In Search of Canadian Political Culture - UBC Press

UBC Press
From UI to EI
Waging War on the Welfare State
Georges Campeau
Translated by Richard Howard
If I Had a Hammer
Retraining That Really Works
Margaret Hillyard Little
Georges Campeau deftly
demonstrates how, since
its inception in 1940, the
Canadian unemployment
insurance system embodied
competing social
visions of the state’s responsibility
for the risk of
unemployment. By tracing
the changes to unemployment
insurance legislation
and jurisprudence over
a period of sixty years,
From UI to EI charts how
collective responsibility for social risk has given way
to individual responsibility to take active measures
to insure against unemployment. This story of the
retreat of the federal government from financing
the unemployment insurance system – while at the
same time using premiums for purposes other than
providing benefits to the unemployed – provides the
context for the ongoing constitutional battle over the
employment insurance system.
– Judy Fudge, Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School
Contents
Introduction
1 Why UI?
2 The British Act of 1911
3 Developing a Canadian System
4 The UI Act of 1940
5 UI Expansion, 1940-75
6 Vision under Siege, 1975-88
7 Rights Enshrined in Case Law, 1940-90
8 The System Hijacked, 1989-96
9 Onward to EI
10 Case Law in the Neoliberal Riptide of the 1990s
Conclusion
Epilogue: Bill C-2, February 2001
Notes; Index
2004, 256 pages, 6 x 9”
0-7748-1122-6 / 978-0-7748-1122-4 cloth $95.00
0-7748-1123-4 / 978-0-7748-1123-1 paper $32.95
LAW AND SOCIETY SERIES
An outstanding book. It
will be widely used by
those interested in the
welfare state and labour
market issues, as well
those in urban Aboriginal
studies, where it has
much to say that is very
valuable.
– Jim Silver, Canadian
Centre for Policy Alternatives,
Manitoba
This book is the result of
a three year Strategic SSHRC grant to explore the
very best Canadian retraining programs. It is filled
with fascinating interviews with the women involved
(many of whom are Aboriginal) and with innovative
policy prescriptions.
If I Had a Hammer fills a gap in the current literature
on retraining and welfare policy and makes
an important contribution to social policy that
transcends its Canadian context. Drawing on her
years as a journalist, Little writes in an accessible
manner that will engage the general public and
students. The book will be widely used in courses on
politics, women’s studies, sociology, labour studies,
social work, and economics.
Contents
1 Introduction
2 Laying the Foundation
3 The Everyday Lives of Our Heroes
4 From Blueprint to Reality: Challenges at the Job Site
5 Measuring Success
6 “A Hand Up, Not a Hand Out”: Let’s Get Serious About
Retraining
Appendices
Notes; Selected Bibliography; Index
2004, 192 pages, 6 x 9”
14 b/w photos, 4 tables
0-7748-1118-8 / 978-0-7748-1118-7 cloth $95.00
0-7748-1119-6 / 978-0-7748-1119-4 paper $29.95
www.ubcpress.ca / 1 877 864 8477 41