The enabling society /

The foundations of the welfare state were built in the 1960s and 1970s, and Canada has retained many of the major programs and policies put in place during that era. [...] With some restructuring in the machinery of government, new thinking on the role of government in social policy and a better understanding of the implications for 2 IRPP Policy Horizons Essay governance and accountability, the path forward is achievable. [...] The federal government has announced gradual increases in the age of eligibility for OAS (as well as the Guaranteed Income Supplement) from 65 to 67 over the next 15 years, but because of its timing, the changes will not affect most of the baby boom generation and will almost certainly be insufficient to prevent this misallocation of resources. [...] Where the public today diverges from the traditional configuration of the welfare state is in the kinds of instruments that are considered the best for achieving the goals of social policy. [...] Since the emergence of the Occupy Move- ment and the renewed attention it brought to the impact of higher concentrations 7 International literacy surveys include the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies; and occupational classification systems include O*NET, the Occupational Information Network, and the North American Occupational Classification System.