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Existing studies of policy diffusion rely on quantitative or qualitative methods depending on the number of cases and the policy at hand. Studies of diffusion in Canada, for instance, almost exclusively use qualitative techniques due to the limited number of subnational units. In this article, we explore whether machine learning techniques can complement qualitative approaches in these contexts. In 2015, the Canadian federal government decided to impose the legalization of cannabis and gave the provinces and territories a short time frame to develop and implement legislation. Previous qualitative research on this case found that within-province policy development was more salient than interprovincial diffusion. Using a plagiarism detection software, we find limited evidence of exact matches between provincial legislation, but a cosine score approach reveals significant similarities across provinces. These results suggest that computational and qualitative techniques together should be used where possible to identify and analyze policy diffusion in certain contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The history of the October Crisis has often been analyzed through the lens of Quebec. This article wishes to broaden understanding of the repercussions of this crisis outside the borders of the francophone province by looking at the events that shook academic institutions in the Canadian Prairies and the reactions of the student youth that drove them. Based on analysis of student newspapers from Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, it attests to the turmoil on university campuses in the months following the implementation of the War Measures Act, when demonstrations, petitions, teach-ins, and intellectual exchanges followed one another. This analysis sheds light on a certain dichotomy of opinions in the West. While Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau was strongly criticized for his official language policy and his economic centralism by the people and governments, a lull occurred with the October events, whose management by the federal government was welcomed. Student newspapers offered another perspective, that of an engaged youth sensitive to the issues of Quebec, trying to show the perverse effects of this War Measures Act, deemed liberticidal, hostile to radical discourse, and affecting the entire country. In revisiting this era, this article also explores the student journalistic style of the era-- a style that sought to be on the fringes of mainstream media, seen as biased in its treatment of Quebec and of separatist movements. In the eyes of certain students, the liberation of Quebec could lead only to the liberation of Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines an interval during 1970–1971 during which the Canadian Federal government established a clandestine body codenamed FAN TAN within the Prime Minister's Office to conduct surveillance of, and 'political action' against, the Quebec separatist movement. This organization, led by Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister Marc Lalonde, sought to persuade the Security Service of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to provide intelligence in support of what was a party political entity based in the Prime Minister's Office and not in the actual national security machinery of the Privy Council Office. We examine how John Starnes, Director General of the Security Service, went to considerable lengths to resist this effort to politicize his agency, and to warn the government of the potential scandal should FAN TAN become publicly known. We conclude that the FAN TAN affair leaves a number of serious questions to be answered such as: who actually originated the scheme, its legality as well as propriety, what intelligence was used or continued to be collected after the RCMP sought to end its involvement, and why the matter was ignored by the subsequent McDonald Commission that prompted the dissolution of the Security Service.1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Canadian Federal Government promulgated new and lower NO2 Ambient Air Quality Standards (CAAQS) that went into effect in 2020 with additional decreases scheduled for 2025. The new hourly and annual NO2 CAAQS are 60 and 17 ppb, respectively, and the 2025 hourly and annual CAAQS are 42 and 12 ppb, respectively. The province of Alberta has also promulgated Ambient Air Quality Objectives (AAAQO) for NO2 currently set to 159 and 24 ppb on an hourly and annual basis, respectively. The Wood Buffalo Environmental Association (WBEA) in northeastern Alberta, Canada monitors NO2 at 21 community and industrial sites throughout the Athabasca Oil Sands Region (AOSR), for regulatory compliance using Thermo-Environmental (TEI) Model 42i Federal Reference Method (FRM) designated NO-NO2-NOx analyzers. The 42i measures NO directly via NO-O3 chemiluminescence, and NOx following the reduction of oxidized nitrogen to NO by a heated internal molybdenum converter. The difference between the NOx and NO channels is reported as NO2. This study presents the results of a three-year (2018–2021) WBEA comparison of four continuous NO2 analyzers: TEI 42i FRM; the API Model T500U cavity attenuated phase shift (CAPS) Federal Equivalent Method (FEM); a total reactive odd nitrogen analyzer (TEI Model 42i-Y); and a TEI 42i equipped with an external photolytic converter. The study showed that NO2 data from all analyzers were highly correlated and in general agreement, with r2 values (vs. the CAPS) ranging from 0.990–0.997 and slopes