context of
social security reform, etc.
*The International
Development Research Centre website also includes many links to information
on similar reforms in developing countries
"The International Development
Research Centre is a public corporation created by the Canadian government to
help communities in the developing world find solutions to social, economic, and
environmental problems through research."
Complete reports online
include the following:
Social
Policy Challenges in a Global Society
by
Keith Banting (1995)
- An extensive and excellent treatise on
globalization, trade agreements, social need and reforms.
Establishing
an Effective Social Policy Agenda with Constrained Resources
by
Peter Hicks (1995)
- An excellent article written by
a senior HRDC official at the time. It presents some interesting historical information
about the evolution of Canadian social programs from the sixties to the early
nineties.
- Social historians will be particularly interested in the
author's analysis of the 1994 SSR discussion paper...
Social
Policy Reform in Canada Under Regional Economic Integration by Albert
Berry
- This article covers issues such as the harmonization and convergence
of social programs, rationalization, privatization, cost-saving, competitiveness
and social policy reform
Centre for the
Study of Living Standards (CSLS) - Canada
"The Centre for the
Study of Living Standards is a non-profit, national, independent organization
that seeks to contribute to a better understanding of trends in and determinants
of productivity, living standards and economic and
social well-being through
research."
Index
of Economic Well-being
Has economic well-being increased or decreased
in recent years, and is it higher or lower in one country compared to others?
Traditionally these questions have been answered by looking at trends in and comparisons
of GDP per capita, but this is a poor measure of economic well-being. It measures
consumption incompletely, ignoring the value of leisure and longer life spans,
and it also ignores the value of accumulation for future generations. Furthermore,
since it is an average, GDP per capita gives no indication of the likelihood that
an individual will share in prosperity nor of the degree of anxiety with which
individuals contemplate their futures."
- incl. links to:
Introduction
and Methodology - The Index for Canada -The Index for Canada and the United States
- The Index for Canada and the Provinces - The Index for OECD Countries - An Index
of Labour Market Well-being - Weighting tool for Canada and OECD Countries
CSLS Research reports - 100+ links
Selected site content :
CSLS
News - Autumn 2011 (PDF - 726K, 24 pages)
The Fall 2011 issue of the CSLS newsletter provides a comprehensive overview
of CSLS activities. The newsletter includes summaries of ten recently released
CSLS research reports, some of which are highlighted below. All reports are
freely accessible at www.csls.ca
On September 6, 2011, the Centre for the Study
of Living Standards released two new reports on the Index of Economic Well-being:
* Beyond GDP: Measuring
Economic Well-being in Canada and the Provinces, 1981-2010 (PDF
- 3.7MB, 99 pages)
and
* Moving from a GDP-Based
to a Well-being Based Metric of Economic Performance and Social Progress: Results
from the Index of Economic Well-Being for OECD Countries, 1980-2009
(PDF - 1.3MB, 87 pages)
The first report finds that the Index of Well-Being (IEWB) for Canada was 1.4 per cent higher in 2010 than it was in 2009, but that it has not yet recovered to its 2008 level. The second report finds that Norway maintains its top standing in the 2009 IEWB rankings of the group of 14 OECD countries considered, while Canada remains in ninth place.
On August 30, 2011, the Centre for the Study of Living Standards released a report entitled Human Capital and Productivity in British Columbia (PDF - 1.3MB, 87 pages), prepared for the BC Progress Board, provides an assessment of human capital development in British Columbia.
On August 29, 2011, the Centre for the Study of Living Standards released a report entitled The Levy Institute Measure of Economic Well-Being: Estimates for Canada, 1999 and 2005. The report develops estimates of the Levy Institute Measure of Economic Well-being (LIMEW) for Canada in order to estimate the average Canadian household’s total command over economic resources. This report indicates that the LIMEW in Canada grew modestly between 1999 and 2005 at 1.08 per cent per year.
On August 22, 2011, the Centre for the Study of Living Standards released a report entitled Economic Activity of the On-Reserve Aboriginal Identity Population in Canada: Gross Domestic Product Estimates for Indian Reserves, 2000 and 2005. This report develops earnings based estimates of the GDP of reserves in 2000 and 2005 using two approaches: a "top-down" approach that employs provincial-level data and a "bottom-up" approach that employs reserve-level data.
On August 10, 2011, the Centre for the Study of Living Standards released two reports: A Detailed Analysis of the Productivity Performance of the Canadian Primary Agriculture Sector (PDF - 2MB, 134 pages) and A Detailed Analysis of the Productivity Performance of Canadian Food Manufacturing (PDF - 963K, 105 pages). The reports analyze labour productivity and MFP trends over the 1961-2007 period, and discuss the main sources and drivers of productivity growth in each of these sectors.
