It’s June 7 and, in reply to the Fraser Institute’s announcement of yesterday being Tax Freedom Day 2011 in Canada, happy Tax Benefits Day 2011!  A day to remind ourselves that, far from being “bad” – as even Prime Minister Harper is on record as believing – taxes and our willingness to pay them make possible our democratic institutions and the many public goods and services that Canadians value. As noted by journalist Linda McQuaig and taxation expert Neil Brooks, in their 2010 book The Trouble With Billionaires (click here for a review, and here for another),  these include “an education, pensions, police and fire protection, national security, roads, highways, bridges, canals, libraries, museums, parks, sewer systems, garbage pickup, snow removal, water purification, food inspection, disease control, and so on.”  (See Canada’s Quiet Bargain: The Benefits of Public Spending, by Hugh MacKenzie and Richard Shillington.)

Decades of anti-tax rhetoric – the cries for “tax relief” from the “tax burden” – have undermined public appreciation of sufficient and fair taxation.  And yet there is evidence that nations in which citizens are prepared to support a deeper public pool of revenue are economically more competitive and have a higher quality of life, with lesser poverty and wealth inequality, than lower-tax nations. (See The Social Benefits and Economic Costs of Taxation: A Comparison of High- and Low-Tax Countries, by Neil Brooks and Thaddeus Hwong.)

In The Trouble With Billionaires, McQuaig and Brooks explore the danger of deep inequality – notably its impact on democracy.  (See also the leading work on inequality by The Equality Trust.)  The authors conclude that the key to combating inequality and to supporting critical investments in valued public goods and services is to build a more progressive (fair) tax system. They have a number of recommendations to accomplish this, including to enact an inheritance tax (applicable only to the very rich, affecting only one to two percent of Canadian families) and to use the proceeds to introduce a new education trust for every Canadian child.

But of all the recommendations of McQuaig and Brooks, the most important may be to “strive to bring about a change in social attitudes toward taxation and its essential role in a democracy.” Hence the inauguration of Tax Benefits Day – to fall on the day immediately after the Fraser Institute’s Tax Freedom Day, to counter the misguided view that taxes are bad.

We welcome enquiries from organizations that would like to work with Canada Without Poverty to organize Tax Benefits Day 2012 and beyond. If interested, please send a message expressing that to info@cwp-csp.ca.

Rob Rainer
Executive Director / Directeur executif
CANADA WITHOUT POVERTY / CANADA SANS PAUVRETÉ

Working in alliance with the CWP Advocacy Network / Travaillant en alliance avec le Réseau de revendication CSP

< http://www.cwp-csp.ca/Blog/happy-tax-benefits-day-2011 >

[This is a message to a Canada-wide group distribution list...  This message is also being sent today to all federal parliamentarians with email addresses, with special flagging for Prime Minister Harper and federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty. ]

A rapidly emerging issue of immense public interest is the future of the Canada Health and Canada Social transfers. Critical decisions are coming about these transfers that could greatly shape the health and social security of Canadians in the coming years – and thus the very fabric of Canada. Through these transfers of many billions of dollars, the federal government helps support provinces and territories in the delivery of health care and social security services.  The legislation authorizing these transfers expires March 31, 2014.

In a remarkable open letter on January 25 to federal Finance Minister, Jim Flaherty, former senior Department of Finance officials Scott Clark and Peter Devries lay out the stark implications of this issue.  This lengthy open letter (requires 20-30 minutes to read but well worth it), with detailed analysis, closes with these words and questions (bold lettering added here for emphasis):

“The decision you, or any government, will take with respect to the CHT and CST will set the course of the federal government and federal/provincial relations for many years to follow. Is it not possible to engage Canadians in this debate before a final decision is taken?  In the past you have supported the analysis and recommendations of the IMF [International Monetary Fund], and quite rightly so.  We would strongly recommend that you support the IMF conclusion in its recent report on ” the importance of increasing transparency and communication about these challenges (demographic) and their long-run implications, (and) to increase public awareness and contribute to a debate about possible solutions.”