ranging from 0.933–0.992. Mean NO2 concentrations over the study period ranged from 7.2–7.5 ppb. Differences between the TEI 42i, TEI 42i-Y, and PhoNO, relative to the CAPS were all positive and highly significant (p < 0.0001), based upon nonparametric tests. The potential impact from the selection of different FRM/FEM measurement methods on current and future Canadian 2025 regulatory compliance in the region is evaluated. Implications: The study objective was to compare/evaluate different regulatory NO2 measurement techniques from a regional monitoring authority in a routine network operational context. Relatively small NO2 differences resulted in significant differences with respect to regulatory compliance triggers, particularly hourly standards based on daily extreme value statistics (e.g., 99th percentiles). For example, mean hourly NO2 △ differences ranged from 0.02–0.26 ppb over the study period but resulted in 2–3 ppb differences in the 3-year hourly CAAQS metrics. These differences could affect regulatory CAAQS and LARP compliance (management level) at monitoring sites observed during 2019 annual and 2020 hourly LARP trigger exceedances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite self-congratulatory rhetoric, Canada compromised COVID-19 vaccine equity with policies impeding a proposed global waiver of vaccine intellectual property (IP) rules. To learn from Canada’s vaccine nationalism we explore the worldview – a coherent textual picture of the world – in a sample of Government of Canada communications regarding global COVID-19 vaccine sharing. Analysed documents portray risks and disparities as unrelated to the dynamics and power relations of the Canadian and international economies. Against this depoliticised backdrop, economic growth fueled by strict IP rules and free trade is advanced as the solution to inequities. Global vaccine access and distribution are pursued via a charity-focused public-private-partnership approach, with proposals to relax international IP rules dismissed as unhelpful. Rather than a puzzling lapse by a good faith ‘middle power’, Canada’s obstruction of global COVID-19 vaccine equity is a logical and deliberate extension of dominant neoliberal economic policy models. Health sector challenges to such models must prioritise equity in global pandemic governance via politically assertive and less conciliatory stances towards national governments and multilateral organisations. Mobilisation for health equity should transform the overall health-damaging macroeconomic model, complementing efforts based on specific individual health determinants or medical technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

Workplace violence against nurses is a significant global occupational health problem, with incidents of violence increasing in frequency since the COVID-19 pandemic began. In this article, we provide a review of recent legislative amendments meant to bolster workplace safety in health care in Canada, analyze legal cases where nurses were the victims of violence, and discuss what these legal reforms and decisions reveal about how nurses' work is treated within the Canadian legal system. Under criminal law, the limited number of cases we could find with oral or written sentencing decisions show that, historically, the fact a victim was a nurse was not always considered an aggravating factor on sentencing. Recent legislative amendments make this a specified aggravating factor and it is important to track the impact of these amendments when judges exercise their discretion in sentencing. Under employment law, it appears that, despite the government's efforts to increase the deterrence factor under legislation with significantly increased fines for employers who fail to protect their employees from injury, courts remain reluctant to impose such sanctions. In these cases, it is also important to track the impact of harsher penalties. We conclude that combating the widespread normalization of workplace violence in health care, and specifically against nurses, is acutely needed to help ensure that these ongoing legal reforms aimed at improving the safety of health workers are effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses and compares disability policies for working-age individuals in Canada with a focus on the mode of policy provision and type of measure to determine the degree to which direct funding is used in this country. To consider policy diversity in this federal system, policies are compared using a mixed-methods approach. Using quantitative methods, federal, provincial and territorial policies are first compared using hierarchical cluster analysis. This provides evidence of three distinct clusters in Canada according to policy provision and measure type. In a second, qualitative analysis, the disability strategies of four provinces' (British Columbia, Ontario, Newfoundland and Labrador and Quebec) are compared, to determine over arching policy orientations. Findings indicate that policy provision in Canada largely favours money over services. Furthermore, most provinces emphasize either health or integration measures over substantive measures. Despite these commonalities, significant variation persists across Canada. This extends to poverty and disability reduction strategies with two of the four provinces having a broader orientation while the other two provinces focus specifically on employment as a means of social inclusion. The article concludes with a discussion on the state of employment policies for individuals with a disability in Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organizational