Canadian Review of Social Policy (CRSP) / Revue canadienne de politique sociale (RCSP)

Kerans, Pat

Nova Scotia

Girard, Claude

Tobin used that numbers game during the election, naturally. The other 
policy ploy also seems to be a Tobin favourite: consult the people about 
Where To Cut. Our choices, as usual, range from our noses to our knees. 
The real numbers game goes more like this: four hundred public ser- 
vants lost their jobs in December 1995. Our once-in-a-lifetime balanced 
provincial budget, which was only balanced because the province privatized 
some ferries, magically became a sixty million dollar shortfall not long after 
that. Home care was cut seven million dollars, affecting 1,500 people. Mu- 
nicipalities were cut 22% this year, which is endangering lives from lack of 
snow clearing. 
Meanwhile, back at the trough, a John Cabot five-hundred-year cele- 
bration that became the emperor's new clothes was scrapped, leaving us 
with nothing to show for the public money spent. This outrage, combined 
with a Corner Brook ski resort scam, cost taxpayers in Newfoundland ten 
million dollars! 
Recently over a hundred concerned groups and individuals formed the 
Community Alliance for Better Solutions, which became very active during 
our provincial election, and which will remain proactive during the coming 
budgets. The Alliance is pointing to the cuts in the Canada Health and 
Social Transfer as a cause of great stress in Newfoundland, and is using 
stark facts to let people know that the massive transfer of wealth to the 
rich in our society will not work to produce jobs. 
Thanks to the work of the Alliance, four hundred people came to a 
People's Forum during the election to tell politicians that the real issues are 
not hope and hype, but jobs and good social programmes. When he was 
asked to  respond, Lloyd Matthews, Minister of Health, cynically labelled 
our demands "rhetoric". What does he think, that people really want to 
starve to death and are only pret ending to want jobs? Get a life, Lloyd! 
Quebec Claude Girard 
Universiti! du Qukbec B Montrbal 
Re'forme de I'Aide Sociale au Que'bec : 
deux rapports, une m2me vision 
Ce n'est pas un mais deux rapports que le Comiti! d'experts sur la 
rkforme de l'aide sociale a rendu public en catastrophe1 , B Qukbec, le jeudi 
14 mars dernier2 . En effect, la confkrence de presse qui avait 4ti! prkvue en 
compagnie de la ministre responsable de la sQcurit6 du revenu, Louise Harel, 
fut annulhe B la dernikre minute en raison des divergences opposant les deux 
CO-pr6sidents du Comitk, l'i!conomiste Pierre Fortin et le psychologue Camil 
92 No. 37, 1996 
Round Up/Tour d'Horizon 
Bouchard. Bien que s'entendant sur plusieurs aspects de la r6forme B venir 
du regime qu6becois d'aide sociale, dont une prestation fiscale unifiee pour 
enfant et la mise en place d'un contract d'insertion pour les prestataires 
aptes au travail, les CO-auteurs ne se seront finalement pas entendus sur 
la transformation de la prestation de base en allocation de revenu mini- 
mum garanti et de supl6mentation du revenu de travail3 . Trait6 de ((naif)) 
par Pierre Fortin, Camil Bouchard se voit accuser par celui-ci de vouloir 
mettre sur pied un r6gime inutilement couteux et dont la mise en oeuvre 
ajouterait, selon Fortin, plus de 500 million $ par ann6e au budget de l'aide 
sociale. De son cote, Bouchard table plut6t sur une approche utilitariste 
favorisant ctl'empowerment)) des individus et des collectivit6s sans augmen- 
tation des coQts. 
Mais au del& de ces divergences qui ont ctd6monisB)) Pierre Fortin et 
sa coll&gue, Francine Skguin, tout en faisant de Camil Bouchard, Alain 
Noel et Vivian Labrie, des d6fenseurs des personnes assist6es sociales, les 
deux rapports proposent une m8me approche B l'aide de dernier recours. 
En fait, chacun propose de faire disparaitre de faqon definitive le concept 
m8me d'aide ou d'assistance sociale. Et le remplacement, B compter du ler 
avril1996, du R6gime d'assistance publique du Canada (RAPCICAP) par le 
Transfert canadien au titre de la Sante et des Programmes sociaux (TSPS) 
n'y est pas etranger. L'abolition du RAPC, en effect, permet aux provinces 
