PHA-Exch> Canadian Success Story Presented in CSDH Report: Rhetoric and Spin:

[Claudio Schuftan]

draphael at yorku.ca]



Canadian Success Story Presented in CSDH Report Rhetoric and Spin:

Conditions for Children Profoundly Deteriorated during the 1990s.



Dennis Raphael, York University, Toronto





            In the *Social Determinants Of Health: Developing An Evidence
Base For Political Action,* the Final Report to World Health Organization
Commission on the Social Determinants of Health from the Measurement and
Evidence Knowledge Network, a case study on Canada supplies the following as
an example of successful implementation of evidence into policy:

(see:
http://www.who.int/social_determinants/resources/mekn_report_10oct07.pdf)

* *

*Some Key Policy Initiatives to Enhance the Well-Being of Children in **
Canada**, 1991-2001*

1991 *Ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child*

1992 *Community-Based Initiatives : *Community Action Program for Children;
Aboriginal

Head Start; The Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program; Fetal Alcohol
Syndrome/Fetal

Alcohol Effects Initiative

1993 *School Net: *connects all Canadian public schools and public libraries
to the Internet

1998 *National Child Benefit: *a tax benefit policy to prevent and reduce
child poverty

1999 *National Children's Agenda: *a cooperative effort by all governments
to ensure that

all children have the best opportunity to develop to their fullest
potential.

1999 *Social Union Framework Agreement: *a collaborative framework for
social policy in

Canada with an emphasis on children in poverty

2000 *Health Accord and Early Childhood Development Initiative (ECD): *affirmed
a

commitment by all governments to invest in early childhood development.

2001 *Employment Insurance: *maternity and paternity benefits doubled from
six months to

one year; adoptive leave tripled from 10 weeks to 35 weeks; commitment to *
'family*

*friendly' workplaces *in federal jurisdictions.



*Let me put in bluntly, the material above represents pure rhetoric and
spin. The reality is that the period 1991-2001 saw a full blown retreat from
State provision of social security.  And the most affected by this – for the
worse – were children. No lesser authorities than the Federation of Canadian
Municipalities have documented the profound increases in food insecurity and
hunger, housing insecurity and homelessness, and growing poverty in many
major urban area **(Federation of Canadian Municipalities, 2003, 2004a,
2004b, 2008)**. Further documentation concerning the increasing policy
threats to children and their development is readily available **(Campaign
2000, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2004)**.*

            This has come about through the weakening of just about every
social security program.  In place of this have come a variety of
ameliorative programs – ostensibly directed towards children – that serves
to provide support to the most severely affected. The weakening of just
about every social determinant of health through these policy actions has
been recognized from a range of authorities from the United Ways of Canada
to the business-oriented Conference Board of Canada (Conference Board of
Canada, 2003, 2006; United Way of Greater Toronto, 2004; United Way of
Greater Toronto & Canadian Council on Social Development, 2002; United Way
of Ottawa, 2003; United Way of Winnipeg, 2003).

            Further documentation of these developments and especially
policy changes during the 1990s – the focus of the WHO "Canadian success
story" -- including analysis of the gutting of the proposed National
Childcare Plan are available from Dr Raphael at address above.
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