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Crossroads for Canada: A Time to Invest in Children and Families (1996)

Commentary by: Anita Khanna and Laurel Rothman

Crossroads for Canada was one of many reports Marvyn Novick wrote or contributed to with Campaign 2000.

In Crossroads for Canada, Marvyn Novick anticipated the negative effects of the now staggering income inequality that first captured the world’s attention in 2011 when the Occupy movement erupted, building to the critical situation of many service workers in the COVID-19 pandemic. Published in 1996 by Campaign 2000, the cross-Canada coalition to end child and family poverty in Canada which Marvyn had co-founded, Crossroads set out the grim results of what is now known as precarious work and the erosion of Canada’s tax base. The tone is at once hopeful about improving children’s lives through sound policy choices, and foreboding – warning that Canada should avoid the direction that would bring all the division and despair known in Britain and the United States. It emphasized that taking the path of low wages and low taxes would compromise healthy growth and development of children from birth through young adulthood. It called for Canada to improve the child benefit system and laid the groundwork for changes introduced in 1998 with the National Child Benefit Supplement.

The release of Crossroads followed then Finance Minister Paul Martin’s shattering 1995 federal budget which ended the Canada Assistance Plan (CAP) and massively cut transfers to the provinces for social welfare and post-secondary education. Communities across Canada suffered directly from reduced funding and some broad public sentiment to ‘get our economic house in order’ promoted by conservative entities such as the Fraser Institute. Community activists, direct service providers and workers, service users, faith communities and unions among others, actively opposed these extensive funding cuts and sought to reverse them. The introduction of the Canada Social Transfer, a major transfer of federal funds to the provinces intended to replace CAP, did not define a strong federal role in moderating the use of transfer funds. Campaign 2000 members remained insistent on the need for a robust federal government role in establishing principles for and monitoring the use of transfer funds.

Amidst this tumultuous time for social programs, the main messages in Crossroads were bold and brave. When Crossroads called for increased public funding for social welfare it was one of the first, if not the first, national group to dare to move in that direction while the anti-deficit slayers continued to push loudly for more tax cuts. Crossroads stressed the importance of public funding, public policies and the inter-generational reciprocity needed to provide a healthy mix of income security measures and quality public services that would significantly reduce child and family poverty and enhance the life chances of all children. In addition, Crossroads projected the costs of substantial additional public

investments and identified potential sources of funds to pay for them. The use of the term ‘social investment’ was purposeful and an effort to emphasize that public spending is valuable and has benefits to all of us in contrast to the prevailing discourse of it being wasteful and a drain on the economy.

Crossroads received broad coverage in the media across Canada. Most articles highlighted the stunning statistics of child poverty and put forth the proposals in Crossroads as credible. Numerous editorials, including in the Globe and Mail and four consecutive ones in the Toronto Star, echoed the call to action outlined in Crossroads and emphasized the need for both more jobs with better wages and a robust social safety net.

When Campaign 2000 had the opportunity to brief then Finance Minister Paul Martin on the Crossroads report, the delegation was impressed that he had read the entire report, made comments on his copy and asked many specific questions. In a subsequent in-depth interview with the Ottawa Citizen, Martin proclaimed that “child poverty is the great social policy challenge of this generation,” securing a central place for the issue on the radar screen of the media and the public. (Mark Kennedy. “Martin vows to help poor children.” January 10, 1997. P.A1.) That first meeting led to many meetings over Martin’s years as finance minister and subsequent increases to the National Child Benefit Supplement which Martin introduced in 1998. We learned that being bold and taking well-supported, strong positions on social issues can have an impact.

Crossroads was foundational to Campaign 2000’s continued advocacy and research to improve child benefits and supports for low and modest income families. In 2012, we published a child benefit proposal that contributed to the development of the Canada Child Benefit introduced in 2015, which is now received by 90% of families with children in Canada. Re-reading Crossroads reminds us to continue to advocate broadly and persistently for the full package of initiatives: decent work, universally accessible childcare, health and mental health supports, crisis supports, affordable housing, and fully accessible public services to ensure that all children in Canada truly thrive. As Canada confronts the results of COVID-19 on families, workplaces and the weakened social safety net, Campaign 2000 continues to press for a broad range of improvements that will strengthen the recovery and ensure that the country does not return to the previous, unacceptable normal in which too many children and families still lived in poverty.

Crossroads reminds us that the goal of our advocacy must be social transformation and to resist anything less. Its clearly laid out plan of action continues to guide social movements today and into the future.

Anita Khanna was the National Coordinator of Campaign 2000: End Child Poverty in Canada from 2015 to 2019; Laurel Rothman was the National Coordinator of Campaign 2000 from 1998 to 2015.

The full document Crossroads for Canada can be found here.

Anita Khanna and Laurel Rothman
Anita Khanna and Laurel Rothman
  Anita Khanna was the National Coordinator of Campaign 2000: End Child Poverty in Canada from 2015 to 2019; Laurel Rothman was the National Coordinator of Campaign 2000 from 1998 to 2015.
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