Public Policy Papers

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https://hdl.handle.net/10294/6600

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Open Access
SIPP Public Policy Papers 57
(Saskatchewan Institute of Public Policy, 2008-06) McNutt, Kathleen; Carey, Meaghan
Using information technologies and the Internet to improve communication and service delivery are key processes of government modernization in North America, Europe and parts of Asia. In response to shifting political, economic and social demands, governments around the globe have designed online policy agendas. Canadian e-government is well established, currently providing secure access, electronic service delivery, and integrated information coordinated across government departments and agencies with evaluation conducted through standardized benchmarking tools. While state-sponsored online initiatives supplement internal and external communications among governments, decision-makers, interest groups, citizens, clients, partners, and sectors, these strategies also create political and administrative pressures to adapt to new democratic processes that promote legitimacy and accountability. However, this has not required a significant reorganization of the state, but rather a reevaluation of how services are best delivered to citizens and a shift toward using the Web to promote accountability and trust.
Open Access
SIPP Public Policy Papers 56
(Saskatchewan Institute of Public Policy, 2008-05) Praud, Jocelyne; Henriques, Karl A.
This paper examines how and why France and Belgium came to modify their respective constitutions and pass parity laws. The first section analyses French and Belgian women’s acquisition and exercise of political rights and, in particular, their right of eligibility. Statistics concerning women’s presence in both the lower and upper houses (France’s National Assembly and Senate and Belgium’s Chamber of Deputies and Senate) are used to assess the extent to which they have been able to exercise their right of eligibility. The second section focuses on the involvement of French and Belgian women’s movements and parties in the introduction of gender parity reforms, and the third section examines the involvement of French and Belgian executive and legislative elites in the adoption of constitutional reforms. Overall, it appears that in France, the women’s movement played the key role in the introduction of parity reforms whereas in Belgium, both the women’s movement and political parties did. Further, although in both countries top executive and legislative elites from the left and the right were actively involved in the ratification of constitutional reforms, their involvement appears to have been more collaborative in Belgium than in France.
Open Access
SIPP Public Policy Papers 55
(Saskatchewan Institute of Public Policy, 2008-04) Marshall, Jim; Steeves, Larry
Within the field of education administration and education policy a substantial body of literature has accumulated on the issue of accountability, especially as manifest in performance measurement and performance management approaches. Most of the effort in these areas has focused on the “high stakes” approach to accountability, as exemplified by the No Child Left Behind legislation in the United States. While this approach to accountability in the publicly funded K-12 educational system has had a dramatic impact, the failings of the approach as planning and evaluation methods are increasingly apparent.
Open Access
SIPP Public Policy Papers 54
(Saskatchewan Institute of Public Policy, 2008-03) Weseen, Simon; Olfert, Rose
Cultural policy has a history of being relegated to secondary importance or being supported in an ad hoc way by governments in many jurisdictions in North America and around the world. This has occurred despite the fact that there is a growing literature demonstrating the importance of the arts and culture in the economic vitality of places both as a growth sector in itself and as a contributor to quality of life, enhancing population growth and retention. This paper reviews the various organizations and groups involved in the arts and culture in Saskatchewan, their funding sources, and their relationships. The findings reveal a complex network of “funders” and “producers” of arts and culture. A series of reviews of the sector points to an implicit policy that has been largely reactive, lacking coherent long-term objectives for the sector, and often lacking transparency. Conclusions are drawn regarding the elements of a framework for developing a cultural policy for the province.
Open Access
SIPP Public Policy Papers 53
(Saskatchewan Institute of Public Policy, 2008-01) Bisson, Peter
This study uses interviews with leaders of faith-based justice groups in Regina to examine how they apply their religious resources for the goal of social change, and in this way make religious faith public. There has been a global resurgence of religion in the public sphere in recent decades, but not all such religion is violent or conservative. Indeed, many instances of religious resurgence are the activities of groups interested in social transformation for the benefit of all, not only of their co-religionists, and who work well with groups of other ideological commitments. Regina has a handful of such groups—some locally based and some which are the local branches of national organizations—so Regina may be a microcosm of larger phenomena. This study finds that faith-based social justice groups in Regina are closely connected with each other and with other non-governmental organizations, even across religious and secular differences. They act primarily in the realm of civil society instead of in direct political contestation, and in most cases their activities are oriented to changing the mentalities and practices of their own co-religionists. While their criticism of many practices of mainstream society, business, government, and sometimes even mainstream religion, places them within the margins of their sponsoring religious bodies, nevertheless, they are all strongly supported, materially and morally, by these same bodies.
