What you know - Federal
The materials below have been selected for their relevance to social policy -- both in a legislative context, and in a more general policy context. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list, but rather to provide the most helpful materials to the policy maker or advocate.
Topics and Issues:
Canada Health and Social Transfer
Social Union
Earlier this month (February 1999), nine provinces and the federal government announced a framework agreement on the social union. In it, the provinces agreed to having only six provinces (any six provinces) sign on to a federal program to have it go ahead, and without any assurances of an "opt-out" provision, which would require the federal government to compensate those provinces that chose to deliver the same program in a different way. In return, the federal government committed itself to reinstating health funding cut with the introduction of the Canada Health and Social Transfer, and to prior notification and consultation before a new federal spending program in a provincial jurisdiction is initiated.
Commentaries on the social union are still coming in, but a notable one has been prepared by the National Association of Women and the Law and the Charter Committee on Poverty Issues. Also of interest is a citizens' checklist, prepared by the Canadian Policy Research Networks (CPRN) president Judith Maxwell, as a mechanism to allow Canadian citizens to evaluate the social union agreement.
Begun as a response to initiatives from provincial premiers, the federal government engaged in social union negotiations, leading up to the agreement. The "social union" was defined on its own website as "... the umbrella under which governments will concentrate their efforts to renew and modernize Canadian social policy. It focuses on the pan-Canadian dimension of health and social policy systems, the linkages between the social and economic unions, and the recognition that reform is best achieved in partnership among provinces, territories and the Government of Canada. The primary objective of the social union initiative is to reform and renew Canada's system of social services and to reassure Canadians that their pan-Canadian social programs are strong and secure."
Both the National Child Benefit and the national framework on disability are being retroactively defined as social union initiatives.The federal team was headed up by Alex Himmelfarb (formerly of the Privy Council Office, now working for the Treasury Board), with Ministerial leadership from the Honourable Anne McClellan.
The social union is also a battleground for federalism versus sovereignty, Quebec style. In a December speech, the Minister for Intergovernmental Affairs, the Honourable Stéphane Dion, addressed the Women's Canadian Club in Toronto on this subject, arguing for a federalist approach to the social union. It should be expected that it will continue to provide fuel for the debate, as Quebec was the only province not to agree to the framework document.
Canada Health and Social Transfer (CHST)
This legislation, passed in 1996, replaced the Canada Assistance Plan and Established Program Financing as the federal-provincial cost-sharing arrangement for health, post-secondary education, social services, and social assistance. It changed the amounts allocated, and changed the conditions and the delivery agent, in the case of social services and social assistance. In this area, matched funding was exchanged for block funding, conditions were removed for the transfer, and the administering department changed from Human Resources Development (formerly Health and Welfare) to Finance.
While the legislation itself is not available on-line, two federal government explanations are. Ironically, the best of the two is posted by Agriculture Canada, in the form of a detailed fact sheet. The second source of government information is from the Department of Finance, and is a shorter overview, but has all the important numbers in it.
A truly magnificent site, designed to serve as an internet "course" for Carleton students, provides detail on the shift from CAP to the CHST. It's a must-read for a quick but detailed overview!
Commentary on the CHST has been more plentiful, and is still available on the Word Wide Web. Some of the best are from:
 | Canadian Policy Research Networks, Inc. president Judith Maxwell, in an address to the Canadian Association of Business Economists; |
| the Caledon Institute, which asks whether national standards are possible under the CHST; and |
| C.D. Howe Institute's paper on fiscal transfers under the CHST. |
National Child Benefit
The National Child Benefit, comprising a federal tax benefit to low-income families with children and provincial spending on services to supplement the transfer, was introduced by the federal government in 1996, and takes effect on July 1, 1998. The federal government's information on the NCB is thorough, though it doesn't include detailed provincial plans. Interim steps by the federal government included a 1997 budget commitment. It is noteworthy, however, that in the earliest days of the CHST, it was provincial governments who identified children as a high priority, and who, in 1997, called for a national "children's agenda". For a good overview of the NCB, Senator Landon Pearson's newsletter on children and the Hill is a useful starting place.
Responses and analyses to the NCB have been extremely varied. Gordon Ternowetsky, of the University of Regina, made a presentation to the Prince George Anti-Poverty Coalition, pointing out its deficiencies. At the other extreme, the Caledon Institute prepared an article for the Globe and Mail, arguing that the time had come for the NCB. Also of interest are the responses from the National Anti-Poverty Organization (NAPO), and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).
Provincial positions and activities on the NCB are listed below:
| Manitoba reaffirmed its commitment to the national child benefit in 1997, in a press release; |
| Newfoundland's initial response to the NCB was a positive one in the legislature; more recently, the Minister of Human Resources and Employment spoke to the legislature about the benefit; |
| Saskatchewan's social services minister released a press release in 1997 urging his federal and provincial counterparts to move quickly on implementing the NCB; |
Disability
While the responsibility for disability policy crosses several departments and several jurisdictions, the perspective is often pan-Canadian. Since the provincial premiers identified disability along with children as their top two social policy issues, back in 1996, effort across Canada has focussed on how to build better income support and services for persons with disabilities who need them. Current income security and services for persons with disabilities include the disability benefits provided by the Canada and Quebec Pension Plans (C/QPP), income for low-income people unable to work (social assistance), and what used to be known as Vocational Rehabilitation for Disabled Persons (VRDP), recently replaced by Employment Assistance for People with Disabilities (EAPD). A useful and detailed overview of Canadian policy from the perspective of someone outside Canada is provided, although it predates the EAPD. A backgrounder on the EAPD is provided by the federal government.
The shortest description of disability benefits under C/QPP is provided by a site intended to be used by employers. The most detailed is offered by Human Resources Development Canada, on a dedicated web site.
In 1997, four federal cabinet ministers appointed a Task Force on Disability Issues, drawn from Liberal members of Parliament. Its report provided detailed and broad recommendations for future direction in the area of disability policy.
Top
Child Care
Child care is the one broken promise that the Liberal government keeps trying to forget. In the first policy platform (Red Book I), the goverment made the commitment. Ever since, they've been backing down, hoping it would go away.
But go away it won't, due mostly to very dedicated individuals and organizations who keep making their case. Interesting 1997 data show that, on average, daycare cost a Canadian family $600 per month. The most recent and thorough analysis of child care in Canada was commissioned by Status of Women Canada, and is available on the web.
In addition to web sites, there are good books on this subject, including one by Martha Friendly, an outline of which appears on the web.
Labour Markets
Labour markets -- finding people jobs and getting people to take jobs -- are often presented as "the best social program", the "engine of economic growth", and many other fine things. Whether a way to cut back on social spending, or a way to target new spending to "value-added human resources", labour markets have never been so important to policy makers as they are today.
The most thorough review of labour markets in Canada and recommendations with regard to them was undertaken in 1997, by the Canadian Labour Force Development Board. A 1996 study by Gordon Betcherman and Kathryn McMullen on the future of work in Canada identified the labour market issues that preoccupy us today. Labour mobility is part of the agreement among provinces to remove barriers to internal trade, and much more has been made of international agreements that Canada has signed to reduce trade barriers between Canada and other countries.