Social Policy In Canada Research Articles

Social Work Faculty Engagement in Social Policy Practice: A Quantitative Study of the Canadian Experience

AbstractThis article reports on a quantitative study of how Canadian social work educators engage in social policy practice. The first part of the article contextualises social policy in Canada, explains how social policy has been incorporated into Canadian social work education and concludes by posing the research question. The second part presents the study’s findings of how and to what extent Canadian social work academics engage with social policy including its development, analysis and implementation. Thirty-one educators representing seventeen of Canada’s forty schools of social work responded to a standard questionnaire used in a collection of cross-national studies. The Canadian responses were analysed to determine (1) the level and type of engagement in policy including the perceived impact on social policy and (2) the institutional and individual factors associated with their engagement. Some comparisons are made with other countries studies. The third part of the article provides overall concluding comments linking the first part with the findings of the second, speculates on the reasons for some of the findings and poses some ideas for future research. Finally, it laments the increased focus of Canadian social work on individual pathology.

Social Policy in Canada – Looking Back, Looking Ahead

This paper discusses recent policy trends, the changing role of the various actors in the system, international comparisons and a range of other social policy topics. The immediate purpose of the paper is to examine the reasons why social policy analysts need to look into the future, and to explore ways of managing the inevitably large risks associated with such future-looking exercises. The underlying purpose, however, is simply to introduce a range of important Canadian social policy topic to students and others who are interested in social policy, but without much previous background in the area ii . The first part of the paper was taken directly from a 1994 presentation i that was intended to provide outside social policy experts (from Latin America in this case) with an overview of the Canadian social policy landscape, particularly of recent trends and possible future directions, mainly from a federal government perspective. At that time, major reform of social security policies was being discussed and I tried to give our visitors some flavour of the background to that reform, with particular emphasis on the

The Changing Landscape of Healthcare and Social Policy

The problems in traditional residential long-term care settings described in the lead paper are the tip of the iceberg in relation to changes in the landscape of healthcare and social policy in Canada over the past two decades. The primary purpose of this commentary is to identify some of the less visible changes and how these are affecting our perceptions, values and policy directions in "long-term care," however it is defined. The secondary purpose is to caution readers of the dangers of trying to resolve all social policy issues through medicare. This temptation is an artifact of our history and fragmented constitutional powers. It is also due to a well-intended but highly problematic shift in the nature and purpose of public health insurance (and government) in Canada during the 1990s. Without a greater understanding of these and other underlying issues, a pan-Canadian program dedicated to residential long-term care under the upcoming Health Accord risks adding to existing problems. There is also a desperate need for better understanding of the intergenerational needs of Canadian families in relation to healthcare and eldercare.

Social Policy and Practice in Canada: A History (review)

Reviewed by: Social Policy and Practice in Canada: A History Laurel Sefton Macdowell Alvin Finkel . Social Policy and Practice in Canada: A History. Wilfrid Laurier University Press. x, 384. $34.95 This book is a useful synthesis of a great many, mostly secondary sources about the ideas and process behind social policy in Canada. Part 1 consists of three inadequate chapters on very different societies (Aboriginal, French and English Canada) in the pre-Confederation period, which could be covered by one analytical chapter on the period when family relationships and private charity provided support for the disadvantaged. Part 2 covers the post-Confederation period to 1950, which includes the effects of the Great War, the Great Depression, and the Second World War on the coming of the welfare state. Historians have written extensively about the late nineteenth century and the early twentieth century, and as Finkel tries to deal with the many threads (workhouses, workers' compensation, the Social Gospel, to name a few) relating to emerging social policy, part 2 reads a little like a shopping list. In part 3, 'The Welfare State 1950–80,' Finkel hits his stride and in five chapters discusses two success stories (old age pensions and medicare) and three failures (child care, housing, and anti-poverty programs) – policies that all were compromises. Between 1950 and 1980, government support for the elderly increased and was an important achievement that raised their level of comfort and independence. Organized business consistently supported private insurance plans, and even when public programs were introduced, pension managers ran the funds without input from pensioners or other interests. [End Page 200] The fascinating chapter on medicare depicts the dismal state of health care services before any public input, doctors' opposition to a public system, their advocacy of a private system, and their role in promoting their own group private insurance plans. 'Not one recognized organization of health professionals in Canada placed itself on record as supporting medicare, with the exception of the nurses' association in Saskatchewan where medicare already was an established program.' Emmett Hall's report pushed the federal government towards support for medicare, but the doctors won the 'fee for service' demand. The provision of child care was linked to the discourse about the desirability of mothers' working, which changed from condemnation to begrudging acceptance, and Finkel might have added to the current 'conservative' argument about a mother's 'choice' to remain a full-time homemaker. Despite women's increased role in the labour force, the lack of a national child-care policy has continued to place the onus on women to find proper care for their children if they worked. A low-cost housing policy has been minimal, partly at the insistence of private developer and real estate interests, although Finkel includes an interesting section on cooperative housing. Inadequate anti-poverty policy existed until the 1970s, when the weakened economy adversely affected public support for social programs as neo-liberals declared war on the poor. In part 4, entitled 'Neoliberalism,' which covers the 1980s to the present, Finkel documents the budget-cutting and program-slashing as politicians became captives of aggressive business interests that financed research against the social welfare state and promoted free trade, privatization, competitiveness, and profit. Only around 2000, when consumers resisted privatized medical services, did politicians put some money back into medicare. The issue demonstrated the political strength of health entrepreneurs but also that the public supported the public health care system overwhelmingly and pro-medicare lobbies were organized to protect it. Finkel is clear about the destructive impact of the neo-liberal era on social policy and does not mince words. It is not a pretty picture. Between 1945 and 1975 the author concludes that the provision of social services for Canadians advanced. The programs always were contested by progressive public groups (unions, churches, women's groups) who supported social justice, and by elites (business, politicians, realtors, doctors) who protected their privileged positions and favoured the status quo. The resulting programs were compromises. Canada is far from having a social policy that creates an integrated society in which all citizens live at a decent standard without regard to class, gender, race, or level of...

