Search

This paper focuses on the contradictory nature and sometimes unintended consequences of workers' efforts to defend particular communities against the ravages of capital restructuring. In the past decade, pattern collective bargaining in the highly unionized British Columbia pulp and paper industry has faced enormous strains due to intense industry restructuring. Our analysis focuses on the repercussions of actions taken by union locals in two British Columbia towns-Port Alice and Port Alberni-to try to secure the survival of their pulp and paper mills and, even in the case of Port Alice, the continued existence of the community. Our analysis resonates with recent debates surrounding worker agency as well as writing in the 1980s which addressed the often contradictory and problematic nature of workers' struggles to 'defend place'; writing largely neglected in more recent work in labour geography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smaller gonads, delayed sexual maturity and depression of sex steroids have been reported in fish exposed to pulp and paper mill effluents. beta-Sitosterol, a phytosterol present in pulp and paper mill effluents that causes reductions in sex steroid secretion in fish, may contribute to some of these effects. In this study, the effects of 17beta-estradiol (E2), beta-sitosterol from two sources, and two Canadian bleached mill effluents (BME) on sexually immature rainbow trout were investigated in a 21-d in vivo experiment. Both beta-sitosterol sources and the two BMEs exerted similar effects. Plasma vitellogenin levels were elevated by all treatments establishing the presence of estrogenic compounds in BME and confirming the estrogenicity of beta-sitosterol. beta-Sitosterol and BME had little or no effect on testosterone levels. Pregnenolone was significantly reduced by beta-sitosterol and BMEs but not by E2, suggesting that this was not an estrogenic effect. Plasma cholesterol was reduced by beta-sitosterol but not by BME or E2. Feral female white sucker exposed to BME showed significantly reduced plasma cholesterol compared with fernales from a reference site. Mixed- function oxygenase (MFO) activity was significantly induced in beta-sitosterol and BME-exposed fish. Both BME and beta-sitosterol were shown to affect biological responses through more than one mechanism of action. These studies suggest that beta-sitosierol could contribute to some of the physiologic effects of pulp and paper mill effluents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Geographer is the property of Wiley-Blackwell 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.)

The settler nature of Québécois society makes it a distinct case of minority nationalism. Québec's claim of self‐determination is necessarily more complex and intricately woven with parallel claims from the Indigenous peoples of the territory. This paper argues, first, that Québécois society holds significant obligations toward Indigenous peoples reflected in the commitments made in the historical French treaties and second, that the normative principles embedded in those treaties should be used to transform the relationships it holds with Indigenous peoples and Québec's nationalist project itself. Overall, the paper suggests that Québécois nationalism needs to move away from settler colonialism by considering more seriously the shared nature of the territory it purports to have sovereignty over and by upholding the principles that allowed settlers to stay on the land. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To address the central question of how climate change influences tree growth within the context of global warming, we used dendroclimatological analysis to understand the reactions of four major boreal tree species – Populus tremuloides, Betula papyrifera, Picea mariana, and Pinus banksiana– to climatic variations along a broad latitudinal gradient from 46 to 54°N in the eastern Canadian boreal forest. Tree-ring chronologies from 34 forested stands distributed at a 1° interval were built, transformed into principal components (PCs), and analyzed through bootstrapped correlation analysis over the period 1950–2003 to identify climate factors limiting the radial growth and the detailed radial growth–climate association along the gradient. All species taken together, previous summer temperature (negative influences), and current January and March–April temperatures (positive influences) showed the most consistent relationships with radial growth across the gradient. Combined with the identified species/site-specific climate factors, our study suggested that moisture conditions during the year before radial growth played a dominant role in positively regulating P. tremuloides growth, whereas January temperature and growing season moisture conditions positively impacted growth of B. papyrifera. Both P. mariana and P. banksiana were positively affected by the current-year winter and spring or whole growing season temperatures over the entire range of our corridor. Owing to the impacts of different climate factors on growth, these boreal species showed inconsistent responsiveness to recent warming at the transition zone, where B. papyrifera, P. mariana, and P. banksiana would be the most responsive species, whereas P. tremuloides might be the least. Under continued warming, B. papyrifera stands located north of 49°N, P. tremuloides at northern latitudes, and P. mariana and P. banksiana stands located north of 47°N might benefit from warming winter and spring temperatures to enhance their radial growth in the coming decades, whereas other southern stands might be decreasing in radial growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Canada, federal institutions must provide governmental services to all citizens in the country's two official languages: French and English. This paper uses a survey experiment to test exposure to written English as a determinant of support for official bilingualism in the French‐speaking province of Quebec. The data emanate from an exit poll conducted in two Quebec electoral districts during the 2019 Canadian federal elections (n = 430). Results suggest the existence of heterogeneous experimental effects depending on vote choice. Indeed, Bloc Québécois voters—the federal party most strongly supportive of linguistic rights—are disproportionately supportive of institutional bilingualism when randomly exposed to written English on the survey questionnaire. These results are robust to the inclusion of socio‐demographic and attitudinal control variables, including support for Quebec independence. Our paper bolsters causal claims about the contextual determinants of in‐group favouritism and cultural threat in divided societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses panel data for Canada from 1976 to 2018, across 10 provinces, to reassess the relationship between mortality rates and economic fluctuations. The key contribution of our paper lies in examining the extent to which this relationship is driven by the employment rate (extensive margin) versus average hours worked (intensive margin). We find evidence of procyclical mortality for females at the aggregate level; aggregate male mortality remains largely unaffected by economic fluctuations. Our findings also reveal temporal heterogeneity, as the extensive margin becomes the driving force for female mortality rates during the more recent period (1990 onwards). These findings remain robust when accounting for personal income and pollution. Finally, we find some support for a procyclical relationship for individuals in the working age groups, while mortality exhibits a countercyclical pattern for children (age 0 to 14) and the elderly (age 65 and above). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Papers in Regional Science is the property of Wiley-Blackwell 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.)

