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Analyzes three newspapers in Toronto, Ontario as to its treatment of the issue of abortion. Newspapers as the agents of the reconfiguration of power; Differences in the bias of the `Globe and Mail', the `Toronto Sun' and `The Toronto Star'; Reluctance theory.

The results and interpretations of published Canadian field studies on the reproductive status of fish in waters receiving pulp and paper mill effluent discharges were reviewed. Most of the information was obtained from indicator measurements such as gonad size, fecundity, and serum steroid levels in wild fish sampled at reference and effluent-exposed sites. Difficulties in selecting appropriate sampling sites, natural variability, and the ecological relevance of the indicator measurements were identified as major complicating factors for the interpretation of the field data. Consequently, it was not possible to conclude to what extent, if any, widespread effects on fish reproduction are being caused by pulp and paper mill effluents or that specific manufacturing processes are causing such effects. Further research on the normal variability and predictive capability of reproductive indicators, for example, using an integrated approach (i.e., laboratory testing, mesocosm studies, and field work), is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how climate change communication is understood and enacted in Canada's Provincial North (CPN), with a focus on the role that local climate champions play in regions characterized by rurality, remoteness, and a high degree of reliance on natural resource industries. Drawing from 24 in-depth interviews with individuals increasing local attention to climate in Northern British Columbia and Ontario, this research identifies communication challenges and opportunities arising in these contexts. Existing literature inadequately addresses the challenges of advancing climate change initiatives in rural and remote communities. Confirming and extending existing research on place-based communication, CPN climate champions underscored that messages must be place-based, community-informed, reflect local realities, and address the role of industry in regional economies. This paper offers an important set of insights that is relevant to climate change communication in other rural and remote settings in high-income countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we use intersectionality-based policy analysis (IBPA) to examine how COVID-19 income support policies enacted in Ontario, Canada, affected people living with poverty. We find that the privileging of formal labor market attachment in eligibility requirements systemically excluded constituencies most likely to be living with poverty. More broadly, these exclusions represent a retrenchment of neoliberal logics in social policy, and the rejection of universal social welfare programs. In conclusion, we suggest that the experiences of people living with poverty during the COVID-19 pandemic further highlight the need for comprehensive social welfare programs, including a universal basic income. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In December 2020, Canada released its national strengthened climate change plan with focus on cutting energy waste, cutting pollution, and build clean industrial advantage. Two weeks later, the national hydrogen strategy was announced urging all involved stakeholders to delve into the deployment of large-scale clean energy technologies. Ontario, Canada's largest economy and leading manufacturing province, it releases its provincial hydrogen strategy and roadmap later this year. represents a viable solution for reducing CO2 emissions from large industry pollutants by integrating our innovative copper chlorine (Cu-Cl) thermochemical water splitting cycle with the energy intensive and polluting industry of cement manufacturing. The paper highlights the nexus between the production process of two valuable commodities, namely cement and Hydrogen, and the role their integration introduces for increased energy efficiency and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, as most of the thermal energy demand in cement manufacturing is utilized during the kiln processes, the paper proposes several energy mix scenarios involving the use of hydrogen to partially meet the kiln's heat demand. The results from these scenarios show the possibility of achieving over 15% to 19.6% reduction in CO2 emissions compared to coal-based kiln production, along with reduced recurring cost for operating the kiln. On-site large-scale hydrogen production, mixed with natural gas, was found to be financially viable and environmentally advantageous alternative to power the kilns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how policymakers interpret and deploy cultural economy approaches within municipal economic development strategies and cultural plans. Focusing on the 33 largest municipalities in Ontario, Canada, we conduct a keyword analysis of 63 municipal planning documents, supplemented with key informant interviews with economic development and cultural planning staff. Our analysis reveals that the use of cultural economy approaches in economic development and cultural plans varies depending upon city size, municipal governance structure and municipal organizational structure. However, despite the widespread use of cultural economy ideas in planning documents, we conclude that its uptake in municipal policymaking fails to reflect its professional and scholarly popularity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an era of rural service decline and population aging, some rural libraries rely on volunteers to keep them open within the community. This paper outlines the challenges of sustaining such volunteer-based rural libraries, drawing on a case study of a volunteer-based library in rural Ontario, Canada. Findings suggest that age of volunteers, volunteer participation, territoriality, branch polarization and the burden of volunteering present challenges in sustaining the volunteer program at the library, yet the library contributes to the community through community engagement, enabling aging in place and through economic development. The paper concludes with recommendations from the case study on how the sustain such a volunteer program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chronicles the history of the black newspaper `Provincial Freeman' which was published between 1853-1860 in Ontario. Focus on a diverse community; Advertising as source of revenue; Functions of the newspaper; Contributions of the newspaper's founder Mary Ann Shadd on the African American press.