evaluation policies describe how evaluation practices should be structured and implemented. As such, they provide key insights into organizational priorities and values regarding evaluation. However, the link between evaluation policies and how evaluation policies translate into concrete practices has seldom been explored until now. Our study examines the implementation of two Canadian federal government evaluation policies over a 10-year timespan, through the secondary analysis of reports produced on behalf of governmental evaluation functions. Our findings show that some policy elements have been fully implemented, but the way in which these have been implemented varies between organizations. Further, we observed that the level of control of various organizational members responsible for implementing policy elements, as well as time, can influence implementation of certain policy requirements. We conclude by proposing further directions for research to examine the policy-practice link. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smoking a potent concentration of salvia divinorum (hereafter salvia) has the capacity to dissolve one's ego and sense of self. Due to the catatonic state a strong dose of salvia produces, the substance has been considered alarming by claims-makers including politicians, media officials, police, and citizen groups. This paper examines news media accounts of salvia use in Canada and salvia's regulation by the Canadian federal government. Providing a qualitative content analysis of newspaper articles spanning 1991–2019 regarding claims made about salvia, we draw from literature on moral panics and drugs to conceptualize the police and political response to salvia in Canada. We trace the shifting claims made by an array of claims-makers, showing how the focus changed from curiosity to claims about risk. The banning of salvia in Canada displays the hallmarks of a moral panic, though in this case the claims-making about the harm and risk of salvia went on for years before the substance was made illegal. We apply the notions of slow panic and panic policy to salvia regulation in Canada and reflect on the implications for literatures regarding drug panics and the new psychedelic renaissance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During a time of rapid urban growth and development, it is becoming ever more important to monitor the carbon fluxes of our cities. Unlike Canada's commercially managed forests that have a long history of inventory and modelling tools, there is both a lack of coordinated data and considerable uncertainty on assessment procedures for urban forest carbon. Nonetheless, independent studies have been carried out across Canada. To improve upon Canada's federal government reporting on carbon storage and sequestration by urban forests, this study builds on existing data to develop an updated assessment of carbon storage and sequestration for Canada's urban forests. Using canopy cover estimates derived from ortho-imagery and satellite imagery ranging from 2008 to 2012 and field-based urban forest inventory and assessment data from 16 Canadian cities and one US city, this study found that Canadian urban forests store approximately 27,297.8 kt C (− 37%, + 45%) in above and belowground biomass and sequester approximately 1497.7 kt C year−1 (− 26%, + 28%). In comparison with the previous national assessment of urban forest carbon, this study suggested that in urban areas carbon storage has been overestimated and carbon sequestration has been underestimated. Maximizing urban forest carbon sinks will contribute to Canada's mitigation efforts and, while being a smaller carbon sink compared to commercial forests, will also provide important ecosystem services and co-benefits to approximately 83% of Canadian people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the importance of incorporating Indigenous knowledge into scientific research, particularly in the field of entomology. Indigenous peoples have a deep understanding of the interconnectedness and dynamics of ecosystems, and their knowledge can provide valuable insights for researchers. However, traditional knowledge is often overlooked or dismissed in scientific studies. The article emphasizes the need to respect and value Indigenous knowledge, conduct consultations with Indigenous communities, foster relationships and build trust, and collaborate with traditional knowledge holders. By embracing Indigenous knowledge, researchers can gain a more holistic understanding of entomological complexities and promote cultural preservation and equity in academia. [Extracted from the article]

In 1942, Japanese Canadians living in coastal British Columbia, Canada, were forcibly incarcerated in internment camps far from the Pacific coast and had their fishing boats and other property confiscated and auctioned off. At the end of World War II, they expected to return to the coast, but permission was not granted until 1949. Some were sent to Japan, and many others migrated east of the Rocky Mountains. In 1988, the Canadian federal government acknowledged the wrongs committed as part of Redress, but in more localized spaces, little was acknowledged. The silence was deafening. In this article, I consider recent anti-racist work to address the legacies of anti-Japanese Canadian racism in Central Vancouver Island. This includes: (1) advocating to change the names of a school and street in Port Alberni honorifically named after A.W. Neill, (2) removing an anti-Asian racist covenant from properties that A.W. Neill owned in Port Alberni, (3) activism to receive