The book’s first volume was published in 2004 as the result of a 2002 York University-led national conference on the accounting of the state and quality of 10 related areas of health policy and activity.

“There is little doubt that it really stimulated discussions about role of public policy and how it affects people’s living and working conditions,” said Raphael of the first and second editions.

Raphael, professor of Health Policy and Management and Graduate Program director, Health Policy and Equity, says the third edition presents new scholarship on the ideological and paradigmatic barriers to addressing the social determinants of health by those in the health field and makers of public policy. It also documents attempts being made to overcome these barriers.

In addition to updating the material presented in the second edition, there is greater focus on:

• the political pathways and mechanisms that explain how the social determinants of health come to be distributed amongst the population;
• early childhood development in Canada in relation to other developed nations;
• Indigenous health and its determinants;
• public policy and the social safety net; and
• the growing network of civil society organizations addressing the inequitable distribution of the social determinants of health.

These works represent a unique undertaking in the social determinants of health area as they bring together scholarship by those working in early childhood education and care, education and literacy, employment and working conditions, food security, gender, health services, housing, income and its distribution, social exclusion, the social safety net, and unemployment and job insecurity with those whose work specifically focuses on the health effects of these areas, said Raphael.

The social determinants of health concept was first taken up by pioneering public health units across Canada who helped shift the discussion of health away from biomedical and behavioural risks toward emphasizing living conditions as the primary determinants of individual and population health. United Ways of Canada, social planning councils, and numerous other non–health care agencies striving to improve the quality of life of Canadians drew upon the social determinants of health concept in their activities. They have now been joined by influential health care focused organizations such as the Canadian Medical Association and Canadian Nurses Association. Even the Canadian Senate and the Health Council of Canada have reported on their importance.

The aim of Social Determinants of Health: Canadian Perspectives is to promote more accurate public understandings and public policy making in support of health.

For more on the book, visit www.cspi.org/subjects/health-studies/books/social-determinants-of-health-3rd-edition.

One of Canada’s foremost educators and an international leader in the field of education, Dr. Avis Glaze, says it’s time Canada adopted a basic income guarantee policy.

Glaze — Ontario’s first Chief Student Achievement Officer and founding CEO of the Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat – says Canada must address the issue of poverty by addressing the challenge at its source — income.

“To ensure students’ life chances are not truncated because of poverty, for me, as an educator, it’s absolutely essential that public policy addresses the issue of parental income,” Glaze tells Leaders and Legacies.

She says she often thinks of the well-known quote from social justice thinker, R. W. Connell: “Statistically speaking, the best advice I would give to a poor child eager to get ahead in education is to choose richer parents.”

Glaze, who pioneered character education among other education innovations in Canada, says if we want to ensure Canada is a tapestry of safe and healthy places to live, work and raise our children, “then we must address poverty in a systematic and intentional manner.”

“A basic income would be essential if we want to close achievement gaps,” says Glaze.  “From an educational perspective, this seems to be one of the most intractable issues in education, not only in Canada, but internationally.”

Now head of her own consulting company, Edu-quest International Inc., Glaze says she has always believed that educators do meaningful work.

“Ultimately, they contribute to nation building.”

To that end, she says she has always encouraged her colleagues in education to speak out more about social policy.

“Let’s take principals, for example. Many studies show they are a respected group in society. When I speak to them, I ask ‘how are you engaging in political action?’”

Glaze says most educators would not describe themselves as “political.” She says there are many reasons for this. Many do not speak directly to the media. They have school trustees and communications departments who speak on behalf of the school district.

“But if we think about politics as the ability to influence decision making and to enhance life chances of our students, we must become more political, seeking every opportunity to bend the ears of politicians.”

Glaze, as Ontario’s first Chief Student Achievement Officer and founding CEO of the Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat, played a pivotal role in improving student achievement in Ontario schools.

She says that regardless of what people say about education from a general perspective, they tend to like their local school and their local principals and teachers. So it’s incumbent upon community leaders like them to advocate for social policy changes that would help their students.

A sought-after speaker in education across the globe, Glaze has travelled extensively and sees the contrast between Scandinavian schools, as an example, and those of other countries. While there is no basic income in Scandinavian nations, Finland is currently setting up a pilot project. As well, these countries do come the closest to providing strong supports for parents and children compared to other countries.

“That’s a matter of public policy…and so obviously public policy can make a difference,” Glaze says.

“While I admire the teachers and principals who are still spending their own money to help their needy students…we need to address the totality of the needs of children as a matter of public policy,” Glaze notes.

