The article assumes social well-being must be grounded in adequate housing, medical care, and similar social or economic preconditions. Until recently, efforts to ensure the fundamental requirements of a decent life have been made primarily through political means. The article assesses the role of the courts in improving social well-being through their responses to issues raised under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (1982). The paper applies five guidelines to case law decided under the Charter: (a) the self-imposed role of the courts as custodians of constitutionality rather than as policy makers; (b) the nature of the Charter as a political rather than an economic document; (c) the significance of the way in which an issue is characterized; (d) the courts' treatment of “social legislation” as a policy concern; and (e) the courts' limited remedial jurisdiction. The article concludes that the extent to which the courts will act as policy makers will be determined by the way in which the persons appearing before them apply the courts' own sense of their limitations and the limitations of the Charter itself. Regardless, resort to the courts must now be seen as another tool of social policy making.

Within an “alternative development” approach to social and economic development—an approach that suggests an alternative to both of the mainstream theories of development, modernization, and dependency—the main aim of this article is to describe a model of small community development, the “sustainable outport.” The model is an abstraction based on small coastal fishing communities in Newfoundland and Labrador called “outports.” Real outports display some of the features of the model, but the model also incorporates a number of changes that would make outports more economically viable, self-reliant, and capable of sustainable long-term development. The model proposed here takes off from the work of a recent Newfoundland Royal Commission on Employment and Unemployment. The title of the Commission's Report, Building on Our Strengths (Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, 1986), reflects a bottom-up alternative approach to development, and the idea of the sustainable outport is implicit in the Report's general philosophy as well as its discussion of rural development. The aims of this article are: (a) to make the model of the sustainable outport explicit; (b) to compare the ideal model to the real situation of Newfoundland outports, and thereby show what changes would be needed to bring them in line with the model of sustainability; and, (c) to discuss in a tentative and exploratory way the applicability of the model to other small communities in Canada, especially native communities.

Après un bref examen des tendances économiques récentes qui influent sur le développement de l'économie nationale et de ses régions, l'article passe en revue les 25 derniéres années de développement régional sur la scéne fédérale. L'article suggére que l'cchee relatif des nombreux programmes qui se sont succédés résulte d'une absence de vision coherente sur la nature des problémes régionaux. Dans ce contexte, l'approche du développement local se présente comme une alternative intéressante et qui a contribué, sous certaines conditions, à renverser le déclin de régions et communautés défavorisées. L'article conclut en soulignant la nécessité d'évaluer systématiquement les initiatives de développement local afin de s'assurer que l'espoir qu'elles soulévent est justifié.

Ce n'est qu'après la Seconde Guerre mondiale que le gouvernement canadien instaure son premier programme d'habitation sociale visant la construction de logements publics. Peu efficace, celui-ci est suivi, au milicu des années 1960, par un autre programme d'habitation à loyer modique plus performant, puis, au début des années 1970, par un programme d'aide aux logements communautaires favorisant, entre autres, la mixité sociale. L'intervention du gouvernement en matiére d'habitation sociale reste cependant trés marginale. De plus, au tournant des années 1980. l'Etat commence à se retirer de ce domaine. Ce désengagement est confirmé en 1985, alors que le problème de l'accessibilité au logement s'accentue, ce qui laisse présager un avenir difficile pour les ménages à faible revenu et plus particuliérement pour les jeunes habitant seuls, les jeunes ménages monoparentaux à chef féminin, et les personnes ágées vivant hors famille.

La famille suscite, depuis quelques annees, un regain d'interet. Elle est devenue un des sujets privilégiés de la recherche scientifique et des médias québécois, et elle marque de plus en plus le discours politique. Depuis plusieurs années, le gouvernement québécois promet l'élaboration d'une politique familiale. A la fin de l'annéc 1987, il annoncait la création d'un Conseil de la famille; dans la měme foulée, il présentait en 1988 un budget destiné à mieux aider les familles, suivi d'un Enoncé de politiques sur les services de garde. Si l'intervention de l'Etat répond aux demandes maintes fois exprimées par les divers groupes de femmes et associations familiales, certaines des mesures mises de l'avant dans les discussions entourant le développement de cette politique, telles le recours au temps partiel et l'extension des congés de maternité, sont susceptibles de faire reculer les femmes sur le terrain glissant de l'emploi où elles se trouvent si elles ne s'accompagnent pas d'une politique ènergique d'égalité en emploi. Dans ce sens, la politique familiale pourrait bien passer à coté de son objectif avoué d'aide aux familles existantes et, pis encore, contribuer à l'appauvrissement d'un nombre grandissant de femmes et d'enfants.

The paper reviews trends and fundamental purposes of university education in Canada over the 20th century. A major traditional function of university education has been neglected. An emerging direction in late 20th-century university practice is identified and a more suitable approach for the 21st century is suggested.

Providing health-care services to an aging population is increasingly seen by government as creating fundamental problems with the balance among competing claims of access, quality, and cost. Although Canada has established a health-care system based on equity and universal access, questions are being raised about whether aging and the development of new and costly technology will force a re-examination of this policy. Canada's response to a potential geriatric “crisis” provides insight into new priorities and directions for health-care policy in the future. This analysis centres on the following elements. First, the British experience with rationing medical care and the recent U.S. discussions on setting aged-based limits will be reviewed. Second, Canadian demographic and economic projections of the impact of aging on the future use and cost of health-care services will be summarized. Third, the major values underlying the development of Canadian health-care policy as they relate to the emerging geriatric challenge will be examined, including a discussion of the relationship between political process and public debate on health-care policy, Finally, the implications for the development of new directions for geriatric policies and programs, including an increased emphasis on health-promotion activities, will be explored.

The Canada Health Act guarantees access to medical care for all Canadians and outlines a funding mechanisms for achieving this goal. However, it also entrenches patterns of authority and service models which reflect a hierarchical model of health care. Using the field of home care, it is argued that health structures enshrined in current legislation will actually impede the development of alternative types of service and organizational arrangements needed to meet the needs of future elderly Canadians requiring health care in their homes.