Abstract
Social Policy and Practice in Canada is a history book, which deals with the birth and the evolution of the Welfare State in Canada since pre-confederation times. It aims at narrating but also analyzing the social policy, defined as a "set of non-market decisions, public and private, that determine the distribution of wealth to individuals and families and the degree of availability of human services to all members of society" (page 3) . The author, Alvin Finkel, is an historian. He is the author of several books and articles, notably about Canadian Labour and Welfare State. In this book, he presents and explains the slow development of Welfare State in Canada from the aboriginal occupation to today. The main tackled theme is the shift in people's expectations concerning government intervention and its impact on the role of the state.