Long an advocate of business-education partnerships, Glaze says this doesn’t mean that schools or school systems should be in the lurch if they don’t have the businesses, industries or groups that support their needs, such as breakfast programs.

“And, in any event, these partnerships, though very important, do not address the issue of family incomes,” she says.

Glaze says there must be much better integration at the policy level between departments within governments. For instance, education and social policy, or health, economics and education.

“Having silos does not contribute to a problem that is multifaceted in nature. Wherever there are points of natural intersection, we must be prepared to build upon what we have already achieved, and to redouble our efforts to create a multi-pronged, cross-disciplinary focus on the needs of children in general, and those who live in poverty, in particular.”

Glaze says Canada can continue to be an example to the world of what it takes to realize one of the promises of its diversity — raising the bar for all children and closing achievement gaps.

“Within the social determinants of health, education and income are perhaps the most powerful,” says Glaze. “So addressing the issue of basic income would help tremendously.”

In mid-November both the University of Winnipeg (UW) in Manitoba Province and Lakehead University (LU) in Ontario announced that students will have to pass a three-credit course in indigenous history or culture to graduate starting in September of 2016.

The required courses include some on indigenous history or culture, contemporary indigenous issues, local indigenous languages, indigenous ways of knowing and research methodologies.

For many indigenous students and faculty the new requirement is seen as a very positive step towards educating all students about the history and current reality of indigenous people in Canada.

“All the aboriginal/indigenous students that I spoke to about this initiative were very thrilled and excited,” said Saide-Phoenix Lavoie (Ojibway), the Co-President of the University of Winnipeg Aboriginal Student Council and one of the activists who has been working towards this goal.

“Most aboriginal students fall victim to stereotypes, covert and overt racism,

misunderstandings and misconceptions of history, and their views are at times undermined by a lot of the student body and community in general,” Lavoie said.

“They fully supported our efforts the entire way, and were very thankful that this was finally happening,” she added.

Lavoie noted that the idea was first formally proposed at UW in 2009 and since then both the Aboriginal Student Council and the University of Winnipeg Student Association (UWSA), along with allies in the faculty, kept the issue alive by meeting with all sectors of the university and local indigenous community.

One of the other supporters of the indigenous studies requirement, Dr. Jacqueline T. Romanow (Metis), Department Chair and Associate Professor in UW’s Department of Indigenous Studies, asserted that the courses are a “positive start” in the process of educating fellow Canadians.

“There is a great deal of injustice in the history of Canada,” Romanow pointed out. “The Truth and Reconciliation Commission has identified cultural genocide to be a fact of Canadian history.”

“How many Canadians know this? Understand what happened and what this really means?” she continued. “If we are ever to have meaningful reconciliation between Indigenous Peoples and the rest of Canada, there must be a full recognition of the truth.”

Learning the truth about indigenous history and reality could become requirements in other universities as well. Lavoie said that she and Kevin Settee, Anishinaabe/Ogimaabinens, who is the Vice-President of UWSA, have received requests from students from all across Canada to advise them on how to push for an indigenous course requirement at their universities.

On November 26, the University of Saskatchewan Students’ Union announced that they are asking for indigenous content be taught in every degree program. University officials have said they are open to the idea.

— This article was written by Rick Kearns and was originally published here.

Pathways to Education Canada, a national charity that helps youth who need extra support to graduate, is making graduation a family affair where parents and siblings openly discuss school, building an enthusiasm for education that provides essential ingredients to transform entire communities.

Research shows that youth are more likely to go on to post-secondary if at least one parent is university educated. Similarly, having a high school graduate in the family can have a strong effect on a younger sibling’s choice to continue their education. The presence of a role model at home is especially important in certain postal codes where dropping out of high school is the norm.

“With the four of us – three brothers and a younger sister — all part of Pathways, we work together and make sure we do well at school,” says Ramez Fazelyar, a Grade 10 student in the Pathways to Education program in Lawrence Heights.

“I am not sure how common it is to have kids and parents aware of every homework assignment and test result, but it should be. Education has become a central part of our family.”

Wares Fazelyar, Ramez’s older brother and the oldest of the family’s four children, graduated from the Lawrence Heights Pathways location in 2012. He is in his second year at the University of Toronto and remains heavily involved in the Pathways alumni program and the Lawrence Heights community. He’s seen how much the program has helped transform and bring the neighbourhood together, with high school graduation rates increasing more than 35 per cent from pre-Pathways levels.

“Graduating with your school friends is one thing, but graduating with friends from your neighbourhood is completely different,” says Wares. “It brings the community together and shows how important it is for youth to graduate high school and create a sense of pride in the community.”

