Chapter 2: Reading Flashcards
(132 cards)
1
Q
What is the Canadian welfare system historically based on?
A
the British model
1
Q
Why did welfare grow in the 20th century? What happened to welfare following the great depression and WWII?
A
as a response to the demands of workers and farmers for a share of the country’s wealth.
Following the Great Depression and World War II, a consensus was reached that led to an extensive social welfare system that aimed to ensure a minimum income and provide social services for people in Canada.
2
Q
What are the 6 phases to the evolution of social welfare hat coincide with major political, social, and economic changes in Canada?
A
Phase 1: the colonial period, 1600–1867
Phase 2: the industrialization period, 1868–1940
Phase 3: the welfare state period, 1941–1974
Phase 4: the rise of neoliberalism, 1975–2005
Phase 5: retrenchment and recovery, 2006–present
Phase 6: COVID times
2
Q
What sparked the change from feudalism to capitalism in the early 1600s?
A
This change came about over time as result of three factors that started in the 1300s: international demand for wool, soil erosion, and population decline.
3
Q
What led to the Elizabethan Poor law of 1601? What did it do?
A
Near the end of the feudal system, after labourers were expelled by landlords, the labourers rioted. The authorities recognized that the long-term maintenance of law and order required some means of satisfying those unable to find work during periods of economic crisis, while at the same time reinforcing earlier laws that required all able-bodied workers to take whatever work was offered to them.
The Elizabethan Poor Law refined earlier versions of the Poor Law and defined the principles for worthiness of state aid.
4
Q
what is the statute of labourers? When was it passed?
A
after the Black death, many labourers who survived tried to use this as an opportunity to demand decent wages and look for new employers. In response, the king and Parliament passed the Statute of Labourers in 1351, which required workers to return to their former feudal masters whenever possible; if their former master had died, leaving no heir to employ them, they were required to take whatever employment others offered.
5
Q
What was the general feeling towards poverty in Britain when the Elizabethan Poor Law passed? how long did the Elizabethan poor laws remain in place in Britain? Was it only in Britain?
A
poverty was considered necessary and inevitable since, it was believed, only fear of poverty would make people look for work. The principles behind the Elizabethan Poor Law stayed in place in britain and its colonies (including Canada) until the 1900s
5
Q
What did the Elizabethan Poor Law distinguish between? What provisions did it set out?
A
the “deserving poor” and “undeserving poor” and set out provisions for deciding on the worthiness of state aid.
6
Q
Who were considered the deserving poor under Elizabethan Poor Law
A
The deserving poor were those unable to work, and those who were fit for work and willing to take any job on offer at rates determined by the employer.
7
Q
Who were considered the underserving poor under Elizabethan Poor Law?
A
The undeserving poor were those who were deemed able to work but did not do so for whatever reason. They were thought to be of bad moral character and not deserving of help.
8
Q
How were the underserving poor treated under Elizabethan Poor Law?
A
The state recognized no responsibility for the undeserving poor and made provision to place them in Houses of Correction that would attempt to change their attitude toward work, or in prisons if they appeared unruly.
9
Q
how were the deserving poor treated under Elizabethan Poor Law?
A
The state recognized only limited responsibility for the deserving poor. The thinking was that to provide the deserving poor with more aid would discourage them from ever seeking work again and would encourage others not to take jobs that offered low pay and unsafe or otherwise unbearable working conditions.
10
Q
What was the principle of less Eligibility and what was the idea behind it?
A
In determining the bare minimum that poor relief recipients could receive, the state would always ensure that the minimum was lower than the minimum wages that day labourers were receiving. This principle of less eligibility ensured that those in work would always be terrified to lose their employment and forced to live an unspeakably miserable life.
11
Q
How did “indoor relief” and “outdoor relief” work under the elizabethan poor law?
A
Local authorities were empowered to build workhouses for recipients of aid. They were empowered to offer “indoor relief,” which involved forcing poor individuals and families into a workhouse. Individuals were expected to earn their aid by working in the workhouse or by working for employers with whom the workhouse had contracts. Local authorities could also provide “outdoor relief” (e.g., money, food, clothing) to those who remained in their own homes. In practice, outdoor relief was common because it was cheaper than building more workhouses.
12
Q
under the Elizabethan Poor Law, how was the govt responsible for people with families vs people with families
A
Families, regardless of income, were made responsible for the care of indigent parents or children so as to relieve the state of that responsibility. That meant the state only had responsibility for those without blood relations who could be forced to help out.
