Vol.
24 No. 1 March 1998
Articles:
Poverty Status, Health Behaviours, and Health: Implications for
Social Assistance and Health Care Policy
Deanna L. Williamson and Janet F. Fast
This
study investigated the relationships among poverty status, health
behaviours, and the health of 130 Albertans living in poor families.
For the purposes of this study, poverty status indicated whether poor
families were receiving social assistance along with comprehensive
health care benefits or whether they were working poor without comprehensive
health care benefits. Findings from seven separate path analyses indicate
that poverty status was differentially related to the health of participants.
Specifically,
working poor respondents were found to be generally healthier than
their social assistance counterparts except in those instances in
which the working poor were prevented from filling needed prescriptions
because they lacked the economic resources to do so. The paper concludes
with a discussion of the implications of these findings for social
assistance and health care policies.
Canadian Federalism, Internationalization and Quebec Agriculture:
Dis-Engagement, Re-Integration?
Grace Skogstad
The two faces of relations between Quebec and Canadian agriculture
have been shaped by Canada's federal system and developments in the
international trading environment. The first face, the disengagement
of Quebec's farm community from the Canadian federal system, can be
traced to the Quebec government's expansionist agricultural policy,
the diminished federal expenditure role in Quebec agriculture, and
the fissiparous effects of the negotiation of international trade
agreements. The second face of good working relationships in the national
supply-managed sectors is linked to flexible, national corporatist
decision-making structures which provide a vital social glue linking
Quebec's dairy sector with that outside Quebec. Restructuring the
Canada-Quebec relationship in agriculture by either giving Quebec
sole jurisdiction for agriculture or integrating Quebec agriculture
more fully into the federation must be assessed in the context of
internationalizing pressures and fiscal restraints.
The Impact of the CHST on Interprovincial Redistribution in Canada
Tracy R. Snoddon
In 1996, transfers made under Established Programs Financing and the
Canada Assistance Plan were replaced with the Canada Health and Social
Transfer (CHST). This paper examines the impact of the CHST on the
net redistribution of revenues across provinces in its first few years
of operation. The results show that, while the CHST alters recent
trends in net redistribution, the effects are modest when compared
to the impacts of earlier measures such as the freeze in per capita
EPF entitlements and the "cap on CAP", imposed in 1990.
The federal government's recent decision to raise the CHST cash floor
further reduces the CHST's effect on redistribution relative to the
status quo as does the decision to adjust the allocation of the CHST
slowly (rather than immediately) in the direction of equal per capita
shares. Finally, the distinction between cash transfers and entitlements
is important when measuring net redistribution from federal transfers
to provinces.
Is There Convergence in Provincial Spending Priorities?
Michael M. Atkinson and Gerald Bierling
This article examines the question of whether the provinces are becoming
increasingly similar in their total spending and in the level of spending
devoted to particular functional areas. Using various measures of
spending, we begin by briefly tracing the pattern of provincial spending
between 1971 and 1994. We then show, using Dispersion Indexes, that
in some areas there has been a persistent movement toward similar
levels of spending and similar spending priorities, while in other
areas a divergent or indeterminate pattern has been established. Of
some importance is the fact that particular provinces are outliers
or influential cases and as such have the capacity to influence significantly
the degree of convergence observed. In addition, the 24-year period
is not one unbroken pattern. In some cases the provinces reverse their
initial convergent direction and become increasingly different from
one another. We suggest some reasons for these patterns, including
the role of federal-provincial fiscal relations and the impact of
changing economic conditions.
"Place Your Bets!" On Gambling, Government and Society
Michael Y. Seelig and Julie H. Seelig
This article outlines the major public policy issues in the renaissance
of one of the oldest of human activities: gambling. It analyzes four
factors which have shifted gambling from its role as a private pastime
into the centre of the Canadian public agenda: (i) the public sector's
active participation in gambling both as a promoter of lotteries,
casinos, and raffles, and as a regulator of those activities; (ii)
addiction, crime, and other problems associated with gambling; (iii)
gambling's rapid proliferation, which has made it a major factor in
many provincial budgets; and (iv) the extent to which public goods,
including cultural institutions and amateur sport, are funded through
gambling. We examine where Canadian society is heading in terms of
its reliance on gambling, present likely trends in gambling revenues
and activities, and review the implications of youth gambling. The
paper concludes with recommendations for further study and legislative
action.
Employment Benefits for Same Sex Couples: The Expanding Entitlement
Donald D. Carter
Canada
has recently seen a growing amount of litigation raising the issue
of whether same sex couples are entitled by right to employment benefits
already made available to opposite sex couples. This litigation raises
the important issue of whether our legal system should be affirming
homosexuality by acknowledging that longstanding same sex relationships
should be treated in the same way as more traditional families. Canadian
human rights legislation has not provided a clear answer to this question
and by default our legislators have left this matter to be resolved
by the courts. It will take some time before this process of litigation
is completed, but a clear pattern has emerged that suggests that the
courts are likely to affirm the right of same sex couples to employment
benefits.