Canada has recently emerged as a hotspot in a burgeoning global surrogacy bio‐economy. On the grounds that any commercial trade in reproductive capabilities would result in the exploitation of marginalised women willing to sell their eggs and wombs, Canada's Assisted Human Reproduction Act (AHRA) bans commercial surrogacy, allowing only for altruistic arrangements. Drawing together analysis of the AHRA and related legal, regulatory, and policy documents, feminist political economic theory, and a growing body of critical social scientific scholarship on surrogacy, this paper troubles altruism as a means of insulating surrogacy from market‐based exploitation. It contributes to the extant literature an explicit focus on the law as a key site in the reproduction of the gendered division of labour. Acknowledging the serious concerns that dog commercial markets in reproductive biology, it argues that the legal constitution of gestational work as altruistic is part of a broader juridico‐economic apparatus that has systematically devalued reproductive labour under capitalism. Efforts to insulate surrogacy from the market by legally designating it as a gift freely given facilitate the ongoing appropriation of reproductive labour, which is assigned, once again, to the realm of non‐value. A feminist political‐economic critique of altruism, this paper does not forward an argument in favour of commercialisation. Rather, its aim is to upend the commercial/altruistic binary that has circumscribed so much of the thinking and legislating around surrogacy. This paper explores the role of the law in devaluing reproductive labour under capitalism. It does so via an examination of Canada's burgeoning surrogacy bio‐economy and the legislation – the Assisted Human Reproduction Act – designed to regulate it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper brings an urban communication lens to bear on the geographies of platformisation in cities. It does so by drawing on three select instances of platformised materialities in Toronto and Vancouver that represent familiar contours of urban platformisation: mobility (bike and car sharing), last‐mile logistics (on‐demand delivery), and labour (gig work). These examples are worked through Aiello and Tosoni's heuristic of cities as constituting the mediums, content, and contexts of urban communication, respectively. As mediums, platformised materialities in the form of street signs designate exclusive uses of public space by mobility platforms, communicating the spatial conditions of platform urbanism. As the contents of communication, stickers and signs advertising on‐demand meal delivery available at a restaurant venue express the platform‐driven transformation of the social relations that make the delivered meal take place. And as context, broader trends of the platformisation of labour render communication by other, non‐platform‐based materialities – such as posters calling on urban gig workers to unionise – meaningful. An urban communication perspective contributes to geographical scholarship on platform urbanism by nuancing our understandings of how platforms and platform technology capital secure and sustain themselves in cities through their material communicative capacities. Platforms have established themselves as visible fixtures of urban built environments. The physical forms that platforms assume in cityscapes constitute the mediums, content, and contexts of urban communication. Engaging platforms as expressing material communicative capacities nuances our understanding of how platforms and platform technology capital secure and sustain themselves in cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To examine where Canadian geographers publish their research, we used data on article publication compiled from the annual Directory of the Canadian Association of Geographers for 1981-82, 1991-92, 2001-02, and 2011-12. We find a very wide range of journals (1238) is used, but many of them are rarely used. Papers published from 1981 to 2012 increased 3.7-fold with a similar increase in the number of journals used. Commercial presses have come to dominate publishing, society presses and university presses are fewer today but open access journals have become more common. Only about one quarter of the journals used have a Thompson Reuter Impact Factor (IF) but the median IF of IF-rated journals used rose from 1.56 (1981-82) to 2.23 (2011-12). The Canadian Geographer is the most frequently used journal, but over time flagship geography journals have been replaced by interdisciplinary and thematic journals. Papers published per faculty rose from an average of 0.5 yr−1 in 1981-82 to 1.7 yr−1 in 2011-12, with a large variation in publication rates per faculty across departments, reflecting the research versus teaching focus. Canadian geographers are publishing well beyond the field, engaging with much larger audiences, and reaching top journals, to the benefit of the discipline. La publication des articles de revue en géographie canadienne Une analyse des revues dans lesquelles les géographes canadiens publient leurs travaux a été réalisée à partir des données sur la publication d'articles dans l'annuaire annuel de l'Association canadienne des géographes pour les années 1981-82, 1991-92, 2001-02 et 2011-12. On constate un éventail de revues très diversifié (1238) et que plusieurs d'entre elles sont utilisées rarement. De plus, entre 1981 et 2012, les articles parus ont augmenté de 3,7 fois et le nombre de revues qui en ont publié a crÛ du même ordre. Les maisons d'édition commerciales ont fini par dominer l'industrie. Si les maisons d'édition associatives et universitaires sont moins nombreuses aujourd'hui, il est plus courant de publier dans des revues en libre accès. Thompson Reuter calcule un facteur d'impact (FI) pour environ un quart de ces revues seulement, mais le FI médian des revues indexées ayant fait paraître un article est passé de 1,56 (1981-1982) à 2,23 (2011-12). Le Géographe canadien est la revue la plus sollicitée. Les revues phares spécialisées en géographie sont graduellement remplacées par des revues interdisciplinaires et thématiques. La moyenne d'articles que chaque professeur a fait paraître a augmenté de 0,5 par an en 1981-82 à 1,7 par an en 2011-12. D'un département à l'autre, les taux de publication par professeur varient en fonction de l'importance accordée à la recherche versus l'enseignement. Les géographes canadiens publient dans divers domaines autres que la géographie, permettant ainsi d'élargir le lectorat et d'accéder aux meilleures revues, ce qui valorise la discipline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines news media coverage of hydraulic fracturing in Canada over a five-year period in five newspapers. Hydraulic fracturing, or 'fracking,' has reenergized the North American oil and gas market. This technology has increased economic growth, but it also comes with unknown and uncertain environmental and public health risks. Regulation of the fracking industry varies globally. In Canada there are three provinces that engage in large volume fracking and four provinces that have placed a moratorium on fracking. This paper demonstrates that the Canadian fracking story is about five frames: water pollution, economic benefits, uncertain