13
Q
What was the role of Parish under the Elizabethan Law? (2 roles)
A
The parish had the right and the duty to separate children aged five to fourteen from destitute parents and find jobs or apprenticeships for them.
Tax collection and administration of poor relief occurred at the parish level, with overseers of the poor appointed to weed out deserving from undeserving applicants for relief.
14
Q
A
14
Q
A
15
Q
What year was the UK’s new poor law established? What is the famous novel that depicts it? What were the conditions?
A
In 1834, the UK’s new Poor Law created a system of workhouses likes what Charles Dickens described in his 1838 novel Oliver Twist.
The new Poor Law required that the destitute could receive welfare assistance only while inside a workhouse.
15
Q
When was the Industrial Revolution? What did it cause?
A
from about 1760 to 1840
produced a great deal of social dislocation and a higher number of poor people.
15
Q
What was the purpose and attitude towards social welfare during the Industrial Revolution? How were the unemployed treated?
A
At the time, the purpose of social welfare was to provide the minimum assistance necessary to keep the non-dissolute unemployed alive.
The unemployed were tacitly blamed for their failure to find work, and maximum pressure was placed on them to take whatever jobs became available.
Only members of society deemed unemployable and without relatives to support them were exempted from such pressure.
However, they too received only modest state aid and were often placed in institutions.
16
Q
What do we mean by the state institutions in the 1800s remained undifferentiated?
A
the mentally ill, orphans, the unemployed, and the frail elderly were often placed under one roof.
17
Q
What were the dominant beliefs on Poverty during the Industrial Revolution? What were they rooted in?
A
anchored in Reformation Protestant theology. Pauperism was thought to be a result of family defects, and individuals were considered to be responsible for their own poverty. Idleness, worldly temptations, and moral decline resulted in poverty. The thinking was that people could lift themselves out of poverty through discipline and hard work.
18
Q
What was the model that became the basis for the social welfare system adopted by British North American colonies?
A
The Elizabethan Poor Law
19
What does the first phase in the emergence of social welfare in Canada span?
the arrival of settlers to New France and English colonies to Confederation and the signing of the British North America Act of 1867 (also called the Constitution Act, 1867).
19
What was social welfare like in the first phase of Canada's welfare evolution?
What was the states role during this time?
In this era, social welfare was local and private, and economic security was a matter for the family first and the community second.
The state’s role, whether or not a Poor Law was in place in a given colony, was initially limited to supporting charities. However, it gradually expanded to include building workhouses and implementing public health measures. Both the state and charities approached poverty by regulating and providing aid to the poor rather than by addressing the causes of poverty.
20
What were the 2 different but parallel models used for welfare before and after confederation?
the French and English models. Québec adopted a church-based model that had its origins in France. English Canada adopted the English Poor Law model supplemented by private charity.
21
What was social welfare like under the Quebec model?
The Québec model, in which the church rather than the state provided social services, included an array of institutions, from schools to hospitals to shelters for the poor, orphans, prostitutes, and elderly. However, it had a Poor Law ideology to a large degree and placed more importance on the cause of need than the fact of need.
The church defended inequalities of wealth because they had benefited from land sales. Single mothers were forced to give up their babies to the nuns
22
What was welfare like in English Canada before the 1800s? How does this contrast with Quebec?
In English Canada local charities took on many of the same responsibilities that the church assumed for Catholics in Québec. Although Nova Scotia introduced a Poor Law in 1758 and New Brunswick introduced a Poor Law in 1786, charities rather than the state provided most of the assistance for those in need.
outsiders were jailed or sold.
22
What did the Soeurs Grises do in the beginning of 1858?
opened daycares in working-class areas to care for children of working or ill mothers.
23
What created the growing underclass dependent on wages in Canada? What problem accompanied this?
population increases and immigration
The rise of industry created many of the same problems that had occurred earlier in Europe: charities were overwhelmed, and the state (which often provided subsidies to charities) was forced to play a bigger role.
24
What is the history of the establishment of Work houses in the Colonies?
Saint John opened the first in 1835, and Montréal, Québec City, Toronto, and Kingston opened workhouses within the next two years. Families were often separated in a workhouse.
25
How were children treated at the beginning of work houses in the colonies?
There was no supervision to ensure that the children were safe at work, not overworked, and free of physical and sexual abuse. At times, children were hired out to whatever employer was willing to provide room and board in return for work.
26
At the beginning of workhouses in the colonies, what were "workhouse tests"
In a workhouse, all men had to perform a “workhouse test”: physical labour that proved that they were not in the workhouse as a means of avoiding the search for paid work.
