Anne Westhues - Canadian Social Policy: Issues and Perspectives

Canadian Social Policy

Issues and Perspectives

Fifth Edition

Anne Westhues and Brian Wharf, editors

We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund for our publishing activities.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Canadian social policy : issues and perspectives / Anne Westhues and Brian Wharf, editors. 5th ed.

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
Issued also in electronic format.
ISBN 978-1-55458-359-1

1. CanadaSocial policy. I. Westhues, Anne II. Wharf, Brian

HN107.C355 2012 361.610971 C2011-906139-2

Electronic monograph in PDF format.

Issued also in print format.
ISBN 978-1-55458-409-3

1. CanadaSocial policy. I. Westhues, Anne II. Wharf, Brian

HN107.C355 2012 361.610971 C2011-907334-X

2012 Wilfrid Laurier University Press
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3C5
www. wlupress.wlu.ca

Chapter 7, by Yves Vaillancourt, appeared earlier, in French, as a working paper for the Laboratoire de recherche sur les pratiques et les politiques sociales (LAREPPS) at the Universit du Qubec Montral.

Cover design by Blakeley Words+Pictures. Text design by Angela Booth Malleau. Cover photograph by Iva Zimova/Panos Pictures.

Every reasonable effort has been made to acquire permission for copyright material used in this text, and to acknowledge all such indebtedness accurately. Any errors and omissions called to the publishers attention will be corrected in future printings.

This book is printed on Ancient Forest Friendly paper (100 percent post-consumer recycled).

Printed in Canada.

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To the many students we have taught and learned from

Anne Westhues

Anne Westhues and Carol Kenny-Scherber

Anne Westhues

Joan Wharf Higgins and Fay Weller

Mac Saulis

Delores V. Mullings

Yves Vaillancourt

Iara Lessa

Garson Hunter

Marilyn Callahan and Karen Swift

Patricia M. Evans

Geoffrey Nelson

Judy Finlay

Peter A. Dunn

Sheila Neysmith

Brian ONeill

Usha George

Jill G. Grant and Tonya Munro

Anne Westhues

Social policy shapes the daily lives of every Canadian citizen. It should reflect what a majority of Canadians believe are just approaches to promote health, safety, and wellbeing. Too often, front line service deliverers such as social workers, nurses, and teachers observe that policies do not work well for the most vulnerable groups in societypeople with diasbilities, single mothers, older Canadians, recent immigrants, racialized minorities, indigenous peoples, people with serious mental health issues, or people who are gay or lesbian. In this book, we introduce front line workers to what social policy is, who makes it, and how it can be changed. We hope that promoting an understanding of these often complex processes will empower front line workers to advocate for change that leads to a more just Canadian society.

Much has changed in this edition. Noteworthy is that Brian Wharf has joined me as co-editor. I have had the pleasure of working with Brian in the Canadian Association of Social Work Educators over the years, most closely when he succeeded me as president of the association. Like most people who have taught community practice or child welfare courses in social work programs in Canada, I had used Brians books and admired his commitment to a commuity-based approach to program and policy development. I had never had the opportunity to write with him, though, so I welcomed the opportunity to collaborate. Sadly, Brian passed away on August 11, 2011. He remained engaged in the work of this book until just days before his death, when I received an inquiry about how the editorial work was going.

Brians influence on this book is substantial. In addition to the more routine editorial work, he provided creative suggestions about how to reorganize the introductory section of the book. You will first see the fruits of these suggestions in will help those teaching social policy to meet the CASWE accreditation standards that require curriculum content to promote an understanding of oppressions pertaining to Aboriginal peoples (CASWE, 2008, SB 5.10.13 and SM 5.7.8), francophones (SB 5.10.14 and SM 5.7.9), and racial minorities (SB 5.10.3 and SM 5.7.6).

In , Grant and Munro).

In the final chapter, we return to our argument that social workers have a responsibility grounded in their Code of Ethics to advocate for more socially just policies. We explore how front line workers in the human services can advocate for changes in organizational policies that will benefit the people they support, and show how they can link with professional associations to advocate for change at the municipal, provincial, and federal levels.

While our primary audience is social workers and social work students, we hope that citizens who want to be informed about current policy debates and how policy is made will continue to find this a useful resource. The book will be a success if it encourages even one citizen to take action after reading it. We hope there will be many more.

Once again I want to thank each of the authors involved in this project for agreeing to be part of it, and for writing with passion and clarity about policy issues and processes. I particularly want to thank the authors who have stayed on for three editions of the book. Together we are educating the next generation of social workers and other helping professionals as policy analysts and advocates for social policy change. To those who have written chapters for the first time, thank you for helping us keep the book focused on current issues, and on innovative approaches to policy analysis. My thanks are also extended to the many students in social policy classes I have taught for challenging my thinking and engaging me in discussions that are now reflected in the chapters I have authored.

My warmest appreciation is extended to the staff at Wilfrid Laurier University Press for agreeing to take Canadian Social Policy to a fifth edition. You continue to be the consummate professionals, attending to the many details that are required to put an edited book together. My special thanks to Ryan Chynces for his enthusiastic support of the project and to Rob Kohlmeier for his amazing capacity to keep a project moving as scheduled without making an editor feel pressured. I appreciated your support and encouragement. On the technical side, I extend my thanks to compositor and designer Angela Booth Malleau, to production manager Heather Blain-Yanke, and to cover designer Gary Blakeley for the sleek design and the many decisions taken to yield an attractive, readable book. Leslie Macredie once again made it easy to provide the information she needed to market the book and has done an admirable job of highlighting its strengths.