Basic needs poverty lines are intended to measure the number and proportion of Canadians who cannot afford the basic necessities of life, such as food, clothing, shelter, and other household essentials. Since 1992, this measure has been an important alternative to prevailing relative poverty lines like Statistics Canada's Low Income Cutoff (LICO) that considers how well off some Canadians are relative to others. This Fraser Alert uses the most recent data available (2004) to update the basic needs poverty lines and estimates poverty in Canada. the findings are encouraging: poverty in Canada, including child poverty, has fallen dramatically since 1951 and, notably, has continued to decline recently after leveling off during the 1980s and early 1990s.

The Fraser Institute's sixteenth annual waiting list survey found that Canada-wide waiting times for surgical and other therapeutic treatments increased slightly in 2006. Total waiting time between referral from a general practitioner and treatment, averaged across all 12 specialties and 10 provinces surveyed, increased from 17.7 weeks in 2005 to 17.8 weeks in 2006.

The first section of this publication provides an overview of cash transfers from Ottawa to the provinces along with an analysis of the level of provincial dependence on federal cash transfers. The second section outlines the need for rebalancing within the federation based on greater accountability. The final section gives the recommendations for reform.