27
27
28
What did the House of Industry do? How did it operate? How did it treat unemployed men?
provided lodging to the needy and assisted abandoned or orphaned children, often placing them as indentured servants in homes and farms
provided both temporary and permanent accommodations.
Residents were often required to do chores in return for help — similar to the old Dickensian workhouses of England.
Unemployed men were given food and shelter for the night and expected to move on.
To deter “casuals” from taking advantage of the system, trustees introduced a new law: breaking “two yards” of stone in order to qualify for relief
28
Why was the "House of Industry" created before the second world war? Where was it created?
Up until the Second World War, waves of newcomers migrated to Toronto — Irish, Jewish, Italian, Black American, and Chinese, among others. Many landed in “The Ward,” an area crammed with rundown housing and immigrant-owned businesses. Fearing that UK-style workhouses would be introduced in Toronto, in 1837 a group of reformers and dissenting ministers founded the “House of Industry,” modelled on somewhat more humanitarian principles.
29
What eventually caused both Ontario and Québec to rely more on outdoor relief? How did this influence the "workhouse test"?
the cost of building and maintaining traditional workhouses, along with a growing unease about large institutions
The workhouse test was replaced by the work test, which meant that an applicant, unless he had a medical exemption, could stay at home but would be required to cut wood or break rock in order to receive financial aid
29
Which 2 provinces resisted the transition from indoor to outdoor relief? Why? In what years did they switch?
New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, which experienced slow economic growth after the 1850s, resisted the move to outdoor relief. They did not shut down their workhouses until the second half of the 1950s.
30
31
After what year did Canada industrialize rapidly? How did this lead to the second phase of social welfare in Canada? What period was this?
1867
This drew both people from abroad and people from rural communities into towns and cities. Many people left the security of the family to look for greater economic opportunities, sometimes ending up with insecure factory or mining jobs. The second phase of the history of social welfare in Canada covers the post-Confederation period roughly until the beginning of World War II.
32
What was the sentiment of welfare in post-Confederation period roughly until the beginning of World War II in Canada? What was the political climate? What caused a shift from this thinking?
favoured a residual approach in which charity and local volunteer decision making closely scrutinized the allocation of aid to the help-worthy. Most poverty was still seen as the product of individual failings, and relief was minimal and carried stigma. The numbers of both reformers and socialists grew, but conservative ideology largely held sway until the severity of the Great Depression caused a massive shift away from the idea that individuals were the cause of their own poverty.
33
What concerns were brought about from the industrialization of Canada?
concerns over the mounting toll of workplace injury and death, the need for safety equipment, and the limiting of children’s employment.
34
What did Factory acts established for? what did they not address? what phase were they introduced?
Although Factory Acts were established to improve the conditions for children, they did not address the financial insecurity associated with workplace accidents.
phase 2
35
What year was the Québec Workers’ Compensation Act introduced? What was its main flaw?
1909
Act was not compulsory and did not have an independent administrative board.
36
What was workers compensation supported by? How did it work?
How did this practice differ from the previous practice?
Why did many employers prefer the new practice?
supported by many employers and by the rising labour movement. It was paid for by employers’ contributions and provided both short- and long-term financial support to injured workers and their families without assessing blame for injuries on the job.
Previously, workers who were injured on the job had to depend on charity or attempt to sue the employer in court for liability for the injury.
The occasional generosity of courts in awarding huge damages to injured workers caused many employers to prefer a no-fault, state-run system of compensation.
37
When was the first Workers compensation legislation introduced in Ontario? What did it embody? How did this contrast the previous residual system?
In 1914, Ontario introduced its first workers’ compensation legislation. It embodied the doctrine of no-fault liability and ensured that workers would receive benefits regardless of their employer’s financial position. In contrast to the prevailing residual system of poor relief, the benefits would be paid in cash and as a right
38
How many provinces had legislated workers’ compensation programs based on the Ontario model by 1920?
6
39
40
Which provinces introduced worker's comp programs after 1920? In what years?
Québec followed in 1928 (to mandate employers and to establish an independent board), Saskatchewan in 1930, and Prince Edward Island in 1949. In 1950, one year after joining Canada as a province, Newfoundland and Labrador also legislated workers’ compensation. Yukon did so in 1958. The Northwest Territories joined the Association of Workers’ Compensation Boards of Canada in 1974 and in 1999 created a joint board with Nunavut.
40
What is the social gospel and reform movement?
FILL OUT LATER
41
Who were workers' compensation programs originally mainly designed for?
men
42
What was the purpose of mother's allowance legislation? Who acted first? In what year? When did other provinces do this? Who was the last?
to aid women who were raising children alone and without an adequate income.