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of immigrant health workers in OECD nations, and intensified debates about the current and future supply and distribution of such workers, particularly nurses. This review paper considers internationally educated nurses in the case of Ontario, Canada, and the policy responses developed during the pandemic to address the increased utilization of immigrant health workers. To further consider the evolving place of migrant workers within health, the broader issue of the future of health care work is examined to imagine what a sustainable and resilient health workforce agenda that integrates internationally educated nurses might look like. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the operations of heterosexism and strategies to counter it in a particular service context: the context of psychosocial support services for women with cancer. The paper draws on findings from a participatory, qualitative study set in Ontario, Canada in which 26 lesbians were interviewed about their experiences of cancer diagnosis, treatment, health care and social support, and their feelings and perceptions about shifts in identity, body, sexuality and relationships. This paper focuses on findings related to the changes research participants perceived as necessary in the provision and organization of cancer support services, in order to increase access and ensure equity for lesbians with cancer and their families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the political history of the failed struggle to require companies to justify their plant closing decisions in Canada's industrial heartland of Ontario. Demands for the public review of plant closing decisions began, locally, in the auto town of Windsor in the 1950s and 1960s and reached Toronto with the closure of Dunlop Tire in 1970. Another wave of closures struck in 1980, this time reaching deep into rural and small-town Ontario as well as larger industrial towns and cities, generalizing concern. The resulting Select Committee on Plant Shutdowns and Employee Adjustment, created by the Ontario legislature, took it upon itself to conduct the kind of public review of recent closures that was long demanded. Due to the strength of the political opposition to any interference with management rights, it was essential that proponents could point to precedents in Western Europe. Trade unionists also grounded their argument in favour of government regulation in the moral economy idea that long-service workers accrued a proprietary right to their jobs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human health and well-being benefits have increasingly been associated with contact with nature. However, limited research has focused on the influence of ecosystem type and quality on these outcomes. This paper reports on the results of an in-situ survey of 467 visitors to an Ontario protected area. Results revealed high overall restorative outcomes across all ecosystem types, with greater benefits reported for women than men. Perceived ecosystem quality, including species richness, naturalness, and ecological integrity, had the greatest impact on restorative outcomes, while the type of ecosystem and time spent had surprisingly little influence. Greater restorative outcomes for women were also associated with specific ecosystem types. The study advances our limited understanding of the nuanced relationship between human health and well-being outcomes and exposure to diverse ecosystems, and by extenstion the unique aspects of biodiversity and ecosystem condition that Canada's protected areas exhibit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the library/faculty liaison program at the Gerstein Science Information Centre at the University of Toronto and provides examples to show how it has created an environment where collaboration between librarians and faculty is encouraged and supported. The paper describes three separate initiatives where librarians worked closely with faculty to integrate customized information delivery into newly developed science and health science curricula. Collaboration makes it possible to customize information delivery consistent with student and faculty needs. Collaboration is a key factor in ensuring the value and relevance of library services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The decline in the prevalence of the Standard Employment Relationship in Canada has created challenges for Canadian unions. This article reviews the available estimates of the prevalence of precarious employment and gig work in Canada. Using data from the Poverty and Employment Precarity in Southern Ontario (PEPSO) research group it evaluates both the success of unions in organising workers in precarious employment and bargaining for them. The last section reviews recent union strategies to organise workers in precarious employment with a focus on the subset of precarious employment referred to as gig work. Organising gig workers presents unique challenges for unions as many are deemed by their employers as independent contractors and as a result not covered by existing Canadian labour legislation and hence not eligible for union membership. The paper concludes by arguing that organising precarious workers is a work in progress, whose ultimate outcome remains uncertain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines two fundamental and inter-related tensions relating to environmental assessment between the desire to be proactive, promoting sustainable development and the more traditional practice of preventing harm, as well as the need to balance a predictable, expeditious and efficient process with transparency and inclusive deliberation. Proposed reforms to the environmental assessment process in Ontario, Canada, are examined as a case in point, showing how the recommendations in Ontario are consistent with international trends. In particular, over-arching principles need to be embedded in more precise sector-specific policies to enable environmental assessment processes to meet these competing goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Canadian government recently sanctioned a supervised consumption site (SCS) that is currently in Vancouver, British Columbia. The government is open to sanctioning more sites across the country; however, by law the federal health minister must consider whether such facilities are supported by local governments representing the cities where the sites are proposed to be located. Until 2016, the government of Canada's largest city, Toronto, did not support SCSs. Drawing on Lenton cannabis policy research, this study analyses government documents, policy papers, scientific reports, and newspaper articles and secondary literature to identify some of the significant barriers that minimised the likelihood that Toronto's council would support SCSs between 2003 and 2016. The report compares conditions in Toronto to those of Vancouver where SCSs have enjoyed council support since 2001. This study find that three conditions play an important role in explaining why SCSs were supported in Vancouver 14 years before they were endorsed in Toronto: (1) Strong public support; (2) Favourable electoral conditions; and (3) Law enforcement support. Changes in Toronto surrounding these conditions help explain why its council endorsed SCSs in 2016. This study concludes that Lenton's research holds utility as a socio-legal theory of