a public apology for a 1947 city council resolution to not allow returning Japanese Canadians in Tofino, and (4) memorializing a pre-WWII Japanese Canadian community in Cumberland. These efforts can be theorized as anti-racist work associated with Japanese Canadian spaces. This article contributes to critical human geography by emphasizing that while national level efforts to reconcile past wrongs are crucial, localized work also requires considerable attention. It is therefore necessary to be attentive to the importance of scale with regard to the geographies of anti-racist activism and the remaking of commemorative landscapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We review the Canadian federal government's recently enacted Food Policy for Canada (FPC). Three arguments are developed. First, the development and vision statement of the FPC implies that improving Canadian food security is a specific objective of the policy. Second, if assessed by the measure of food insecurity promulgated by Statistics Canada, the effectiveness of the FPC in reducing Canadian food insecurity will primarily depend on the extent to which it improves household incomes and/or lowers food prices. We evaluate the current programmatic content by these criteria. Third, and related to the second point, we argue that the variation in the severity of food insecurity is an important consideration in assessing the effectiveness of FPC programs in reducing food insecurity as measured by Statistics Canada. Finally, we combine these three arguments into a simple figure/heuristic that can serve as a guide to the assessment and development of FPC programs seeking to enhance food insecurity in Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although contraceptive and abortion care are medically necessary services, healthcare providers in Canada are permitted by professional associations to refuse to provide care or referrals for care on the basis of their personal beliefs. Regulating policies vary between provinces and often have vague phrasing, leading to confusion and controversy. Some evidence suggests that belief-based denial of legal and necessary services can lead to harmful outcomes, but rigorous research is scant. We undertook this qualitative study to explore Canadians' experiences with belief-based denial of contraception and abortion care and the consequences of this refusal in Alberta, New Brunswick, and Ontario. We conducted semi-structured, in-depth interviews with individuals who had experienced refusal of contraception or abortion care from November 2022 to March 2023. Eligible participants were sufficiently fluent in English to complete an interview and had access to a telephone or Internet. We employed a multimodal recruitment strategy including posts through community organizations and social media. We obtained oral consent prior to interviews. Interviews included questions about the participants' demographic characteristics, reproductive health histories, experiences with denial of health care, and perspectives on how abortion services could be improved. We audio-recorded and transcribed all interviews and used ATLAS.ti to manage our data. We analyzed our interviews for content and themes using deductive and inductive techniques. We organized our results around domains of inquiry and showcased key themes through narrative vignettes. The Research Ethics Board at the University of Ottawa approved this study. Our 30 participants ranged in age from 21 to 53 (mean 31.6) years; 27 used she/her pronouns, 2 used he/him pronouns, and 1 used they/them pronouns. Our participants identified as white (n=19); Black (n=2), Chinese/East Asian (n=3), South Asian (n=2), Hispanic (n=1), Indigenous (n=1), and Bi-racial (n=2). Twenty participants reported being denied contraception (including sterilization, the intra-uterine device, hormonal methods, and emergency contraceptive pills), 9 participants reported being denied abortion care, and 1 reported being denied both. Participants reported being denied tubal ligation or vasectomy because of age or parity; several participants repeatedly tried to get a tubal ligation over several years and were repeatedly denied the service. Participants reported that denial of abortion care was related to the provider's religious beliefs, the religious affiliation of the hospital/facility, and because of very low gestational age. After being denied care, participants felt angry, scared, disappointed, and frustrated. Some expressed concern over not having reproductive autonomy and described healthcare as sexist. Participants consistently voiced their opposition to policies that allow providers to refuse reproductive health services on the basis of their beliefs. The Canadian federal government has repeatedly supported the provision of a full range of respectful, timely, and accessible contraception and abortion. However, allowing healthcare providers to deny care based on their personal beliefs creates barriers to accessing necessary health services. Policymakers and clinicians should consider reforming these regulations with attention to patient-centered outcomes that are informed by patient experiences, establishing avenues for patients to report violations of practice standards, and creating enforcement mechanisms to ensure that Canadians receive the comprehensive reproductive health services they need and deserve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The supercluster is a new initiative promoted by the Canadian federal government to strengthen Canada's most promising clusters and allow innovative firms to operate more productively