On July 22, 2011, the Centre for the Study of Living Standards announced that a dinner will be held in Ottawa on September 16, 2011 in honour of long-time CSLS Chair Ian Stewart on the occasion of his 80th birthday. [More information].
Source:
Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS)
The Centre for the Study of Living Standards is a non-profit, national, independent
organization that seeks to contribute to a better understanding of trends in
and determinants of productivity, living standards and economic and social well-being
through research.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Announcements & Recent Releases from the
Centre for the Study of Living Standards:
On May 18, 2011, the Centre for the Study of Living
Standards released the Spring
issue of the International Productivity Monitor. This issue contains
five articles on: productivity and economic growth in Europe; productivity growth
in the Canadian transportation equipment industry; differences in the provinces’
productivity performance over the 1997-2007 period; parallels between Latin
America’s and Canada’s productivity performance; and the effects of
the ageing of the workforce on productivity.
[ Related press release
(small PDF file) ]
On May 18, 2011, the Centre for the Study of Living Standards released ten reports outlining the productivity performance of each province over the 1997-2007 period .
The reports discuss growth rates and levels of
labour, capital, and multifactor productivity for the provinces’ market
sector as a whole, as well as at the two-digit NAICS level.
[ Synthesis of the ten
reports - (April 2011 - PDF file - 1.5MB, 170 pages) ]
Source:
Centre for the Study of Living Standards
The Centre for the Study of Living Standards is a non-profit, national, independent
organization that seeks to contribute to a better understanding of trends in
and determinants of productivity, living standards and economic and
social well-being through research.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recent Release of New Research
Products from the
Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS)
The Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS), a national, independent, not-for-profit, economic research organization, recently released five new research reports and one new research note. The new research documents are briefly described below:
* On July
27, the CSLS released a new research note “Median
Wages and Productivity Growth in Canada and the United States”
(PDF - 434K, 12 pages).
Two key findings were that (1) the rise in inequality
was a much more important factor for the divergence between the growth rates of
labour productivity and real wages in the United States and that (2) ambiguity
in the interpretation of labour share suggests the attention should be more appropriately
focused on rising inequality as a key driver of the divergence between the growth
of real wages and labour productivity.
* The
Advisory Panel on Labour Market Information recently tabled its Final
Report.
The CSLS has been an active participant to the Panel through
its report Best Practices
in Labour Market Information: Recommendations for Canada's LMI System
(PDF - 858K, 55 pages), released in July 2009. The report presented 20 recommendations
to improve the operation of LMI in Canada in the areas of LMI data, LMI analysis
and forecasting, and LMI dissemination.
* On June 10, the Institute of Wellbeing and its signature product, the Canadian Index of Wellbeing were officially launched at the St. Lawrence Hall in Toronto. The CSLS has been an active participant in this important development, and in particular wrote the report on the living standards domain of the CIW.
*
On May 21, the CSLS released a research report, The
Effect of Increasing Aboriginal Educational Attainment on the Labour Force, Output
and the Fiscal Balance (PDF - 1.6MB, 108 pages).
This report examines
the potential economic gains of increased Aboriginal education, as well as the
fiscal implications of increased education and improved Aboriginal social well-being
for Canadian governments to 2026. Most notably, it concludes that if the Aboriginal
population were to attain complete economic and social parity with the non-Aboriginal
population, Canadian governments would improve their balance sheets by nearly
$12 billion in 2026 alone.
* On
May 13, the CSLS released a research report, The
Ontario-Quebec Continental Gateway: A Situational Analysis of Human Resources
Needs (PDF - 5.2MB, 173 pages).
This report examines human resource
and skills issues pertaining to the Ontario-Quebec Continental Gateway and Trade
Corridor over the short- to medium-term and concludes that despite the economic
downturn, there may be shortages of skilled labour in certain occupations.
* On May 12, the CSLS released a research report, A
Review of the Potential Impacts of the Métis Human Resources Development
Agreements in Canada (PDF - 1.1MB, 80 pages).
The report concludes
that the Métis Human Resources Development Agreements result in annual
fiscal savings of $8.5 million to the federal and five provincial governments
covered by the program, with total lifetime benefits of one year of Métis
programming reaching $103 million.
* In addition, the CSLS recently released a new multifactor productivity database for Canada and the provinces. Unlike the earlier CSLS database, the new estimates adjust labour and capital inputs for changes in composition and are methodologically consistent with national estimates produced by Statistics Canada. The data cover the period 1997-2007 and 15 industries. All CSLS databases can be found in the Data section of the CSLS website.