Federalism, Nationalism and Social Policy Decentralization in Canada and Belgium

This article looks at the relationship between federalism, sub-state nationalism and social policy in Canada and Belgium up to the early 2000s. It argues that nationalism represents a powerful force for the decentralization of social policy since it seeks to make the national community congruent with the community of redistribution. Nationalist mobilization over social policy is occurring in both Québec and Flanders, although there are ideological and programmatic differences between the two nationalist movements. The article also shows how the consequences of these patterns of mobilization are conditioned by the institutional context. In Canada, the competitive nature of federal/provincial relations and the statist nature of social programmes (i.e. absence of ‘social partners’ other than the state involved in their management) explain why there has been decentralization of social policy towards Québec whereas consensual decision making and Bismarckian social insurance arrangements have created strong institutional obstacles to comprehensive social policy decentralization in Belgium.

Social Fabric or Patchwork Quilt: The Development of Social Policy in Canada

Introduction I: Beginnings Chapter 1 Saving for a Rainy Day: Social Security in Late Nineteenth-Century and Early Twentieth-Century Canada Dennis T. Guest Chapter 2 Blood on the Factory Floor: Workers' Compensation Movement in Canada and the United States Robert H. Babcock Chapter 3 the Interests of the Children: Mothers' Allowances and the Origins of Income Security in Ontario, 1917-1930 James Struthers Chapter 4 Scandal and Social Policy: Ideal Maternity Home and the Evolution of Social Policy in Nova Scotia, 1940-1951 Karen Balcom Chapter 5 Forward to a Farm: Land Settlement as Unemployment Relief in the 1930s Dawn S. Bowen Chapter 6 History According to the Boucher Report: Some Reflections on the State and Social Welfare in Quebec before the Quiet Revolution B.L. Vigod Chapter 7 A New Taxpayer for a New State: Charitable Fundraising and the Origins of the Welfare State Shirley Tillotson II: Triumph to Reform Chapter 8 A New Beginning: The Veteran's Jeffrey A. Keshen Chapter 9 In the Children's Interest? Change and Continuity in a Century of Canadian Social Welfare Initiatives for Children Raymond B. Blake Chapter 10 Income Maintenance, Insurance Principles, and the Liberal 1960s: Canada's Unemployment Insurance Program, 1961-1971 L. Richard Lund Chapter 11 Integrating the Inuit: Social Work Practice in the Eastern Arctic, 1955-1963 Frank James Tester Chapter 12 First Nations Child and Family Services, 1982-1992: Facing the Realities Peter Hudson and Sharon Taylor-Henley Chapter 13 Eroding Canadian Social Welfare: Mulroney Legacy, 1984-1993 Patricia Evans Chapter 14 Rise of Chain Nursing Homes in Ontario, 1971-1996 Joel A.C. Baum Chapter 15 Access to Physician Services in Quebec: Relative Influence of Household Income and Area of Residence Francois Rivest, Pascal Bosse, Silviu Nedelca, and Alain Simard III: New Realities in Social Security Chapter 16 Social Policy Divide: Welfare State in Canada and the United States Keith Banting Chapter 17 Current Issues Surrounding Poverty and Welfare Programming in Canada: Two Reviews Garson Hunter and Dionne Miazdyck Chapter 18 Tilting Toward Marketization: Reform of the Canadian Pension Plan Glenn Drover Chapter 19 Canadian Disability Policy: Still a Hit-and-Miss Affair Michael J. Prince Chapter 20 Employment Benefits for Same-Sex Couples: Expanding Entitlement Donald D. Carter Chapter 21 Three Choices for the Future of Medicare Gregory P. Marchildon Chapter 22 How Will the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and Evolving Jurisprudence Affect Health-Care Costs? Donna Greschner Chapter 23 Contribution of the Social Economy to Social Policy: Lessons from Quebec Yves Vaillancourt, Francois Aubry, Louise Tremblay, Muriel Kearney, and Luc Theriault Sources

