This historic shift has released tremendous energy and creativity while, at the same time, rocking the economic and social foundations on which our leading public and private institutions rest. Economic inequality is increasing. Skills that were valuable yesterday are suddenly obsolete. As the gap widens between rich and poor, between high earners and average workers, governments will need to work much harder if they wish to fill their traditional role of including the un-included in society. The result is likely to be severe tension between the market and those at risk of being marginalized, with governments caught in the middle.
Social cohesion involves a sense of mutual commitment among citizens.
This topic, along with economic growth and human development, was identified in 1996 by the Policy Research Initiative of the federal government as one of the fundamental socio-economic challenges facing Canada over the next few years. Since then, the Policy Research Committee and its Sub-Committees have issued a number of progress reports on all three themes. These reports provide an important knowledge base to understand the major features of the Canadian policy environment over the medium term. The Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology strongly endorses the kind of horizontal policy research work undertaken by the Policy Research Committee and its Sub-Committees. In the era of globalization, it is a mistake to treat economic and social policy as separate compartments.