risks, moratoriums, and energy independence. There is a difference between coverage in the two national newspapers as well as a difference in national and provincial coverage. In Nova Scotia, where fracking is banned, the media focuses primarily on environmental issues and benefits to the local economy. In Saskatchewan, where fracking for oil is an essential part of the economy, the media focuses on economic benefits and downplays other frames. Overall, across the five papers, the media coverage is highly selective and focuses on particular stories about the economy or the environment, but not both. Quelle est la chronique de la fracturation hydraulique au Canada? Cet article fait état de la couverture médiatique liée à la fracturation hydraulique au Canada par cinq journaux sur une période de cinq ans. La fracturation hydraulique a revitalisé le marché nord-américain des hydrocarbures. Cette technologie favorise la croissance économique, mais comporte également des risques écologiques et sanitaires inconnus et incertains. La réglementation régissant l'industrie de la fracturation varie selon les pays. À l'échelle canadienne, trois provinces ont réalisé d'importantes opérations de fracturation et quatre provinces ont imposé un moratoire à la fracturation hydraulique. Cet article montre que le cadrage médiatique de la fracturation hydraulique repose sur cinq thématiques : la pollution hydrique, les retombées économiques, l'incertitude liée aux risques, les moratoires et la souveraineté énergétique. Le cadrage médiatique varie entre les deux journaux nationaux ainsi qu'entre les médias nationaux et provinciaux. En Nouvelle-Écosse, où la fracturation est interdite, les médias mettent l'accent sur les questions environnementales et les retombées pour l'économie locale. En Saskatchewan, où la fracturation pour extraire du pétrole joue un rôle économique primordial, les médias se concentrent sur les retombées économiques et minorent l'importance des autres thématiques. Dans l'ensemble, les cinq journaux appliquent un filtre sélectif dans le traitement du sujet et publient des reportages spécifiques portant sur l'économie ou sur l'environnement, mais pas les deux. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past decade, a large volume of peer‐reviewed papers has examined the potential impacts of oil and gas resource extraction in the Canadian oil sands (OS). A large proportion focuses on terrestrial biology: wildlife, birds, and vegetation. We provide a qualitative synthesis of the condition of the environment in the oil sands region (OSR) from 2009 to 2020 to identify gaps and progress cumulative effects assessments. Our objectives were to (1) qualitatively synthesize and critically review knowledge from the OSR; (2) identify consistent trends and generalizable conclusions; and (3) pinpoint gaps in need of greater monitoring or research effort. We visualize knowledge and terrestrial monitoring foci by allocating papers to a conceptual model for the OS. Despite a recent increase in publications, focus has remained concentrated on a few key stressors, especially landscape disturbance, and a few taxa of interest. Stressor and response monitoring is well represented, but direct monitoring of pathways (linkages between stressors and responses) is limited. Important knowledge gaps include understanding effects at multiple spatial scales, mammal health effects monitoring, focused monitoring of local resources important to Indigenous communities, and geospatial coverage and availability, including higher attribute resolution in human footprint, comprehensive land cover mapping, and up‐to‐date LiDAR coverage. Causal attribution based on spatial proximity to operations or spatial orientation of monitoring in the region is common but may be limited in the strength of inference that it provides. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2022;18:388–406. © 2021 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC). KEY POINTS: We provide a qualitative synthesis of the condition of the environment in the Canadian oil sands region (OSR) in northeastern Alberta from 2009 to 2020 to identify gaps and progress cumulative effects assessments. Despite a recent increase in publications, focus has remained concentrated on a few key stressors and a few taxa of interest, for which monitoring is well represented, though direct monitoring of pathways (linkages between stressors and responses) is limited. Important gaps include a lack of understanding of effects at multiple spatial scales, a lack of focused monitoring of local resources important to Indigenous communities, and geospatial data resolution and availability. Causal attribution based on spatial proximity to oil sands operations or spatial orientation of monitoring in the OSR is common but may be limited in the strength of inference that it provides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the shift to working from home among finance professionals in Canada as a result of the COVID‐19 pandemic. We present the results of a survey that invited quantitative and qualitative responses about attitudes toward working from home, the overlap between paid and unpaid (i.e., childcare and other caregiving) work in the home, changing relationships with employers, and preferences regarding the organisation and location of work. We argue that enforced working from home signalled a shift in outlook among finance professionals that, beyond stated preferences to work from home, shows both that many are seeking more autonomy and control over their working lives and a distinct ambivalence about working from home. This is significant in sectors like finance where overwork is common and in‐office dynamics are seen, especially by managers and employers, as particularly important in relation to mentorship, advancement, and promotion, often within rigid masculinist hierarchies. Thus, an eventual return to 'normal', i.e., full‐time office‐based work, may be especially appealing in this sector. This paper contributes to the expanding literature on working from home resulting from COVID‐19 lockdowns in white‐collar professions within and outside of geography, with a focus on the literatures on work, workplaces, and social reproduction in economic and financial geography. This paper explores the shift to working from home among finance professionals in Canada as a result of the COVID‐19 pandemic. We present the results of a survey that invited quantitative and qualitative responses about attitudes toward working from home, the overlap between paid and unpaid (i.e., childcare and other caregiving) work in the home, changing relationships with employers, and preferences regarding the organisation and location of work. We argue that enforced working from home signalled a shift in outlook among finance professionals that, beyond stated preferences to work from home, shows both that many are seeking more autonomy and control over their working lives and a distinct ambivalence about working from home. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Geographer is the property of Wiley-Blackwell 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.)

Copyright of Canadian Geographer is the property of Wiley-Blackwell 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.)

