The Institute was one of the voices on Canadian social policy reform, addressing income security, disability supports, child care, taxation, and community development.

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.

[1][2] Battle was also an advisor to the federal government on social security reform in the same period, serving as a member of the ministerial task force.

[7] As an author, Battle wrote extensively on Canadian social welfare-related topics including income equality, poverty, and taxation.

[8] 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.