A Great Online Resource: The Fifth Estate

Photo taken from the fifth estate website.

www.cbc.ca/fifth

I just found this great resource and wanted to pass it along. I really enjoy the CBC show "the fifth estate" and recently visited their website and was happy to discover that they post links to all broadcasted episodes and the videos are free to access.

This past weekend, the fifth estate broadcast a documentary titled "The Life and Death of Abdinasir Dirie" with host Gillian Findlay. The documentary is the story of the Abdinasir Dirie, the murdered child of Somalian refugees who settled in Canada, fleeing the civil war.

His family settled in Toronto's St Jamestown and later Abdinasir made his own way to the oilfields of Alberta looking for work. While living in Alberta, he was murdered and no one has yet to be charged with the crime.

This documentary is a good look into the conditions of racilized immigrants in Canada. While watching the film think about how you feel towards Abdinasir. Think about what kind of stereotypes you may have towards Somalian-Canadians. Do you disagree with his mother and think that he was possibly involved in drug dealing or some form of organized crime? Why do you think Abdinasir went to Alberta?

Refer to page 266 in the Social Work in Canada resource and read "Case Study: Using the Anti-Racism Analysis Tool." Figure out how you could incorporate this tool into your practice with troubled youth like Abdinasir. Why is it important to not jump to conclusions about a case like this?

Canadian Social Trends Magazine - Online Resource

This online publication from Statistics Canada discusses the social, economic, and demographic changes affecting the lives of Canadians. It contains the figures for major social indicators.

All issues are provided free online with links to downloadable PDF versions of the publication.

This is an excellent resource for anyone teaching or studying social issues in Canada. Click here to access the website.

National Film Board of Canada

The National Film Board of Canada is a great source of free video available for use with your students. There are many films available free of charge and most of the films can be watched online, directly from the website. There are also embed links that allow instructors the ability to embed video directly into their own website or online course software systems.

Content description of film was taken from the National Film Board of Canada website:

This film is a short documentary that is a moving tribute to Richard Cardinal, a Métis adolescent who committed suicide in 1984. Taken from his home at the age of 4 due to family problems, he spent the rest of his 17 short years moving in and out of 28 foster homes, group homes and shelters in Alberta. A sensitive, articulate young man, Richard Cardinal left behind a diary upon which this film is based.

CASW Response to Budget 2010

The Canadian Association of Social Workers has posted a report in response to the Federal Government's Budget 2010 released last month.

Click here to read their perspective on what the budget will mean to social policy.

New Alberta Social Work Report

Alberta social workers have presented a sweeping vision for a new provincial social policy at their annual conference, in a report called Social Policy Framework 2010: Visioning a More Equitable and Just Alberta.

In the 58-page document, the Alberta College of Social Workers made recommendations for change based on suggestions from front-line social workers. Alberta is one of the last provinces in Canada to have a poverty reduction plan in place.

Click here to read the article.

Click here to read the report.

Ottawa will Appeal Supreme Court Decision

There was another news story about Insite this week on CBC news. It looks like Ottawa will appeal the injection site ruling. This is disappointing news for supporters of Insite who had planned on opening more injection sites in other cities.

Click here to read the full article.
Click here to watch the news story on video.

The Battle for Insite Continues....

This past weekend, the Globe and Mail published an article by Ian Bailey titled: "Appeal Court Upholds Right to Operate for Vancouver Safe Injection Site." The article discussed the federal government's disapproval of the decision to keep Insite operational and the Harper government's plan to appeal. The fate of Insite will likely be decided by the Supreme Court of Canada.

It is interesting to note that while the government of Canada disagrees with the existence of Insite, the World Health Organization is a strong proponent of safe injection sites and endorses their existence in slowing the spread of HIV/AIDS. Click here to read another Globe article that discusses the use of injection sites in further detail.

Welcome!

We are pleased to announce the publication of the 3rd edition of Social Work in Canada: An Introduction by Steven Hick.

This is a uniquely Canadian text that reflects Canadian values and experience. The text introduces fundamentals of social work practice in the context of challenges such as poverty, discrimination, violence, and economic globalization.

With this new edition, we have tried to be attentive to the recent severe downturn in the Canadian and world economy. Accordingly, the chapters have been updated with new data, where available, that attempt to anticipate the implications of these developments for social work practice.

The full range of social work practice is examined, including background information on the social work profession, the welfare state and income security in Canada, children and youth, aboriginal communities, anti-racism perspectives, practice issues with persons with disabilities, the gay and lesbian communities, the elderly, and international social work practice.