Dissertation-A Livingstone-Oct 24

RACIAL POLITICS AND SOCIAL POLICY IN URBAN CANADA by Anne-Marie Livingstone A dissertation submitted to Johns Hopkins University in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Baltimore, Maryland October, 2018 © Anne-Marie Livingstone 2018 All Rights Reserved Abstract The dissertation presents findings from a comparative study of urban policies the provincial governments of Quebec and Ontario introduced simultaneously, yet independently, in the year of 2006. Its central purpose is to resolve an unexpected paradox between the two cases. In 2006, the two provinces launched new policies in direct response to crises of urban violence that were steeped in racial stereotypes of deviant young black males. In defiance of its reputation for progressive social policy, Quebec embarked on a disciplinary strategy of law enforcement and detention. In Ontario, the government broke from the history of neo-liberal cuts and injected new funds into social provision for low-income youth. To answer the puzzle, the study combines data from interviews with respondents who participated in the policy process in each province and archival material. Findings show that the causes of the policy change were roughly the same across the two provinces, and reflected a convergence between exogenous pressures and the interests of political institutions. In each case, well-publicized incidents of gun violence became “focusing events” that created a window of opportunity for advocates to push through their preferred policy. In Quebec, those advocates were police chiefs, who lobbied successfully for a crime-fighting strategy against “street gangs.” In Ontario, black Liberal politicians and black community organizations in Toronto were instrumental in framing the policy agenda around the need to tackle poverty, inequality, and racial discrimination. To explain the source of these discrepancies, the dissertation develops an explanatory frame that centers on the interaction between political institutions and black political incorporation. It argues that the history of multiculturalism, decentralization, black political mobilization, and multi-racial coalitions in Toronto created the context for black political actors to be represented in the policy process in ii 2005. In Quebec, black political mobilization remains low due to sub-state nationalism, centralization, and a politics of culture and ethnic identity that overrides race. The dissertation further concludes that Ontario’s policy of youth development has been more conducive to solving problems of urban distress and racial inequality; in contrast, Quebec’s policy of “street gangs” has reinforced negative racial stereotypes of black youth and racial inequality. Primary Reader: Andrew Cherlin. Secondary Readers: Kathryn Edin, Robert Lieberman, Steve Teles, and Sarah Jordaan. iii Acknowledgements The present dissertation could not have been completed without the support and cooperation of many colleagues, friends, and mentors. I am grateful to the community workers, public servants, young people, and parents in Quebec and Ontario who agreed to participate in the research and contribute their wealth of knowledge and experience. I am also deeply thankful to the four community organizations across Toronto and Montreal who allowed me into their spaces to spend time interacting with and learning from their employees and participants. At Johns Hopkins University, I had the privilege of working closely for the last several years with Andrew Cherlin, my primary advisor. His consistent and unwavering support throughout my studies in the Department of Sociology inspired me to approach the intellectual challenge of this dissertation with full confidence. Were it not for his patience and ready advice, I may not have had the chance to examine the topics of this dissertation with the same amount of freedom, care, and spirit of exploration. In that vein, I thank Steven Teles in the Department for Political Science for creating the initial spark that drove me to expand on the research for my dissertation and dig deeper into the political explanations for the policy inconsistencies I observed during the first leg of my study in Quebec and Ontario in 2014 and 2015. I also count myself fortunate to have received the steady support and wise counsel of two other outstanding academic advisors from the Department of Sociology, Tim Nelson and Kathryn Edin. The journey through graduate school was made easier and more joyful due to the constant support and encouragement of family and friends. I am especially grateful to my mother and father for always standing behind me, despite any challenges. Finally, I thank the Fonds de Recherche du Québec (Société et Culture) for the financial support to carry out the present study. iv Table of Contents CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................... 1 Background to the Study ............................................................................................................ 1 Perspectives on Policy-Making................................................................................................. 12 Agenda-Setting ..................................................................................................................... 12 Historical Institutionalism..................................................................................................... 14 Constructivism ..................................................................................................................... 18 Actors, Groups, and Networks .............................................................................................. 20 Organization of Chapters .......................................................................................................... 22 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................ 24 Phase 1: The Neighborhood Comparison .................................................................................. 24 Site Selection ........................................................................................................................... 27 Data Collection ........................................................................................................................ 33 Phase 2: Policy Analysis .......................................................................................................... 37 CHAPTER 3 : ONTARIO’S “YOUTH OPPORTUNITIES STRATEGY” ............................... 42 Causes of the Policy Change .................................................................................................... 44 Outline of the Youth Opportunities Strategy ............................................................................. 55 Explanations for the Policy Design ........................................................................................... 59 Black Political Participation ................................................................................................. 61 The Politics and Policies of the City of Toronto .................................................................... 69 The 2003 Election of the Liberal Party ................................................................................. 72 Canada’s Social Investment Paradigm .................................................................................. 75 Conclusions .............................................................................................................................. 77 CHAPTER 4: QUEBEC’S “STREET GANG INTERVENTION” ........................................... 80 Causes of the Policy Change .................................................................................................... 82 Focusing Events and the Media ............................................................................................ 92 Federal Policy ...................................................................................................................... 97 Political Institutions .............................................................................................................. 98 Outline of the Street Gang Intervention Plan ...........................................................................104 v Explanations for the Policy Design ..........................................................................................108 Law enforcement and the Ministry of Public Security ..........................................................109 Street Gangs and the Language of Organized Crime ............................................................113 Conceptions of Race and Delinquency .................................................................................115 The Americanization of Montreal Street Gangs ...................................................................118 Members of the Organizational Coalition ............................................................................121 Conclusions .............................................................................................................................129 CHAPTER 5: RACIAL POLITICS AND PUBLIC POLICY IN QUEBEC AND ONTARIO .132 Political Institutions and Ideas in Quebec ................................................................................135 Sub-State Nationalism .........................................................................................................135

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