Public Expenditure in a Tough Economy: Spending Smart in Hard Times
By Alan Broadbent (Maytree Opinion, January 2012)
The great challenge for governments in these hard economic times is reducing spending without doing harm. National, provincial and municipal governments are all considering how to economize, and are looking at cuts to programs and services. As Alan Broadbent writes, there is a frontier of smart public expenditure that can produce bang for the buck.
Campaigning for Social Change
Nonprofit organizations facilitate social change through education, outreach, advocacy and mobilizing. How do we engage more people in this process? How do we create effective messages that help shift public opinion and policy? What obstacles lie in our way, and what role does our aging democratic structure play? This session addresses these and other questions as Dave Meslin shares his views and ideas about successful campaigning.
Diversifying Your Board: Why It’s Good and How to Do It
To diversify a board, you should look beyond traditional skills and knowledge for a competency-based board. You should deliberate not only what your board’s current gaps are, but what the future needs will be. A well articulated strategic plan with broad stakeholder engagement sets the direction for the organization and the priorities you want to focus on over the next number of years. This will inform you of the necessary mix of sector/industry knowledge/skills to move the organization forward. The governance structure and membership is a dynamic process that requires foresight and insight before you can exercise oversight. Presenter Helen Hayward is a Director at Western Management Consultants.
The role of postsecondary institutions and employers in two-step economic immigration
June 2011 – Applicants to the Canadian Experience Class and many Provincial Nominees are selected first as temporary residents by postsecondary institutions and employers. The criteria for selection used by postsecondary institutions and employers, and the supports provided by them (if any), do not necessarily take into account the fact that those selected may become permanent residents and later citizens.
Strategies for Privacy Compliance
The issue of privacy of personal information should be considered carefully by all charities and not-for-profit corporations. Privacy is good for business, and, as such, it should be viewed as a business issue more than a compliance issue. Charities and not-for-profit corporations should observe and follow privacy laws, industry best practices and fair information practices in respect of personal information. This session focuses on strategies for privacy compliance for charities and not-for-profit corporations operating in Ontario.
Charting Prosperity: Practical Ideas for a Stronger Canada – Policy Insights 2011
In this annual publication, Maytree presents more than 50 recommendations intended to contribute to Canada’s prosperity while protecting the country’s most vulnerable. The recommendations make up the three important “I”s of public policy: ideas, instruments, and investments. They each identify a powerful idea to improve the life of Canadians, the instruments which will be effective in creating that improvement, and the investments that must be made to operationalize the instruments.
Canadian MIPEX immigration data released
A new study published on February 28, 2011 by the British Council and the Migration Policy Group compares and ranks Canada against 29 countries in Europe and the USA. It shows that while Canada has some of the strongest policies in place to ensure the integration of immigrants, there are still areas it can improve and learn from others.
We need a new number
By Ratna Omidvar (Maytree Opinion, February 2011)
Canadians love numbers. And for those of us who work on immigration issues, it is no different. We wait patiently for the Citizenship and Immigration’s Facts and Figures document to tell us exactly how many permanent residents arrived the previous year, and how many temporary workers. And lo and behold, we find out that Canada exceeded its targets in almost every category. But wait, in the next breath, the government announces plans to reduce the overall numbers of family members and skilled workers. You’d better believe there will be a reaction.
But there are some numbers we don’t talk much about. And because we don’t talk about them, we don’t quite know how to handle them.
School4Civics Demystifies Politics for Diverse Leaders
School4Civics Demystifies Politics for Diverse Leaders. Watch/listen to Alejandra Bravo in a recent Cities of Migration webinar as she provides insights about the project, our excellent candidates, our network and the positive impact the project has on our city.
Policy in Focus 14: Free money. For low-income kids. And the government can’t give it away.
December 2010 This issue features a report that reveals how more than 900,000 Canadian kids do not access the Canada Learning Bond which can provide up to $2,000 in educational savings. The report makes four recommendations for organizations serving low-income families to provide accurate information in their own communities and languages. It also makes recommendations [...]
More than Money: Mining the human and financial potential of Canada’s education savings programs for low-income families
A Maytree Report by May Wong and Sheila Murray
This report outlines a number of specific recommendations on how service providers and government can improve low-income families’ access to federal government education savings programs. Even modest savings can encourage these students to pursue post-secondary education, by helping them overcome the high costs of tuition and by encouraging them to perceive that post-secondary education is within their reach.
Resources from the 2010 ALLIES Learning Exchange Now Online
Resources from the 2010 ALLIES Learning Exchange: Putting Ideas into Action are now available on the 2010 Learning Exchange presentation page. These include a summary report of the proceedings, audio files and slide presentations from the main plenary sessions and workshops along with a photo gallery.
2010 Maytree Leadership Conference
This year’s annual Maytree Leadership Conference was not a traditional conference. It was a conversation. A verbal drum roll leading up to the October 25 municipal election. We wanted this year’s conference to be different. Because 2010 is a municipal election year, we included the issues, the candidates, and an opportunity to imagine what the [...]
