Do you actually have something useful to say about homelessness? Great! Then come say it at the 9th Annual Data That Makes A Difference conference, May 27 and 28 in Calgary. @policyschool.bsky.social mailchi.mp/calgaryhomel...

Every New Year's Eve I remind myself of this passage from The Dead and think of those I have lost. This year, it was my Mom.

This month, Social Policy Trends looks back on the work we have done during 2025. The social safety net is intended to catch people before they fall too far or too hard and in this way give them a chance to recover. 1/2 www.policyschool.ca/wp-content/u...

This month Social Policy Trends reminds us that anti-poverty initiatives and policies to encourage employment growth are both effective ways of reducing poverty. Pursuing one strategy to the exclusion of the other can leave important gains unrealized. www.policyschool.ca/wp-content/u...

After a short hiatus, Social Policy Trends is back! This month we describe how the housing crisis impacts the victims of domestic violence and the organizations that provide them with temporary shelter. 1/4 www.policyschool.ca/wp-content/u...

How do we know when someone is at very high risk of homelessness? Compare their income to the Homelessness Income Cut Off. homelesshub.ca/blog/2025/ho...

Immigration expert Robert Falconer says Alberta’s immigration survey is vague on which services could be withheld and could include essentials like health care. He says it may have “serious implications" and that the term "non-citizen" could even mean PR holders podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/s...

For those who like their policy studies in bite-sized pieces, today the social policy research team at the School of Public Policy has released a one-page description of a key result from a recent research paper. This is part of our Social Policy Trends series. 🧵 www.policyschool.ca/wp-content/u...

Today, we released a study linking two administrative datasets, one describing the use of food banks, the other describing the use of homeless shelters. 🧵 www.policyschool.ca/wp-content/u...

My mom passed away yesterday. She was 98. A hottie nurse in her day.

This month, Social Policy Trends looks at the extent to which Canadian governments provide inflation protection for families dependent upon social assistance. Short 🧵 www.policyschool.ca/wp-content/u...

A two word suggestion to the person leaving an insulting message on my voicemail but too cowardly to leave their name:

Taking time off to help my mother live out what may be her last days. Today she told me she wished she could feel the sun on her face. Leaping into action, I got her nurses, Armand and Fred to sling her into wheelchair so I could take her outside, to feel the sun for maybe the last time. 1/3

Going to stretch my legs walking down, and then back up 😬, the Hamilton “mountain”.

Not a good look for the CBC to include a Liberal party hack on its discussion desk. He’s embarrassing.

Oops

Got to say I am finding it hard to find any commentary on this platform that does not think every solution to an economic problem in Canada involves a larger federal government presence. Not all solutions are found with government and the few that are are not found at the federal level.

The affordability of housing is closely related to local conditions and local regulations. This is not a problem with a federal government solution. www.policyschool.ca/wp-content/u...

This month, Social Policy Trends looks at research by my team at the School of Public Policy on how weather conditions affect people living in encampments (often referred to as rough sleepers). 🧵 www.policyschool.ca/wp-content/u...

You're almost out of time to buy early bird (cheap!) tickets for the Data That Makes A Difference Conference in May! We have a great line up of speakers. I'll be speaking on how we might use data from food banks to predict future rates of homelessness. Join us! www.showpass.com/data-that-ma...

"Top officials of our oldest allies say privately they fear that we are becoming not just unstable, but actually their enemy. The only person who gets treated with kid gloves is Putin, and America’s traditional friends are in shock."

Have you bought your ticket yet? Why not? Get on it, eh? www.showpass.com/data-that-ma...

This month, Social Policy Trends reports on preliminary results of our on-going research into how best to respond to domestic violence. Our research agenda stresses there are opportunities to intervene prior to the violence occurring. 1/2 www.policyschool.ca/wp-content/u...

This month, Social Policy Trends describes and provides measures of the Homelessness Income Cut Off (HICO). 🧵 www.policyschool.ca/wp-content/u...

It is inconceivable to me that there can be that many morally corrupt people in the upper echelons of the US government. Morally corrupt or just cowards, not sure which.