municipal drug policy change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent shifts in energy infrastructure siting have seen movement toward more procedurally just participatory decision-making processes. The energy justice literature emphasises both the normative need for fairness and justice in energy decision-making, while recognising the instrumental value of procedural justice for more favourable siting outcomes. Against a global nuclear backdrop of historically closed decision-making and public controversy, Canada's high-level nuclear waste siting process has sought to offer a more participatory and community-driven process. Drawing from ethnographic observation and interviews in Ontario, Canada, this paper seeks to evaluate the NWMO's siting process according to principles of energy justice, focusing on how local context and nuclear landscape may problematise normative applications of procedural justice. Through this analysis, I address a perceived deficit in studies of the spatial implications of procedural justice, examining how local geography can shape how procedurally just a process is, at times translating well-intended policy into unintended outcomes. Ultimately, I argue that effective mobilisation of local knowledge for more localised practices is key to informing fairer and more just siting processes and eventual outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Canada, the solar electricity sector is growing rapidly. Much of this success is based on the growth of the Ontario solar market where more than 99% of Canada's solar electricity is generated. Ontario has developed a globally recognized solar market sector. The vast surface area of existing residential roofs across Canada represents an untapped resource for capitalizing on passive and active management of impinging solar insolation. The aim of the current research study is to evaluate the new energy harvesting technologies such as a thin-film PV integrated roof system that could serve as a conventional roofing for weather protection while generating clean solar electricity, and the new generation micro inverters that have the potential to outperform string inverters under shading and snow-cover conditions. This paper has two parts that will discuss about two smart energy harvesting technologies and their performance on residential applications in Canadian climate. Part 1 of the paper focusses on field evaluation of Roof Integrated Photovoltaic (RIPV) and Part 2 talks about the energy yield performance of integrated solar tiles and new generation micro inverters. The RIPV field trial took place at the Canadian Centre for Housing Technology (CCHT) Info Centre in Ottawa, Canada. This is a novel approach adapted from a roofing system that would typically be found on low-sloped roofs such as commercial supermarkets, industrial warehouses and school buildings. Over the eight month study period, surmounting the effects of snow cover and shadows, the RIPV system generated over 1 MWh of electricity, and had a measured system efficiency of 5.3%. The study on the new generation micro inverters for residential applications addressed the shading effects on the intermittent nature of solar energy generation. Simulating the shading conditions that are experienced by typical residential rooftop, the micro inverters were found to increase production by 1–68% relative to the conventional string inverters. The research outcome of this study has demonstrated that both these energy harvesting technologies have important incremental benefits in increasing the renewables contribution to power generation in residential homes in Canadian climatic conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Social & Cultural Geography is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper describes findings from an institutional ethnography that arose out of the concerns of women living with HIV in Ontario, Canada, regarding the disclosure of their HIV status while accessing perinatal care. The enquiry traces the connections between women's experiences of perinatal care, the activities of healthcare providers delivering such care and the ruling relations that organise women's experiences and healthcare providers' activities. Focusing on HIV disclosure as a concern expressed by women, the findings make visible the day-to-day, routinised practices of healthcare providers working in perinatal care for women living with HIV, as well as the ideological discourses of 'fear of contagion' and 'AIDS hysteria' that contributed to producing the kinds of care experiences that were articulated by women. Opportunities to strengthen perinatal care policies and practices for women living with HIV are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is the last of three papers based on a 20-month study of teaching and learning in a diverse classroom in a downtown community school in Toronto, Canada. The purpose of the research was to describe the details of teaching and learning in a multicultural classroom and to document successful strategies in working with immigrant and minority students. The three papers detail the process by which this focus on classroom life led to a critique of the literature and to a new way to think about multicultural teaching and learning which I call narrative multiculturalism. In this paper, I explore the process of becoming a narrative inquirer in a multicultural landscape and the implications of this way of thinking on developing new kinds of understanding. I relate this experientially oriented work to new ethnographies and other work already finding its way into the field. I explore a narrative multicultural way of thinking in greater depth. I use my own work with a teacher participant to re-imagine multicultural life in schools and classrooms. The study demonstrates the potential contribution of narrative multiculturalism to understanding multicultural life and multicultural teaching and learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is the first of three papers based on a 20-month study of teaching and learning in a diverse classroom in a downtown community school in Toronto, Canada. The purpose of the study was to examine teaching and learning in a multicultural classroom and to document successful strategies in working with immigrant and minority students. The three papers detail the process by which this focus on classroom life led to a critique of the literature and to a new way to think about multicultural teaching and learning that I call 'narrative multiculturalism'. In this paper, I explore the place of multiculturalism in education and describe several limitations of the traditional ways of examining the issue. I also outline the understanding with which I began the study and describe the nature of my inquiry. I use my autobiographical experiences of multiculturalism and multicultural research to reflect on the literature of multicultural education. The narrative of my relationship with a teacher participant provides a conceptualization of the field and suggests the nature of narrative multiculturalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is the second of three papers based on a 20-month study of teaching and learning in a diverse classroom in a downtown community school in Toronto, Canada. The purpose of the research was to describe the details of teaching and learning in a multicultural classroom and to document successful strategies in working with immigrant and minority students. The three papers detail the process by which this focus on classroom life led to a critique of the literature and to a new way to think about multicultural teaching and learning, which I call 'narrative multiculturalism'. In this paper, I provide a sampling of stories that illustrate what contributed to my changing thinking about multiculturalism. Four short stories focus on a participant teacher in her school, in her classroom and in interaction with her students. The stories illuminate the complexity of multicultural teaching and qualities of narrative multiculturalism. In the analysis of the stories I explore multicultural understandings that developed from the experience of being in the classroom, being in relationship with a teacher participant, and our on-going dialogue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