Diminishing the concept of social policy: The shifting conceptual ground of social policy debate in Canada

This paper examines the struggle in Canada over ideas about social policy. It takes the view that debates held at the meso level of the policy community are important sites for exploring how dominant ideas about social problems and social policy are shaped. This paper examines one specific debate (the late 1990s debate on the national children’s agenda) to explore how the mainstream conceptual ground has shifted. It argues that progressive constructions of the issues and solutions have been increasingly undermined, as an outcome of both the narrow ‘child development’ focus of the debates and the success new actors have had in gaining credibility as voices in the social policy community. The result has been a shift in how dominant social policy actors think about social policy, with the shift gravitating towards a simplistic, individualized, casework model. This new diminished understanding has had implications for narrowing the scope of political debate about social policy in Canada and encouraging the development of policies that fail to address the root problems.

Do We Know Where We Are Going? The New Social Policy in Canada

This commentary evaluates the new social policy paradigm, which shifts the emphasis from income redistribution to investment in human capital. Canadian governments have embraced the first side of this approach, restructuring income-security programs in ways that reduce the level of economic security assured to working-age Canadians. But their approach to investing in human capital is weakened by uncertain public commitments, problems of timing and sequence, and a failure to come to grips with the policy implications of the socio-economic gradient in educational attainment. The commentary concludes that education and training are carrying too much weight in new social discourse, and that a successful strategy of investing in human capital cannot be divorced from issues of poverty and inequality. The key challenge is one that is largely being ignored: to design a redistributive complement to a human-capital strategy, one that makes meaningful the promise of education as an instrument of economic security, and compensates for its significant limitations.

Social Policy in Canada

List of Tables List of Figures Foreword Preface Part I Introduction Chapter 1 Setting the Context Introduction Distribution and Redistribution Income Inequality in Canada Wealth and Income Half a Century of Social Welfare in Canada The Macroeconomic Context: Keynes and After Supply-Side Economics The International Context Looking Ahead Notes Suggested Reading Part II Approaches to Social Policy Chapter 2 Defining Social Policy Introduction A Look at Social Policy and Economic Policy Building a Definition: 'Social' and 'Policy' Issues Arising A Model of Redistribution Notes Suggested Reading Chapter 3 Social Policy and Economic Market Introduction Labels Residualism The Centrality of Work Outside Residualism: The Institutional Approach Notes Suggested Reading Part III Allocating Benefits Chapter 4 Allocting Benefits: Privatization, Commercialization, and Welfare Pluralism Introduction The Terms The Reasons to Privatize Forms of Privatization Issues in Privatization The Regulatory Dilemma Welfare Pluralism Some Evidence of Privatization Notes Suggested Reading Chapter 5 Allocating Benefits: What? Introduction Types of Benefits Comparing Delivery Modes Paternalism: 'For Your Own Good' Effectiveness Stigma Efficiency Capacity and Substitute Decision-Makers Vouchers Notes Suggested Reading Chapter 6 Allocating Benefits: To Whom? Introduction The Universal/Selective Debate Guaranteed Annual Income (GAI) A Look at Government Spending Cash, In-Kind-Universal/Selective Notes Suggested Reading Part IV Generating Resources Chapter 7 Paying Through Taxes Introduction Goals of Taxation Two Principles of Taxation Tax Revenues in Canada Tax Reform in Canada Notes Suggested Reading Chapter 8 Fees, Charges, and Premiums Introduction The Simple Microeconomics of Fees The Reasons Not To Impose Fees The Reasons To Impose Fees Setting Fee Levels Premiums and Social Insurance Notes Suggested Reading Chapter 9 Volunteers, Charities, and Gamblers Introduction The Voluntary Sector in Canada The Advantages of Using Volunteers and Charities The Disadvantages of Using Volunteers and Charities Charities and the Income Tax System Gambling Advantages of Gambling as a Revenue Source Disadvantages of Gambling as a Revenue Source Notes Suggested Reading Part V Conclusion Chapter 10 Looking Ahead Introduction Policy Means Choice A New Welfare Society? Looking Globally Notes Suggested Reading Glossary Bibliography Index