The Pathways model has a proven record of success at addressing systemic barriers to education, and has created a legacy of role models within families and communities. It was recently recognized with an international World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) Award, for its exceptional and innovative work in building the future of education. Pathways was one of only six not-for-profits — and the only Canadian organization — to be honoured with this prestigious recognition.

“Pathways is a wrap-around educational support program that transforms communities,” says Vivian Prokop, President and CEO of Pathways to Education Canada.  “The program recognizes the unique challenges our students face and provides the skills that youth need to succeed both in and out of the classroom.”

This year, almost 1,000 students across the country are graduating from the program, including the Kingston, Winnipeg and Halifax locations, which are all celebrating their first-ever graduating class.

A new study shows that 95 percent of new Canadians believe it is likely their children will obtain a post-secondary education in Canada.

The study, conducted by BMO, also shows that 58 percent of parents who have immigrated to Canada feel their children will be better off here than they would have been if they had stayed in their native country and 33 percent say they will be much better off.

Further, New Canadians consider it likely that their children will:

• Obtain a post-secondary education (95 per cent)
• Get a good job (93 per cent)
• Buy a home (92 per cent)

Immigrants reported that they have these expectations because they believe that, in Canada, their children will have access to:

• Better education (72 percent)
• A safer environment (61 percent)
• Better job opportunities (55 percent)
• Good government programs (52 percent)

In addition, the study revealed that two thirds (63 percent) of New Canadians are more optimistic about Canada’s economy than the economy in their native country; only 13 percent feel the opposite.

“It’s encouraging to see that immigrants to Canada are confident their children will be successful and feel that the sacrifices they made to come to this country will pay off,” says Charyl Galpin, Head, BMO Nesbitt Burns, a part of BMO Wealth Management.

“All parents want the best for their kids and New Canadians are no exception.”

To mark the back-to-school season, the Horatio Alger Association of Canada has released two English and one French public service announcements promoting the association and its scholarship program.

The announcements feature former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, both members of the Horatio Alger Association.

The PSAs will be broadcast on local television stations across Canada and can be viewed on the Horatio Alger Association of Canada’s website here and here.

This year, the Horatio Alger Association of Canada will award a total of 85 need-based scholarships to deserving students in financial need who have overcome significant adversity while demonstrating strength of character, strong academics, a commitment to pursuing higher education, as well as a desire to contribute to society. This includes:

• 80 Horatio Alger Canadian Scholarships, valued at $5,000 each, to high school students in every province and territory, and;
• 5 Horatio Alger National Entrepreneurial Scholarships, worth $10,000 each, targeted at outstanding applicants nation-wide who intend to pursue a business-related degree or have expressed a commitment to following an entrepreneurial career.

Students heading for post-secondary vocational or university studies are encouraged to submit their applications before the October 25, 2015 deadline. The application form can be found on the Horatio Alger Association of Canada’s website.

“Wayne Gretzky and the Right Honourable Brian Mulroney are both exemplary models that demonstrate that hard work and determination can overcome any obstacle,” said Prem Watsa, the president of the Horatio Alger Association of Canada.

“They exemplify the can-do attitude of our members and our scholarship winners. We hope this year’s applicants will be inspired by their stories to never give up no matter what life throws at them.”

Leading up to the 150^th anniversary of Canada, Trent University has launched a new School for the Study of Canada.

Arising from the collective desire of scholars and students to understand Canada in its local, regional, national, and international contexts, The School for the Study of Canada will engage students in wide ranging projects and dialogues about Canada.

Led by over 40 scholars at Trent who study Canada across multiple programs and disciplines, many of them national and international experts in their field, students will be challenged to explore issues of relevance to Canada, and what it means to be Canadian. Issues facing critical examination at the new school will include themes such as sovereignty, nationalism, health and aging, the environment, indigeneity, regionalism, multiculturalism, immigration, labour, and peacekeeping.

“Essentially, the creation of the school is to recommit Trent to the study of Canada as a distinctive feature of the university,” says Christopher Dummit, who is undergrad chair of Canadian Studies at the university.

“Trent played a huge role in establishing Canadian studies as a field across the country – founding the Journal of Canadian Studies, creating innovative undergraduate and graduate degrees in Canadian Studies – and long before anyone else was doing so,” he tells Leaders and Legacies.

Dr. James Conolly, professor of Anthropology at Trent was recently named director of the new school. He says the news school “confirms Trent as ‘the’ place for the study of Canada.”

“The school will build on Trent’s existing leadership in Canadian Studies and draw upon Canadian-focused scholarship from other disciplines including Geography, Sociology, Anthropology and Environmental and Resource Studies, reinforcing the study of Canada as a central part of Trent’s broader mission,” he adds.

