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Poverty reduction is a complex task. We investigate whether the position of single-parent families and single working-age adults has improved in a political context that has—at least rhetorically—prioritized poverty reduction across all higher-level jurisdictions in Canada. Both groups experience very high poverty rates. We analyze income poverty changes from 1999 to 2017 in a relative sense (compared to the typical Canadian) and an absolute sense (purchasing power). Controlling for demographic and regional characteristics, we find that the poverty disadvantage declined for both groups. Improvements for single-parent families were strong and widespread across provinces. Those for single adults of working age were smaller and more concentrated in provinces experiencing stronger economic growth. These results support the claim that governments prioritized the inclusion of families with dependent children while the inclusion of single working-age adults was largely left to the fortunes of the economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unique data from a 2013 Canadian survey were used to measure material deprivation. This outcome-based indicator of poverty was constructed of 17 necessities. When persons who cannot afford two or more items are considered materially deprived, material deprivation is found to affect 18.6 percent of Canadians. Of those, only 43 percent also have low income. Of Canadians with low income, only 50 percent are materially deprived. The experience of poverty-level living conditions thus regularly coincides with an income above the poverty threshold, and having low income does not guarantee material deprivation. Outcome-based poverty indicators such as material deprivation therefore offer new and relevant insights into understanding poverty and its policy solutions in Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional foods that First Nations peoples harvest or gather from the land remain critically important for achieving and sustaining food security for many communities. In Canada's North, land claim agreements include provisions for First Nations to participate in the governance of their traditional territories, including the co-management of important traditional (wild-harvested) food species. Because such agreements only specify the broad contours of co-management governance, their actual functioning evolves out of a complex interplay among the co-managing organizations over the course of time. This paper aims to deepen our understanding of how First Nations communities can enhance food security as participants in co-management. Our study connects research on food security with research on co-management and is the first to analyze how First Nations can improve their food security by influencing decision-making that affects traditional foods through co-management arrangements. Following a succinct review of the Indigenous food security and co-management literatures, we analyze the experiences of Kluane First Nation in enhancing community food security through the co-management of its traditional territory with Yukon Government and Parks Canada, interpreting the data in light of the theories and evidences offered by research on co-management. The analysis of data collected from semi-structured interviews and from First Nations and government resources shows that, while the co-management system is imperfect, it does offer a mechanism through which First Nations can exert influence on decisions that affect their food security. The three key themes emerging from the excerpts confirm the importance of co-management as an evolutionary and long-term process, in which trust- and relationship-building are ongoing activities that are fundamental to beneficial collaboration involving the sharing of information and power. The analysis also highlights the role of context, or situational factors, in facilitating or hindering collaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]