See the full open letter here.

Rob Rainer
Executive Director / Directeur executif
CANADA WITHOUT POVERTY / CANADA SANS PAUVRETÉ

Working in alliance with the CWP Advocacy Network / Travaillant en alliance avec le Réseau de revendication CSP

Honorary Directors

Hon. Monique Bégin; Ed Broadbent; Ovide Mercredi

Ottawa office: 1210 – 1 rue Nicholas Street, Ottawa, ON K1N 7B7; (613) 789-0096 (1-800-810-1076)

Montréal office: (514) 667-2205

Vancouver office: (604) 628-0525

Web Site; Facebook; Twitter

Dignity for All: The Campaign for a Poverty-free Canada

Today, in the House of Commons, The Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities (the HUMA Committee) released its final report on the federal role in addressing poverty. The report follows three years of work by this committee.  At first glance, there appears to be a great deal that is very positive in terms of recommendations for action by the federal government.  Canada Without Poverty, with partners in Dignity for All: The Campaign for a Poverty-free Canada, will have more to say on this in the coming days and weeks, starting with a press conference on Parliament Hill tomorrow.  We encourage all other interested parties to comment as well, with communication directly to the federal government (to Prime Minister Harper and to Minister of Human Resources and Social Development, the Hon. Diane Finley).

The PDF versions of the report are available in English and in French.  An HTML version of the report will be available soon.

The government has 120 days to respond formally to these recommendations.

Rob Rainer
Executive Director / Directeur executif
CANADA WITHOUT POVERTY / CANADA SANS PAUVRE

Working in alliance with the CWP Advocacy Network / Travaillant en alliance avec le Réseau de revendication CSP

Imagine Canada’s Prime Minister rising in the House of Commons to say the following:

“Ms. Speaker, I am pleased today to announce that the Government of Canada officially recognizes the right to housing, as established in international human rights law to which Canada has been bound since 1976.  Our government also recognizes that, today, an estimated 150,000 to 300,000 people in Canada are visibly homeless, another 450,000 to 900,000 people are homeless but not visibly so, and an estimated 1.5 million households in Canada are in core housing need.  These numbers reflect a crisis – a crisis not only in housing but also in the social security system that for Canada remains an unfinished project.  And so today, Ms. Speaker, I am pleased to announce that the Government of Canada, in keeping with our support for Bill C-304 commits to developing a pan-Canadian housing strategy, in consultation and collaboration with provinces, territories, Aboriginal governments, non-profit and private sector housing providers, and civil society organizations.  We shall ensure this strategy addresses the root causes of homelessness and housing problems.  We shall strive to ensure that, within the shortest time possible, every person in Canada shall have access to housing, as is his or her human right.  This issue is among our highest priorities, and this government’s commitment to success shall not end until success has been reached.”

Towards realizing this vision, the CWP Advocacy Network shares the following message from Michael Shapcott of the Wellesley Institute: it is an update from the past week on the status of Bill C-304:

“Canada is inching closer to a long overdue and much-needed national affordable housing plan.  Bill C-304, draft legislation to create a national plan that was proposed by Libby Davies, MP for Vancouver East, is back for the second round of debate on third reading on Nov. 18.  Then the Commons is scheduled to vote on Nov. 24.  The Wellesley Institute’s Precarious Housing in Canada 2010 sets out the need, and the framework, for a national housing plan.  Atsecond reading, the national housing bill passed on a vote of 148 to 137, including support from the NDP, Liberals and Bloc Québécois.  The Bloc is seeking another amendment to the bill, so the vote on Nov. 24 will likely be to send C-304 back to committee, and then do a quick turn-around and back onto the floor of the Commons for a final vote. Advocates hope that the bill will get third and final reading vote before the House rises for the holidays on Dec. 17.”