The School brings under one umbrella all existing Canadian Studies programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels: the Bachelor of Arts in Canadian Studies; the Masters in Canadian and Indigenous Studies; and the PhD in Canadian Studies under one umbrella. At all levels, the school will facilitate exchange programs that will allow students to study across borders, promote forms of community-based research and develop summer internships for students in the humanities and social sciences. The school also plans to offer public lectures, seminars and themed symposiums.

National Online Dialogue to Set Stage for Conversation about Canada

One of the first initiatives of the School for the Study of Canada will be supporting the Canadian Difference, a project between Trent and the philanthropic leadership of Ontario-based executives William A. Macdonald and William R.K. Innes. The project is set to evolve into a bilingual online community dedicated to encouraging open and thoughtful discussion about “What makes Canada work?” and “What could make Canada work?” Centered on a number of topical issues, and with Mutual Accommodation as an underlying theme, it will seek to crowdsource a wide range of perspectives and understanding from a diverse audience of engaged Canadians. Grad students at Trent will both moderate the forums and work behind the scenes to evaluate the discussion.

A Canadian First

“It was Tom Symons at the outset who headed up the Royal Commission on the idea of Canadian Studies in the 1970s making Trent the first to have a Canadian Studies department in Ontario and the second in the country. It’s only fitting that Tom Symons is the honorary director of the new School,” says Dummit. 

To learn more, visit the School for the Study of Canada.

A new sculpture depicting Macdonald as a young, teenage lawyer has been unveiled in Picton, Ontario.

Daryl Kramp, Member of Parliament for Prince Edward-Hastings, took part in the unveiling of a bronze statue of Macdonald that depicts him at the beginning of his career.

Macdonald called the Quinte region his home for 11 years, living in Hay Bay, Napanee, Glenora and Picton before moving finally to Kingston in 1835.  John A.’s family and cousins lived in the region. He travelled constantly but his family home was a small clapboard house on Hay Bay near Adolphustown followed some years later in the Miller’s House at the Stone Mills of Glenora, where his father was a miller and magistrate.

“I am very pleased to see this project initiated by the community where Sir John A. Macdonald spent an early part of his career honing his skills as a lawyer,” says Kramp. “I applaud the objective of the Macdonald Project, which is to shine a light on the early life of a man who, through hard work, determination and genuine affection for people, rose to become Canada’s first prime minister.”

Historians believe Macdonald probably stayed with his cousins, the Macphersons, in Picton during the two years he lived here. But he spent a great deal of time with his family Hugh, Helen, Margaret and Louisa at Glenora, below Lake on the Mountain. He said later that these were the happiest days of his life.

According to David Warrick, the chair of the steering committee of the Macdonald Project of Prince Edward County, the young Macdonald was already displaying leadership qualities and civic mindedness, even in his teenage years. Macdonald volunteered as secretary of the first public school board, organized a young men’s debating society, volunteered as a polling clerk for the election of the 12th legislature of Upper Canada in the Picton Courthouse in 1834, and he signed a petition to rename Hallowell (which later became Picton.)

The sculpture, created by Ruth Abernethy, captures a moment in time when Macdonald appeared in court for the first time before a judge and jury in Picton, Upper Canada in 1834.  He won the trial and four months later became an attorney while still living in Picton.

Warrick notes the sculpture “will remind Canadians that the nation’s first prime minister began his career in law and public administration in Picton.”

“He rose from humble beginnings as the son of an immigrant shopkeeper and miller in the Quinte region to become the principal architect of Canada,” Warrick says.

Quick Facts

• Sir John A. Macdonald lived in the Bay of Quinte region and Prince Edward County for about 11 years and began his law practice there.
• The sculpture is located in Picton’s historic downtown. It depicts Sir John A. Macdonald as he would have appeared presenting and winning his first court case before a judge and jury in the Picton Courthouse on Oct. 8, 1834.
• The Macdonald Project will develop educational materials to accompany the statue. Walking tours will also be planned, and new media will be used to promote the project.

Horatio Alger is a charitable organization dedicated to education and the belief that hard work, honesty and determination can conquer all obstacles. The association recently announced a national expansion of its scholarship program with a new $10 million endowment available to high school students in all Canadian provinces and territories.

Mr. Mulroney, who served as prime minister from 1984-1993, is vice president of the association’s board of directors.

