Vol.
26 No. 3 September 2000
Articles:
The
Road to Innovation, Convergence or Inertia: Devolution in Housing
Policy in Canada
Barbara Wake Carroll and Ruth J.E. Jones
The
focus of this paper is on housing policy in Canada since 1945
with a particular emphasis on the period since 1986 when the federal
government began its withdrawal from housing policy.
The
paper applies existing theories of policy change, namely innovation,
convergence, policy learning, and policy inheritance to the five phases
of housing policy that have occurred in postwar Canada. It also incorporates
two surveys of provincial housing policy conducted by the authors
in 1994 and 1997 to assess the changes that have occurred since the
federal government withdrawal in 1996. The analysis suggests that
within a broader model of the policy process which deals with both
periods of change and non-change, the theories of change can explain
previous periods of activism, but the model can also explain the current
period which can best be described by inertia. This inertia is understandable
because the preceding conditions for change which existed in the earlier
phases of housing policy are largely absent today.
Résultats
empiriques multi-pays relatifs à l'impact des cibles d'inflation
sur la crédibilité de la politique monétaire
Pierre St-Amant and David Tessier
In
this article, we discuss the recent literature analyzing the experience
of countries having adopted inflation targets and provide some simple
statistical tests for determining the link between the adoption of
inflation targets and the credibility of monetary policy. The literature
survey and empirical results lead us to conclude that certain statistical
properties of inflation may have changed in recent years, and that
monetary policy seems to have become more credible in a number of
countries, including Canada. Yet the available data do not allow us
to conclude with any certainty that explicit inflation targets have
played a significant role in these changes.
Gender
Differences in Language Acquisition and Employment Consequences among
Southeast Asian Refugees in Canada
Morton Beiser and Feng Hou
When
they arrived in Canada, female Southeast Asian refugees were far less
likely than males to speak English. The male linguistic advantage
was still in evidence a decade later. Women had fewer opportunities
than men to learn English during the post-migration period. Ironically,
however, women benefited even more than their male counterparts from
opportunities such as English as a second language (ESL) classes.
English-language ability improved the likelihood of staying in the
labour market. This effect was even stronger for women than for men.
Resettlement policies must ensure unbiased opportunity to acquire
the language of the receiving society.
Valuing
Unpaid Work in the Third Sector: The Case of Community Resources Centres
Sheila Neysmith and Marge Reitsma-Street
Issues
of unpaid work in poor communities are examined. Data from community
centres are used to analyze debates which underlie differing approaches
to valuing unpaid work and the particular form it takes when called
"volunteering." Monetary valuations draw on market principles;
others are embedded in the experiences of volunteers. Differences
between volunteers, funders, and program planners arise from the differing
social locations these parties occupy in the mixed economy of welfare
that now typifies Canadian social policy. Policy debates about volunteers
need to be sharpened by casting them within the larger framework of
unpaid work and citizenship.
The
Kyoto Protocol: Implications of a Flawed but Important Environmental
Policy
Sandra Rollings-Magnusson and Robert C. Magnusson
The
Kyoto Protocol is an important and necessary step toward protecting
the global environment. However, analysis reveals problems that could
hamper the effectiveness of this treaty. Technical deficiencies, ambiguities,
and inconsistencies exist in the legal text. In addition, from the
Canadian perspective, an inequitable distribution of the costs of
environmental enhancement may occur despite design efforts that attempted
to achieve fairness and equitable treatment for participating nations
through the international emission trading program. Solutions for
these concerns are proposed, including the auctioning of emission
rights.
Evidence
on Grades and Grade Inflation at Ontario's Universities
Paul M. Anglin and Ronald Meng
Using
information on first-year university grades from across Ontario, we
examine whether or not there has been grade inflation by discipline.
In a survey of seven universities for the periods 1973-74 and 1993-94,
we find significant grade inflation in various Arts and Science programs.
The rate of inflation is not uniform. Some subjects, such as Mathematics
experienced little or no change in average grades at most universities,
while English and Biology experienced significant grade inflation.
Magazines,
Cultural Policy and Globalization: The Forced Retreat of the State?
Sarah Armstrong
This
paper argues that developments associated with economic globalization
have heightened the challenge of using domestic policy to foster and
protect culture. Two developments associated with economic globalization
and internationalization, rapid developments in information technology
and the international trade regime, have rendered ineffective Canada's
long-standing policy instruments designed to protect the industry.
Policy discourse has also changed by bringing into sharp relief two
opposing models that address the role of the state in protecting culture:
the global market model and the local culture model. Internationalization
has also forced cultural policy communities to work together at the
international level.