All 10 of the teachers and the principal of a small elementary school (pupils from 5 to 13 years of age) in a mid-sized city in Ontario, Canada, have been participants in a professional development and research project aimed at increasing teachers' artistic sensibilities, using the resources available in the school and in the community. The programme involves a combination of workshops and individual projects through which teachers explore various arts media and learn to play musical instruments. This paper focuses on a workshop involving the creation of an 'instant opera' that took place partway through the third year of the 4-year programme. Responses to the workshop, based on field notes and on a short questionnaire, are described. Participants claimed that the experience gave them a greater appreciation for music ensemble, increased their confidence in tackling areas they found difficult, and enhanced their appreciation for how such an experience heightens a sense of community. The paper explores the value of this kind of activity for teachers responsible for music education and for educational communities in general. The importance of ongoing professional development and school-based activities are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the design, development and use of a multimedia classroom for the instruction of undergraduate courses in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) at the University of Waterloo. The classroom, which seats 50 students, was custom-designed and co-developed by the School of Accounting, Faculty of Arts and the Mapping, Analysis and Design Unit of the Faculty of Environmental Studies (FES), with input from other groups on campus. The FES uses the room to teach 'hands-on' undergraduate GIS courses, ranging from introductory coverage of GIS technology use to advanced courses dealing with GIS application design and development. Instruction is facilitated by use of a high-resolution, large-screen video display connected to a networked computer running one of three operating systems (Windows NT, Mac OS and Unix). The paper discusses the pedagogical issues involved in the use of multimedia technologies for GIS instruction and outlines the design of the room, its costs and configuration, and how the room is used for live computer-based presentations. The paper concludes with a discussion of desirable, but not currently operational features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a brief history of the world's first two kinesiology programs at the University of Waterloo and Simon Fraser University, and then gives an overview of the development of kinesiology in Canada over the last 40 years. The issues addressed include departmental affiliation and accreditation, the development of provincial and national professional alliances, and the establishment of kinesiology as a regulated health profession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This paper examines the new Ontario guidelines for the clean-up of contaminated sites using Toronto as an empirical case. The contention of the paper is that Ontario's new soil clean-up policy is the product of a set of embedded understandings about the economy, about the environment and about deep interconnections between the environment and the economy. These understandings are, to a large degree, specifically local. We contextualise the new guidelines by arguing that they contribute to restructuring the political economy of Toronto from an industrial to a global city. The analysis is based on, among other sources, a series of interviews with policy makers, scientists, bankers, insurance representatives and other knowledgeable individuals in the debate on polluted soil clean-up. Substantively, the paper focuses on the introduction of various risk-assessment processes into the debate on contaminated sites. The paper concludes that these processes need to be made subject to democratic rather than purely technocratic processes of evaluation and decision making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The widely held view is that effective action on climate change requires commitment by national governments to international agreements. Developed nations like Canada and Australia continue to fall short in their commitments to emissions reduction targets established under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. Australia refused to ratify its Kyoto commitments until 2008 and Canada withdrew its commitment in 2011. Subnational governments in both countries have been active in developing policy responses to climate change yet remain largely excluded as serious policy partners in national mitigation and adaptation initiatives. This paper utilizes Kingdon’s Multiple Streams Framework to consider why subnational governments address climate change and the main factors shaping their policy choices. The experiences of the Australian state of Victoria and the Canadian province of Ontario provide examples through which to explore the factors contributing to climate policy opportunities and constraints faced by subnational governments in these countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we contend neo-liberal education policy which supports the creation of schooling choices in public education systems is reshaping, conflating and branding ethnicity. We make these points in reference to school choice in Toronto, Canada, and the establishment of an Africentric ethno-centric school. We argue that one of the registers within which education and ethnicity in Toronto operates relates to the conflation of commodification, ethnicity and geography, and that this conflation indicates one of the limits of school choice as a possible way to redress Black student disadvantage. We suggest education policy, which enables the establishment of ethno-centric schools, enters the realm of other debates about race, equity and difference that include the practices of marketing and branding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Canada, and within it the Province of Ontario, has not had a new law school in over 30 years. A combination of factors discussed in this paper has caused access to the profession to be quite limited. At the same time, the cost of legal services has increased, putting legal representation outside the reach of the lower and middle classes. In addition, diversity within the legal profession has not improved, leading to the perception of a profession dominated by ‘old white males’. The paper discusses whether in light of these factors, greater access to the legal profession, in terms of absolute numbers coupled with the removal of societal barriers, would lead to improved access to justice for Canadians. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Copyright of Canadian Water Resources Journal / Revue Canadienne des Ressources Hydriques is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper explores police stop and search activities in Canada using data from a 2007 survey of Toronto residents. The paper begins by demonstrating that black respondents are more likely to view racial profiling as a major problem in Canada than whites or Asians. By contrast, white and Asian respondents are more likely to believe that profiling is a useful crime-fighting tool. Further analysis reveals that the black community's concern with racial profiling may be justified. Indeed, black respondents are much more likely to report being stopped and searched by the police over the past two years than respondents from other racial backgrounds. Blacks are also much more likely to report vicarious experiences with racial profiling. Importantly, racial differences in police stop and search experiences remain statistically significant after controlling for other relevant factors. The theoretical implications of these findings – and their meaning within Canada's multicultural framework – are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

After briefly reviewing the production of nuclear energy and waste in Canada, this paper uses two small Ontario towns as case studies to examine the treatment of low-level radioactive waste and the communities’ responses and narratives to it. Both towns, Port Hope and Kincardine, have long histories of dealing with such waste. Using interviews, relevant websites and past accounts, this paper employs a discourse analysis to understand the differences in risk perceptions and living with the presence of these materials. Ideas from landscape narratives are employed to show that responses in Port Hope are dominated by death, elegy and crime, whereas those in Kincardine are predominately linked to progressivism and optimism. We explore the characteristics of each case to highlight the reasons for these differences. We conclude by emphasizing the potential role of narrative analysis in informing policymaking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In October 1997, the Joint Steering Committee for Revision of AACR (JSC) held the International Conference on the Principles and Future Development of AACR in Toronto, Canada, to determine if a changing bibliographic landscape warranted fundamental rethinking of the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules. This paper follows the thread of those changes as, between 1997 and early 2005, JSC pursued a vigorous schedule towards a third edition of AACR. Cataloguing constituency feedback on a first draft of AACR3 prompted a change in direction to a code with the working title, Resource Description and Access (RDA)-a content standard for multi-formats and communities. doi:10.1300/J104v45n02_02 [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Public schools have historically been key sites where children learn of and adopt a common national identity. In states where multiculturalism plays a central role in the articulation of a national identity, schools actively recognize and support the diverse cultures of their students in fulfilling this function. Canada is a state where, via federal policy, multiculturalism has been identified as a fundamental element of the national ethos. Formal education has been a key area in which the government has implemented this policy. However, public education in Canada is also committed to secularism, and this has been a cause for resistance by diverse immigrant groups. This paper examines resistance among traditional Muslim groups to Toronto school policies and practices that reflect an avowedly secular orientation. It focuses on the experiences of one Muslim group in particular, Somali immigrants, and their encounters with school policies and practices that both supported and challenged their identities. In doing so, the paper exposes the schools as sites of countervailing policies and practices within which students must nonetheless forge new and meaningful identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although souvenirs take on many forms, functions and representations, they are often formally associated with a specific geographical place. Niagara Falls, Canada is one of the most visited tourist attractions in the world. International tourists often only visit Niagara Falls and one or two other major destinations such as Vancouver or Toronto while in Canada. Recognizing this, souvenir shops sell a range of souvenirs representing locations or attractions from across Canada. This raises the question as to what is an authentic geographical souvenir of Niagara Falls and what are tourists buying. This paper examines the concepts of geographical scale and geographically displaced authenticity associated with souvenirs in Niagara Falls, Canada. Inventories were completed in eight souvenir shops. One hundred unobtrusive observations of souvenir purchases by visitors in souvenir shops are presented according to a souvenir classification as to whether they represent souvenirs from Niagara, other areas of Canada or unrelated souvenirs. A Niagara Falls souvenirs typology is proposed which explores the image of the souvenir products purchased from local representations (Niagara Falls) to national representations of Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent interest in the urban transport challenges posed by the demographic outlook of ageing societies has prompted a growing body of scholarship on the subject. The focus of this paper is on the topic of elderly trip generation and the development of models to help formalise some important relationships between trip-making behaviour and personal, household and contextual variables (such as location). The case study is the Hamilton Metropolitan Area—an important functional component of Greater Toronto, itself one of the regions in Canada where the impact of ageing is expected to be most strongly felt. Using data from Toronto's Transport Tomorrow Survey and mixed ordered probit models, the study investigates the question of spatial and demographic variability in trip-making behaviour. The results support the proposition that trip-making propensity decreases with age. However, it is also found that this behaviour is not spatially homogeneous and in fact exhibits a large degree of variability—a finding that highlights both the challenges of planning transport for the elderly and the potential of spatial analytical approaches to improve transport modelling practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Governments are normally granted a privileged definitional role in news reporting of political issues and events. Although a number of empirical studies in a variety of policy areas support this premise, the ability of government sources to dominate and determine the tenor and tone of news coverage is particularly salient in the case of issues and events with contentious and uncertain causes and solutions. This paper offers an empirical analysis of mainstream press coverage of the 1997 Ontario teachers' strike, the largest collective action ever undertaken by teachers in North American history. Situated within the conceptual and empirical debates around the "primary definition" thesis, the study revisits the literature on strike news and draws some comparative and contrasting remarks on the role of media discourse in covering private and public sector strikes. While the study's empirical findings offer some support for the primary definer thesis, there appeared to be a disconnect between the media's critical framing and narrativization of the strike and public support for the government's position. