Top Ten Reasons Why I Created 

10.
To share my collection of bookmarks with others who were interested in the field of social programs. That's how it all came about, in the fall of 1997, when my collection of work bookmarks got too large to send out as an e-mail attachment to colleagues. The site started with about 20 pages and 1,600 links; now, in December 2008, you'll find over 55,000 unique links organized under 80+ themes, including links for every Canadian province and territory, along with 1000s of links to U.S and other international resources.

9.
To create a  resource for use by those who formulate public policy and those who study and critique it.
It's important to understand all sides of an issue - the truth is out there, somewhere between the views of the far right and the far left...

8.
Levelling the playing field - too much Fraser Institute and Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, not enough Canadian Council on Social Development and Campaign 2000...

7.
Therapy. I'm an empty nester - my only son's in Montreal (see #5) - and my Mom passed away early in 2005 after a journey of almost 10 years that started with a massive stroke in the fall of 1995. She experienced first-hand the effects of mid-to-late-nineties cuts to health and long-term care spending by the federal and Ontario governments. She's gone to a far better place than Mike Harris and Ernie Eves could ever offer her.
Aside:
See : Ownership Matters: Lessons from Ontario's Long-Term Care Facilities
"On May 27, 2002, the Ontario Health Coalition released Ownership Matters: Lessons from Ontario's Long-Term Care Facilities. This is a report prepared for the Hospital Employees' Union of British Columbia by the OHC which examines the effect of the Ontario Tory government's privatization of Long Term Care on the quality of care and patients."
Complete report
[But I digress...]

6.
Canadian Social Research Links was part of my web authoring learning curve - my original home page was called Links, Musings and Silly Stuff. It's where I learned to flaunt my brilliance* for those who know less than I do and my ignorance for those who know more. Canadian Social Research Links was the part that took off (although this was no great surprise...)
*[this link is to an animated graphic that just *looks* like a virus - I promise.]

5.
Late in 1997, I created a web page for my son Daniel (who was then studying at Concordia University in Montreal). Well, not really for him -- it was a page on my website that I controlled - to get him to visit my site regularly to see what embarrassing baby photos 'Pops' had uploaded to his site any given week. It kept me moving along the learning curve, and he says it helped sway him into web page design. Since then, he worked as a website manager and curricular technical support at a private girls' school, Miss Edgar's and Miss Cramp's School in Westmount (dontcha just love that name!), then he returned to university to finish off a B.A. in child studies and, in the summer of 2006, he completed his Master's degree in Human Systems Intervention, also at Concordia. Good on ya, Bud - I'm REALLY proud of you!

4.
It beats jigsaw puzzles and model trains - as hobbies go, working on this site is not even in the same league as collections, puzzles and model-building --- all of which I've dabbled with over the years. Sure, there's the therapy value (See #7), but you just don't get to share your matchbook (or whatever) collection with thousands of people each month. The detailed site statistics from my web hosting provider indicate that on a good month, there are almost 100,000 page views on my site. That's quite a few more than the audience for my last jigsaw puzzle (my wife and our cats) - I worked on that puzzle for 200+ hrs., and now it's stashed in a box in the basement.

3.
Lots of people like to do something meaningful in their spare time, OK? The Internet is one of the most powerful media for information-sharing and communication since the dawn of humanity (cue the violins...), and I want to use it to help advance the cause of fair, responsible and progressive social policy in Canada.
UPDATE: "Spare time" is now *all* the time : I retired from Human Resources Development Canada in mid-October 2003 after nearly 30 years in the federal civil service, to work full-time on my site and newsletter --- and my REAL retirement plan is just on the verge of panning out, I know it!!

2. Once a public servant, always a public servant.
The intrinsic satisfaction is invaluable...

1.
Master of my own domain.

[No, really, it's self-actualization --- but I just couldn't resist the Seinfeld reference...]

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Gilles Séguin (this link takes you to my personal page)

E-MAIL: gilseg@rogers.com