Manitoba acted first in 1916, followed by Saskatchewan in 1917, Alberta in 1919, and British Columbia and Ontario in 1920. Other provinces did not follow suit until later: Nova Scotia in 1930 and Québec in 1937
New Brunswick enacted legislation in 1930 but did not implement it until 1944.
43
What were some negative ways in which workers' allowance was different from workers' compensation?
Unlike workers’ compensation, which applied universally and did not make moral judgments, mothers’ allowances were infused with conventional judgments of “good women” versus “fallen women.”
Moreover, each province hired workers to make inquiries about how well the mothers receiving the allowance were running their homes, cutting off women who appeared to have a man in their lives or who were judged to be lacking in virtue.
44
Who were considered "good women" in mothers' allowance? Who was excluded from receiving mother's allowance?
Widows, wives with husbands too ill to work, and sometimes deserted wives were eligible for a mothers’ allowance
single mothers from receiving a mothers’ allowance.
45
When did the campaign for mother's pensions pick up? What did the federal govt do? Was this program sufficient?
after WWI
The federal government extended pensions to the widows and children of soldiers who lost their lives.
In practice, the amount provided to women through mothers’ allowances and pensions was low, and most recipients needed to work, at least part-time, to make ends meet.
46
What was the first priority of the women's movement?
women's suffrage
47
when was the women's right to vote first exercised nationally? Between what years did all provinces extend voting rights for some women? Who was still excluded?
in the federal election in 1918
Between 1916 (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta) and 1940 (Québec), all provinces extended voting rights to some women.
many women continued to be excluded from the right to vote based on race or Indigeneity
48
What was the government annuities act of 1908? What did it allow? how did it work? What was it offered as an alternative to?
provided Canadians with private funds as an investment opportunity to prepare financially for their old age
The Act allowed individuals to purchase government annuities on a voluntary basis. After retirement, individuals would receive government payments made up of the principal invested plus accumulated interest. The federal government offered this program as an alternative to the across-the-board old age pensions introduced in New Zealand and several Australian states in the decade before 1908. However, between 1908 and the passage of the Canadian federal Old Age Pensions Act in 1927, only 7,713 annuities had been issued
49
Who were the first 2 labour members of parliment? when were they elected?
In the 1921 federal election, the first two Labour members of Parliament were elected: J. S. Woodsworth, a former Methodist minister and social worker in Winnipeg, and William Irvine, a Unitarian minister in Calgary.
50
Who formed the Ginger Group? What did they do?
What did they create?
Working with a subset of radical Progressive Party members, the Labour members formed a “Ginger Group” in the House of Commons who pushed for progressive reforms.
Created the Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in 1932, the forerunner of today’s New Democratic Party (NDP).
51
Why did Prime Minister Mackenzie Lyon King create old age pensions? When was he able to enact it?
King was left with a minority government after the 1925 federal election, he met with the Progressive and Labour members of Parliament to learn their price for supporting his government. Woodsworth demanded old age pensions, and Mackenzie King conceded. His government fell anyway, but when his Liberals received a majority in 1926, he kept his promise to Woodsworth.
52
What is the old age pension act? When was it enacted? What did it provide? What were the eligibility restriction?
1927 was the first foray by the federal government into the provision of a minimum income program. The Act provided federal funds of up to $10 per recipient per month to provinces that were prepared to set up a public pension and match the federal donation.
Only Canadian citizens over 70 who had been British subjects for at least 20 years, and who could pass a means test that demonstrated that they had almost no other means of support (the maximum allowable annual income was $365) were eligible. First Nations and Inuit people were ineligible, although Métis people were eligible.
53
Provide information about the provincial pension programs.
The five most westerly provinces had all implemented provincial pension programs before the Great Depression started. Québec and the Maritime provinces followed only after the federal government increased its contribution to 75% of the pension in 1931, but these provinces set the pension well below the maximum $20 per month. Like mothers’ allowances, Canada’s first old age pensions supplied too little income to allow recipients to survive unless they had some other source of income. However, they helped keep many people out of poorhouses and workhouses.
54
Who were the Canadian Prime Ministers from 1867 to 1940?
