Ken Battle

Ken Robert Battle, (July 29, 1947 – November 18, 2024) was a Canadian social policy analyst known for his work on Canadian welfare programs, social security reform and poverty alleviation. He was noted for his contributions to the development of the Canadian Child Benefit Program in the 1990s. He was the founder of the Caledon Institute of Social Policy, an independent Canadian policy think tank focused on social welfare policies.

Battle was made a member of the Order of Canada in 2000, for his work on Canadian welfare legislation and development of the Canadian National Child Benefit Program. He also received the Saskatchewan Distinguished Service Award in 2004.

Early life Battle was born on July 29, 1947, in Calgary, Alberta, to Lois (née Morrison) and Robert Battle, the eldest of three children. His family later relocated to Edmonton and later to Ottawa, where his father worked as a senior federal bureaucrat. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. During his time there, he was a recipient of the Prince of Wales medal. He obtained a master's degree in philosophy studying at the University of Oxford on a Commonwealth Scholarship.

Battle was instrumental in the design and implementation of the Canadian Child Benefit Program in the 1990s. The genesis of the program can be traced back to his report, National Child Benefit: An Idea Whose Time has Come, which found its way to then finance minister Paul Martin's reading list on a Sunday afternoon. Martin, who would later become the prime minister of the country, called Battle on his home telephone later that day with the conversation between the two setting the stage for the Canada Child Benefit. He was also a policy advisor for the ministry of Human Resources Development on child benefits reform between 1996 and 1997. He received Saskatchewan's Distinguished Service Award in 2004.

As an author, Battle wrote extensively on Canadian social welfare-related topics including income equality, poverty, and taxation. The former was a critique of the social and tax policies under the government of the then prime minister, Brian Mulroney, written under the pseudonym Grattan Gray.

Personal life and death Battle was married three times: to Ruth Jamieson, Laurie McIntyre, and Melanie Hess. He died in Ottawa on November 18, 2024, at the age of 77, five years after being diagnosed with Lewy body dementia.

Select published works