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is concerned with the implications of recent Welfare State restructuring for psychiatric survivors' citizenship status. Using the Province of Ontario as a case study, the paper examines the extent to which recent change in mental health care and social assistance programs has worked to facilitate or constrain survivors' ability to exercise control over their lives. Despite recognition of the importance of survivors' participation in the mental health care system in the late 1980s, recent years have seen a return to a more traditional treatment paradigm characterized by professional control. Concurrently, restructuring of social assistance programs has led to a decline in the real value of income supports and growing pressure on informal support networks. As a result, psychiatric survivors are increasingly held responsible for their own material well-being and public conduct, but are less able to exercise control within everyday life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been a recent popularization of 'Smart Growth' planning in North American cities. Based upon the aim to decrease the impacts of sprawled regional development on the natural environment, a focus of Smart Growth planning is the intensification of both population and physical development in existing urban areas. Faced with the creation of a new Official Plan for the City of Toronto, municipal planners have chosen urban intensification as the vision for planning in Toronto over the next thirty years. This paper examines the nature of intensification planning in Toronto through an analysis of the language of urban intensification found in the Official Plan vision report. Within this report, emphasis is placed upon the role of intensified development and compact population growth as a solution to the environmental problems of urban sprawl. This paper argues that the environmental aspects of intensification provide a more acceptable public rationale for future intensification processes in Toronto; moreover, that the main rationale for intensification in Toronto is not to solve regional sprawl but to create compact urban districts in order to enhance the economic and physical revitalization of the city. The language of intensification in the Official Plan vision report suggests that urban intensification, particularly in Toronto's downtown core, is a strategy for the development of more 'livable' and vibrant residential and commercial areas. The emphasis on intensified development is geared towards the attraction and maintenance of private investment and skilled labour and is a central part of the City of Toronto's vision of economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A key housing issue in Toronto is affordability, especially in the rental market. Since the mid-1990s rents in the private sector have increased at almost twice the rate of inflation with the result that it is extremely difficult for new immigrant households with limited resources to acquire adequate housing. In this paper the rental experiences of three recently arrived immigrant groups - Jamaicans, Poles and Somalis - are evaluated using a housing career strategy. The paper focuses on changes through the housing career and between the three groups for a variety of characteristics related to affordability. The results show that the Poles experienced the least affordability problems and the Somalis had the greatest difficulty affording adequate accommodation. Reasons are suggested for these differences and conclusions reached about the importance of adequate and affordable rental housing in the immigrant integration process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The broad intent of this paper is to further contribute to the existing literature that addresses VFR tourism. It suggests that the return visit may ultimately be positioned as a form or type of travel within the larger category of VFR tourism, but a form or type that has built within it a more clear understanding of historic and social contexts and processes. The other broad intent of the paper is to highlight the importance of the relationship between the returning visitor, originating from diasporic communities abroad, and the host community as a stage for the negotiation of identities. The return visit is shown to reflect such underlying processes yet continue to incorporate aspects of individual motivation, which when taken together demonstrate the fluidity of diasporic spaces and transnational identity structures. Using data obtained from ethnographic fieldwork among social networks within the Commonwealth Eastern Caribbean community in Toronto, Canada, it is suggested that return visits are used to retain social histories and contextualise social and cultural backgrounds after migration. The implications for VFR tourism and the relationship between diasporas, transnationalism and tourism are discussed, as is a conceptual model of the return visit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under Canada's Young Offenders Act (YOA, 1984-2003), the concept of diversion became an important feature of the youth justice system. Consisting of the formally constituted Alternative Measures program and other more informally administered procedures, diversion was developed as a means of responding to youth aged 12-17 years who have committed minor offences while minimizing their risks of stigmatization and recidivism. Although the YOA was subjected to persistent criticism concerning its ambiguity and contradictions, and was recently replaced by the new Youth Justice Criminal Act, very little research has been devoted to the implementation of young offender diversion programs. In this paper we present the results of a phenomenological inquiry into the practice of diversion in one large southern Ontario community. By regarding the implementation of diversion as a form of social policy appropriation by various professional groups, we highlight the perspectives of 17 practitioners who have had extensive experience in administering particular aspects of diversion programs. These perspectives differ in some fundamental ways, and thus help to illuminate the broad latitude that exists for discretionary decision-making in sanctioning youth who have committed minor offences. Such differences also reflect the variation of diversion practices and corresponding tensions among those responsible for this form of young offender disposition. The paper concludes by surmising that a two-tiered system of diversion is emerging that inadvertently may be diminishing the rights of minor young offenders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During early 1997, after focus groups, interviews and a mail survey were administered to a random sample of Grand River watershed dairy farmer in the Grand River watershed of southwestern Ontario. This paper summarizes the main results of the study. We concluded that these farmers have achieved a very good average quality of life. Their farming systems display good productivity, excellent