de substituer aux programmes d'aide fond6e sur les besoins, des r6gimes de 
s6curit6 du revenu reposant exclusivement sur le travail, B l'exception, bien 
sur, des personnes jug6es incapables de travailler. 
Ce que Bouchard et Fortin posent comme principe fondamental d'un 
programme d'aide de dernier recours revis6, c'est de faire du travail la 
forme m6me de I'assistance sociale. Cela en dit long sur la transforma- 
tion du r61e du travail au cours des dernikres annkes en tant qu'instrument 
de redistribution de la richesse produite dans le cadre de 1'6conomie de 
march6 via le rapport salarial et I'ensemble des programmes d'assurance 
sociale. R6siduelle dans le cadre du compromis fordiste et keyn6sien oh la 
rkpartition des gains de productivit6 entre le capital et le travail est une 
affaire pr ide ,  l'aide sociale prend charge des ccpauvres)) non-fonctionnels 
et exclus du systkme. Aujourd'hui, la situation est totalement inversee. 
La disparition du compromis fordiste et de 1'~tat-providence associ6e B la 
diminution de la quantit6 de travail n6cessaire B l'accroissement des profits 
rejete vers 1 ' ~ t a t  une masse de personnes dont le systkme de production 
n'a pas besoin. Dans un tel contexte d'6conomie de march6 plus que jamais 
ctlib6ralis6e)), l'aide sociale ne suffit plus dans son r61e traditionnel d'attenuer 
les effets pervers du liberalisme 6conomique compte tenu du nombre sans 
pr6cBdent de travailleurs en ch6mage. D'oh I'idiie de convertir l'aide sociale 
en ((travail)). 
No. 37, 1996 
C'est dans cet esprit qu'il faut voir l'engouement de bien des gou- 
vernements pour I'kconomie dite ((sociale)) et la cr6ation d'emplois d'utilit6 
collective. Au del& d'un questionnement lkgitime sur son efficacitk, le trans- 
fert de la responsabilitk de 1 ' ~ t a t  vers le secteur communautaire dans le 
cadre de la rkforme de la santk au Qukbec participe du mGme phknomhne 
de redkfinition de la place du travail dans une kconomie libkraliske. C'est ce 
genre de questions qu'auraient pu soulever les ((dissidents)) Bouchard, Noel 
et Labrie, &ant entendu qu'il etait difficile d'en attendre autant de Pierre 
Fortin et de Francine Skguin. La sortie des deux rapports aura plutbt montrk 
B quel point les citoyens, surtout B revenu modeste, ont peu B attendre d'un 
exercice qui, au del& du recours gknkreux B (tl'empowerment local)) et aux 
notions de contrats d'insertion, de droits et de responsabilitks ou meme de 
citoyennetk, rive un peu plus le clou des inkgalit& sociales. 
NOTES 
1. Konrad Yakabuski, ((Plus d'Bquit6 entre assist& sociaux et petits salaries)), Le 
Devoir, 15 mars 1996, p. A-l. 
2. Camil Bourchard, Vivian Labrie et Alain Noel, chacun sa part. Rapport de 
trois membres du Cornit6 externe de reforme 
3. Voir notre article dans le numero prdckdent : ((Lancement de la reforme de 
l'aide sociale au Quebec : vers la creation d'un regime de revenu garanti en 
1997A Revue canadienne de politzque sociale, 36 (1995)' 108-110. 
Ontario Brigitte Kitchen 
York University 
Ontario's March Towards Workfare 
The Government of Ontario is keeping up its speedy and relentless assault 
on the poor. Workfare, a widely popular proposal in the Common Sense 
Revolution, the winning political platform of the Progressive Conservative 
Party, is about to  become a reality. A public opinion poll found that 87 
percent of people polled supported the idea. Even a number of welfare 
recipients favoured workfare. They mistakenly expected it might open the 
door to a meaningful job for them. The idea has an appealing simplicity 
that according to the Premier came from a taxi driver. "He gave me the 
answer in 17 words, stop paying more and more people more and more 
money just to  stay a t  home and do nothing." 
Workfare is supposed to stop the draining of tax dollars into the hands 
of the idle. Would the cab driver still support workfare if some of the un- 
employed, capable of driving and reading road maps, would be put to work 
94 No. 37, 1996 


English

Quebec

Kitchen, Brigitte

The Missing Child in Liberal Theory, by John O'Neil

Editorial/Éditorial

Hardina, Donna

Malott, Olga W.