At this time, we encourage you to send a short email message (in French) to Gilles Duceppe (Duceppe.G@parl.gc.ca), copy to the other members of the Bloc caucus. We suggest your message thank the Bloc Québécois for its continued openness to support Bill C-304, and urge the Bloc to help ensure the bill’s passage from the House to the Senate. You may wish to briefly characterize the state of homelessness and housing in your community, province or territory – to give further weight to the urgency of seeing Bill C-304 become law.

Attached is an Excel file with the names, email addresses and other contact information for the Bloc caucus < http://ca.mg202.mail.yahoo.com/dc/launch?.partner=rogers-acs&.gx=1&.rand=dil0e26g98uhs >.  You can mouse over all the email addresses at once, copy and paste them in to your “To” or “Cc” line when you send your message – thus to reach the entire Bloc caucus with one message.  The CWP Advocacy Network will itself send our message this week, and will blind copy you on it.

Need help with translating your message?  Let us know: we have a couple of wonderful translators assisting us at no or very low charge, and can turn your English text over to them for help.

Thank you and we hope you can take this action this week.

Rob Rainer
Executive Director / Directeur executif
CWP ADVOCACY NETWORK / RÉSEAU DE REVENDICATION CSP

Working in alliance with Canada Without Poverty / Travaillant en alliance avec Canada sans pauvreté

Head Office: 1210 – 1 rue Nicholas Street, Ottawa, ON K1N 7B7; (613) 789-0115

__________________________________________________________

The time has come to stop talking and start taking action. If everyone who wants to see an end to poverty, hunger and suffering speaks out then the noise will be deafening. Politicians will have to listen.
Desmond Tutu

Monday September 6 is Labour Day in Canada. In recognition of this statutory holiday – the origins of which “can be traced back to April 14, 1872 when a parade was staged in support of the Toronto Typographical Union’s strike for a 58-hour work-week” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labour_Day) – Canada Without Poverty and the CWP Advocacy Network are this year championing the call – led by Canadian labour and with the support of groups like the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, for significant pension and retirement security reform.

This call has three principal components:

1)      Increase Canada Pension Plan benefits;

2)      Increase the Guaranteed Income Supplement for seniors; and

3)      Introduce federal pension insurance to protect retirement savings.

The Canadian Labour Congress (“the umbrella organization for dozens of affiliated Canadian and international unions, as well as provincial federations of labour and regional labour councils”) has excellent, accessible information in support of labour’s Retirement Security for Everyone campaign.

• Click here for the CLC’s Labour Day 2010 message on this subject
• Click here for the CLC’s fact sheet series on pension and retirement security reform
• Click here for the CLC’s nifty calculator of how expanding the CPP can work for you:
• Click here for the CLC’s “Retirement Security for Everyone Campaign Toolbox”
• Click here for the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ 2010 emergency resolution in support of pension and retirement security reform:

Canada Without Poverty and the CWP Advocacy Network shall work with Canadian labour (particularly within the context of Dignity for All: The Campaign for a Poverty-free Canada) to help advance public and political support for pension and retirement security reform.  Under international human rights law to which Canada is signatory, everyone has the right to “social security” and an “adequate standard of living.”  Government has a duty to ensure such economic and social rights are honoured and upheld.  Government must therefore work with business and civil society to construct a sustainable system of retirement security so that these rights – and the related right of “security of the person” (per international law and Section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms) – are made real.

The Red Tent Campaign is a potentially high-impact pan-Canadian initiative to end homelessness.  Inspired by a similar and successful effort in France, and initiated by the innovative, Vancouver-based Pivot Legal Society and allied organizations, the Red Tent Campaign uses visually striking tents to draw public attention to homelessness and the need for a pan-Canadian housing strategy – rooted in Canada’s legal obligation under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to honor the right to housing.  The campaign’s potential impact ties nicely with the forthcoming Third Reading in the House of Commons of Bill C-304 (“An Act to ensure secure, adequate, accessible and affordable housing for Canadians”).  Bill C-304 < http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?DocId=3660878&Language=e&Mode=1&File=24#1 >, if passed into law, would mandate the federal government to develop a national housing strategy, in consultation with key stakeholders and appropriately rooted in a human rights framework.