Popular Justice and Community Regeneration: Pathways of Indigenous Reform

Popular Justice is a collection of 11 essays about efforts in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States to do something about "justice," broadly defined, within Indigenous communities. Hazelhurst presents an overview of three sorts of current efforts to indigenize justice: improved justice service delivery (via the development of para-professionals, family conferences and so on), crime prevention (through life skills and employment training) and the most significant, community healing approaches. The chapters themselves are of two sorts: technical discussions of new programs and hopeful ideological statements about the merits of indigenous justice concepts and practices. Among the more interesting chapters, Hylton summarizes recent research concerning social policy in Canada and efforts to reform Indigenous justice. Angelo details the history of indigenizing Tokelau law, Olsen et al. describe Maori youth justice programs, especially the influential family group-conferencing model. Yazzie and Zion describe what they call the "macrojustice," of the Navajo peacemaker court, which they say will "Slay the Monsters" (social problems) through traditional dispute resolution. O'Donnell treats mediation practices in Australia, focussing on the issues such as the neutrality of the mediator and confidentiality. The strongest chapter describes the efforts to create an Aboriginal justice system in an Ojibway community. Hoyle examines the issues in operationalizing a holistic justice system based on the idea of justice as healing, especially the problems of codifying social processes, of delineating broad value statements which guide practice and the problem of legitimacy as a consequence of the diversity of world views of community members.A critical assumption underlying many of the chapters is that the establishment of community-based justice will lead to the thoroughgoing restoration of Indigenous communities. All of this is connected, somehow, to gaining legal jurisdiction to practice "traditional" ways, or perhaps, updated, but still traditional ways. While in many communities and among some scholars there is pessimism about the ability to change the justice system and create alternatives, there is nonetheless a messianic flavour to the current debate about restorative justice. There is bound to be disappointment for those communities which unrealistically carry out justice practices of their own choosing. Indeed, this is already the case. Scholars and communities concerned with justice might think in more modest terms about what is possible with indigenization. Instead of proposing that indigenous justice will radically transform communities and redeem individual lives, justice systems might be constructed with the simpler goals of regulating relations between families, of dampening conflict between individuals, of providing justice in a timely manner and of ensuring a measure of peace and tranquility on reserves and urban settings. …

Hunger in Canada

Hunger is defined as the inability to obtain sufficient, nutritious, personally acceptable food through normal food channels or the uncertainty that one will be able to do so. After the depression of the 1930s, widespread concerns about hunger in Canada did not resurface until the recession of the early 1980s when the demand for food assistance rose dramatically. The development of an ad hoc charitable food distribution system ensued and by 1992, 2.1 million Canadians were receiving food assistance. In the absence of national monitoring systems, this remains the best available estimate of the prevalence of hunger. Hunger appears to be linked to poverty, unemployment, and numbers of people receiving social assistance. Although the Canadian social security system has traditionally been characterized by government-run universal and targeted programs designed to address income issues, hunger raises concerns about the current “safety net”. The primary response to hunger has been the proliferation of food banks, the agencies at the heart of the charitable food assistance system. On a smaller scale, community-based programs and advocacy initiatives have emerged. Nonetheless, the demand for food assistance continues to rise. The trend raises questions about future directions for social policy in Canada and concerns about the development of a two-tiered food distribution system—one for those with adequate money and one for the poor.

Demographic Aging as a Guiding Paradigm in Canada's Welfare State

The relevance of demographic aging to the development of social policy in Canada is reviewed. In this paper some of the less well understood causes and consequences of demographic aging are explored within the specific context of Canadian policy-oriented thinking. Several contemporary aspects of the complex linkages between demographic aging socio-economic structure and policy are highlighted including shifting markets economic dependency and pension and health care requirements. (SUMMARY IN FRE) (EXCERPT)

Research on families and social policy in Canada.

Research on families and social policy in Canada.

Social Policy in Canada

Social Policy & AdministrationVolume 18, Issue 2 p. 130-147 Social Policy in Canada Dennis Guest, Dennis Guest The University of British Columbia School of Social Work 6201 Cecil Green Park Road Vancouver B. C. Canada V6T 1W5Search for more papers by this author Dennis Guest, Dennis Guest The University of British Columbia School of Social Work 6201 Cecil Green Park Road Vancouver B. C. Canada V6T 1W5Search for more papers by this author First published: June 1984 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9515.1984.tb00201.xRead the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Volume18, Issue2June 1984Pages 130-147 RelatedInformation