Barriers to Consumer Empowerment: Implications for Health and Social Services Planning in Ontario

Lup, Fung Ho

Ngan, Raymond M.H.

National Income Distribution Policies and Social Security in China

Swanson, Jean

Round Up/Tour d'Horizon 
a poem he submitted to a contest held by Spare Change, the Edmonton 
street paper. 
How many seek for the same position? 
A dead end, low pay reality. 
Should I give up my dreaming ambitions 
And settle in sad mediocrity? 
What grows as they pass away 
Is, where I am and could be 
If I'd money, which today 
Makes money which makes money. 
Poverty is "no money", so they say 
No money finds no food to devour 
Hunger has hid health and colour away 
Sick complexions send spirits sour. 
Poor esteem, to lower faith 
Lack of hope, is low of trust 
Dishonesty's loss of face 
Has no respect, and is cursed. 
But a little aid, give to them discussed 
Build self-esteem, for accepting truths 
From dust, must, rust just one hope helps adjust 
Towards the higher spirits light that soothes. 
As respect brings brighter face 
Not with ill, but energy 
Eat a meal, enjoying taste 
Earned their self, and glad to be. 
Martin's poem won the contest, and soon after he got a job with the Ed- 
monton Food Bank, where he is now employed. 
British Columbia Jean Swanson 
End Legislated Poverty 
Here's the bad news from BC as of March 6th: 
Last fall the government came up with a fancy plan they call BC Ben- 
efits, as well as a new law that requires people to live in BC for 3 months 
before they can get welfare. 
Poverty groups were outraged by BC Benefits and the government's 
sales pitch on it. The plan chops $46 a month from the poorest people in 
BC, single, so-called employeables. It slashes $81 a month from childless 
couples on welfare and ends the flat-rate earnings exemption for all but 
people with disabilities. This exemption allowed single parents to keep the 
No. 37,1996 101 
first $200 they earned at  work plus 25 per cent. Single people could keep 
the first $100 plus 25 per cent. The government plans to take $39 million 
out of the hands of people on welfare with this maneuver. In addition, 
the government will now force single parents on welfare to look for work or 
training when their youngest child reaches the ripe age of 7, reduced from 
12. This is regardless of the number of children in the family. 
Accompanying the requirement to look for work when your youngest 
child is 7, is a Child Benefit of $103 per child per month for working families, 
but nothing extra for families on welfare. The full benefit is to be paid to 
all working families whose income is up to about $50,000 per year. The 
combination of the $103 per month per child plus the requirement to seek 
work when your youngest reaches 7, could be used to force single parents 
into minimum wage jobs where they'd get the grand sum of $43 a month 
more than they would on welfare-if they have no childcare costs. The 
policy is disrespectful of women's work in the home. The combination of 
the two policies could condemn poor children to a life with an exhausted 
and poor mother instead of just a poor mother. 
BC Benefits claims that it gives youth aged 19 to 24 an "entitlement" to 
education. In fact, it ends their "entitlement" to income, because if youth 
refuse government programs designed to put them in the labour force, they 
will be cut off welfare. Poverty groups call this workfare and are outraged. 
The "entitlement to education" scheme works like this: for the first seven 
months on welfare youths have to actively search for jobs. In this period 
most will go off welfare on their own. No education or work. In the eighth 
and nineth month, they will have "help" from the ministry in "active" job 
search. No education or work. In the tenth month, if they're still on welfare, 
they are supposedly "entitledn to education or a job. The job could be a 
job where the government pays employers $8,000 to hire them a minimum 
wage. The education part has people bewildered. It turns out that people 
who used to be able to go to university or college and get and student loans 
for school expenses, will now have to get student loans to pay the whole lot. 
As a result, End Legislated Poverty has been flooded with calls from people 
saying: "If I'm entitled to education, how come my worker is telling me 
that I have to go off welfare or quit school?" Apparently youth in the tenth 
month of welfare will be eligible to receive other types of training without 
being kicked off welfare. But since that doesn't start until ten months from 
January, no one knows yet if it will happen. 
The government raves that BC Benefits is, for the first time ever, ensur- 
ing that families get help with eye and dental care. It turns out that some 
of the money for this comes from slashing eye and dental care from single 
"employables," and that only children, not entire families, are covered. 
102 No. 37, 1996 
Round Up/Tour d'Horizon 
In addition, refugees and people in need from other provinces have been 
denied welfare and sent into the streets because they have not lived in BC for 
three months. This is the first time in 30 years that a provincial government 
has blatantly turned away people in dire need. When advocates started 
using a "hardship" section of the welfare regulations to get some money for 
people, the government promptly abolished it. They are also forcing people 
over 60 to apply for their early CCP benefits, which are then deducted dollar 
for dollar from welfare. As a result of applying when they are 60 instead of 
64, people will get up to 30 per cent less in CCP benefits when they turn 65. 
The Workfare Hurts One and All Coalition has been working to make 
BC Benefits an issue within the NDP and the recent NDP leadership contest. 
Although they have succeeded in making it a big issue within the Party (an 
NDP provincial council meeting voted 41 to 46 to defeat a resolution calling 
for a review of BC Benefits) and within the leadership contest, the majority 
in the Party has supported the program. New leader Glen Clark supports 
BC Benefits and rejected an opportunity to replace current social services 
minister Joy MacPhaii when he shuffled his cabinet recently. 
Meanwhile, the Liberals are being cagey, planning billions in tax cuts, 
but not announcing, yet, a massive attack on welfare. Anti-poverty activists 
fear that the BC Benefits and other welfare measures that take money from 
the poor will make it impossible for the NDP to act as a credible welfare 
critic even in opposition. 
No. 37, 1996 