The CWP Advocacy Network has added its endorsement of the Red Tent Campaign and encourages groups across Canada to do so likewise.  We are working with Pivot Legal Society to help bring the campaign’s presence in a major way to Ottawa this fall – in time to make an impact prior to Third Reading of Bill C-304.  The campaign’s presence is also beginning to be felt in other communities across Canada.  We encourage groups to sponsor the purchase of one or more red tents (at $100 each) to help ensure as strong a presence as possible.

For more information on the Red Tent Campaign including to sponsor tents, please contact Doug King at Pivot Legal Society, copied on this message (and at 604-255-9700).  Ashton Starr is our point person for coordinating the CWP Advocacy Network’s involvement in this campaign, and may also be contacted (613-789-0115).

Rob Rainer
Executive Director / Directeur executif
CWP ADVOCACY NETWORK / RÉSEAU DE REVENDICATION CSP
Working in alliance with Canada Without Poverty / Travaillant en alliance avec Canada sans pauvreté
1210 – 1 rue Nicholas Street
Ottawa, ON K1N 7B7

(613) 789-0115

rob@cwp-csp.ca; www.cwp-csp.ca; www.dignityforall.ca

Canada Without Poverty is pleased to forward the link to a great short article by the eminent Ed Broadbent, titled “The Rise and Fall of Economic and Social Rights: What’s Next?”, recently published by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.  The article

From http://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/reports/rise-and-fall-economic-rights:

He has committed his life to the advancement of human rights. He’s watched Canada move from a “sharing and caring” society to the “new barbarism.”  Now Ed Broadbent comes out swinging.

In this article based on his address to the Congress of the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences on May 29th, the former leader of the NDP summarizes the journey of generations and issues a challenge to today’s leaders: stop ignoring the threat of rising inequality, tackle poverty, and show Canadians your progress.

Rob Rainer

Executive Director / Directeur executif
CANADA WITHOUT POVERTY / CANADA SANS PAUVRETÉ
Working in alliance with the CWP Advocacy Network
Travaillant en alliance avec le Réseau de revendication CSP
1210 – 1 rue Nicholas StreetOttawa, ON K1N 7B7
(613) 789-0096 (1-800-810-1076)

rob@cwp-csp.ca; www.cwp-csp.ca; www.dignityforall.ca
_______________________________________

policyalternatives.ca- publications/reports/rise-and-fall-economic-rights
May 29, 2010

Celebrated, award-winning Canadian poet and writer, Lorna Crozier (also blind copied on this message) has given Canada Without Poverty permission to run on our web site a short excerpt from her memoirs, Small Beneath the Sky, published in 2009 and which describes life in small town Saskatchewan and the challenges families face when struggling with poverty.  For more information on Lorna’s memoirs, please visit her web site (http://www.lornacrozier.ca/).  This fine summer book allows the reader, through a beautifully written narrative, to explore issues of poverty in a working family.  We are happy to promote this book and have Lorna share her perspective on these issues with us.  The beginning of the post on our web site is shown below:

“One of the reasons I decided to write about my childhood and my family was to remind readers that we don’t live in a classless society. Oh, we’ve all seen the homeless, but many Canadians have fooled themselves into thinking that those who don’t live on the streets share the same comforts, the same advantages. Too easily the working poor are invisible. Growing up with parents who could barely pay for the rent of a derelict house had its effects on me.  Some were to my benefit and some were not. I learned to be self-reliant and pushed myself to get educated so that I would have a less worrisome life than my mother. At the same time, most of my life I’ve carried the shame of not being as good as many other people in my small town. It’s taken me many years to shed that sense of shame.”