viability and stability and moderate average environmental protection-all important elements of sustainability. This is mainly because they have steady incomes as a result of their supply managed system, excellent cattle genetics, strong family relationships and spirituality. If they had to leave their dairy farms they would miss the open space and country living more than anything else. There is some concern that international free trade agreements may threaten supply management to which the majority attribute their stable and reasonably good incomes. Environmental protection may also be at risk for many dairy farmers. For instance, their present manure management system is a limiting factor preventing as many as a third of them from expanding their herds in addition to such other barriers as the high price that they must pay for the milk quota that they must purchase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on material from 30 interviews with Toronto-area teenage girls and their grandmothers, the present paper reviews five discourses of adolescence: storm, becoming, at-risk, social problem, and pleasurable consumption. I explore how these discourses are invested, deployed and experienced in relation to each other and as they span academic texts, popular discourses, and interviews. I contend that these discourses make up a powerful discursive framework in which activity undertaken by adolescents can be swept up into these discourses, and consequently dismissed. At the same time, tensions or contradictions within and between these discourses, and within the entire category of adolescence as a stage, can in fact undermine the weight of these discourses as truth statements. I end the paper with some reflections on how each discourse constructs potential for agency, and/or resistance among teenagers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is an edited transcript of an invited panel discussion that was presented at the 28th annual meeting of the Association for Behavior Analysis in Toronto, Ontario. The speakers in this discussion addressed how behavior managers might contribute to understanding the impact of terrorism on the economy, and business, behavioral drivers in the new business context, and how we might manage our efforts to renew communities, economies, organizations and businesses. Each presenter provided a unique vantage point from which to view current events, considered powerful drivers of behavior change post-September 11, and evaluated how those affect our personal and professional lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluates and compares the housing careers of two recent immigrant groups, the Poles and Somalis, in Toronto's rental market. Both groups first arrived in Toronto in the late 1980s but under different circumstances and with different outcomes in the housing market. The study is situated in a general conceptual framework focusing on factors affecting the housing careers of households. The analysis is based on a questionnaire survey of 60 respondents from each group who arrived in Canada between 1987 and 1994. Information was collected about the search for three residences: the first permanent residence, the one immediately before the current one and the current residence. The analysis considers the individual and household characteristics that differentiate the Polish and Somali respondents, the characteristics of Toronto's rental market that potentially act as barriers in the search for housing, the housing search process and the outcomes of the search. The latter includes the nature of the dwelling and its surroundings as well as satisfaction with the dwelling and neighbourhood. The results confirm that the Poles have been more successful than the Somalis in establishing a progressive housing career. The reasons relate to differences in individual and household characteristics and the nature of the local housing market. Specific variables include socio-economic status, household size, community resources, the housing situation before coming to Canada, Toronto's tight rental market and perceived discriminatory barriers in that market. The paper concludes with a brief evaluation of the housing career concept as used in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On a global scale, pathogenic contamination of drinking water poses the most significant health risk to humans, and there have been countless numbers of disease outbreaks and poisonings throughout history resulting from exposure to untreated or poorly treated drinking water. However, significant risks to human health may also result from exposure to nonpathogenic, toxic contaminants that are often globally ubiquitous in waters from which drinking water is derived. With this latter point in mind, the objective of this commission paper is to discuss the primary sources of toxic contaminants in surface waters and groundwater, the pathways through which they move in aquatic environments, factors that affect their concentration and structure along the many transport flow paths, and the relative risks that these contaminants pose to human and environmental health. In assessing the relative risk of toxic contaminants in drinking water to humans, we have organized our discussion to follow the classical risk assessment paradigm, with emphasis placed on risk characterization (see Figure 1). In doing so, we have focused predominantly on toxic contaminants that have had a demonstrated or potential effect on human health via exposure through drinking water. In the risk assessment process, understanding the sources and pathways for contaminants in the environment is a crucial step in addressing (and reducing) uncertainty associated with estimating the likelihood of exposure to contaminants in drinking water. More importantly, understanding the sources and pathways of contaminants strengthens our ability to quantify effects through accurate measurement and testing, or to predict the likelihood of effects based on empirical models. Understanding the sources, fate, and concentrations of chemicals in water, in conjunction with assessment of effects, not only forms the basis of risk characterization, but also provides critical information required to render decisions regarding regulatory initiatives, remediation, monitoring, and management. Our discussion is divided into two primary themes. First we discuss the major sources of contaminants from anthropogenic activities to aquatic surface and groundwater and the pathways along which these contaminants move to become incorporated into drinking water supplies. Second, we assess the health significance of the contaminants reported and identify uncertainties associated with exposures and potential effects. Loading of contaminants to surface waters, groundwater, sediments, and drinking water occurs via two primary routes: (1) point-source pollution and (2) non-point-source pollution. Point-source pollution originates from discrete sources whose inputs into aquatic systems can often be defined in a spatially explicit manner. Examples of point-source pollution include industrial effluents (pulp and paper mills, steel plants, food processing plants), municipal sewage treatment plants and combined sewage-storm-water overflows, resource extraction (mining), and land disposal sites (landfill sites, industrial impoundments). Non-point-source pollution, in contrast, originates from poorly defined, diffuse sources that typically