- Sir John Alexander Macdonald (1867–73)
- Alexander Mackenzie (1873–78)
- Sir John Alexander Macdonald (1878–91)
- Sir John Abbott (1891–92)
- Sir John Thompson (1892–94)
- Sir Mackenzie Bowell (1894–96)
- Sir Charles Tupper, 1st Baronet (1896)
- Sir Wilfrid Laurier (1896–1911)
- Sir Robert Laird Borden (1911–20)
- Arthur Meighen (1920–21)
- W. L. Mackenzie King (1921–26)
- Arthur Meighen (1926)
- W. L. Mackenzie King (1926–30)
- Richard Bedford Bennett (1930–35)
- W. L. Mackenzie King (1935–48)
55
When did the American Stock Market crash? What did this lead to?
1929
led to a complete collapse of economies around the world. Led to the Great Depression.
56
What happened during the Great Depression?
a time of economic stagnation, and many people lived in severe poverty. The Prairie provinces were also affected by a widespread drought that left many farmers without crops.
57
What happened in 1930 regarding the great depression? What happened in 1932? What were the conditions of relief camps?
R. B. Bennett’s Conservatives defeated the Mackenzie King government. Bennett shared the view common at the time that deficit spending would drag down the economy. Protests against government inaction became widespread.
the government announced that single, homeless, unemployed men would only receive relief if they moved to relief camps under the authority of the Department of National Defence. In the camps, inmates were paid only 20 cents per day for mandatory work such as clearing bush, building roads, and planting trees.
58
What was President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal? How did this Influence Prime Minister R.B Bennet in 1935?
putting people to work in public works projects. Taking a cue from this program and growing Canadian social unrest, Prime Minister Bennett went on the radio in January 1935 and told Canadians he would bring in his own New Deal, which would include unemployment insurance. The unemployed were not impressed.
59
What prompted the on to Ottawa Trek in June 1935? how did this lead to the Regina riot on July 1?
The trek was prompted by the poverty, dismal working conditions, and poor benefits in the unemployment relief camps — and by the federal government’s inaction in getting people back to work. Bennett was unwilling to yield to the trekkers’ demands that he close the camps and provide either work or compensation equivalent to relief camp wages.He ordered the RCMP to stop the trekkers when they reached Regina.
60
What city was known as most radical because of their famous general strike in 1919?
Winnipeg
61
What did the On to Ottawa Trek and the support it gained from Canadians lay the foundation for in the following years? Does this program still exist?
In August 1940, the federal government instituted a national public system of Unemployment Insurance (now called Employment Insurance [EI]), financed through contributions by employees, employers, and the Government of Canada.
The EI program, albeit modified, continues today due to pioneering social activism in 1930s by the Ottawa trekkers and the Canadian labour movement at the time.
62
Who passed the 1935 Employment and Social Insurance Act? Who struck it down and why?
Bennett did get Parliament to pass the 1935 Employment and Social Insurance Act.
Mackenzie King’s government referred the legislation to the courts, which struck it down in 1937 because it represented federal intervention in the broad area of civil rights that the British North America Act reserved for the provinces.
63
Who passed the royal commision on Dominion Provincial Relations and why? What was its conclusion?
Mackenzie King’s Liberal government quickly responded by forming the Royal Commission on Dominion–Provincial Relations to inquire whether the division of powers entrenched in 1867 when Canada was a predominantly rural society needed changes.
Among its conclusions was that provincial governments should retain responsibility for unemployed people who were unemployable, seniors, single parents, and people with disabilities, and that the federal government should take responsibility for employable people.
64
What paved the way for a federal unemployment insurance system in 1940?
Mackenzie King was able to obtain the necessary provincial agreement that led to an amendment of the British North America Act in 1940
65
Provide information about the Unemploymnet insurance act in 1940/
With the Unemployment Insurance Act, 1940, Canada became the last industrialized country to adopt a contribution-based unemployment insurance program. Yet, at its inception, the program excluded seasonal workers along with most women workers and Indigenous peoples from benefits.
66
What was the unemployment rate during the great depression? How many people depended on relief?
The unemployment rate was 30% and one in five Canadians depended on relief for their survival.
67
Did the great depression force people to change longstanding beliefs about why people were poor? What did people start to see?
yes.
People began to see that poverty and unemployment were not the results of individual inadequacy or laziness, but common and insurable threats to everyone’s livelihood. Public perception of the poor gradually began to shift.
68
How did Mackenzie Kings proposal after the 1945 elections lead to federal-provincial disputes that plagued efforts towards social reform for years?
He proposed a comprehensive set of federally funded social programs to the provinces at a federal–provincial conference shortly after his government’s re-election. However, though he knew that it was a deal breaker, he proposed that the provinces give the federal government the exclusive right to levy income and corporate taxes. That way, the reasoning went, the federal government would have sufficient funds to finance its new programs and ensure that neither individuals nor companies would be overtaxed.