For the rest of the post on the Canada Without Poverty web site, click here.

Rob Rainer
Executive Director / Directeur executif
CANADA WITHOUT POVERTY / CANADA SANS PAUVRETÉ
1210 – 1 rue Nicholas Street
Ottawa, ON K1N 7B7

(613) 789-0096 (1-800-810-1076)

rob@cwp-csp.ca; www.cwp-csp.ca

If you really want to advocate for health, if you really want to make changes to health, you have to start to make fundamental changes to the way society is structured.  You have to deal with issues like poverty.

Dr. Jeffrey Turnbull, President-Elect, Canadian Medical Association

Canada Without Poverty / Canada sans pauvreté is pleased to announce the founding of its sister organization, the CWP Advocacy Network / Réseau de revendication CSP.

The CWP Advocacy Network is a new national non-profit but non-charitable organization.  It exists to directly lobby politicians and other public policy makers, at all levels of government in Canada, for policies and legislation that help prevent, alleviate and eliminate poverty in Canada.

“We have founded the CWP Advocacy Network so as to strengthen the call for progressive social policy in Canada,” says Geraldine King, President of Canada Without Poverty. “Canadian charities are considerably restricted by the Income Tax Act and Canada Revenue Agency policy in the amount of advocacy they can do, or what the CRA terms ‘political activity.’  But the reality is, to effectively address poverty in Canada requires substantial policy and legislative change.  That in turn requires an active, vigorous voice on policy and legislation from civil society.  The CWP Advocacy Network will contribute substantially to that voice.”

The CWP Advocacy Network will share the logo, mission, vision, values, code of conduct, office address, staff, email addresses and web site URL of Canada Without Poverty.  It will be governed by a Board of nine directors, up to seven of which can be and have been cross-appointed from the Board of Directors of Canada Without Poverty.

“This cross-appointment of a majority of directors on the Board, as well as other shared aspects, ensures close co-operation between Canada Without Poverty and the Advocacy Network,” says Debbie Frost, President of the Network. “Thus while Canada Without Poverty undertakes activity considered to be ‘charitable’ in nature, the Advocacy Network will lead on activity considered to be ‘political’ in nature.”

“We ask our friends and colleagues across Canada to consider making a first donation to the work of the CWP Advocacy Network,” says Rob Rainer, Executive Director for both organizations. “Initial gifts will support the Network’s emerging advocacy for a federal plan to eliminate poverty and other goals of Dignity for All: The Campaign for a Poverty-free Canada, for passage of critical social justice legislation, and for general capacity to take on new public policy challenges as they arise.”

Individuals and groups wishing to help launch the financial platform for the CWP Advocacy Network are encouraged to print, complete and mail in the attached donation form or to call the CWP Advocacy Network (613-789-0115) to donate by credit card. The option of donating on-line via the forthcoming Network web site (to be linked to the Canada Without Poverty site) will be available later this year.

For more information, see the attached overview on the CWP Advocacy Network and/or contact:

Rob Rainer
Executive Director / Directeur executif                                                   Executive Director / Directeur executif
CANADA WITHOUT POVERTY / CANADA SANS PAUVRETÉ                            CWP ADVOCACY NETWORK / RÉSEAU DE REVENDICATION CSP
1210 -1 rue Nicholas Street, 
Ottawa, ON K1N 7B7                                                      
1210 – 1 rue Nicholas Street, Ottawa, ON K1N 7B7
(613) 789-0096 (1-800-810-1076)                                                                                 (613) 789-0115
rob@cwp-csp.ca; www.cwp-csp.ca                                                                                 rob@cwp-csp.ca

If you really want to advocate for health, if you really want to make changes to health, you have to start to make fundamental changes to the way society is structured.  You have to deal with issues like poverty.
Dr. Jeffrey Turnbull, 
President-Elect, Canadian Medical Association

< http://ca.mg202.mail.yahoo.com/dc/launch?.partner=rogers-acs&.rand=34fhagjinavdr >.

