Rodney S. Haddow

Poverty Reform in Canada addresses a central theoretical concern in the contemporary study of public policy - the dichotomy between society-centred and state-centred perspectives on the modern state. Haddow makes the case that poverty reform during the 1960s and 1970s can be explained by combining insights from these seemingly mutually exclusive theoretical perspectives, arguing that the societal perspective explains the important preconditions of policy making, such as the impact of policy legacies, ideological beliefs, and accumulation strategies that reflect the historic weakness of working-class politics, while the statist perspective accounts for the impact of federalism and evolving structures of cabinet decision making.

This study of social partnerships in the establishment of labour force development boards provides important food for thought for Canadians interested in the continuing problem of high unemployment in Canada. Drawing on recent theory in political science and comparative public policy, Social Partnerships for Training considers obstacles and opportunities associated with active labour market policies in Canada. It takes us through some important experiments in Ontario, Quebec, and other provinces and shows how the complexities of Canadian federalism, Quebec nationalism, and class relations befuddle efforts at new policy approaches. The book also highlights the importance of a lack of political will on the part of our politicians to pursue new policy directions. The curious fate of the development boards tells us a great deal about how labour market policy-making in Canada actually works. The challenge is whether we can build on what was learned about the social partnership approach to active labour market adjustment.

This study of social partnerships in the establishment of labour force development boards provides important food for thought for Canadians interested in the continuing problem of high unemployment in Canada. Drawing on recent theory in political science and comparative public policy, Social Partnerships for Training considers obstacles and opportunities associated with active labour market policies in Canada. It takes us through some important experiments in Ontario, Quebec, and other provinces and shows how the complexities of Canadian federalism, Quebec nationalism, and class relations befuddle efforts at new policy approaches. The book also highlights the importance of a lack of political will on the part of our politicians to pursue new policy directions. The curious fate of the development boards tells us a great deal about how labour market policy-making in Canada actually works. The challenge is whether we can build on what was learned about the social partnership approach to active labour market adjustment.