Five Programs in Search of Policy: An Analysis the Programs of the Job Creation Branch and Community Employment Strategy, Department of Manpower and Immigration

Abstract

The thesis seeks to make a novel contribution to the field of public policy analysis in Canada, through a detailed examination of the origins, development and operation of the programs of the Job Creation Branch, and Community Employment Strategy, of the Department of Manpower and Immigration. A case study of the direct job creation programs provides the basis for the development of a new perspective, one in which policy is treated as the subject, rather than the object of inquiry, and policy is seen as a process rather than as a series of instantaneous states, each somehow implying the next. It is argued that program activity has in part replaced policy activity in government, for political and structural reasons. As a consequence, it is su9gested that policy analysts must begin to deal with "quasi -policy" or "residual policy" areas, characterized by programmatic activity. Contemporary analysis would suggest that programmatic activity is severely limited. The thesis suggests, based upon direct investigation, that while programs may be seen as retrospective, reactive and incremental, they may also be seen as active, partial, provisional, incomplete and prospective. The prospective aspect of existing programs suggests the possibility of movement toward the development of creative policy firmly rooted in contemporary Canadian experience. It is argued that if policy analysts are to deal realistically with Canadian policy processes, then they must begin to deal with programmatic activity as a major and continuing concern. A shift in perspective of this kind, it is suggested, will initiate further major developments in theory, particularly with reference to our contemporary understanding of the "welfare" and "service" states. Similarly, it is suggested that government itself must become aware of its own activity from a new perspective, or face continuing problems in the area of policy development and program administration.