What you know - International
This section has been divided into two major sections: materials and documents from international organizations to which Canada belongs or which have influence over social policy in Canada; and domestic policies and laws from other countries. Clearly, the list is not exhaustive, and has been compiled selectively. Your comments on suggested additions and deletions are welcome. Please use feedback form to provide them.
International Organizations
Canada belongs to several international organizations that have extensive policy shops of their own, and whose policy initiatives often reflect or lead those of Canadian governments. Among these are the United Nations, the Orgnisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, and the World Trade Organization. Each has a wide range of interests, including social policy.
Canada has pointed proudly over the past three years to its number one position in the United Nations Human Development Index, intended to combine a number of indicators to rank member countries by how well they far with human development. It is notable, however, that Canada ranked only seventh in gender empowerment.
Equally important, Canada signed the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and is held accountable for its performance through five-year reviews by the United Nations committee. In the fall of 1998, Canada's performance was reviewed, and found sadly lacking.
Their report is available on the Internet . The governments' submissions to the Committee also provide a wealth of information, and are available on-line. The federal response is also on-line; a list of all the provincial reports, with hotlinks to them, is also on the Web. While the report deals with a wide range of issues, one of the most interesting is the Committee's distress over the federal government's inability to determine the extent to which its obligations are being achieved, because of the Canada Health and Social Transfer and the absence of reporting requirements within it. Also of interest are comments on housing, the particularly adverse impacts of social policy reform on women, and the failure of government to achieve progress for persons with disabilities.
Much of the Committee's findings were based on extremely good homework by non-goverment organizations including the Charter Committee on Poverty Issues , the National Anti-Poverty Organization and its brief, and the brief submitted by the National Association of Women and the Law.
In addition, the UN sponsored a World Summit on Social Development, whose action plan and program are being monitored internationally.
Among the more important OECD initiatives that have either originated in Canada, or were transmitted to Canada's domestic agenda quickly, were concepts about life-long learning, and about societal cohesion. More recently, the OECD has focussed on ageing, private pension reform, and care for the frail elderly. In June, 1998, OECD Ministers met to discuss a caring society; the proceedings of this conference are not yet available.
The World Trade Organization, currently headed up by a Canadian, influences the rules surrounding our trading relations. Earlier this year (May 1998), Prime Minister Chrétien circulated a statement reflecting the concern of Canadians about trade and social policy.
Several international partnerships have emerged to assist in doing international comparisons among developed countries, and to assist in assessing global impacts of international initiatives. Among these are the Globalism and Social Policy Programme (GASPP).
Policy from Outside Canada
While Canada's most obvious point of comparison is the United States, at least as common are comparisons to European countries. A group of European academics took the unusual step of signing a declaration in 1997, outlining what would constitute social quality in the European Union. This can be compared for content with the section of the European Community Treaty on social policy.
For the broadest comparison of Canada with other nations, visit the site maintained by the US Social Security Administration, which has links to standardized reports on social security programs for dozens of countries including Canada. Regrettably, the data are for everything except social assistance.
The European-based Comparative Research Programme on Poverty (CROP) provides a wide range of internationally comparative poverty data, and a wide range of useful policy research documents. Of particular recent importance are background papers on the role of the state in poverty alleviation, which are available on-line. Most recently, CROP has called for papers on using the law as a tool in fighting poverty, for a conference in Spain in 1999.
Also particularly useful for international comparisons is the Luxemburg income study, which makes income data for several developed countries comparable. Examples of valuable working papers produced by the Institute is a recent one focussing on the welfare state and its institutions, and how they impact inequality.
And finally, while there are wide variety of US sources that are listed in the "Who you know" section, there is one US policy shop that exceeds all expectations: The Electronic Policy Network (EPN). Bringing together the output of several policy institutes, EPN also organizes them in a number of ways. Of particular interest to Canadian social policy analysts and developers might be a recent article using Oregan data to make the economic case that increasing the minimum wage actually increased income for those leaving welfare for employment. Another link from the EPN is to the Century Fund and its series of pamphlets entitled "The Basics", including one on welfare reform. All in all, this is a "don't miss it!" site.