in sourcing inputs and accessing information, knowledge, and technology. This paper contributes to the scientific research on superclusters and pursues two objectives. First, we discuss the origins of the supercluster initiative and trace its roots back to major research traditions on regional agglomerations and territorial innovation models, in particular the cluster theory, the regional innovation system, and the entrepreneurial ecosystem approaches. Second, we conduct a critical analysis and identify four critical questions (or challenges) that need to be addressed to clarify the scope and objectives of the policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic offered Canadians a glimpse of the digital healthcare system we could have here if we are willing to clear away the traditional roadblocks that stand in the way. However, as the pandemic slowly recedes, the opportunity to keep moving forward, with a health-care system that fully embraces digital, will likely require the federal government asserting itself as a leader in a policy area that falls within provincial jurisdiction, despite the controversy and contention that federal intervention would arouse. The pandemic's urgent demands on the health system forced jurisdictions to clear many barriers that have impeded digital-health innovation until now. Within weeks of the onset of the pandemic, virtual care exploded to previously unimaginable levels, with health-related telephone and video calls rapidly rising from less than two per cent of all ambulatory visits at the beginning of 2020, to as high as 70 per cent by mid-May the same year. The bureaucracy around procurement, privacy and security was reduced, while digital-health innovators were given the opportunity to take a larger role in the health system. Digital health care is much more than just a doctor making a Zoom call, however. Seizing the momentum to realize broader change will require a national approach. This should include several policies, many requiring federal leadership, such as enshrining digital care within the definition of "medically necessary" care, insured under the Canada Health Act. Digital health also includes giving patients ownership of their personal health data, while ensuring data interoperability across Canada. The current, fragmented, provincial approach to health care is a drag on innovation, creating barriers to the efficient procurement of technologies, interoperability and data sharing. Our heavily siloed system disadvantages not only the health-care system and patients, but Canadian digital-health companies who, because they are unable to scale up in Canada, will find it hard to compete in the growing global digital-health industry. The federal government can show leadership by innovating with digital health policy for those citizens that fall under its health-care purview, such as Indigenous Canadians and members of the Canadian Armed Forces. Ensuring that Canadians everywhere realize the benefits of digital health care, however, will require Ottawa taking a more active role in breaking down barriers between provinces and territories, making it clear that our slow-to-innovate health-care silos are no longer sustainable in a digital world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We compare flexible low‐carbon regulations in the transportation sector and their interaction and sequencing with greenhouse gas emissions trading systems in California and Quebec. As momentum builds for greater climate action, it is necessary to better understand how carbon markets and other low‐carbon transportation policies influence one another. First, we demonstrate that emissions trading between California and Quebec has been asymmetric, with linking having little influence on carbon prices from California's perspective but leading to a considerable cost reduction from the point of view of Quebec. Second, we present evidence that Quebec has replicated many of California's low‐carbon transportation policies that promote increased electric vehicle use, where Quebec has an advantage, while deferring to the Canadian federal government with regard to policies that incentivize the production of other low‐carbon transportation fuels. Third, we demonstrate that while the stringency of the policy mix of carbon pricing and flexible transportation regulations has increased over time in both jurisdictions, the stringency of flexible regulations has been more aggressively ratcheted up and is expected to continue to dominate. Overall, our findings suggest that the policy sequence observed in California and Quebec can be attributed to the political economy benefits that the selected instruments confer to governments seeking to move from the middle towards the bottom of the clean technology experience curve. We discuss a number of important research questions and associated hypotheses emanating from our findings, which provide the basis for more in‐depth studies involving a larger universe of cases and economic sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the start of the opioid epidemic in 2016, the Downtown Eastside community of Vancouver, Canada, has lost many pioneering leaders, activists and visionaries to the war on drugs. The Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU), the Western Aboriginal Harm Reduction Society (WAHRS), and the British Columbia Association People on Opiate Maintenance (BCAPOM) are truly concerned about the increasing overdose deaths that have continued since 2016 and have been exacerbated by the novel coronavirus (SARS-COVID-19) despite many unique and timely harm reduction announcements by the British Columbia (BC) government. Some of these unique interventions in BC, although in many cases only mere announcements with limited scope, are based on the philosophy of safe supply to illegal street drugs. Despite all the efforts during the pandemic, overdose deaths have spiked by over 100% compared to the previous year. Therefore, we urge the Canadian federal government, specifically the Honorable Patty Hajdu, the federal Minister of Health, to decriminalize simple possession immediately by granting exemption under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. The Canadian federal government has a moral obligation under Sect. 