A blog post on the Progressive Economics Forum, "Falling Poverty Among the Elderly - A Canadian Success Story," describes how the poverty rate for seniors has fallen from 11.3% in 1989 to just 5.4% in 2006 (3.4% for elderly men, and 7.0% for elderly women.) This puts the average poverty rate for seniors in Canada lower than Sweden (6.6%) and way below the U.S. (21%). The author speculates that the senior poverty rate has fallen due to progressive social policies such as the Old Age Security and Guaranteed Income Supplement, as well as high private pensions during the 1970s and 1980s. But poverty among seniors still disproportionately effects women, people of colour, immigrants and people with disabilities. A 2006 report from the National Advisory on Aging, Seniors on the Margins: Aging in poverty in Canada looks more seniors in the next decade, especially marginalized seniors, may not have access to the resources they need. For more information on government policy and seniors see:

• National Seniors Council - advises Canada's Government on all matters related to the health, well-being and quality of life of seniors.
• Seniors Canada - Federal government information
• Canadian Social Research Links - Seniors

The Federal Court of Appeal has overturned an earlier decision which found the Safe Third Country Agreement violated international and Canadian law. Under the Safe Third Country Agreement persons seeking refugee protection must make a claim in the first country they arrive in, whether it is the United States or Canada. Among other things, the appeal court rejected the earlier conclusion that the US is not a safe country for refugees, in part because the Americans do not respect international conventions against returning claimants to countries where they face torture. Read the original decision, Canada v. Canadian Council for Refugees (2008 FCA 40) and the most recent decision, Canada v. Canada (Council for refugees) (2008 FCA 229). You can also read a press release by the Canadian Council of Refugees, "Rights Groups Express Dismay with Appeal Court Ruling on Safe Third Country."

Recently the Canadian government enacted legislation that gives the same human rights to First Nation members living on reserve as Canadians in the rest of Canada. Previously, native people on reserves were exempt from the Canadian Human Rights Ac. When the Act was passed in 1977, Native reserves were only going to be temporarily excluded from the Act while the federal government made significant changes to the Indian Act. This did not happen, leaving residents of reserves vulnerable to potential abuses by the federal government or their chiefs and council. For more information about the changes to the human rights legislation for reserve members, take a look at the following:

• Indian and Northern Affairs Canada - Repeal of Section 67 of the Canadian Human Rights Act - Frequently Asked Questions
• CBC story - Human rights protection extended to reserves
• Centre for Constitutional Studies - Federal Human Rights Legislation Now Applies to Reserves
• Canadian Human Rights Commission - Canadian Human Rights Commission Applauds Extension of Rights Laws to First Nations

In memory of all the missing and murdered women and children, aboriginal women are walking from Victoria, BC to Ottawa from June to September 2008. Gladys Radek, who lost a niece to the Highway of Tears, launched the Walk4Justice to draw attention to all the missing and murdered women across Canada. The website, www.missingpeople.net has more information and links about the walk. Walk4Justice has created an online petition to gather the names of all the missing and murdered First Nations women across Canada. If you know someone who has been missing or murdered, Walk4Justice asks you to sign the online petition. Also see a Working TV video of the start of the march.

A Fraser Institute, What is Poverty? Providing Clarity for Canada (in PDF), claims that despite recent census data that showed increased levels of poverty across Canada, poverty has remained between 4-6% for the past decade. A entry in the Wellesley Institute blog, claims the Fraser Institute is defining poverty out of existence with a measure that doesn't even make sense in real life.

On May 29th, Aboriginal people across Canada will hold the second National Aboriginal Day of in Action. The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) calls upon people in Canada to stand together to call on the federal government to ensure First National people are no longer living in poverty, that First Nations children are given equal opportunities as other Canadian children, and that the federal government "set aside the colonial Indian Act and dismantle the Department of Indian Affairs in favour of a new approach that provides First Nations with the right and responsibility to make the decisions that affect their lives." Read more about the demands and the National Day of Action on the AFN site and in an editorial in the Toronto Star, ""Protest message should be heard."

An interesting article in the Tyee, "Dying for the Rich" looks into a widely researched correlation between a wide income gap and a shorter overall life expectancy. Although in Canada, public health care minimizes the gap, further erosion to public services means that the rich are in fact robbing the poor through tax cuts. For more information on equitable health care, go to the BC Health Coalition site.

In the last budget, the federal government promised to create a new independent body, the Canada Employment Insurance Financing Board to determine EI premium rates from 2009 and on. However, according to an article on the Progressive Economics Forum, "The “New” Employment Insurance Fund", the board only responds to employer concerns over paying EI premiums which are “too high” as opposed to worker concerns over access to benefits and benefit rates. The Canadian Labour Congress also criticizes the government for overlooking worker access, especially working women's access to benefits.

For more information read the attached article, "Canada Employment Insurance Financing Board : a step in the right direction?", by two of Canada's most experienced and knowledgeable experts on the EI system, Georges Campeau, professor at the Département des sciences juridiques at l’Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) and Hugo Desgagné, coordinator for Mouvement Autonome et Solidaire des Sans-Emploi (MASSE).

A payday loan is a short-term high-interest loan, typically marketed as easy cash to cover costs until the borrower’s next payday. Payday lenders have popped up all over Canada in the last decade. They often charge exorbitant interest rates for small loans and typically target poor neighbourhoods and working poor people.

• The Ontario government recently introduced legislation to curb abusive payday lending practices. Read about the Payday Loans Act, 2008, read an Ontario Government press release, "It’s about fairness: new payday lending law to regulate industry" an article in the Toronto Star, "Payday loan crackdown." As well, you can support ACORN's actions to regulate predatory payday lending.
• The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada has a publication, "The Cost of Payday Loans" (in PDF or HTML) which explains payday loans, describes their costs, and compares these costs with other types of loans available to consumers.
• "A Matter of Interest" is a 2004 Toronto Star series on payday loans.
• The Centre for Responsible Lending has information disputing the claims of the payday lending industry.