Source:
Centre
for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS)
The Centre for the Study of
Living Standards is a non-profit, national, independent organization that seeks
to contribute to a better understanding of trends in and determinants of productivity,
living standards and economic and
social well-being through research
Also from CLSL:
International
Productivity Monitor - Spring 2009 Issue
May
28, 2009
The Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS), a national, independent,
not-for-profit, economic research organization, today released the Spring 2009
issue of the International Productivity Monitor.
Highlights of the issue:
*
Serge Coulombe and Jean-Francois Tremblay of the University of Ottawa provide
a synthesis of the literature on the relationship between education and productivity.
A key finding is that the macroeconomic returns to education depend on a country’s
distance from the world technology frontier. Given that Canada is close to the
frontier, the authors conclude that the returns to additional investment in post-secondary
education could be substantial.
* Andrew Sharpe and Jean-Francois Arsenault
from the Centre for the Study of Living Standards present new estimates of productivity
for the Canadian provinces from 1997 to 2007.
Perhaps surprisingly, Newfoundland
recorded the best productivity performance while Alberta had the worst. In both
cases, the oil and gas sector was largely responsible, reducing productivity growth
in Alberta as resources moved from into the lower productivity oil sands (relative
to conventional oil and gas) and raising it in Newfoundland as the output expanded
rapidly in the high productivity oil and gas sector.
* In late April the
Council of Canadian Academies (CCA) released the Expert panel report on business
innovation in Canada.
The first article by CCA President Peter Nicholson
summarizes the report, arguing that Canada's lagging productivity growth has been
due to subpar innovation. He concludes that too many businesses in Canada are
technology followers, not leaders, and that what is needed is a fresh discussion
on factors that influence the adoption of innovation-based business strategies.
Three commentaries on the report follow, by Richard Hawkins of the University
of Calgary, Jorge Niosi from the University of Quebec at Montreal, and Ian A.
Stewart, a former Deputy Minister of Finance.
International
Productivity Monitor - Spring 2008
[ version
française ]
On May 12, the Centre for the Study of Living Standards
(CSLS), a national, independent, not-for-profit, economic research organization,
released the Spring 2008 issue of the International Productivity Monitor. The
issue contains five articles : two on the productivity performance of the Canadian
economy and three in a symposium on data needs for better productivity measurement.
*
Editor’s Overview
* Business Sector Productivity in Canada: What Do We
Know? By Paul Boothe and Richard Roy
* An Analysis of the Causes of Weak Labour
Productivity Growth in Canada since 2000 - By Jean-François Arsenault and
Andrew Sharpe
* Symposium on Data Needs for Better Productivity Measurement
---
What Is To Be Done for Better Productivity Measurement - By Erwin Diewert
---
The State of Data for Services Productivity Measurement in the United States -
By Jack E. Triplett and Barry P. Bosworth
--- Data for Productivity Measurement
in Market Services: An International Comparison - By Robert Inklaar, Marcel P.
Timmer and Bart van Ark
Earlier Issues of the Monitor (16 issues , back to Fall 2000)
Canadian Centre
for Policy Ingenuity (CCPI)
"The CCPI is a non-profit organization
that solves significant social, economic and environmental problems by applying
systems thinking to policy development and activation."
- someone from
CCPI contacted me by e-mail to ask me to post a link to this site --- although
there's not really much content on the site yet except for the full text of the
(above) Globe article, which I found interesting enough to share.
[- an "About
this Site" page would be very nice...]
Think-tanks
changing their minds
Many
top Canadian policy-makers are moving on.
Maybe it's time for a bit more edge
or relevance, reports CAMPBELL CLARK
August 20, 2005
OTTAWA
-- A generation of influential Canadian policy-makers are moving on. They're not
politicians or bureaucrats, but the heads of think-tanks, the deep thinkers sought
out for fresh ideas by government leaders. It is part of a widespread rollover
that is leaving Canada's think-tank sector at a crossroads. Even some of the current
crop say the field may be strong but it could use something more -- a bit more
edge, a little worldliness, or a touch more relevance -- to fill a market of ideas
undersupplied by a sterile political debate.(...) The think-tank positions certainly
have influence. Brian Guest, a former senior aide to Paul Martin who left the
prime minister's office to co-found the Canadian Centre for Policy Ingenuity,
which deals with the issues of cities and the environment, said his interest in
think-tanks was sparked because he had to keep up with Mr. Martin's demands for
arguments about their papers or perspective from someone such as Ms. Maxwell."
Source:
The
Globe and Mail
The Canadian Research Institute for Social Policy (CRISP) is a multi-disciplinary research organization based at the University of New Brunswick (UNB) in Fredericton. CRISP is dedicated to improving the effectiveness of social policy in Canada, to help Canadian communities provide better education and care for their children, and to contribute to capacity-building efforts in developing countries.