Mixed Messages
By Alan Broadbent and Ratna Omidvar (Maytree Opinion, May 2010)
Bill 158, which passed third reading on May 13, sends mixed messages to how open the province is to skilled immigrants. While the Ontario government has made strong commitments to making Ontario a more welcoming place for skilled immigrants, with Bill 158 – an Act to review and update the statutes governing the accounting professions in Ontario – it re-enacts old barriers. The opportunity was lost to modernize the profession and instead restrictions are put in place on how international accounting credentials can be used with a $10,000 fine for anyone displaying their international designations using any portion of the initials CA (chartered accountant), CMA (certified management accountant) or CGA (certified general accountant). Does the right hand know what the left is doing? It seems it does not.
Introduction of Refugee Reforms
On March 30, 2010, the government tabled legislation in the House of Commons to reform Canada’s Inland Refugee Protection System, Bill C-11. The Bill sets out to make the refugee claim process faster and fairer. Notably, it implements a full appeal of the first decision on a refugee claim to a new Refugee Appeals Division. Peter Showler, Director of the Refugee Forum at the University of Ottawa writes that “The government has made a practical and legitimate attempt to balance fairness with prompt refugee claim processing. As usual, with such a complex system of refugee determination, the devil will indeed be in the details.”
What Makes a Safe Country and Who Decides?
By Alan Broadbent and Ratna Omidvar (Maytree Opinion, April 2010)
The recently tabled reforms to the refugee system are a realistic response to the problems that have existed for some years. Under the proposed reforms, claimants will receive a full hearing from public servant decision-makers assigned to the Immigration and Refugee Board, with an appeals process for some, though not all refused claimants. They promise speed and efficiency and they address the long time frames between the arrival of a refugee and the final disposition of their claim. Like all potentially good reforms, the devil will be in the details. One such detail is the so-called “safe country list” or the Safe Country of Origin list.
Policy in Focus, Issue 11: Protect caregivers from financial ruin as population ages
March 2010 An estimated four million Canadians act as unpaid or informal caregivers to seniors and persons with disabilities. This quarter’s Maytree Policy in Focus highlights a report which presents three proposals to protect caregivers from financial ruin: 1) expand Employment Insurance (EI) compassionate care leave; 2) extend Canada Pension Plan (CPP) provisions; and 3) [...]
Lessons in Finance: Pay Your Bills!
By Alan Broadbent (Maytree Opinion, March 2010)
As we go through another budget season, it is important that governments focus not only on the big expenditures, but also on the much smaller financial arrangements they have with community organizations. However, because of a growing concern over accountability, many governments delay the payout of funding. This can lead to unnecessary organizational hardships. As Maytree chair Alan Broadbent writes in the latest Maytree Opinion, it is time for governments to revise funding procedures and to pay their bills on time.
From Insecurity to Prosperity: Practical Ideas for a Stronger Canada
This document is a must-read for policy makers and practitioners who are interested in ideas that reduce poverty and promote inclusion. The ideas have been prepared by Maytree’s policy partners on issues such as employment insurance, caregiver benefits, community engagement, diversity in the arts, immigration and refugee policy.
Appreciating David Pecaut
December 14, 2009: With David Pecaut’s passing, Toronto has not only lost a great civic leader, but Maytree has lost a great friend and partner. David was the pivotal figure in the establishment of the Toronto City Summit Alliance, which he built into a dynamic civic presence which brought together leaders from business, civil society, government, labour, and academia. Using David’s preferred method of establishing a common fact base, he worked with a variety of coalitions to create solutions to persistent poverty, immigrant access to the labour market, diversifying the leadership in the city, environmental degradation, and connecting our regional research capability.
Policy in Focus, Issue 10: Abolish the Low-skilled Temporary Foreign Worker Program
December 2009 For the first time in its history, in 2007 and 2008 Canada welcomed more temporary than permanent residents. Temporary residents do not have access to the same supports and services as permanent residents. Low-skilled temporary workers cannot apply for permanent residence through the federal immigration system. Experience in other countries has demonstrated that [...]
The Future of Cities – A Forum on the Mark
The Future of Cities – join the dialogue on The Mark, a daily online forum for news, commentary, and debate. In her contribution, Ratna Omidvar, Maytree’s President, argues that for Canada’s urban centres to be successful and sustainable, they cannot exclude immigrant and Aboriginal populations. ————————————— The Cities of Inclusion By Ratna Omidvar, President of [...]
Fast, Fair and Final: Reforming Canada’s Refugee System
September 2009, by Peter Showler, Director of the Refugee Forum
Making refugee decisions is an incredibly difficult task. To meet this challenge, a reformed system needs to be based on the following three pillars: (1) A good first decision; (2) a reliable appeal; and (3) the prompt removal of failed claimants.” With the proposed changes, refugee claims would be decided in six months, reviewed in four months and removed within three months of a negative appeal decision. The new refugee system would produce accurate and fair decisions, and result in the timely removal of failed claimants.
Policy in Focus, Issue 9: Reforms to the Refugee System Are Needed
September 2009 In some ways, Canada’s inland refugee system is a model. It provides a route to permanent residence, gives most claimants a hearing, and is designed to provide a good first decision. But the system is also deeply flawed. Decision-makers are politically appointed rather than chosen solely on merit. There is no reliable appeal [...]
Urban Nation
Urban Nation: Why We Need to Give Power Back to the Cities to Make Canada Strong In a thoughtful and provocative book Alan Broadbent looks at the two major forces that have shaped Canada, urbanization and immigration, and makes a clear case for creating cities as a powerful order of government. As a longtime proponent [...]