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to protect the basic human rights of marginalized Canadians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaluation policies are purposefully designed to give guidance on evaluation practice. The authors' examination confirms not only how evaluation policy influences the character of government departments that direct evaluations and various aspects of evaluation practice but also how evaluation practice can influence evaluation policy. [Extracted from the article]

Most quantitative, comparative welfare state research assumes that subnational welfare regimes are irrelevant or identical to their national counterparts. Many qualitative case studies, on the other hand, have underlined the differences between subnational and national regimes. In this article, we attempt to build bridges between these two strands of literature by examining the case for a Quebec model, that is, a subnational welfare state regime that is distinct from its Canadian counterpart(s). We reviewed seven publications from which we extracted 188 quantitative results relevant to the distinct subnational regime hypothesis. Although not all these results are independent nor based on conclusive evidence, they generally agree that a distinct welfare regime exists in Quebec. We conclude this article by discussing the implications of the Quebec case for the study of welfare regimes at the subnational and regional levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides an overview of co-operative federalism within Canadian legal history and jurisprudence. The author contends that co-operative federalism has expanded to now comprise two distinct branches. "Coordinative co-operation" is the intentional coordination by federal and provincial governments to enact policy that requires the constitutional powers of both. The author contends a new branch, "conjunctive co-operation," directs courts to prefer interpretations of federal and provincial legislation that do not bring them into conflict, allowing them to operate conjunctively. This article outlines the application of both branches in the resolution of contemporary interjurisdictional disputes and considers their implications. Finally, the article attempts to place co-operative federalism within Canada's constitutional doctrine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops a framework for a financial, economic, and stakeholder analysis of a residential rooftop solar net-metering program. The empirical focus of the paper is the net-metering program in Ontario, Canada, but the methodology is applicable to evaluating other public programs. The results highlight that without the Federal Government's subsidy for the initial investment cost, net-metered solar systems are not financially viable for representative households. Moreover, the stakeholder analysis reveals that for each additional net-metered system installed in Ontario, non-net-metered households experience financial losses of six times the benefits to the net-metered households. The net losses to the Federal Government of Canada and the Canadian economy are five and nine times the benefit to the net-metered households, respectively. The only stakeholder who benefits marginally is the Government of Ontario. In terms of environmental benefits, our estimate of the cost of greenhouse gas abatement by residential net-metered solar is 325 CAD per ton of CO 2 , which is significantly higher than the current (65 CAD in 2023) and future (170 CAD by 2030) national carbon price set by the Government of Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the North American British colonies, the 1812 war led to a great mobilization of militia corps to protect the Empire's possessions. For colonial authorities, such context represented an opportunity to measure local militia officers' loyalty to the Crown, particularly those who resided in the French traditional countryside. What can we understand of the French-Canadian involvement in the War of 1812 as officers? What is the impact of their relation to the Crown on their capacity to hold on to positions in their respective communities? By bringing to life a few case studies, this paper wishes to examine the formation of the French-Canadian identity through the involvement of local elites in the militia. This study is based on an analysis of the correspondence of the principal officers of the battalions with the central authorities and prosopographical research of those same officers in the rural regions of Lower Canada. The analysis of the strategies, values and interests of the militia officers, will serve to enlighten the parameters of the collaboration between the local elite and the colonial elite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In call to action 57, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission calls upon federal, provincial and territorial governments to enhance the skills and knowledge of public