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Bringing Cities to the Table: Child Care and Intergovernmental Relations

ARTICLE by Jane Jensen, Rianne Mahon

This article by Jane Jensen and Rianne Mahon uses child care as “a lens to examine governance relations, both democratic and intergovernmental” between cities, provinces and the federal government. The first section describes the patterns and practices of accountability in Canada, specifically analysing three Canadian cities (Toronto, Hamilton and Vancouver), coming to the conclusion that modernizing these patterns and practices poses quite a conundrum as all cities are far from equal. The second section thus challenges the universal validity of three assertions: “That decentralization will automatically foster more integrated services; that decentralization will necessarily undermine equity and that Canada’s constitutional arrangements make it impossible for municipalities to have a direct relationship with the federal government”, concluding that the most important factor in determining whether a “danger” or an “impossibility” exists in any of the aforementioned assertions is “political, not constitutional or institutional.” The third section then offers means of progressing from the lessons learned in the first two sections. It offers, for instance, the idea that “there is a trade-off between equity across space and local knowledge of needs.”

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Policy Publication Details

Author(s):	Jane Jensen; Rianne Mahon;
Publisher:	Canadian Policy Research Networks [ Visit Website ]
Year Published:	2002;	Publisher Type:	Research Institute
Publicly Available:	Yes	Research Focus:	National;
Registration Required:	No	Language:	English
Payment Required:	No	Publication Format:	Adobe PDF

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Subjects / Categories:

Policy Articles / Children & Family / Daycare & Childcare
Policy Articles / Public Administration / Intergovernmental Relations
Policy Articles / Children & Family
Policy Articles / Public Administration
Policy Articles / Children & Family / Daycare & Childcare / 2002
Policy Articles / Public Administration / Intergovernmental Relations / 2002

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Keywords / Tags:

child care; government relations; decentralization; modernization; cities; integrated services;