Two health researchers at York University last week issued a great new report – Social Determinants of Health: The Canadian Facts.  See the press release below and access the report athttp://www.thecanadianfacts.org. Congratulations to Dennis Raphael and visiting York U. scholar, Juha Mikkonnen, for developing an accessible and compelling resource for those seeking to improve health outcomes by getting at root causes of ill health.

Rob Rainer
Executive Director / Directeur executif
CANADA WITHOUT POVERTY / CANADA SANS PAUVRETÉ
1210 – 1 rue Nicholas Street
Ottawa, ON K1N 7B7
(613) 789-0096 (1-800-810-1076)
rob@cwp-csp.ca; www.cwp-csp.ca; www.dignityforall.ca

If you really want to advocate for health, if you really want to make changes to health, you have to start to make fundamental changes to the way society is structured.  You have to deal with issues like poverty.

Dr. Jeffrey Turnbull, President-Elect, Canadian Medical Association

———————————————————————————————–

York U health researchers produce public primer on who gets sick and why

TORONTO, April 28, 2010 – A report released today by York University health researchers offers Canadians the opportunity to learn how their living conditions will determine whether they stay healthy or become ill.

Social Determinants of Health: The Canadian Factsshows why these factors are so important for health and documents the state of these living conditions in Canada in an accessible manner for the Canadian public.

“Our key message is that the health of Canadians is much less determined by the health care system than we typically think. Much more important are public policies that influence our living conditions,” says Dennis Raphael, Professor in York’s School of Health Policy & Management and the report’s co-author.

Raphael and visiting scholar Juha Mikkonenexplain in everyday language and with compelling graphics how Canadians’ health is shaped by how much income and wealth they have, whether or not they are employed and if so, the working conditions they experience. They pull together a wide range of research to show how health is powerfully influenced by Canadians’ ability to obtain quality education, food and housing, among other factors.

The report finds these conditions are declining with serious ramifications for the quality and longevity of Canadians’ lives, and outlines specific ways that the situation can be improved. The report is free to the public at http://www.thecanadianfacts.org/

Former Minister of Health and Welfare Monique Bégin states in the report’s foreword: “While one of the world’s biggest spenders in health care, we have one of the worst records in providing an effective social safety net. What good does it do to treat people’s illnesses, to then send them back to the conditions that made them sick?”

Contrary to the popular belief that Canada is a caring nation with strong supports for citizens, the report shows that Canada has one of the worse records among wealthy developed nations in providing Canadians with the conditions necessary for health. These supports are eroding with significant effects on Canadians’ health, according to Raphael.

“This is not a storyline that’s familiar to most Canadians,” he says. “We’re still stuck in those glory days where Canada really was one of the best places in the world to live. Sadly, that is no longer the case. What’s frightening is that many of these aspects are completely beyond any one individual’s control.”

For example, new immigrants have difficulty getting accreditation for their skills, and are forced into service jobs where they can barely afford to feed their families. This leads to a host of problems that directly affect health and overall quality of life.

“It’s all interrelated. It’s time to act on these issues,” Raphael says.

A striking example is found in maps that show a clear correspondence between poverty levels, prevalence of adult-onset diabetes, and concentration of visible minorities in Toronto neighbourhoods.

The report provides concrete recommendations for improving this situation. For example, in regard to the increasing occurrence of hunger in Canada, it recommends:
• Increases in minimum wages and social assistance rates to the level where an adequate diet is affordable.
• Governments assuring that healthy foods are affordable (e.g. milk, fruits, and foods high in fiber).
• Provision of affordable housing and childcare that would reduce other family expenses and leave more money for acquiring an adequate diet.