occur over broad geographical scales. Examples of non-point-source pollution include agricultural runoff (pesticides, pathogens, and fertilizers), storm-water and urban runoff, and atmospheric deposition (wet and dry deposition of persistent organic pollutants such as polychlorinated biphenyls "PCBs" and mercury). Within each source, we identify the most important contaminants that have either been demonstrated to pose significant risks to human health and/or aquatic ecosystem integrity, or which are suspected of posing such risks. Examples include nutrients, metals, pesticides, persistent organic pollutants (POPs), chlorination by-products, and pharmaceuticals. Due to the significant number of toxic contaminants in the environment, we have necessarily restricted our discussion to those chemicals that pose risks to human health via exposure through drinking water. A comprehensive and judicious consideration of the full range of contaminants that occur in surface waters, sediments, and drinking water would be a large undertaking and clearly beyond the scope of this article. However, where available, we have provided references to relevant literature to assist the reader in undertaking a detailed investigation of their own. The information collected on specific chemicals within major contaminant classes was used to determine their relative risk using the hazard quotient (HQ) approach. Hazard quotients are the most widely used method of assessing risk in which the exposure concentration of a stressor, either measured or estimated, is compared to an effect concentration (e.g., no-observed-effect concentration or NOEC). A key goal of this assessment was to develop a perspective on the relative risks associated with toxic contaminants that occur in drinking water. Data used in this assessment were collected from literature sources and from the Drinking Water Surveillance Program (DWSP) of Ontario. For many common contaminants, there was insufficient environmental exposure (concentration) information in Ontario drinking water and groundwater. Hence, our assessment was limited to specific compounds within major contaminant classes including metals, disinfection byproducts, pesticides, and nitrates. For each contaminant, the HQ was estimated by expressing the maximum concentration recorded in drinking water as a function of the water quality guideline for that compound. There are limitations to using the hazard quotient approach of risk characterization. For example, HQs frequently make use of worst-case data and are thus designed to be protective of almost all possible situations that may occur. However, reduction of the probability of a type II error (false negative) through the use of very conservative application factors and assumptions can lead to the implementation of expensive measures of mitigation for stressors that may pose little threat to humans or the environment. It is important to realize that our goal was not to conduct a comprehensive, in-depth assessment of risk for each chemical; more comprehensive assessments of managing risks associated with drinking water are addressed in a separate issue paper by Krewski et al. (2001a). Rather, our goal was to provide the reader with an indication of the relative risk of major contaminant classes as a basis for understanding the risks associated with the myriad forms of toxic pollutants in aquatic systems and drinking water. For most compounds, the estimated HQs were <1. This indicates that there is little risk associated with exposure from drinking water to the compounds tested. There were some exceptions. For example, nitrates were found to commonly yield HQ values well above 1 in many rural areas. Further, lead, total trihalomethanes, and trichloroacetic acid yielded HQs >1 in some treated distribution waters (water distributed to households). These latter compounds were further assessed using a probabilistic approach; these assessments indicated that the maximum allowable concentrations (MAC) or interim MACs for the respective compounds were exceeded <5% of the time. In other words, the probability of finding these compounds in drinking water at levels that pose risk to humans through ingestion of drinking water is low. Our review has been carried out in accordance with the conventional principles of risk assessment. Application of the risk assessment paradigm requires rigorous data on both exposure and toxicity in order to adequately characterize potential risks of contaminants to human health and ecological integrity. Weakness rendered by poor data, or lack of data, in either the exposure or effects stages of the risk assessment process significantly reduces the confidence that can be placed in the overall risk assessment. Overall, while our review suggested selected instances of potential risks to human health from exposure to contaminants in drinking water, we also noted a distinct paucity of information on exposure levels for many contaminants in this matrix. We suggest that this represents a significant limitation to conducting sound risk assessments and introduces considerable uncertainty with respect to the management of water quality. In this context, future research must place greater emphasis on targeted monitoring and assessment of specific contaminants (e.g., pharmaceuticals) in drinking water for which there is currently little information. This could be conducted using a tiered risk approach, beginning with, for example, a hazard quotient assessment. Potentially problematic compounds identified in these preliminary assessments would then be subjected to more comprehensive risk assessments using probabilistic methods, if sufficient data exist to do so. On this latter point, adequate assessment of potential risks for many contaminants in drinking water is currently limited by a paucity of toxicological information. Generating this important information is a critical research need and would reduce the uncertainty associated with conducting risk assessments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper problematises the politics of inclusion in education by examining how minority groups in Toronto attempt to 'negotiate equity' in response to the school board's release of a draft policy on anti-racism and ethno-cultural equity in education. A competing policy document challenging the specific focus on race, ethnicity and faith communities as being 'too narrow' argued that the notion of equity should be broadly construed to accommodate the categories of other 'historically disadvantaged groups', such as women, the disabled and gays and lesbians, under a single comprehensive policy. A debate over the implications of broad-based equity has polarized communities along racial, ethnic and religious lines. Religious and ethnic communities objected to the displacement of race, ethnicity and religion and what they regarded as the centring of sexual orientation in a policy which would integrate gay and lesbian issues into the curriculum. Advocates for separate policies argued that all forms of difference could not be equated and should be dealt with separately in terms of policy and practice. This paper will explore the dynamics of community engagement with this issue and will examine the politics behind the shifting discourse of anti-racism toward the paradigm of broad-based equity through political and discursive practices at both the community and institutional level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]