Open Access
SIPP Public Policy Papers 52
(Saskatchewan Institute of Public Policy, 2007-12) Blake, Raymond
Family allowances were one of the few programs shared by all Canadian families from 1945 to 1992, and one of the few means of building social cohesion across Canada. Family allowances became embroiled in the minefield of Canadian intergovernmental relations and the political crisis created by the growing demands from Quebec for greater autonomy from the federal government in the early 1970s. Ottawa initially dismissed Quebec’s demands for control over social programs generally, and family allowances in particular. However, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau reformed the family allowances program as a means of enticing Quebec Premier Robert Bourassa to amend the British North America Act. The government’s priority was constitutional reform, and the prime minister used social policy as a bargaining chip to achieve his policy objectives in that area. This study shows that public policy decisions made with regard to social policy were not motivated by the pressing desire to make more effective policies for children and families, but as a way to deal with other government priorities.
Open Access
SIPP Public Policy Papers 51
(Saskatchewan Institute of Public Policy, 2007-06) Belanger, Yale D.
This paper examines the current reality as it relates to Aboriginal people and housing in Lethbridge. This inferential study is designed to provide a basic demographic profile of Aboriginal people in Lethbridge with an emphasis on demonstrating housing needs in this, the first stage in a larger research agenda focused on investigating Aboriginal housing needs in Lethbridge. Specifically, we sought to develop an innovative project articulating how Aboriginal individuals who currently rent or own homes succeeded in doing so while identifying the types of barriers they overcame that continue to hinder other Aboriginal people in their attempts to obtain housing. The data compiled from a questionnaire delivered to a sample of the urban Aboriginal population were utilized to demonstrate the standard of living of Aboriginal people in Lethbridge in relation to their professed needs and contemporary housing conditions. Sixty-one landlords were also contacted in an effort to establish the reasons for renting or not renting to Aboriginal people and their related concerns.
Open Access
SIPP Public Policy Papers 50
(Saskatchewan Institute of Public Policy, 2007-04) Ward, Lee
The current debate over humanitarian intervention is characterized by the twofold tension between the UN Charter restrictions on the use of force and more permissive customary norms, on the one hand, and competing claims of national sovereignty and human rights protection, on the other. This paper proposes a new paradigm for humanitarian intervention that builds upon the concept of the "Responsibility to Protect" articulated by the Canadian inspired International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty, and recommends the extension of this principle to a multidimensional strategy for codifying humanitarian intervention in international law. At the heart of this codification proposal is a call for Canada to employ its diplomatic expertise to facilitate the negotiation of an International Convention on the Right and Responsibility of Humanitarian Intervention that would move the international community a considerable distance toward harmonizing international humanitarian law and the UN Charter system.
Open Access
SIPP Public Policy Papers 49
(Saskatchewan Institute of Public Policy, 2007-03) Charlebois, Sylvain
It has been recognized that agriculture and food companies have a long tradition of being commodity-driven, with an emphasis on production technology, high volumes, and quality consistency. In the context of global hyper-competitivity, the ability to understand customer needs and adapt to a wider variety of customer situations will become crucial. The purpose of this paper is to provide a structured demand chain design framework that can be linked with Gateway and Corridor management practices. Since a direct correlation exists between the wealth of a nation and how it consumes food, we first present five utilities and several factors that are perceived differently by customers once a nation becomes affluent. We then present supply and demand thrusts that could leverage Canada’s position in international food trade. Finally, some analysis and limitations are presented.
Open Access
SIPP Public Policy Papers 48
(Saskatchewan Institute of Public Policy, 2007-02) Olfert, Rose; Weseen, Simon
Ethanol has recently been heralded by governments in North America and around the world as an attractive renewable energy source that can reduce our dependence on nonrenewable fossil fuels. The Saskatchewan provincial government has suggested that increasing ethanol use will not only reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that result from transportation, but also increase farm income for primary producers and create jobs in rural areas, thus contributing to a revitalization of the rural economy. Around the world, this kind of widespread enthusiasm has led to many governments mandating the use of ethanol-blended gasoline (EBG), while at the same time providing direct subsidies to ethanol producers. In light of the public resources being committed to the development of this industry, a clear understanding of the objective merits of developing an ethanol industry under these circumstances is required.
Open Access
SIPP Public Policy Papers 47
(Saskatchewan Institute of Public Policy, 2006-12) Cameron, Geoffrey
Democracy occupies an uncertain position in Canadian public discourse; we want more of it at home, but we are hesitant to openly promote democratization overseas. Election campaigns are peppered with promises to revitalize Canadian democratic institutions, struggles to legalize same-sex marriage are waged in the name of universal human rights, and government scandal is decried for a lack of accountability and transparency. But while the United States brazenly asserts Wilsonian ‘transformational democracy’ as its foreign policy, Canadians are wary of being cast in the same imperialist mould as our neighbour (Welsh, 2004). Consequently, Canada’s democracy agenda has emerged tentatively in the government’s foreign policy and has not taken shape as a well-defined policy with clear objectives.