Do you know how to use data to better inform public policies and best practices with respect to homelessness? Prove it! Submit a proposal for presentation at the 8th Annual Data That Makes A Difference conference in Calgary this coming May. www.calgaryhomeless.com/dtmad/

Hyman Roth was wrong. It's not Cuba that offers a future for gangsters wanting to be free of the Justice Department and the FBI. It's the USA. "Think about the possibilities. No more enemies. Partnership with a government and having the cash to make it possible."

I feel so fortunate to have received my academic training, to have enjoyed a career, and to have lived during a time when honesty and decency was expected. I’m afraid a hard rain is going to fall on young people hoping to enjoy the same.

Great discussion of an important but data-challenged problem.

It's wild trying to revise a textbook on the principles of economics when the leadership of the country that is purportedly the most dedicated to the primacy of free markets shows complete and utter ignorance of the most basic principles of economics. What are students to think?

Social Policy Trends is a (mostly) monthly publication highlighting an interesting issue of social policy. Today, we release our 2024 Holiday Issue. It describes how some social trends are sensitive to the arrival of the holiday season. 🧵 www.policyschool.ca/wp-content/u...

This month, Social Policy Trends reports on the age profiles of men who will eventually be charged with a crime involving domestic violence. These men come in all ages. What distinguishes them is not their age but the number of prior interactions with police. 1/2 www.policyschool.ca/wp-content/u...

Another favourite old issue of Social Policy Trends: This one from April 2021. It shows "crowding"-- the number of people living in a rental unit -- increases with rent. This may be people looking for roommates to help cover the cost or 1/2 www.policyschool.ca/wp-content/u...

Are public policies of income support adequate for keeping people in housing and so out of homeless shelters? In a report released today, Margarita Wilkins and I address that question by providing estimates of the Homelessness Income Cut Off. #homelessness🧵 www.policyschool.ca/wp-content/u...

Back in the day when I taught senior level courses in macroeconomics, I presented models to my students that emphasized that the impacts of policy changes depend on the credibility of the policymaker and whether the policymaker announced their policy intentions ahead of time. 1/5

Social Policy Trends is a short discussion of facts or trends in issues relevant for social policy. It (usually) appears monthly. This month, Social Policy Trends looks at the ratio of Canadian provincial government spending on ... 🧵 www.policyschool.ca/wp-content/u...

It helps to think about what someone is saying and to allow for the possibility they are not stupid before commenting. If after doing so you think they are wrong, try explaining why. It makes for a conversation that can be both enjoyable and enlightening. Still not seeing much of that here.

As I transition to this new site, I am posting some of my favourite Social Policy Trends. This is from 2021. In an average month, over one-quarter of emergency shelter beds are filled by people experiencing sheltered homelessness for the first time. 1/2 www.policyschool.ca/wp-content/u...

One more Social Policy Trends from earlier this year. This one did not grab a lot of attention but I find it interesting and important. What's the plan for the next pandemic when we need lots of hospital beds again? Anyone thinking about this? www.policyschool.ca/wp-content/u...

Trying to anticipate bad social outcomes so that we might intervene to prevent them is a theme of our recent research on domestic violence. It turns out that most perpetrators of crimes involving domestic violence have increasingly frequent interactions with policy just prior to the charge.

From January 2024, this Social Policy Trends looked at food bank use in Toronto. Yikes. www.policyschool.ca/wp-content/u...

Bluesky is coming to life. Time for me to contribute. I am going to post some issues from our monthly Social Policy Trends series previously posted on X. They are intended to raise questions and make people think about social issues. Here's one from March. www.policyschool.ca/wp-content/u...

Does anything make a difference anymore? Yes! Join us for the 7th Annual DTMAD Conference and learn how data is being used to better understand homelessness and develop effective responses. datathatmakesadifference.com

Since I have recently joined this platform I thought I should say something. I mainly post about social policy issues. I look at those issues through the lens of an economist. Most of what I say is backed up by facts gleaned from data. When I offer opinions, I try to make them informed opinions. 1/2