The provinces, as Mackenzie King expected, indicated that they needed sources of funding to fulfill their own obligations to their voters. However, Mackenzie King, who privately did not want to implement a large number of new social programs, would not budge (Finkel, 2006a). Federal–provincial disputes would continue to plague efforts to achieve social reform in the years that followed, with each side blaming the other for lack of progress.
69
What was John Meynard Keynes influence on canadian policy?
Keynes’s theory provided the foundation for demand management through government spending and other fiscal and monetary policies. While Mackenzie King remained largely unconvinced by Keynes’s ideas, the Department of Finance and the Bank of Canada were persuaded that a modest application of Keynes’s theory was acceptable for Canada. The government, they believed, could use a combination of tax policy, social programs, and the timing of public works to correct problems inherent in a market economy and to ensure that all citizens received at least a minimally adequate income.
70
What kind of theory is keynes theory considered? What does this mean?
a demand-side theory
At the time, Keynes advocated for increased government expenditures and lower taxes to stimulate demand and pull the economy out of the depression.
From a policy standpoint, modern followers of Keynesian economics focus on using active government intervention in order to stimulate and manage “aggregate demand” in order to address
71
What drove home the point that a return to pre-1939 economic and social norms was not feasible after the great depression?
The success of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in opinion polls and in forming the government of Saskatchewan in 1944, plus militant unionization campaigns,
72
After wwII how were economic growth and social programs seen?
as partner policies rather than enemies
73
What was welfare like in 1971?
it had gotten to a point where it touched the lives of most canadians
74
What changes affected Canada in the mid 1970s? How did this affect welfare programs?
inflation and unemployment grew, oil prices went up, and the global economy changed. As government revenues were in a downward spiral, sophisticated campaigns railed against universal social programs and promoted a resumption of Poor Law ideology.
Total expenditures on social welfare, health care, and education grew from 4% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 1946 to 15% of GDP by 1976
75
What was the first piece of social welfare legislation in the postwar period? Was it universal? What were the goals of this legislation? How did women come into play?
Family Allowance Act 1944 which came into effect in 1945
It was the first federal universal (i.e., not means tested) income security program in Canada.
The goals of this important piece of legislation were to maintain purchasing power when the war ended and demonstrate the government’s commitment to the upcoming generation
The legislation also fit in with the government’s efforts to send Canadian women, whom the government had encouraged to work during the war because of labour shortages, back home.
76
What concession did the family allowance make for married women who were going to lose their jobs post war?
It would be delivered in their names rather than those of their husbands, giving them some money in the household over which they alone could exercise discretion.
77
What replaced the Family Allowance in 1989?
The Child Care Tax Benefit (CCTB), introduced in 1989 as a means-tested supplement to the Family Allowance for low-income and middle-income families, would replace the universal Family Allowance.
78
How did the old age security act come about in 1951? How did it work? Did this include first nations people? How was it viewed by the elderly?
In 1951, an amendment was made to the British North America Act to allow the federal government to operate a pension plan. Subsequently, the federal government passed the Old Age Security Act of 1951,
which provided a pension (or demogrant) of $40 per month to Canadians beginning at the age of 70 (Guest, 1980). Pension payments, which began in 1952, were taxable. This universal program was extended to First Nations people, repealing the exclusion from the previous 1927 legislation.
This residual program was viewed by the elderly as personally invasive and stigmatizing
79
How were CPP (1965) and QPP (1966) different from the old age security act?
The Canada Pension Plan (1965) and Québec Pension Plan (1966) (“CPP” and “QPP,” respectively) provided a wage-related supplement to Old Age Security and were the first programs to be indexed to inflation, or the cost of living allowance (COLA). The CPP/QPP provided wide coverage and advanced the concept of a social minimum.
80
What was the Canadian Assistance plan in 1966 instrumental for? How did the cost work? How did this fit into the plan of the federal govt?
was instrumental in standardizing and funding income and social assistance across the country and was in effect between 1966 and 1996. This program was the consolidation of federal–provincial programs based on means tests or needs tests. Half the costs of all shareable items were assumed by the federal government, provided that a needs test was given. Assistance was possible for the working poor and was one aspect of the federal plan to eliminate poverty
81
What debate peaked when Canadian Assistance plan was introduced? Was it a risidual program? What was it replaced by?
The historical debate concerning “fact of need” versus “cause of need”
yes.
his program was the cornerstone of Canada’s social service funding until 1996, when it was replaced by the Canada Health and Social Transfer.