Open Access
SIPP Public Policy Papers 46
(Saskatchewan Institute of Public Policy, 2006-11) Adams, Chris
Many First Nations high school teenagers face systemic barriers when making good career and education-related choices. These include poverty, remoteness, unemployment, cultural alienation, and psychological despair.3 Although there is no shortage of research on these all-too-real problems, this article uses a sociological model through which to examine the connection between what high school teenagers in First Nations communities in Manitoba4 say will be their priorities as they enter into adulthood (“life priorities”) and those who help shape those priorities (“life influencers”). That is, the extent to which teenagers report being influenced by those in their family and community as they seek to make choices about their future.
Open Access
SIPP Public Policy Papers 45
(Saskatchewan Institute of Public Policy, 2006-10) Marshall, Jim
In October 2004, the federal government, faced with mounting criticism of the national Equalization program, announced an end to the methods used to calculate entitlements up until that point and created the “Expert Panel on Equalization and Territorial Formula Financing” to provide advice on the “allocation among provinces of the annual Equalization allotment set in legislation”.
Open Access
SIPP Public Policy Papers 44
(Saskatchewan Institute of Public Policy, 2006-09) Howe, Eric C.
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the economic transformation of the Eastern European immigrants and their descendants and to ask whether it will happen again for Aboriginal people in Saskatchewan. There were two principal paths that the immigrants took to escape poverty: education and entrepreneurship. This paper will ask three questions about both of these paths. How was the path followed? Why was the path followed? And will the path be followed again?
Open Access
SIPP Public Policy Papers 43
(Saskatchewan Institute of Public Policy, 2006-05) Bonner, Bill
This paper examines two enactments of public policy in practice, the Saskatchewan Automobile Injury Appeal Commission’s (AIAC) posting of sensitive personal information on the Internet and the government (Saskatchewan and Alberta) sale of personal motor vehicle registration (MVR) information. The continued existence of these practices is counterintuitive, given the volume and variety of privacy legislation passed in the last two decades. The paper argues that these policies are the products of gaps between legislative intention and subsequent action taken by non-accountable entities.
Open Access
SIPP Public Policy Papers 42
(Saskatchewan Institute of Public Policy, 2006-04) Ruggeri, Joe
The debate over health care spending and its fiscal implications in Canada has been going on for quite a while and there seems to be no end in sight. Three major aspects of this debate may be identified: (a) the concept and measurement of sustainability, (b) health care and fiscal federalism, and (c) health spending as consumption or investment.
Open Access
SIPP Public Policy Papers 41
(Saskatchewan Institute of Public Policy, 2006-03) Akhand, Hafiz; Gupta, Kanhaya
In 2002, Canada gave about $3.3 billion in foreign aid, which amounts to a 29% increase over the aid given in 2001. A similar trend in aid giving is observed in other donor countries. To help poorer countries meet the Millennium Development Goals, the United Nations Millennium Project calls for a further increase in foreign aid given by the donor countries: that at least 0.7 percent of the donor countries' gross national product (GNP) be given as official development assistance (ODA) to developing countries. The United Nations' plea that donor countries contribute 0.7 percent of their GNP as ODA revives an old target that was originally recommended by the Pearson Commission in 1969.
Open Access
SIPP Public Policy Papers 40
(Saskatchewan Institute of Public Policy, 2006-02) Cismaru, Magdalena
People are exposed to public service announcements that advocate for changes in behaviour, such as abstaining from drinking and driving, wearing a seatbelt, quitting smoking, preventing obesity, or protecting against west Nile virus. Consider the following TV commercials. Each commercial attempts to persuade young people to abstain from drinking and driving. The ads described were found when visiting http://www.visit4info.com/, a database containing TV ads from all around the world.
Open Access
SIPP Public Policy Papers 39
(Saskatchewan Institute of Public Policy, 2006-01) Anderson, Robert B.; Barnett, Corinne
This paper explores the struggle by Indigenous people in Canada and New Zealand1 for the recognition of their rights to their traditional lands and resources and the role that these resources are expected to play, and indeed have played, in providing Aboriginal people and Maori the capacity to pursue development on their terms both economically and as ‘nations’ with Canada and New Zealand.
Open Access
SIPP Public Policy Papers 38
(Saskatchewan Institute of Public Policy, 2005-12) DiGiacomo, Gordon
Executive federalism has been a prominent institution in the Canadian political system for at least four decades. Defined by Kathy Brock as “...the arrangements used to negotiate agreements between the two levels of government for the provision of programs, services, and the co-ordination of policies,”1 the institution has been decried on several grounds. After the failed Meech Lake and Charlottetown Accords the practice was the subject of widespread denunciation.