Since the Great Recession, many cities around the world have undergone extreme demographic changes as people and capital resettle into urban areas. This has resulted in issues of gentrification and displacement forcing many governments to address growing concerns of housing insecurity. Housing policy is a function of political ideologies and social conditions drawing from market‐based housing supply (MBHS) solutions or demand‐side interventions (DSI) to alleviate housing cost burdens. Yet, debates on their effectiveness have often undermined their ability to grow to scale leaving many households in precarious housing situations. This paper focuses on the 2022 Ontario provincial election to uncover how Canadian political parties frame housing insecurity and their policy platforms. This paper finds all political parties promote the MBHS framework, yet various degrees of the DSI framework. Embedded within this variation are questions of federalism with responsibility shifting between provincial and municipal governments. The findings reveal while different forms of neoliberal ideology inform the policy platforms of political parties, federalism plays a significant role in framing the level and scale of government involvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the COVID‐19 pandemic emerged, instances of anti‐immigrant racism and more specifically anti‐Asian racism appeared to increase across Canada. Recognising the need to further explore and document racism and its link with the COVID‐19 pandemic, this paper explores the impact of COVID‐19 on the experiences of racism and discrimination. Using neoracism as a theoretical framework, the research is set in the city of Hamilton, Ontario, a city that has struggled with high levels of racism and discrimination in recent years. The paper draws upon both an online survey as well as interviews that explored the lived experiences of racialized individuals within the city and their experiences with racism as the pandemic progressed. Results note that individuals felt that racism and discrimination increased during the pandemic and was experienced in housing, the labour force and other public situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: This paper highlights a new role of Advanced Practice Nurse/Nurse Practitioner as the clinical planning lead in the development of a unique model of care and service delivery for children living with health complexity, in the context of a LEADS leadership framework and related capabilities. Background: The LEADS in a Caring Environment Framework is an effective tool for leadership development and systems change. An experienced Advanced Practice Nurse/Nurse Practitioner hired into a leadership role contributes to system change for a complex population across a large geographic area. Sources of evidence: World Health Organization, Canadian Nurses Association and other websites, academic databases (PubMed and CINAHL) and relevant books were explored, and the expertise and knowledge of the authors and the redevelopment project team were utilized. Discussion: The Advanced Practice Nurse/Nurse Practitioner (first author) shares and reflects on her own lived experience as a leader in the planning for programmes and services at the new centre utilizing the five LEADS domains and related capabilities. Conclusion: The utilization of the LEADS in a Caring Environment Capabilities Framework showcases the strengths and skills of an Advanced Practice Nurse/Nurse Practitioner shifting from direct clinical care to successfully leading system‐level change. By incorporating the LEADS framework into practice, in any setting or role, Advanced Practice Nurse/Nurse Practitioners can both evaluate and develop their leadership skills while positively effecting system transformation. Implications for nursing practice: The LEADS framework fosters ongoing professional development and can be used to measure the added value of Advanced Practice Nurses within an organization. Implications for nursing policy: Advanced Practice Nurses improve outcomes within the health care system. Leaders must consider this evidence in health workforce planning, ensuring that Advanced Practice Nursing roles become fully integrated and are supported in the context of national and regional health systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Dental regulatory bodies aim to ensure the health and safety of dentists, dental staff patients and the public. An important responsibility during a pandemic is to communicate risk and guidelines for patient care. Limited data exist on the perceptions and experiences of dentists navigating new guidelines for mitigating risk in dental care during the pandemic. The objective of this study was to use a qualitative approach to explore how dentists in Canada experienced and perceived their regulatory bodies' communication about COVID‐19 risks and guidelines during the pandemic. Methods: Participants were Canadian dentists (N = 644) recruited through the email roster of nine provincial dental associations or regulatory bodies. This qualitative analysis was nested within a prospective longitudinal cohort study in which data were collected using online questionnaires at regular intervals from August 2020 to November 2021. To address the objective reported in this paper, a conventional qualitative content analysis method was applied to responses to three open‐ended questions included in the final questionnaire. Results: Participants encountered challenges and frustrations amid the COVID‐19 pandemic, grappling with diverse regulations and communications from dental bodies. While some bodies offered helpful guidance, many participants felt the need for improved communication on guidelines. Dentists urged for expedited, clearer and more frequent updates, expressing difficulty in navigating overwhelming information. Negative views emerged on the vague and unclear communication of COVID‐19 guidelines, contributing to confusion and frustration among participants. Conclusion: As COVID‐19 persists and in planning for future pandemics, these experiential findings will help guide regulatory bodies in providing clear, timely and practical guidelines to protect the health and safety of dentists, dental staff, patients and the public. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to research on the means by which the Canadian state authorises, enables, and secures new major petroleum pipelines. While disruptions to pipeline construction are now increasingly common, state and industry alike have continued to finance and approve new projects, even despite serious and ongoing concerns about impacts on ecologies and Indigenous jurisdiction. The paper focuses on one under‐researched mechanism of state authorisation: federal impact assessments for new oil and gas pipeline projects, undertaken by the National Energy Board (NEB), Canada's now former energy regulator, which operated between 1959 and 2019. The NEB's mandate was to deem, via impact assessment, whether a new project would be in the "public interest". I argue public interest is an effective legal‐political mechanism for securing and obscuring the state's claim to jurisdiction, the traction of which lies partly in an underlying colonial scalar logic and imaginary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A limited number of studies have explored religion's role in the intimate lives of adults with intellectual disabilities. This paper illustrates how religion, both of disabled people and those around them (e.g., family members, support workers), can shape the attitudes and experiences of disabled people toward sexuality. Method: This paper draws on in‐depth interviews with adults with intellectual disabilities and support workers from two exploratory projects in Canada. Results: Participants with intellectual disabilities talked about how religion provided a network that served to counter their social isolation and a pool of potential intimate partners, as well as some guidance for maintaining relationships. Support workers discussed the influence of organisational values in their practices related to sexuality. Conclusions: Religion shapes disabled sexualities in various ways, sometimes supporting or constraining sexual expression. This paper invites disability scholars to consider religion when researching the intimate lives of disabled people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When brought together, Indigenous and Western sciences offer holism that can strengthen research and monitoring, yet the practices and processes of bridging these sciences are not well understood. We sought to elucidate bridging through a systematic realist review of coastal and marine research and monitoring studies that use methods for gathering Indigenous scientific knowledges and methods for collecting natural sciences data from across Inuit Nunangat (Inuit homelands in Canada; n = 25 case studies). We identified three decision points that shape projects co‐developed by researchers and Inuit communities: research objectives, method bundles (the totality of methods used in a case study), and method sequencing (the order of application of methods in a case study). Example case studies from the review are included to highlight some of the diversity of research pathways available. We discuss areas for further reflection, including method bundle composition, imbalances in method sequences, path dependency and research fatigue, research context, and most importantly, bridging as a relational rather than technical endeavour. We suggest that bridging sciences can, but need not be, a complex undertaking. This paper provides practical details to facilitate cross‐cultural research partnerships at a time of immense environmental and social change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The object of this paper is to investigate the dynamic causal relationship between economic growth and renewable energy in Canada. The causal relationship is examined under the neoclassical production function framework. We employed a panel autoregressive distributed lag model controlling for different states of the economy by incorporating a dummy variable, which indicates the economic peak and trough. The data set consists of annual real GDP, capital formation, labor, and electricity generation by renewables for nine Canadian provinces covering from 1981 to 2015. The empirical results find that there is a unidirectional causality from renewable energy to economic growth in the long run. In the short run, a unidirectional causality going from renewable energy to economic growth only during the expansion period is observed. Our study suggests that renewable energy policies should be designed and implemented in a way that takes into account the nonlinear relationship between renewable energy and economic growth. This could involve promoting the development and deployment of renewable energy sources as part of their economic stimulus packages during economic upturns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates therelationship between prosperity and national account data during wartime, focusing on Canada. In particular, we build off of existing literature arguing that military outlays must be excluded for real output measures to reasonably approximate economic prosperity. We analyse all non‐war components of Canadian gross national product during both world wars and estimate a novel price deflator for World War II in order to take into account wartime price controls. This allows us to obtain a new estimate of real output in Canada excluding military outlays. We then compare the trends in our new real output series with domestic private investment and stock market trends, all three of which either fell or grew at an anemic pace in Canada during both world wars. Combined, we argue that this provides evidence against the idea of wartime prosperity and more specifically, against the notion of World War II ending the Great Depression in Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patterns of social networks in plurinational societies remain understudied in the inter‐group contact literature. In Canada, a significant number of authors have studied political divides between Quebecers and other Canadians, but little is still known about the scope and determinants of the social disconnect between both communities. This paper provides the first quantitative measure of the social networking gap between Canada's ‘two solitudes’ using behavioural data. Our analysis mobilises the Facebook Connectedness Index (2020), which provides district‐level connectivity estimates between all active Facebook users in Canada. Results obtained via linear regression models show that population size, distance and self‐isolation patterns cannot account for the significant connectivity gap between Quebec and the rest of Canada. However, bilingualism in Quebec is positively correlated with higher inter‐regional networks, suggesting asymmetrical linguistic exchanges. These results empirically confirm decades of anecdotal accounts about the existence of a social disconnect between Canada's French‐ and English‐speaking communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Post‐tropical cyclone Fiona made landfall in Nova Scotia, Canada, in September 2022 with the force of a Category 2 hurricane. Using ‘risk society’ as an analytical framework, and Thomas A. Birkland's ‘focusing event’ concept, this paper seeks to understand how publics construct risk in the context of climate change and how institutions engage with those narratives. A qualitative content analysis of 439 newspaper articles from across Canada reveals that most media provide a superficial description of hazard impacts. When media are critical, they connect Fiona to climate change, other extreme events, social vulnerability, and systemic inequality. In response to Fiona and industry trends, insurance representatives indicate a withdraw from covering low‐probability, high‐consequence events owing to ambiguity in risk analysis and financial interests, complicating hazard relief. Political actors' rhetoric is strong—delivering relief in unprecedented ways and offering new adaptive policy. However, a history of unfulfilled political promises to act on climate change elicits scepticism from media sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the past 30 years, research on policy analytical capacity's multidimensional nature and the evolution of policy advisory systems (PASs) has both increased knowledge of these processes and structures and opened new avenues of inquiry. While it is clear that changes in PASs in many countries have occurred ‐ featuring processes such as the increased externalisation and politicisation of policy advice ‐ studies of changes among the roles played by core policy professionals in advice provision have lagged. One aspect of this question concerns the nature and extent of changes in this 'forgotten fundamental' of advice systems related to how these professionals are arrayed within 'policy shops'—that is organisational units identified in the 1960s and 1970s as the main organisational home of policy professionals in government. Whether or not such shops have changed from the central‐integrated model identified in early studies and, if so, how, remain outstanding and foundational questions. Recent research in Canada has mapped the distribution of policy professionals at the central and provincial level and found more types of analysts and venues than in earlier eras— which range from the 'classical' integrated policy shops of the 1960s and 1970s which remain in central agencies and single‐purpose line departments to the much more 'distributed' patterns found in many departments dealing with multiple or complex controversial issues. Using Canadian data, this study outlines the development of these organisational types and their distribution in government and discusses the implications of these changes for better understanding the work, and needs, of core professionals in policy advice systems.. Points for practitioners: 'Policy professionals' or public employees specifically tasked with policy analysis in government are key players in policy advisory systems despite the addition of more external and internal actors in policy advice systems in recent years.How these advisors and analysts are organised in government, whether they work in clusters or small groups, and how they interact with other civil servants and policy‐makers are a key determinant of their activities and influence in policy‐making.In the policy sciences, work in the 1960s and 1970s established 'the policy shop', that is relatively small centrally located organisational units employing mainly policy analysts, as the main home of policy professionals in government. These units often enjoyed a monopoly in analysis and played a key role in policy‐making. However, research on these organisations has not kept up with changes in advisory relations within and outside of governments and the impact such changes have had on the influence and activities of core professionals.Recent work by the authors looking at the large Canadian province of Ontario has identified more than a single type of arrangement of analysts in the current era. This paper expands this analysis to both small and large jurisdictions in Canada, including the federal government, and develops two detailed case studies of the current organisation of policy professionals in smaller central agencies like Ministries of Justice as well as in larger omnibus Ministries of the Environment.The study finds a 'distributed' model of policy shops—in which multiple policy units exist throughout the agency—to be dominant in both cases and in all the governments examined and suggests this is now the new normal, replacing the dominance of the older more integrated central shop model. The predominance of the distributed model contributes to the fragmentation of policy advice already underway in government due to the growth in the number of external advisors such as consultants and think tanks, and internal ones such as political staffers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Geographer is the property of Wiley-Blackwell 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.)