Canadian
Institute for Advanced Research (CIAR)
The Canadian
Institute for Advanced Research spans a country and connects with the world to
initiate and conduct basic research in the natural and social sciences. CIAR links
some of the best Canadian and international research minds in dynamic networks
that often include unanticipated and innovative combinations of disciplines
to collaborate on large questions from fresh perspectives. It constitutes Canada's
research university without walls, creating communities of scholars from different
places and divergent fields who are working at the frontier of knowledge and generating
new insights.
CIAR has three research programs vital to human well-being (Human Development; Population Health; Economic Growth and Policy); three dealing with the physical and biological origins and preservation of the planet Earth (Cosmology and Gravity; Earth System Evolution; Evolutionary Biology) and two in materials science (Superconductivity; and Nanoelectronics).
Founders' Network
"The
Founders' Network links a diverse group of individuals from across Canada and
in other countries. We are an international collection of people interested in
promoting the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIAR), science and technology,
early childhood, economic issues, determinants of health and human development."
The
Early Years Study - Three Years Later
From Early Child Development to Human
Development: Enabling Communities (PDF file - 1.5MB, 58 pages)
August
2002
by Margaret McCain and J. Fraser Mustard
"Ontario has the opportunity
to provide leadership in enabling communities to put in place ECD programs to
improve human development for the future. This investment is key for the future
of our next generation communities and society."
The
authors of the original study offer their comments on the response of the Government
of Ontario to the recommendations in the report.
Here's the link to the original report, done for the Ontario (govt.) Children's Secretariat (which no longer exists, but the report is on the Founders' Network site):
Reversing
the Brain Drain : The Early Years Study - Final Report (PDF file -
1.1MB, 207 pages)
February 1999 (Modified 06/2002, according to the Adobe file
info)
Co-Chairs : Margaret McCain and J. Fraser Mustard
Social
Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)
Arm's-length agency of the federal government responsible for funding basic research
in the social sciences and humanities in Canada. SSHRC funds researchers at post
secondary institutions, via a process of rigourous, non-partisan, peer review
of their research proposals. SSHRC also supports young researchers ( MA, PhD,
Post Doc) through a similar process of evaluation.
See the sitemap for : Research
News - About SSHRC - Program Information - Human Sciences Links - Career Opportunities
- Policy Documents
Satellite
maps lead the way to healthier neighbourhoods:
$2.3 million SSHRC project
analyzes impact of community resources on childhood development
May
6, 2003
"The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
(SSHRC) is investing $2.3 million in a study that will examine the link between
the location of neighbourhood resources and the health and school readiness of
children. (...) The Consortium for Health, Intervention, Learning and Development
(CHILD) Project—led by the University of British Columbia’s Hillel Goelman,
associate director of the Human Early Learning Partnership—will examine the
physical, intellectual and social development of young children in various neighbourhoods
and map their growth and well-being in light of community resources."...more
Early
Development in Vancouver: Report of the Community Asset Mapping Project (CAMP)
- (PDF file - 137K, 52 pages)
Clyde Hertzman, Sidney A.McLean, Dafna E.Kohen,
Jim Dunn, Terry Evans
August 2002
Executive
Summary (small PDF file)
Accompanying
Maps (PDF file - 2.7MB)
Related Link:
Human
Early Learning Partnership
Court Challenges Program of Canada/Programme de Contestation Judiciaire du Canada
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 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")
Miscellaneous
Atkinson Charitable Foundation - Established in 1947, this private Canadian foundation provides grants for innovative, Ontario-based projects that focus on either early childhood education and development or economic justice. The list of funded projects for 1998 alone is impressive...
Donner Canadian Foundation - The Donner Canadian Foundation was established in 1950 by William H. Donner. In the mid-1960s, the Foundation began to focus on specific program interests, among these, research on public policy. The Donner family chose Canada’s centennial year, 1967, to embark on a course of professional grantmaking that has contributed well over $100 million to more than 1,000 projects across Canada and around the world. In addition to ongoing funding of public policy research, the Foundation supports environmental, international development, and social service projects.
Trillium Foundation (Ontario)
Humanities
and Social Sciences Federation of Canada
The
Humanities and Social Sciences Federation of Canada promotes teaching, research,
and scholarship in the humanities and social sciences and a better understanding
of the importance of such work for Canada and the world.
The
Wellesley Institute
The Wellesley Institute is a Toronto-based non-profit
and non-partisan research and policy institute. Our focus is on developing research
and community-based policy solutions to the problems of urban health and health
disparities. We are committed to advancing the health of urban populations.
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