by Erin Knight
Available to the public online through the University of Toronto library is an insightful doctoral dissertation in which the student, Kristen Smith, interviewed front-line child welfare workers in Ontario. She was interested in how they defined themselves, their roles, and their responsibilities in a field that has undergone neoliberal restructuring since the Mike Harris Conservative government of the 1990s.
Harris’ governmental approach, termed the “Common Sense Revolution”, saw the overhaul of the province’s health and social service sectors by introducing a flood of cuts, downsizing and privatization measures that left many social workers — including Smith herself — with a diminished sense of ethical purpose. As she notes, neoliberal restructuring tends to place increasing constraints and tensions on social workers due to new administrative procedures that standardize processes of service delivery and shift practice boundaries, resulting in oversimplified approaches and fragmented labour practices. Workers become continuously pressed for time during their contacts with clients, and key aspects of what they deem good practice are effectively pushed out of their work.
The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, Manitoba is pleased to announce the appointment of Molly McCracken to the position of Director, CCPA-MB.
Ms. McCracken brings more than 14 years’ experience in social-action research, policy development, and management with not-for-profit organizations and government.
Here are the updated housing statistics for Winnipeg and Manitoba. References are available at the bottom of the page. Compiled by Sarah Cooper.
(Edited on March 19, 2013, to include updated MMRs For 2014 report go here)
Core Housing Need
In 2006: (1)
- 11.3 % of all MB households lived in core housing need (46,900 households)
- 24.0 % of MB renter households lived in core housing need (28,800 households)
- 6.2 % of MB owner households lived in core housing need (18,100 households)
- 22.3 % of those who immigrated to Canada between 2001 and 2006 lived in core housing need in Manitoba (1,600 households)
In 2009: (2)
- 9.3 % of households in urban centres in Manitoba were in core housing need
- 9.5 % of households in Winnipeg were in core housing need
by Andy Regier and Lynne Fernandez
There was a ripple in the waters of public service provision late last year that has left some people perplexed. The Manitoba government announced that it would be selling The Property Registry to Ontario-based Teranet, a private firm. In the last provincial election, the government was adamantly committed to keeping Manitoba Hydro in public hands, so one has to wonder why its commitment to public-sector institutions is suddenly wavering.
The Property Registry and Land Titles Registry provide an exclusive service to Manitobans. Every time a property changes ownership or a mortgage is registered, Land Titles services are utilized. The agency has brought in modest revenue, transferring $11 million into general government coffers in each of the years 2010 and 2011.
by Sarah Cooper
Dear Canada,
This is a little awkward, but I wanted to let you know before it gets any worse: your homelessness is showing.
It used to be that Canada had hardly any homeless people, and a social housing model that was lauded around the world. But now it’s been 20 years since federal funding was frozen for housing programs, longer than that since the gradual withdrawal from housing began.
Today, Canada is the only G8 country without a national housing strategy, and it shows: it’s estimated that about 300,000 Canadians are homeless, and about 1.7 million Canadians have trouble affording their housing. There are shelters and food banks in pretty much every Canadian city for men, women and children who don’t have a place to live or food to eat. It’s been going on for a while, and although our governments try to ignore it, it’s become an international embarrassment.
by John Hutton
A recent editorial in the Free Press (“Programs won’t solve jail crisis” Feb 8, 2013) by the President of the Manitoba Government Employees Union (MGEU) calls on the province to continue building more jails as a response to jail overcrowding. Given recent changes to legislation that will cause the prison population to swell, it is understandable that the MGEU is concerned about prison overcrowding.
Unfortunately all evidence shows that it is simply beyond the capacity of the Province to build its way out of this problem. It’s time to take unworkable solutions to jail overcrowding off the table in order to focus discussion on what can be done in order to bring down the population of Manitoba’s correctional system to manageable and safe levels.
by Gerard Lecuyer and Sig Laser
Quite a lot actually, labels matter! Manitoba Conservation and Water Stewardship is currently conducting an online “consultation” on a proposal to replace Manitoba’s Sustainable Development Act (1998) with a new Act, tentatively called the “Green Prosperity Act”.
We recall that the commitment to the Legislature in the 2009 Throne Speech was to “modernize” the SD Act, not to replace it. While we agree that the SD Act could perhaps use a modest refresh, the proposed “replacement” raises questions.
by Lynne Fernandez
This Wednesday, February 13, the six unions operating on the University of Manitoba campus will unite with one voice. The University of Manitoba Faculty Association (UMFA), Canadian Autoworkers (CAW) Local 3007, The Canadian Union of Public Employees 1482 (CUPE), CUPE 3909, The University Manitoba Students’ Union (UMSU) and the Association of Employees Supporting Education Services (AESES) will hold an information picket between 11:30 and 1:30. Their goal is to let the university administration know how a long list of actions has negatively affected the university community.
Given that these unions include such a wide array of workers, all with different kinds of jobs and separate collective agreements, it is unusual that all six would unite with the same message. This demonstration is about much more than protecting workers’ rights, important as that is; it is about preserving the integrity of campus life and ensuring that quality education is available to future generations.
by John Jacobs and Lynne Fernandez
A trade deal with the European Union (EU) that’s being negotiated behind closed doors today could damage Manitoba’s manufacturing sector, says a report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives’ (CCPA) Manitoba office. CETA: Constraining Manitoba’s Economic Prospects and Policy Options authored by John Jacobs and Lynne Fernandez details the ways in which the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) could reinforce the province’s growing reliance on exports of primary commodities and imports of EU manufactured goods. “The agreement could take away the province’s ability to promote cutting edge value-added industries” says the report’s co-author John Jacobs.
The report indicates that Northern Manitobans stand to lose millions of dollars in potential local job creation and business opportunities should the agreement allow multinational mining companies access to our resources under the terms the EU is demanding.
by Kirsten Bernas
Social enterprises have emerged as viable business models that create a blended return on investment as a result of the multiple economic, social, and environmental benefits they bring to local communities.
Building Urban Industries for Local Development (BUILD) and the Brandon Energy Efficiency Program (BEEP) operate as social enterprises in Manitoba. They perform energy efficiency retrofits on low-income homes while providing training and jobs for local people with barriers to employment.
In a new CCPA-MB report, Kirsten Bernas and Blair Hamilton begin to document the quantitative and qualitative value associated with the multiple benefits produced by BUILD and BEEP.
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