Sobering statistics cited by the report include:

- 15 per cent of Canadian children are living in poverty, putting Canada at a rank of 20th out of 30 of the world’s wealthiest nations as defined by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

- Only 17 percent of Canadian families have access to regulated child care. Canada ranked last among 25 wealthy developed nations in meeting various early childhood development objectives.

- Canada is amongst the lowest in its coverage of total health care costs. Medicare covers only 70 per cent of total health care costs, giving Canada a rank of 22nd of 30 OECD nations for public coverage of health care costs.

- Canada is among the nations with the greatest gap between men’s and women’s earnings. Canada ranks 19th of 22 OECD nations in reducing the earnings gap between men and women.

- Over 40 per cent of Canadians with disabilities are not in the labour force, forcing many of them to rely upon social assistance benefits. Canada ranks 27th of 29 in public spending on disability-related issues.

———————
What People are Saying about The Canadians Facts

“This wonderful document, Social Determinants of Health: The Canadian Facts is about us, Canadian society, and what we need to put faces and voices to the inequities – and the health inequities in particular – that exist in our midst. Only when we see a concrete description of these complex and challenging problems, when we read about their various expressions in all the regions of the country and among the many sub-groups making up Canada, can we move to action.”
– Hon. Monique Bégin, PC, FRSC, OC from the Foreword. (Member of WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health, and Former Minister of National Health & Welfare of Canada)

“Congratulations on this most valuable contribution to Canadians’ understanding of what really needs to change in order to improve population health. My hope is that it also sends a strong yet accessible message to those of us in the Canadian health system about how we need to change our practice.”
– Dr. Penny Sutcliffe, MD, MHSc, FRCPC, Chief Executive Officer, Sudbury & District Health Unit

“Juha Mikkonen and Dennis Raphael have created a resource that is at once educational, easy to read, evidence-based, and a powerful call to action. I hope to see this document open on the desks of policy makers, public health professionals, students, and front line health providers. This important contribution to the dialogue around social determinants of health in Canada offers both an accessible resource, and a straightforward guide to what we need to do to reduce inequities in health.”
– Dr. Gary Bloch, Family Physician, St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto; Assistant Professor, University of Toronto

“This is a superb document for getting the message out there regarding the politics of health. There is nothing like it in Canada. The text and the graphs will enlighten even the skeptics. The cover art is great. The layout is engaging and the whole thing is entirely readable. I’ll be using it in every class I teach.”
– Dr. Elizabeth McGibbon, St. Francis Xavier University

“Under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, everyone has rights ‘to an adequate standard of living’ and ‘the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.’ Nonetheless, the evidence for comprehensive action on the social determinants of health is overwhelming. Like highly skilled trial lawyers, Juha Mikkonen and Dennis Raphael have assembled this evidence, concisely, clearly and compellingly, into a single document. As a result, the prospect of realizing the rights that constitute an international standard for a decent human life is that  much brighter. Bravo!”
– Rob Rainer, Executive Director, Canada Without Poverty

“The Canadian Facts so succinctly described in this readable little book are not nice ones. But beneath the intersecting pathways by which social injustices become health inequalities lies the most sobering message: Things are getting worse. We have lived through three decades where the predatory greed of unregulated markets has allowed (and still allows) some to accumulate ever larger hordes of wealth and power while denying others a fair share of the resources they need to be healthy. This book is a fast-fact reference and an invitation for Canadian health workers to join with social movement activists elsewhere to reclaim for the public good some of these appropriated resources.“
– Dr. Ronald Labonté, Professor and Canada Research Chair, Globalization
and Health Equity, University of Ottawa

“With unusual clarity and insight, this informative resource will help change the way readers think about health.  It renders visible how underlying social and economic environments influence health outcomes even more than personal behaviors, genetic profiles, or access to healthcare. Solutions, it reminds us, lie not in new medical advances or even ‘right choices’ but in the political arena: struggling for the social changes that can provide every resident the opportunity to live a healthy and fulfilling life.”
– Larry Adelman, creator and executive producer, “Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?”