British Columbia

Wiggins, Cindy

Round Up/Tour d'Horizon 
programs. There are numerous businesses, non-profit organizations and gov- 
ernment departments that contact the organization every year requesting 
barrier-free environment assessments of their buildings or facilities and re- 
questing recommendations for improving accessibility. These recommenda- 
tions are far more expensive to implement after initial construction. These 
high costs provide a solid argument for an Ontario Building Code that 
should be based on long-term thinking and planning and not based on short- 
term financial gains for the builders. 
The Ontario Government has consulted with builders in order to develop 
the principles outlined in the document "Back to Basics". When will the 
consultation begin with disability organisations and with persons with dis- 
abilities in order to obtain their perspective on the Ontario Building Code? 
This is of the utmost importance as the Ontario Building Code has a pro- 
found effect on the lives of persons with disabilities. It can limit or expand 
a person's involvement in and contribution to the life of their community. 
It is important not only to maintain the accessibility requirements presently 
in the Ontario Building Code, but also to raise these standards to ensure 
that the needs of all persons in the community are taken into account. 
1.. Ontario. Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Housing Development 
and Buildings Branch. Back T o  Basics: A Consultation Paper on the Focus 
of the Ontario Building Code, Toronto, 1996, p. 3. 
2. .  Ibid. 
3.. Disabled Persons Community Resources. Response to the Consultation Paper 
"Back to  Basics", Toronto, 1996. 
Labour Cindy Wiggins 
Canadian Labour Congress 
Government budgets are about making choices -economic, social, and cul- 
tural choices. They are political choices because they shape the kind of 
country we will live in. For more than a decade, under both Conserva- 
tive and Liberal federal governments, Canadians have been told that there 
is only one choice which can be made for the federal government budget. 
That choice has been to make massive cuts to social programmes and elim- 
inate thousands of public sector jobs. We are told that this is necessary, to 
reduce the federal deficit and debt, and to keep inflation low, which further 
aids deficit reduction. 
To achieve this, full employment as an economic strategy has been aban- 
doned in favour of deliberate, high unemployment and high interest rates. 
No. 37, 1996 89 
The pity of all this, in addition to the hardship and suffering this has im- 
posed on far too many Canadians and particularly the poorest, is that these 
economic measures have done little, if anything, to reduce the deficit. The 
question is why are we sacrificing the well-being of millions of Canadians and 
crucial, national social programs for policies proven to be abject failures? 
The labour movement, in cooperation with CHO!CES, the Canadian 
Centre For Policy Alternatives, and many social action groups, believes that 
the government has more than one option when it comes to setting economic 
and social policies for the country in the federal budget. In developing the 
Alternative Federal Budget (AFB), we have shown that there are credible, 
realistic choices to be made which not only reduce the deficit and the debt, 
but also create jobs and begin to modestly expand our social programs. The 
AFB is rigorously verified by an independent econometric analysis. 
The AFB addresses the real causes of the deficit -unemployment, ex- 
cessively high interest rates, and an unfair taxation system. The budget 
meets the government's own deficit reduction targets of 3% of GDP this 
year and 2% next year, in addition to reaching a zero deficit within five 
years. At the same time, the budget results in the creation of twice as 
many jobs (400,000) as the government's budget will create. 
This is done by reducing interest rates by l%, which will lower the 
Canadian dollar to about 70 US cents. In turn, real economic growth would 
increase by about 1%. The AFB calls for the Bank of Canada to increase 
its holdings of government bonds to 15% over five years to lower the in- 
terest costs paid on the debt. The allowable limit of foreign holdings in 