82
What is the Canadian Health and Social Transfer? What happened to it in 2004? How did they work?
a system of block transfers from the federal to the provincial governments that was in place from the 1996 until 2004. In 2004, the CHST was split into the Canada Health Transfer (CHT) and Canada Social Transfer (CST).
block transfers to the provinces to pay for health care and post-secondary education and welfare.
83
How does Canadian Medicare contrast to the states?
In the United States, public Medicare is essentially restricted to those who are elderly. By contrast, in Canada all citizens and permanent residents have access to high-quality medical services across the country, even when they travel or move from province to province.
84
What sparked Canadian Medicare?
the Great Depression
85
who did the first steps towards public health care happen under? Who expanded the policy? To what?
Tommy Douglas
Lester B pearson
Medical care act of 1966
86
What did the Canada Health care act of 1984 amalgamate? How many provincial and territorial plans are there?
the 1966 Medical Care Act and the 1957 Hospital Insurance and Diagnostic Services Act.
13
87
What are some of the top healthcare concerns in Canada currently?
waiting lists, access to medical specialists, access to high-tech diagnostic equipment, privatization, and two-tier care.
88
What province started medicare? How many years did it take to spread throughout the country? Who opposed it? Was it the first of its kind in north america?
saskatchewan
10 years
the north american medical establishment and the insurance industry
yes.
89
What is the Report of the Special Senate Committee on Poverty widely known as? Why is it considered a land mark report?
The croll report
is considered a landmark report because it brought poverty out of the shadows
90
What revealed the extent of income inequality in Canada? What income inequalities were found?
research into poverty in the 1970s and 1960s
between the bottom fifth and top fifth of families on the income scale; from one province to another; between regions within a province; between rural and urban areas; between genders; and from one race to another
91
Why did people favour the residual welfare idea of the universal one in 1960s and 70s?
the reveal of income inequality and the excessive spending on welfare programs showed that these programs were not actually alleviating poverty
92
Provide information about the Social Security Review
In 1973, the federal government initiated a federal–provincial review of Canada’s entire social security system. A Working Paper on Social Security in Canada was issued by minister of national health and welfare Marc Lalonde to provide a framework for the review. The report listed five strategies the government believed would create a better, more integrated system of social security:
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What were the five strategies in the social security review?
Community Employment Strategy. This strategy focused on improving both the job skills and the labour market for people with continuing difficulty in finding and holding employment.
Social Insurance Strategy. Social insurance programs (i.e., CPP/QPP, EI, and workers’ compensation) would be increased as a first line of defence against loss of income due to unemployment, sickness, or work accident. This strategy was also meant to improve the situation of people in retirement.
Income Support and Supplementation Strategy. This strategy focused on meeting inadequacies of income through a guaranteed income for the working poor and those outside the labour force.
Social and Employment Services Strategy. This strategy would make available a variety of employment assistance services such as counselling, rehabilitation, homemaking, and child care services to help people secure a foothold in the labour market.
Federal–Provincial Jurisdictional Strategy. To address the provincial demands for autonomy and flexibility in tailoring programs to particular needs, this strategy focused on greater federal–provincial harmonization in the delivery of income and social supports (
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Why was the social security review unsuccessful? What proposals did it contain?
It was largely unsuccessful “primarily because conventional wisdom dictated that increases in social security spending must come from economic growth.”
it did contain proposals that led to a new Family Allowances Act in 1973 that increased the benefit per child as well as amendments to retirement benefits (CPP/QPP, OAS) that indexed these benefits to the consumer price index
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What did the 1970s neoliberal governments think about keynesian fiscal policy?
gave too little incentive to the private sector to address market issues.
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what did mulroney try to do with old age pensions?
tried to cut them back but the elderly had a militant reaction that stopped it.
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What became a buzz word for neoliberals?
“Globalization” became a buzzword for neoliberal ideologues who believed that free markets, not governments, could be counted on to dispense economic justice
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What was the centerpiece of mulroney's relection bid in 1988? What were the arguments for and against it?
The Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement (CUSFTA)
Supporters argued that protection of local industries kept alive uncompetitive firms while deterring the establishment of firms with a global reach. Opponents of free trade argued that it would worsen the problems Canada already faced from runaway firms looking for the cheapest place to operate and would result in downward pressures not only on wages but on social programs.
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What was The Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement (CUSFTA) replaced by in 1994? By who? What did this result in?
John Crétien North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
NAFTA resulted in the elimination or reduction of barriers to trade and investment between the United States, Canada, and Mexico. It also affected issues such as employment and the environment.
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What was NAFTA replaced with? When? Under who?
