Social economy, social policy and federalism in Canada Yves Vaillancourt & Luc Thériault In this paper, our aim is to examine the links woven in Canada over the past 10 years or so among the social economy, changing social policy and Canadian federalism. First, we point to two traditions of research on the third sector in the international literature, one emphasizing non profit organizations, the other the social economy. Then we analyse trends in these two research traditions within Canada over the past 10 years. This leads us to note that, until 2003, practice and research on the third sector associated with the social economy were well-rooted in Quebec, while practice and research associated with the non-profit sector were established in the Rest of Canada; but we emphasise the fact that this segmentation tended to blur in 2004 and early 2006, insofar as both federal governments headed by Paul Martin took the concept of social economy into account and adopted policies which made room for its recognition and consolidation. Finally, in a third section, we look at the case of childcare services, which stood at the centre of an important debate on social policy reform involving the enhanced presence of the social economy and had repercussions on intergovernmental relations under the two Martin governments. We conclude by presenting some elements of critical analysis to explain why Paul Martin’s national early learning and child care policy was not realized.

• Social economy, social policy and federalism in Canada Yves Vaillancourt & Luc Thériault Cahier occasionnel de CCÉS 4 - Juillet 2008 Anglais PDF, 800 kB 38 pages

--------------------------------------

[/lang_fr]