A rare harmony: combining programs to help solve the problem of child poverty in Canada is one way Ottawa has tried to improve its relations with the provinces.

Combining programs to help solve the problem of child poverty in Canada is one way Ottawa has tried to improve its relations with the provinces

The November 1996 federal-provincial meeting on social issues was described as one of the most harmonious get-togethers in years. And, the spirit of goodwill peaked with the provinces all agreeing that a national child benefit was a good idea.

It was the first meeting of ministers charged with the task of reworking the country's social safety net. While no firm agreements were made, the ministers planned to move ahead with the idea of merging the existing federal child tax benefit and provincial welfare payments for children.

In what was dubbed a program of integration and elaboration, federal policies would be coordinated with those of the provinces. In addition, Ottawa would pump more money into the system.

In its 1998 budget, the federal government agreed to add $850 million to its existing $5.1 billion child tax credit for children from low-income families (The tax credit is the successor to the old family allowance cheques, which provides monthly support to families based on income and number of children.) The new joint benefit combines this credit with provincial assistance programs for children. The new support system was seen as the most significant social-policy change in Canada in a generation.

It was a fine, if rare, example of federal-provincial cooperation.

One of the options explored was increasing provincial spending on children in line with added federal contributions. The provincial funds would be used to boost direct services for children, such as nutrition, and day care. This would allow for some provincial discretion favoured by key provinces, including Ontario.

The provinces wanted Ottawa's role restricted to distributing money through the tax system, as with the child tax benefit, and federal Human Resources Minister Pierre Pettigrew agreed.

Not only did Ottawa and the provinces click on establishing a single program: they astonished some people by saying they would also publish performance results to allow the public to judge the impact of the new national child benefit.

The move to published outcomes, to be covered in an annual report on the child benefit, was seen as a remarkable change for government in the area of social policy. Governments in the past have tended to measure only their inputs -- the money they've spent -- rather than the outputs of their policies, such as the number of people moving from welfare to work or the reduction of poverty.

The idea of an integrated child tax benefit is one of man aspects of the social union. The ministers are looking at the entire spectrum of social policy, particularly which levels of government should exercise specific responsibilities.

SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES:

1. Alleviating child poverty has been an area where the federal and provincial governments have found a friendly means of sharing responsibility. Discuss what issues block this kind of cooperation in other areas of joint jurisdiction.

2. The Canadian Council on Social Development said the $850 million that the federal tax benefit planned to divert to Canada's poorest families will lift perhaps 10% of poor children out of poverty but it will affect only working families. Families on welfare will be no better off. What more do you think Ottawa and the provinces should do for these families? 3. Do a report on other issues included in the social union talks.

RELATED ARTICLE: FACT FILE

An estimated one in five children in Canada live in poverty.