“Every year, I have the privilege of learning about the life stories that our scholarship applicants submit,” said Mr. Mulroney. “It warms my heart to see these bright students who, despite hardship, despite roadblocks, demonstrate a ‘can-do’ attitude and strive for success. These students are the future and I have never been more optimistic that our country is in good hands.”

Since 2009, the Horatio Alger Association of Canada has offered scholarships to full-time Canadian high school students in Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia who have a critical financial need and have demonstrated integrity and perseverance in overcoming adversity, as well as strength of character, a good academic record, a commitment to pursue higher education, and a desire to contribute to society.

In that time, more than $1 million in scholarships have been awarded to over 200 deserving young Canadians.

Now, hard-working students in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Yukon, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut will have the opportunity to apply for 130 Horatio Alger scholarships each year of up to $10,000.

Now, Horatio Alger Canadian Scholarships valued at $5,000 will be awarded to 80 young Canadians annually to study at a post-secondary institution of their choosing.

In addition, the top five applicants from across Canada each year will be awarded the Horatio Alger Canadian National Scholarship. These five students will win a scholarship valued at $10,000, which is reserved for outstanding applicants who are planning to pursue a business-related degree or have expressed a commitment to following an entrepreneurial career. These students will also be invited to Washington, D.C. during the spring of their final year in high school to participate in the Horatio Alger National Scholars Conference, joining American winners of the Horatio Alger scholarships.

The application process for the 2016 scholarships will open on August 1, 2015. Students wishing to apply will be able to do so at www.horatioalger.ca.

Reimagining schools as community hubs is a sharp and practical idea that surfaced in recent consultations Maytree hosted on how to reduce poverty in Toronto. We heard from a wide range of thought leaders about the levers available for change in our city. The clear consensus that emerged was around the importance of place-based strategies, and there was a strong endorsement of developing hubs as a critical community asset.

Although Toronto has a strong neighbourhood’s strategy, we are short on anchors for activity in neighbourhoods. But the current review of underutilized schools presents a unique opportunity.

Schools are valuable real estate in city neighbourhoods. While this space may not be maximized now, they offer real potential for re-purposing. Here we have a blank canvas on which we can imagine, create and solve some of the challenges that communities are facing; and it is here that we can look seriously at the opportunity for community hubs. This is not a new idea, but one whose time has come.

Within the Toronto District School Board alone, 68 schools are under review. If they were to close, there is legitimate fear that key community assets currently used by many residents could be lost forever. By converting these schools to community hubs instead, the spaces remain designated to community benefit, and could be re-purposed again if neighbourhood demographics change in the future and a new generation of students needs those schools.

Community hubs provide an opportunity to take city hall and city institutions to local neighbourhoods. The City could offer services and points of access, like city offices, in neighbourhoods that are currently excluded, shifting power and wealth into them. This is already practiced in Seattle where a Director of Neighbourhoods makes sure to spread out the effect of city hall. The City of Hamilton has just picked up this idea as well. Schools are a natural place for becoming such points of access.

By being present in every neighbourhood, the City could learn how to tackle the opportunity gap that is growing in our city. It could even think of itself as an incubator for innovation in how services are delivered and opportunities are created for people living in poverty. This approach could harness energy, resources and investments in neighbourhoods – like child care or pathways to jobs – testing what works and providing proven models for provincial and federal government action.

The immediate and real challenge is that Ontario and its school boards need to find savings. Closing schools is not only about creating efficiencies within budgets, it’s also a potential, albeit one time, revenue generator. In fact, the Ontario Education Act, Regulation 444/98 stipulates that the sale, lease or other disposition of school properties must be at fair market value. There are exceptions related to nursery schools and other child development services, but they don’t take into account the potential schools hold. A first step is to review whether this regulation serves the public interest.

A second step is finding common ground among school boards, municipalities and the province about the purpose and potential of surplus school properties. As there is no forum to do this, these three orders of government should create one. To craft a truly effective partnership that serves the public, community organizations must also be included at the table.

And third, the school boards, province and the cities should together consider removing school ownerships from school boards and transferring them to municipalities with the goal of creating community hubs. The municipality would then be in a position to integrate these school properties into other land use planning decisions, making sure we keep these public buildings and spaces for changing neighbourhood uses. This can only happen if municipalities take a leadership role.

Every neighbourhood has a school. They’re used for learning by children, to be sure. But they are often also the only public or green space, or meeting point for people who live there. Moreover, learning is a lifelong process and involves mental, physical, social, emotional and cultural well-being. It is time we tap the unrealized potential of these community assets.

— contributed by Elizabeth McIsaac, president of Maytree, and Alan Broadbent, chairman and founder of Maytree, and chairman and CEO of Avana Capital Corporation.