servants. Leveraging collaboration theory and collaborative capacity, this article delves deeper into the skills, attitudes and knowledge required of public servants who regularly work with First Nations organizations and governments. Using findings from a health care collaboration between First Nations, federal and provincial governments in Alberta with 25 mid‐ to senior‐level leaders, this participatory action research highlights the importance of member capacity to strong collaboration as Canada embarks on the journey from colonization to reconciliation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Elsewhere (as shown in Chapter 4), Malraux delivered speeches about Culture and the Arts, privileging themes such as destiny and praising the renewed friendship between France and Canada. Malraux visited Quebec during the era of Georges-Émile Lapalme, who (beginning in 1961) was the first Minister of Culture for the province of Quebec, and counterpart to Malraux in that position (there was no minister of culture as such within the Canadian federal government, only in the ten provinces). Propos et discours: edited by Claude Corbo, Montréal, VLB éditeur, Études québécoises series, 2022, 171 pp., CAN $26.95 (paper) ISBN: 978-2-8964-9868-0. [Extracted from the article]

Purpose: The public administration literature on representative bureaucracy identifies several advantages from having a diverse public service workforce, but it has not explicitly focused on leadership. For its part, the public sector leadership literature has largely ignored the issue of gender. The purpose of this paper is to rectify these limitations by advancing the argument that having a representative bureaucracy is fundamentally a leadership issue. Moreover, it assesses the extent to which representativeness has been achieved in the Canadian federal public service. Design/methodology/approach: The paper begins with a discussion of the importance of a representative bureaucracy for democratic governance. In the next section, the case is made that representativeness is fundamentally intertwined with the concept of administrative leadership. Then, the article provides an interpretive case study analysis of the federal public service in Canada, which is the global leader in terms of women's representation in public service leadership positions. Findings: The initial breakthrough for gender representation in the Canadian federal public service was 1995. From that point onward, the proportion of women in the core public administration exceeded workforce availability. However, women continued to be modestly under-represented among the senior leadership cadre throughout the early 2000s. The watershed moment for gender representation in the federal public service was 2011 when the number of women in the executive group exceeded workforce availability for the first time. Significant progress toward greater representativeness in the other target groups has also been made but ongoing vigilance is required. Research limitations/implications: The study only determines the passive representation of women in the Public Service of Canada and is not able to comment on the extent to which women are substantively represented in federal policy outcomes. Originality/value: The paper traces the Canadian federal government's progress toward achieving gender representation over time, while commenting on the extent to which the public service reflects broader diversity. In doing so, it explicitly links representation to leadership, which the existing literature fails to do, by arguing that effective administrative leadership is contingent upon having a diverse public service. Moreover, it highlights the importance of gender for public sector leadership, which hitherto has been neglected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There have been a plethora of articles written about foresight and foresight-related activity at a country level. This special issue of I Foresight i changes that by presenting a number of insightful articles and case studies on foresight and foresight-related research and practice in North America. Most of the qualitative articles were about the foresight field: Two articles proposed practical frameworks: Freyn and Farley for competitive intelligence in health care and Hines for scenario forecasting. [Extracted from the article]

In 2017, the government of Quebec revisited the seemingly dormant question of Quebec's place in Canada by releasing a Policy on Quebec Affirmation and Canadian Relations. While the policy statement checks off most of the boxes associated with Quebec's traditional positions on federalism, I contend that it fails to diagnose the crux of the obstacles confronting Quebec and therefore it is likely to be reduced to a mere footnote in our ongoing deliberations around Canada's constitutional impasse. Following an examination of the policy statement, the chapter turns to an exploration of the growing gulf between Quebec and its federal partners with regards to the purposes of federalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Governments around the world are developing smart city projects, with the aim to realize diverse goals of increased efficiency, sustainability, citizen engagement, and improved delivery of services. The processes through which these projects are conceptualized vary dramatically, with potential implications for how citizens are involved or engaged. This research examines the 20 finalists in the Canadian Smart Cities Challenge, a Canadian federal government contest held from 2017 to 2019 to disburse funding in support of smart city