RRSPs and pension plans would be lowered and all retirement savings plans 
would be required to hold a minimum of federal government bonds. The 
Alternative Budget would promote a "Tobin Tax" on international financial 
transactions, to begin to control the power and influence of international 
capital. 
The AFB's direct job creation program is the linchpin of the budget. 
This year, $2.8 billion would be put into job creation in the following ar- 
eas: affordable housing, energy-wise homes, child care, R&D, regional and 
community development, and the ecological and other infrastructures. This 
funding would increase to $3.4 billion in 1997-98. 
The AFB rejects the federal government's approach of undermining the 
social and economic security of Canadians by dismantling national social 
programs. The budget takes the view that social programs are investments 
in people and contribute not only to the personal well-being of Canadians 
and to increased equality, but also to the economic health and potential of 
the country. 
The AFB creates a number of National Social Investment Funds in 
the areas of health, education, income support, child care, housing, public 
90 No. 37, 1996 
Round Up/Tour d'Horizon 
pensions, and unemployment insurance. Funding will increase modestly 
with the commitment to further expansion in future years. The Health 
Fund creates a National Drug Plan for low-income families and the Child 
Care Fund would introduce a national, cost-shared child care program. A 
Higher Education Act would set national standards for post-secondary ed- 
ucation and increase student grants. 
Over 80% of spending in the AFB comes from growth in the economy, 
and lower unemployment and social assistance costs. The remaining money 
comes from making the tax system more progressive. Tax highlights include 
a wealth tax on inheritances over $1 million, a Corporate Minimum Tax, an 
Excess Profits Tax on banks, and the introduction of two new tax brack- 
ets for people with incomes over $100,000 and $150,000, respectively. The 
surtax on incomes below $20,000 would be eliminated, and a Low-Income 
Family Tax Credit would be introduced as an anti-poverty measure. 
The AFB shows that there are clear and workable alternatives. These 
alternatives are endorsed by 137 economists across the country. The labour 
movement hopes that by educating its members, and working with social 
partners, the federal government will be made accountable for the choices 
it has made a t  the expense of the vast majority of Canadians. 
Newfoundland and Labrador Bev Brown 
NAP0 Board Member 
The last few months have brought more and more Newfoundlanders together 
at demonstrations, in forums and in coalitions to protest social programme 
cutbacks that seem to roll in with every tide. We are determined to fight 
last year's delayed federal cuts, which hit Newfoundland like a cruel winter 
storm on April Fools' Day this year, a t  a time when many people are being 
cut off The Atlantic Groundfish Strategy (TAGS) and forced on to welfare 
from lack of jobs. 
About a fifth of the provincial population collected welfare in 1994, 
and this number has been climbing steadily since then. The welfare rate 
for single employable people, by far the largest group on social assistance, 
ranges from a shocking $89 to a not much more substantial $129 a month. 
Kay Young, former Minister of Social Services, was not re-elected in 
February. Shortly before the election she walked out when a petition for 
increased subsidized low-income housing was being presented by a fellow 
Liberal member in the House of Assembly. 
Bereft of creativity, our politicians only use two ploys to manipulate 
people. One is to announce a large cutback, and then chop the cut a little 
bit, which usually makes people really grateful . . . not. Premier Brian 
No. 37, 1996 9 1 


Labour

Ontario

Not a member yet

Nova Scotia

Quebec

Quebec

The Missing Child in Liberal Theory, by John O'Neil

Editorial/Éditorial

Barriers to Consumer Empowerment: Implications for Health and Social Services Planning in Ontario

National Income Distribution Policies and Social Security in China

British Columbia

Labour

Ontario

143

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