The Canadian Parliament has endorsed the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by a majority vote after Canada, along with the U.S., Australia and New Zealand voted against it in the U.N. in September 2007. The Declaration affirms the human rights of indigenous people based on indigenous origin or identity and affirms indigenous people's right to self-determination. The Conservative party has been opposed to the Declaration and voted against the endorsement. Read more on the Amnesty International Canada site and in an article on the site, Indian Country, "Endorsing their rights".

LICOs (Low Income Cut-Offs) are published by Stats Canada and defined as an income threshold below which a family will likely devote a larger share of its income on the necessities of food, shelter and clothing than the average family. There is an easy to read Before-Tax Low Income Cut-Off graph for 2004 on the Canadian Council on Social Development site. You can also read Stats Canada's most recent report: Low income cut-offs for 2006 and low income measures for 2005 (in PDF).

Federal Budget 2008 Resources:

• Federal Budget 2008
• Wellesley Institute's Federal Pre-Budget Backgrounder
• CCPA Federal Budget 2008 Analysis
• CCPA Alternative Federal Budget 2008
• L'Alternative budgetaire pour le gouvernement fédéral en 2008
• CBC Federal Budget 2008 : In Depth
• More links on the Canadian Social Research Newsletter March 8th, 2008 edition
• Canadian Labour Congress Analysis of the 2008 Federal Budget

The Caledon Institute has released a policy paper, Canadians Need a Medium-Term Sickness/Disability Income Benefit (in PDF) discussing the possibility of a new sickness or disability benefit. The paper examines the current relationship between Employment Insurance (EI) sickness benefits and Canada Pension Plan (CPP) disability benefits, and explores possibilities for stronger linkages between these programs.

More and more anti-poverty organizations and coalitions are using the web to broadcast videos of their work. Housing not War, a campaign to demand the federal government spend money on housing instead of war and militarism organized by anti-war organizations and anti-poverty organizations in Toronto, has a short video on YouTube, "Housing not Bombs," of their most recent demonstration. The Kensington Welfare Rights Union, a multiracial organization of, by and for poor and homeless people, has a video on YouTube, "Homeless Hero," about homeless people organizing in the USA.

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities has called for a national action plan to end homelessness and deliver affordable housing. Read more in a CBC article, "$3.35B needed each year for housing strategy, cities say".

New research by Jack Hicks, a social research consultant living in Iqaluit, Nunavut, tracks how suicide trends in the Arctic correlate with increased colonialism and modernization in the Arctic. Historically, suicide in the Arctic was uncommon, but the suicide rate dramatically increased when national governments forced Inuit people in Alaska, Nunavut, and Greenland off the land and into larger communities. Read more in a CBC article, "Research tracks Inuit modernization with suicide, offers hope for improvement" or you can listen to a interview with Jack Hicks on the CBC show, As it Happens. You can also download a copy of the journal, Indigenous Affairs (in PDF) with Jack Hicks' paper, "The Social Determinants of Elevated Rates of Suicide Among Inuit Youth," or you can download a copy of his slide presentation (in PDF).

The Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women has a new fact sheet, Women’s experiences of social programs for people with low incomes (in PDF). This fact sheet weaves together the voices of women with critical analysis and detailed evidence on how the devolution of social programs has impacted on diverse low-income women’s lives. It provides important evidence as to why and how listening to women’s voices is critical to knowing the real issues in policy making and programming. It combines existing quantitative research with new qualitative research based on the perspectives of policy makers, social service providers, low-income First Nations, immigrant, refugee women and women with disabilities from three Canadian cities.

L’impact des programmes sociaux : des femmes à faible revenu racontent (format pdf)
Ce feuillet d’information mêle divers témoignages de femmes à faible revenu avec une analyse critique et des informations détaillées sur l’impact de la dévolution des programmes sociaux. Il présente des informations concluantes qui soulignent l’importance d’écouter les femmes pour connaître les vrais problèmes auxquels doivent s’attaquer les politiques et les programmes. Il s’inspire du rapport intitulé Integrating the voices of low-income women into policy discussions on Canada Social Transfer (CST), une recherche qualitative menée en 2007 dans trois villes canadiennes avec des décideurs, des organismes de services sociaux et des femmes à faible revenu autochtones, immigrantes, réfugiées et handicapées. Des données quantitatives tirées de recherches antérieures viennent compléter le tableau.

Do Canada's social programmes satisfy our obligations under human rights treaties to which Canada is a signatory? What have UN treaty bodies said regarding Canada's compliance with its international human rights treaty obligations, particularly in respect of government obligations to have and maintain adequate social programmes? In this new, succinct and readable publication, Human Rights Treaty Obligations: The Consensus on Canada (in PDF), the Poverty and Human Rights Centre documents the consensus of the UN treaty bodies in major areas affecting the lives of poor Canadians. Advocates and lawyers, working with international human rights law, will find this law sheet indispensable. Also, watch for more Law Sheets to come from the Poverty and Human Rights Centre, on poverty issues and Canada's obligations under international human rights law.

The Toronto Disaster Relief Committee (TDRC) and the Canadian Peace Alliance (CPA) have launched a Housing Not War campaign to demand that funding the federal government has directed towards war and militarism go instead towards housing and a "1% solution." TDRC says that if an additional 1% of the federal budget was allocated towards social housing, it would bring spending up to $4 billion per year. You can sign the Housing not War Declaration online.

CUPE has published a short but thorough overview of low wage work in Canada by province and demographic group. Read "Low paid work still widespread in Canada" on the CUPE website.