Canadian Social Policy and the Struggle for Social Justice

1. Canadian Social Policy andthe Struggle for Social Justice Leah Willis Anya McDonaldJennifer Gurke Annemarie WalshKarina Ramdath Brenda Bartos

2. From Modest Rights to Commodification in Canada’s Welfare State Ernie S. Lightman & Graham Riches

3. The Welfare State • The welfare state in Canada has been classified as a “liberal” model • Based on the ideology of ethical liberalism • In the 1960’s, 3 key pieces of legislation were passed: • Canada Pension Plan (1965) • Canada Assistance Plan (1966) • Medicare (1966)

4. From Welfare State to Residual State • World Oil Crisis (1973) and stagflation • High unemployment, high inflation, and high public sector debts plagued welfare states • Neo-liberal opposition entered public debates • Social Security Review of 1973 began the process of scaling back the welfare state

6. The Policy Context of the Residual State • The Deficit • Free Trade and global economic integration • Federalism and the separatist movement in Quebec Lightman and Riches (2000) outline three major policy influences:

7. The Deficit • The problem of the deficit rose to the top of political and media agendas in the 1990’s • Government spending led to a deficit of $42 billion in 1993 • Political discourse focused on the necessity of deficit reduction • Changing perception of the role of the government

8. Global Economic Integration • Ratification of the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement • Increasing number of international trade agreements have been ratified since the Canada U.S. Free Trade Agreement was ratified in 1988, including: NAFTA, FTAA, APEC, and the WTO

9. Effect of Trade Liberalization on Canadian Policy • Led to deregulation and privatization • Scope of the agreements has increased to include government services • A number of taxes, subsidies and regulations conflict with trade agreements • VIDEO – Maude Barlow – NAFTA www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wvc9ZG79Bcs

11. Controversies Surrounding NAFTA • Corporations have the right to sue national governments for loss of profitability on investments

12. Federalism • The rise of the separatist movement in Quebec • Decentralization of powers from federal to provincial governments • Canada Health and Social Transfer (1996) gave the provinces the responsibility for social assistance • Reduction in the money transferred as well as the conditions of its use • Provinces had the jurisdiction to decide who was “deserving” of social assistance

13. The Modification of Social Benefits The primary changes in the social assistance system, beginning in the 70’s and solidified through the welfare reforms of 1995 were: • The commodification of welfare rights • From passive to active income support WHAT DOES THIS REALLY MEAN? Opportunity vs. condition

14. What does this really mean? • Departure from human rights being the first priority (the focus of the C.A.P.) to become secondary to employment criteria • What priorities does this demonstrate about the government? Wanting to encourage employment is not a negative thing... • However, it requires values to be placed on people

15. Deserving or Undeserving? • Non-productive people have a lesser value • Continued deficit reduction meant lines needed to be drawn about who was deserving and who was not • The judgment of need:

16. “The worlds between social assistance/welfare and work are further dichotomized, whereas the goal of public policy should surely be both to facilitate a smooth transition (back) in the labour force and to ensure that the social rights of those unable to work or find adequately paid employment are fully protected” (Lightman & Riches, p. 187).

17. Canada Child Tax Benefit The implementation of child tax benefits produced less social responsibility for the raising of children Child Tax Benefit: • An improvement in social provision • Complicated by federal decentralization • General aid is secondary to enhancing work incentive

18. Canada Child Tax Benefit/National Child Benefit Supplement (2008): Family Net Income One Child Under $23,710 $284.66/month $30,000 $220.71/month $40,000 $111.66/month $50,000 $96.21/month

19. The Implications of Commoditization Drawing a line between those deserving and undeserving of basic human rights is a very controversial distinction to make SIGNIFICANCE of the added ‘casualties’ of these stipulations

20. Backlash to Welfare as a Social Right • With the focus on deficit reduction in the 1990’s, dominant ideology became very critical of welfare recipients • VIDEO - Canadians and Welfare: Permanent Poverty? www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0yTVclbOQw

21. From Welfare to Workfare Workfare programs require welfare recipients to perform services in order to receive benefits Two Approaches: • Workfare Approach • Human Resources Approach Key Assumption: • Responsibility for unemployment lies with welfare recipients