Canada–United States–Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) in 2018, during Donald Trumps presidency
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What cuts to welfare happened in the 80s and 90s
he Mulroney government began to cut transfer payments for health care and post-secondary education. By the 1990s, family allowances, the CAP, and federal financial support for social housing had all disappeared
Two-tiered medical care, in which some services could be purchased outside the public sector, had made some gains. In addition, “the percentage of unemployed people eligible to collect unemployment insurance had been eroded to levels unseen since the early 1950s
n the 1989 federal budget, the universality of old age pensions and family allowances was reduced through taxing the benefits back
The Child Care Tax Benefit (CCTB), introduced in 1989 as a means-tested supplement to the Family Allowance for low-income and middle-income families, would replace the universal Family Allowance. Daycare disappeared from the public agenda after the 1988 election
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Did mulroney cut or increase spending on welfare?
cut
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What did the reform party support
starving the beast
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Did the cretien liberals follow in mulroney's foot steps? What program did he rename? What did they do to this program?
yes.
named unemployment insurance "employment insurance"
toughened eligibility
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What parties fused to form the conservative party of canada? When?
the reform party and the progressive conservatives
2003
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did harper make tax cuts?
yes. He lowered the goods and service tax
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What percentage of urban indigenous people lived below the poverty line in 2000?
55.6%
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When was the Kelowna Accord? Who met? What did it do? Who started it? who did not proceed with it?
in 2005.
a series of agreements between the federal government, provincial premiers, territorial leaders, and the leaders of five national Indigenous organizations . sought to improve the education, employment, and living conditions of Indigenous peoples through governmental funding and other programs.
Pail martin's liberal government started it. Harper's conservatives did not follow through
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what were 2 health programs that Harper shut down?
the Harper government closed down the National Aboriginal Health Organization — whose task was to advise the government on culturally sensitive ways of delivering health programs — to save $5 million (Picard, 2012). It also terminated the Métis Health Funding Program.
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What was set to be implemented about the old Age Security act in 2023? What was the rational? Who did this? Who stopped this?
The age of eligibility for Old Age Security and the Guaranteed Income Supplement was raised from 65 to 67, to be implemented in 2023. The government argued that because Canadians were living longer and having fewer children, providing funding guarantees to all or most of them when they turned 65 would become prohibitive.
Done by Harper, stopped by Trudeau
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What was Harper's main objective?
cutting costs, reducing spending on social welfare
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What type of immigrants did harper prefer?
wealthier immigrants over skilled trades people and professionals, focused on temporary workers. It made refugee admission more difficult
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Did harper support the environment?
nope. Made cuts on several environment programs
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What are hte bullet points of harper?
indigenous policies (reduced initiatives/spending)
Pension reforms (cut pensions increased retirement age)
Employment Insurance (harder to get)
Immigration Policy (harder to come to canada, harder to stay)
Environmental Policy (cut marine, and earth things)
Federal Downloading to the provinces (gave less funding to provinces)
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What are the bullet points of Trudeau
- promise of change (social reform agenda)
- reinstatement of long form census (informed decision making, diversity in canada)
- appointment of first gender-balanced cabinet (15 men, 15 women)
- legalization of marijuana
- Resettlement of More Refugees Than Any Other Country in 2018.
- Prioritization of Climate Change (canadian agreement on emissions, carbon tax, low carbon infrastructure)
- Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples (national enquiry for MMIW, funding for health care services, housing and mental health, water, education)
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What did trudeau do as a 'feminist'?
“moved to legislate pay equity in the federal sector, made the national anthem gender-neutral, enshrined in law protections for transgender people, and required gender-based analysis to be conducted on major policies”
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who were most affected by covid? Did covid lead to more or less welfare?
the working poor, racial minorities, immigrant workers, and especially older Canadians living in poorly staffed and poorly regulated care homes.
Containing the spread of the virus and getting the economy back on track necessitated addressing these underlying injustices, and that meant pouring resources into shoring up an already weakened welfare state.
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What welfare was rolled out during covid?
The federal government rapidly rolled out a series of measures that included emergency financial assistance, wage subsidies, increases to the Canada Child Benefit, mortgage payment deferrals, direct grants to businesses, and money to the provinces to top up pay for health care workers
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What can covid be drawn parallel to?
A parallel was drawn to the emergence of the welfare state itself in the immediate post–World War II period when there was a dramatic expansion of social programs in response to widespread risk and pervasive uncertainty
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Why is the conclusion that canada has less racial discrimination not supported?
Canada does not collect race-based data on COVID–19 cases, this conclusion is not evidence based.