Background: In Canada, Ontario midwives provide care to sexual and gender minority (SGM) people. Published literature shows how midwives' attitudes shape the experiences of lesbians, but research examining midwives' attitudes toward SGM people is lacking. Our study measured the attitudes of Ontario midwives toward SGM clients, hypothesizing that attitudes would be positive overall and that there would be no difference in attitudes across practice settings. Methods: Paper surveys (n = 926) with an option to respond online were sent to Ontario midwifery practices. We measured midwives' attitudes toward sexual minorities (11 questions, scores ranged from 11 to 55) and gender minorities (9 questions, scores ranged from 9 to 45), with higher scores indicating more positive attitudes. Overall and subgroup analyses were performed. Results: The 268 completed surveys indicated that midwives' attitudes were positive toward both sexual (mean score 49.2, maximum possible score of 55, ie, 89.4%) and gender minorities (mean score 38.9, maximum possible score of 45, ie, 86.4%). Analyses showed that attitudes toward SGM were associated with midwives' sexual identity and route of entry into the profession (ie, university‐based vs bridging programs), but not practice setting. Conclusions: Although attitudes of this subset of midwives toward SGM clients were positive, volunteer bias could account for this finding since 32.6% of respondents identified as sexual minorities. Since the attitudes of midwives who entered the profession through the university‐based education program were significantly more positive than those who entered through international bridging programs, future research should examine how SGM‐related content is integrated into midwifery education and training curricula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For children to know how to fully participate in and most effectively lead the world they will inherit, they must learn how to critically engage with it and be knowledgeable about foundational rights and instruments that support such engagement. Together, critical literacy, which encourages the examination and interrogation of the underlying assumptions of dominant narratives and 'legitimate' knowledge, and children's rights education, which involves children in learning how to express their ideas and fully participate in society (as appropriate to their age and ability), offer a powerful approach—theoretical and pedagogical—to engage children in active engagement of the world, especially with respect to the promotion of social justice. However, the layers of complexity and risks associated with deep consideration of challenging topics require expert guidance and compassionate role modelling from teachers of young children. Our paper considers the intersections between critical literacy and global child rights with reference to a study conducted with young school children in Canada and Uganda to discuss how teachers can support meaningful learning experiences in the classroom that can promote children's agency and social justice commitments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The implementation of school reforms to advance reconciliation with Indigenous peoples provides an opportunity to explore what Canadians think is important in framing their identities and values. This paper draws on data from a survey of public perspectives on education for reconciliation activities in two Canadian provinces, Alberta and Saskatchewan. We consider the broader community context within which schools are located. By examining public perspectives, we are able to assess how curricular initiatives related to reconciliation are understood by community members, both as a priority in itself and in relation to other key curricular areas. Informed by critical race theory, our findings suggest that reconciliation is restricted to activities that do not involve extensive change to existing curricular and ideational frameworks. These perspectives exist alongside extensive opposition to reconciliation justified by claims that Indigenous experiences and perspectives are receiving undue attention relative to more pressing educational priorities. Our findings suggest that aims to transform dominant understandings about Canadian history and identity remain far from being fulfilled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessing the policy analytical capacity (PAC) of governments has suffered in the past from the anecdotal nature of most studies, leading to different evaluations of specific analytical activities and of the overall competences and capacities of governments as a whole. What is needed to advance the field is a set of metrics that can generate insights into the capabilities of different units and how changes to their and overall government capacity develop over time. Focusing on this component of policy capacity, we map and measure the distribution of policy professionals in the provincial, territorial, and federal governments in Canada. Our measures are tested against two major findings regarding PAC: first that variation among governmental PAC varies by size of the civil service, with smaller jurisdictions likely to have less capacity, and second, that concentration of professionals in specific issue areas underscores that area's political and/or policy salience to the government concerned. Both measures prove robust in assessing Canadian government activities in these areas. Points for practitioners: Policy capacity is acknowledged as a significant perquisite for policy success.While some general frameworks exist highlighting policy relevant competences and capabilities important to policy success, how to measure these remains under‐investigated.Focusing on policy analytical capacity, this paper draws on the literature on policy professionals to develop two measures of this component of policy capacity linked to the extent to which an agency focuses on analysis and the proportion of their staff who work on the subject compared to other agencies.The measures are deployed in an illustrative case of Canada and Canadian governments at the territorial, provincial, and federal level which confirms their utility and robustness as indicators of the different levels of analytical capacity different agencies employ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Questions of equity, diversity, and inclusion in the sciences have taken center stage in light of the COVID‐19 pandemic and Black Lives Matter movement of 2020. This paper focuses on the experiences of academics engaging in such work, particularly in their roles as educators, by sharing two of the authors' experiences introducing equity, diversity, and inclusion initiatives in a first‐year science course at a Canadian university. Using critical research methodologies like narrative inquiry and memory work, we look at three separate instances where complex personal, institutional and course attributes fostered, allowed, or hindered efforts to bring these initiatives into the classroom. We consider how problematic incidents and obstacles relating to the organization of content on equity, diversity, and inclusion in science cropped up during the process, how they were perceived and handled in the moment, as well as the authors' reflections, takeaways, and lessons learned from the experience. These stories suggest that efforts to center discussions about equity, diversity, and inclusion in undergraduate science classrooms can be unpredictable and complex, particularly at the day‐to‐day level; this is especially the case when handling subtler microaggressions rather than clear instances of discrimination or harassment. Our study points to the importance of creating a more permanent institutional memory for initiatives that outlive those who initiated and organized them, so that they become embedded within the culture of a course or department. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although literature on energy cooperation highlights that cooperation is more successful at the regional level, it largely fails to understand and conceptualize energy cooperation as part of the wider phenomenon of regionalism. Energy cooperation tends to be analyzed through prisms of security and geopolitics, thus, downplaying other important regional integration processes. The present paper addresses this lacuna, defining energy regionalism and conceptualizing its various dimensions, logics, motivations, and interests. We apply a comparative perspective, examining two regions which exhibit extensive energy cooperation yet differ in several ways: North America and the European Energy Community. Our findings suggest various trajectories and models, and indicate that formal institutionalization is neither a necessary condition for nor a guarantee of strong energy regionalism. We discern that regional anchor is key in North American and European energy regionalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In many countries, sexually active gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (gbMSM) continue to be screened based on their sex or gender and the sex or gender of their sexual partner. However, there is growing support that screening based on specific sexual behaviors that pose risk of transfusion transmissible infection is a better approach to donor screening. Study Design and Methods: This paper reports results from Phase 1 (qualitative) of a mixed‐methods study on Canadian blood and plasma donors' views on expanding eligibility for gbMSM by changing to sexual behavior‐based screening. Semistructured interview data with 40 donors (whole blood = 20, plasma = 20; male = 21, female = 18, nonbinary = 1; mean age = 46.2; 10% participation rate) in Canada were analyzed using a thematic approach. Results: All participants, except one, supported the change as they anticipated that at least one of three outcomes would be achieved: increasing blood supply, enhancing equity, and improving or maintaining the safety of blood supply. One donor who was more skeptical of the change questioned the scientific evidence for the change and indicated mistrust of state institutions. The discussion considers implications for blood operators' communication strategies that can be used to reduce donor discomfort with the changes to donor screening. Conclusion: In a nonrandom, purposive sample of 40 Canadian blood and plasma donors, most participants held favorable views regarding expanding the eligibility of gbMSM donors based on sexual risk behavior. Understanding donors' views on increasing eligibility may inform Canadian Blood Services and other blood operators as they develop their communications plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International student migration (ISM) is one of the fastest growing categories of migrants in Canada. Drawing on the narratives of 30 international students at a Canadian university, this paper investigates international students' decisions to study overseas and the roles of social networks in shaping mobility. We find that international students negotiate information while embedded in multiple social networks consisting of family, friends, ethnocultural and religious communities, and professional relations in origin and settlement countries. These social networks exceed typical knowledge and connection functions; they act as informal migration agents, providing transnational care and guidance, and 'do' family in ways that shape mobility decisions and settlement. The information provided through these networks, however, can be inaccurate or incomplete, requiring the strategic mobilization of new networks to support migration. We conclude that international student mobility relies on building transnational networks to support knowledge transfer, provide care and offer tangible supports. Furthermore, we argue that these fluctuating local and transnational social networks should be more fully recognized in the theorizing of ISM and in strategies implemented for supporting international students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers how white, rural, working‐class men come to be seen, by employers and themselves, as a "natural fit" for mobile work in resource extraction. Examining mobility between eastern Canada and the Alberta petroleum industry, I trace longstanding racial, geographical, and gendered explanations of these workers as dependent and averse to work. I draw on interviews with employers, employment counsellors, and mobile workers, and media representations to consider how these narratives function to shape and constrain workers' political imaginaries and understandings of themselves. The pervasive story of these workers as undeserving has enabled the emergence of a contrasting working subject: the hard‐working, flexible "east coast" worker who is a natural fit for mobile work in resource extraction. I argue that, despite the challenges of mobile resource work, the interplay of stories that pathologise and celebrate these workers has encouraged their attachment to resource extraction as the pathway to a better life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the Canadian Census of 2016 and restricting the sample to the Canadian‐born millennials, this paper is concerned with ethnoracial disparities in adult children's coresidence with their parents. Substantial disparities are found in the prevalence of intergenerational coresidence by race and ethnic origin. Rather surprisingly, Canadian‐born millennials of Chinese, Japanese and Korean descent are found the least likely to coreside with their parents than their counterparts in other ethnoracial groups. There is little gender difference in this regard. Further exploration shows that millennials of Chinese, Japanese and Korean descent are much more likely than others to be geographically mobile across Canada, and this greater mobility drives the gaps. In other words, the lower intergenerational coresidence among Canadian millennials of Chinese, Japanese and Korean descent also implies a lower intergenerational proximity among these groups. Future implications of the findings for local labour and housing markets, as well as the healthcare system, are discussed in light of the Confucian concept of filial piety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For at least the past 20 years, the Province of Ontario – as well as other advanced economic regions – has experienced a period of transition, with traditional manufacturing declining and advanced manufacturing firms and sectors emerging. Concurrently, there has been a concerted policy effort emphasising the development of industry clusters within the province, though key issues of governance and where and how to invest public funds remain. This paper presents research on the spatial configuration of firms in 26 manufacturing sub‐sectors, using point density analysis of the basis for determining the presence and spatial configuration of firms. This allows for the comparison of patterns observed in traditional, advanced, and evolving sub‐sectors. The findings show that there are patterns of clustering in all sub‐sectors, though different spatial configurations are apparent between traditional, advanced, and evolving sub‐sectors. These differences have implications for both investment and governance. Based on the findings, investment needs to be directed towards areas with locational advantages, while regional perspectives and initiatives on cluster governance are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses mixed methods to scavenge and analyse lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer and two‐spirit (LGBTQ2S) resources and visibility in public library branches on the periphery of the Vancouver city‐region in the suburban municipalities of Surrey, Burnaby, and New Westminster. It argues that in Canadian suburbs, where access to LGBTQ2S community resources are limited, libraries are simultaneously key public sites of engagement for LGBTQ2S people and places where they continue to face dominant socio‐cultural power relations of hetero and cis‐normativity that determine the availability, visibility, and accessibility of queer materials. Scavenging for queerness within virtual and material library spaces, this paper demonstrates that suburban libraries hold the promise of information and equity while also reinforcing LGBTQ2S absence, invisibility, and exclusion. The promise of social inclusion is carried forward by a few insider activist and ally librarians who act as political change agents within library systems and specific branches by creating queer‐friendly collections, spaces, and programming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disaster researchers have long analysed disruption to affected residents' ontological security, often represented by routines and familiar landmarks. Surprisingly little of this work, though, assesses who is most likely to experience feelings of disruption. Using a representative set of survey data, complemented by follow‐up interview data from 40 residents affected by the Southern Alberta Flood of June 2013, this paper explores how demographic characteristics, such as gender and place attachment, impact on residents' sense of disruption and loss. The findings indicate that women and people with stronger emotional and social ties to their neighbourhoods are most likely to experience disrupted ontological security; home flooding and evacuation orders are also significant predictors. The qualitative interview data reveal that many participants felt unsettled and disrupted by myriad factors, such as ongoing construction, which prevented them from establishing a 'new normal'. The paper concludes by discussing the implications of these findings for policymakers and service providers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Regional Science Policy & Practice is the property of Wiley-Blackwell 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.)