22. Restructuring Human Services in Canada: Commodification of Disability Alison Pedlar & Peggy Hutchison

23. A qualitative study which gathered information from different agencies that provided services to adults with developmental disabilities 2 objectives were identified: • To establish a detailed picture of the service landscape • To learn how different agencies were experiencing the shift in policy

24. Three Themes Emerged • Inadequate Resources • Competition • For scarce resources • For clients • Uncertainty

25. So are there alternatives?

26. The Microboard http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCJVFClFbsk&feature=related

27. Implications :We have this knowledge now, so what?

28. Strengths of the Article • Describes an alternative to current practices • Ways of knowing and understanding the market economy

29. Points for Further Consideration • Does not indicate if there are any strengths to the business oriented approach • Non-profits establishing a new value for a common good

30. Linking • Social justice issues and the right to choose • Paradigm shift of privatization

31. The Dynamic Nature of Social Disadvantage: Implications for Hazard Exposure and Vulnerability in Greater Vancouver Jean Andrey & Brenda Jones

32. The article focuses on the examination of hazards and social disadvantages over a 15-year period, through a study exploring the spatial and temporal nature of social disadvantage and hazard exposure in the Vancouver Census Metropolitan Area (CMA)

33. What are hazards & social disadvantages? • The article defined hazards as natural, technological, and industrial; i.e. earthquake, airport noise, and urban fires that cause stress such as the limitations of seniors to escape quickly or the limitations of people to control where they live if income is limited • The three hazards used in this study are earthquake-induced liquefaction, wildfires and noise pollution • Social disadvantage is multi-dimensional and emerges from the social geography of a city

34. The article used census data to look at “multiple dimensions of disadvantage intersected in space;” that is, social changes over time and area are related to patterns of hazard exposure

35. The census shows empirical evidence to infer a relationship between the influx of various groups, such as single parents, blue collar workers, aboriginals and immigrants into previously affluent neighbourhoods and the subsequent increase of higher unemployment and lower income earnings • The factors that influence social vulnerability are age, gender, family, citizenship/ethnicity, and social status. If these are factors that influence social vulnerability how do they relate to the hazards? Variables arising from these factors determine how people respond to risky events or situations and the resulting outcomes

37. Interesting Fact: Greater Vancouver has the wealthiest and poorest neighbourhoods in Canada (Figure 1) (Statistics Canada 2001), and the mix of potential hazards (e.g., earthquakes, floods, landslides, urban wildfires, tsunamis, debris flows, pollution) necessitates consideration of the how changing social circumstances occur because of people’s exposure to various hazards The article identifies the need for disaster planning and emergency management

38. Three questions are addressed: • How have spatial patterns of social disadvantage changed from 1986 to 2001? • What are the implications of these changes for exposure to selected hazards? • What insights into environmental (in)equity are provided by spatial overlays of hazards and social disadvantage?

39. Method • Principal components analysis (PCA) was applied to data from the Canadian Population Census for 3 years (1986, 1996 and 2001) • PCA is advantageous in hazard studies because it helps identify the multi-dimensional nature of social disadvantage in a specific location • The focus is on socially created and potentially intersecting vulnerabilities since they relate to the occurrence of multiple hazards and provide a basis for exploring issues related to environmental equity

40. Greater Vancouver is located in the country’s highest-ranked seismic zone (Rogers 1998; Clague 2002)

41. Group Exercise The city council has called this meeting because of the level of seismic activity in this area. If a major earthquake occurs in Greater Vancouver, the disaster will greatly affect the socially disadvantaged in our community. City council has asked for your assistance in creating an action plan, because of your expertise in specific social policy areas; i.e. Income Security, Health Benefits, Social Housing, Child Care. Divide into 4 groups. Each group will create a short action plan based on the information on page 60 of Ismael’s text. Consider what group in the population is your immediate concern in creating your action plan; i.e. single parents, elderly, immigrants, etc.

42. Final Thoughts What are your values around the commodification of services? Does the commodification of services limit us as social workers when working with vulnerable populations? Explain