The politics of governance in Canada : building new relations between the state and voluntary sector organizations across scales

The United Way/Centraide Ottawa : tackling social exclusion on the ground

“…Scalar theory, therefore, reminds us that the local scale of action, while independent, is embedded within the broader national scale, and that shifts and changes in one scale of action may have a significant impact upon other scales of action (Fenger & Henman, 2006; ;Jessop, 1999;Laforest, 2005;Mahon, 2006;Peck, 2002;Swyngedouw, 1996;Swyngedouw, 1997). Scalar analysis further suggests that there are a "variety of ways in which welfare-related activities are coordinated", allowing us to introduce non-state actors to the multiscalar analysis (Bureau & Kroger, 2004, p.794).…”

“…Inspired by the shift from 'government' to 'governance', the Liberal federal government focused on less broad-sweeping cuts to the system than the earlier Conservative government had done. Instead, in an attempt to merge economic and social policy (Chappell, 2006), the Liberal government imposed selective, yet dramatic, cuts to social welfare, favored the use of targeted services to induce individuals into the labour market, and endorsed localized partnerships and initiatives (Elson, 2007;Laforest, 2005). The Liberal government also eliminated openended cost sharing with the provinces, replacing CAP with the new Canadian Health and Social Transfer (CHST) block funding, which left it open for provinces to attach mandatory conditions to the receipt of social assistance.…”

“…Although the federal government took leadership of national social welfare responsibilities in the postwar period, the nonprofit sector's roles remained, and further, were nourished at all scales of government. At the federal scale, the government supported nonprofit organizations, both financially and politically, as the government recognized their ability to promote collective action and to provide information for policy making (Laforest, 2005). Further, as the federal welfare state continued to expand, rather than replacing services provided by the nonprofit sector, the government helped to finance nonprofit activities by providing wide-ranging grant-based and core funding support (White, 2005).…”

“…At the same time, various state scales began to recognize that they could no longer address social welfare problems on their own (Phillips, 2004), and that the nonprofit sector could play "an increasingly critical and complex role in helping to achieve the goals important to Canadians and ensure a high quality of life" (Privy Council Office, 1999 as cited in Lightman, 2003, p.l 12-113). As a result, the various scales of state began to seek out localized solutions through nonprofit organizations as alternative sites of programming and service delivery (Brock, 2003;Laforest, 2005).…”

“…At the federal scale, through principles of 'governance', such as collaboration, partnership, and networking, the government sought to introduce the nonprofit and community sector as alternative sites of programming and service delivery (Brock, 2003;Graefe, 2007;Laforest, 2005). New collaborative and cooperative relationships were pursued, although the extent to which horizontal governance and true collaboration actually took effect is debatable (Phillips, 2003).…”