Restructuring Federal Assistance

February 1995 legislation entitled the Budget Implementation Act repealed the Canada Assistance Plan and introduced the Canada Health & Social Transfer. This publication begins with a review of the Plan, what the new Act has taken away from national social programs, the history of national standards for social programs, the federal role in setting such standards, and implications for women and the poor. Chapter 2 describes the equality commitments made by Canada both internationally and domestically. Chapter 3 examines the application of equality rights when economic policies are challenged in the courts. Chapter 4 explores more closely the content of the rights instruments available to women and sets out interpretations of equality guarantees that can be responsive to women's material inequality and that draw on the richness and complexity of Canada's equality commitments. The final chapter considers the work that women must do to ensure that both social programs and equality guarantees can be responsive to women's needs and aspirations. Future directions are suggested for women's activism, institutional reform, and government policy.

Creditor Rights and the Public Interest supports the greater representation of non-traditional creditors in the process of insolvency restructuring in Canada, concentrating particularly on restructuring under the federal Companies' Creditors' Arrangement Act (CCAA). Arguing in favour of the representation of such non-traditional creditors as workers, consumers, trade suppliers, and local governments, Janis Sarra describes the existing process of addressing their interests, analyzes four case studies that focus on non-creditor groups, and compares the Canadian approach to that of several other countries, such as Germany, France, and the United States. Sarra draws on a comprehensive body of academic literature that covers a broad range of issues--insolvency theory, corporate governance theory, legislative history, and bankruptcy and insolvency practice. She further surveys the relevant legislation and supplements her analysis with insights drawn from extensive primary research of court records and personal interviews with lawyers, judges, and government officials. Creditor Rights and the Public Interest ultimately illustrates the way in which the concept of the public interest can be utilized to foreground the concerns of non-traditional stakeholders. Sarra provides a coherent account of the justification for recognizing these creditors by situating insolvency law in a legal regime that realizes a duty to maximize all of the interests and investments at stake in the corporation. In an academic field where scholarship is currently scarce, Sarra's text will be a welcome contribution.

This textbook reader discusses the importance of organization and reorganization in the contemporary structure of the American federal government. First, it deals with the decision to change structural arrangements within the bureaucracy. Through a range of conceptual readings, it explores why reorganization and changing the structure of government continues to happen, allowing the reader to understand the multiple and often conflicting goals involved in changing organizational structure. It highlights two contrasting approaches to reorganization: a management approach and a policy approach.Secondly, it discusses the consequences of reorganization activity by focusing on the results of a number of federal government reorganizations. The examples include the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Department of Education, and proposals to establish a U.S. Department of Food Safety.This is an ideal text for courses in public management, public policy, and political science courses covering the Presidency and Congress.