Since the late 1980s, there has been no explicit regional policy in Canada. Indirectly, though, equalization payments, industrial policies, as well as regional agencies encouraging the adoption of federal industrial and innovation policies, impact regional economies. In 2017, the federal government appeared to alter its approach: the Supercluster initiative was announced, drawing upon the idea that localized networks of interrelated firms can generate innovation and local development. In this paper, we discuss the mechanisms through which spatially focused industrial innovation policy can lead to regional development. We then focus on Canada's Ocean Supercluster initiative. The question we address is as follows: to what extent can this initiative (and, more widely, Canada's Supercluster policy) be understood as a regional development strategy driven by a coherent rationale for regional intervention? Apart from the fact that each Supercluster focuses on a pre‐existing core of firms located within a region, there is little evidence that the Supercluster initiative has regional development objectives or impacts. Key messages: In 2018, Canada's federal government implemented the Supercluster policy. Five regionally focussed clusters were selected for support for business‐led innovation initiatives.Superclusters were presented as a means both to develop regional economies and to enhance Canada's global innovation impact, in a manner similar to Europe's smart specialization.Despite the initial regional dimension, Superclusters are geared towards national, not regional, objectives and do not focus upon regional development processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID‐19 pandemic has challenged nations states across the world. They have implemented lockdown and social distancing and with the development of vaccines have gone to great lengths to build herd immunity for their populations. As place managers, local government has played a variety of roles supporting central government edicts related to social distancing and supporting local businesses impacted by lockdowns. The research reported here comparing the role local government has played in Australia, Canada, Italy, and New Zealand shows that they have at different times and for different issues been policy takers from central government, policy shapers, and policy makers adapting national strategies. Local government plays an important complementary role with central governments in both unitary and federal systems of government. The paper contributes to the literature on multi‐level governance, place‐based decision‐making, and disaster and emergency management by offering a framework for analysing municipal roles in crises management both in their relationship with higher layers of government and in their acting as locally placed organisations. Points for practitioners: Cross‐national study: Australia, Canada, Italy, and New Zealand.Examination of local government responses to COVID‐19 pandemic as policy makers, takers, or shapers.Comparison of federal and unitary states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the long‐run relationship between health care expenditures (HCE) and income using Canadian provincial data spanning a period of 40 years from 1981 to 2020. We study the non‐stationary and cointegration properties of HCE and income and estimate the long‐run income elasticities of HCE. Using heterogeneous panel models that incorporate cross‐section dependence via unobserved common correlated factors to capture global shocks, we estimate long‐run income elasticities that lie in the 0.11–0.16 range. Our results indicate that health care is a necessity good for Canada. These elasticity estimates are much smaller than those estimated in other studies for Canada. We find that HCE and income in Canada are cointegrated and that short‐run changes in federal transfers significantly and positively affect HCE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Geographer is the property of Wiley-Blackwell 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.)

Copyright of Canadian Geographer is the property of Wiley-Blackwell 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.)

Aim: This paper explores the potential for incorporating big data in nursing regulators' decision‐making and policy development. Big data, commonly described as the extensive volume of information that individuals and agencies generate daily, is a concept familiar to the business community but is only beginning to be explored by the public sector. Background: Using insights gained from a recent research project, the College and Association of Registered Nurses of Alberta, in Canada is creating an organizational culture of data‐driven decision‐making throughout its regulatory and professional functions. The goal is to enable the organization to respond quickly and profoundly to nursing issues in a rapidly changing healthcare environment. Sources of evidence: The evidence includes a review of the Learning from Experience: Improving the Process of Internationally Educated Nurses' Applications for Registration (LFE) research project (2011–2016), combined with a literature review on data‐driven decision‐making within nursing and healthcare settings, and the incorporation of big data in the private and public sectors, primarily in North America. Discussion: This paper discusses experience and, more broadly, how data can enhance the rigour and integrity of nursing and health policy. Conclusion: Nursing regulatory bodies have access to extensive data, and the opportunity to use these data to inform decision‐making and policy development by investing in how it is captured, analysed and incorporated into decision‐making processes. Implications for Nursing and Health Policy: Understanding and using big data is a critical part of developing relevant, sound and credible policy. Rigorous collection and analysis of big data supports the integrity of the evidence used by nurse regulators in developing nursing and health policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on critical discourse analysis to explore power dynamics in a participatory video project that took place in an alternative education centre in New Brunswick, Canada. The paper addresses growing concerns at the paucity of critical scholarship devoted to participatory video research. Often championed for its democratic, critical and counter-hegemonic potential, participatory video has steadily gained favour in academic, developmental and educational contexts. However, practitioners implementing participatory approaches often fail to engage with issues of power. This oversight has meant that taken-for-granted assumptions about participatory video have often gone unquestioned. Appreciating this concern, this paper explores how power operates through individualising and deficit discourses in participatory video work with youth and how these discourses might reinforce oppressive thinking, consequently adversely impacting those who participate. This critique accents the importance of challenging taken-for-granted assumptions about participatory video by showing how the method can be shaped by, and play into, marginalising discourses. For practitioners, this is a reminder that power operates through all research and educational practices - even those claiming to be participatory, critical and counter-hegemonic. The paper adds to a growing body of scholarship that draws attention to complexities associated with participatory video and relocates it within the framework of critical participatory research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]