projects. We analyzed each of the finalist proposals, coding all instances of citizen engagement used to develop the proposal. A significant majority of the proposals used traditional types of citizen engagement, notably citizen meetings, round tables, and workshops, to develop their smart city plans. We also noted the use of transactional forms of citizen engagement, such as apps, and the use of social media. Despite the general rhetoric of innovation in the development of smart cities, this research finds that citizens are most commonly engaged in traditional ways. This research provides cues for governments that are developing smart city projects, placing an emphasis on the importance of the process of smart city development, and not simply the product. Key Messages: In the Canadian Smart Cities Challenge contest, smart city proposals were created using traditional citizen engagement actions, such as face‐to‐face citizen meetings.The use of transactional methods of citizen engagement, such as mobile apps and social media, is secondary in the development of smart city proposals.Regardless of the outcome of smart city proposals, the process of developing the proposal should meaningfully engage citizens and resident stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Federal Government of Canada established a $1.1 billion compensation programme in 1999 to support individuals who acquired hepatitis C virus (HCV) through blood products between January 1986 and July 1990. We aimed to describe the morbidity and mortality of this unique post‐transfusion cohort (n = 4550) followed for over 15 years from 2000 to 2016. The age‐standardized mortality rates were compared with that of the Canadian general population and HCV cohorts from other countries. We evaluated all‐cause mortality using Kaplan‐Meier survival curves and HCV‐related and unrelated mortality using competing risk models. The age‐standardized all‐cause and HCV‐related mortality rates per 10 000 person‐years were 127 (95% CI: 117‐138) and 76 (95% CI: 69‐85) for males, and 77 (95% CI: 69‐87) and 43 (95% CI: 37‐51) for females, respectively. The risk of death of the post‐transfusion cohort was almost twice as high as the Canadian general population (rate ratio = 1.8; 95% CI: 1.7‐1.9). All‐cause, HCV‐related and HCV‐unrelated mortality were 20%, 12% and 8%, respectively at 15 years of follow‐up. By comparison, HCV‐related mortality rates per 10 000 person‐years for population‐based HCV cohorts varied from 18 and 11 in Australia to 65 and 43 in Scotland for males and females, respectively. We reported long‐term follow‐up data for the largest post‐transfusion cohort in the literature. The all‐cause mortality rates were markedly higher than that of the Canadian general population. We also showed that HCV‐related mortality were greater compared to other HCV cohorts. This suggests that continued efforts to identify and treat post‐transfusion HCV are warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes the resistance strategies adopted by French-Canadian traditionalist intellectuals towards the Canadian welfare state project from the late 1940s to the late 1950s. The article traces the political, legal, and media strategies put forward by François-Albert Angers (1909–2003) in his fight against the Canadian federal government. An economist by training, an academic, and an influential leader of Quebec's nationalist networks, Angers notably fought a legal battle with Canada's Department of National Revenue for nearly a decade (1947–57). Through this saga based on the constitutionality of family allowances, the analysis focuses on central themes of traditionalist discourse, not only in relation to issues of federalism and respect for civil rights, but also in relation to the place of Catholicism within Canadian society. This study thus aims to shed light on the ways in which conservative thinkers in Quebec reacted to the advent of a modern, interventionist Canadian state in the aftermath of the Second World War. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the concept of federal political culture has been attractive to federalism scholars, Canada has proved to be a puzzling case and generated contradictory results across studies. We test a new definition of Canadian federal political culture using original survey data and find that Canadians have moderate levels of federal political culture driven by a utopian view of federalism in which the promotion of diversity should be achieved without any negative consequences for the unity of the polity. We also find that Quebecers and other Canadians have similar levels of federal political culture and that the results are consistent when survey questions are altered to take out country-specific references. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In response to the Canadian federal government's Cannabis Tracking and Licensing System compliance standards, a quantitative method was created for cannabis analysis, and validated using Eurachem V.2 (2014) guidelines. Cannabinol, cannabidiol, cannabigerol, cannabichromene, cannabidiolic acid, cannabigerolic acid, Δ-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, and Δ-9-tetrahydrocannabinolic acid A were all analysed by scheduled multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) via LC-MS/MS and isotope dilution. In addition, aflatoxins B1, B2, G1, and G2 were also analysed by scheduled MRM via LC-MS/MS and matrix matched calibration curves in order to achieve the reporting limits (≤2 μg kg−1) set out by the European Pharmacopoeia. The LODs/LOQs were 0.50/1.7, 2.0/6.7, 0.59/2.0, and 0.53/1.8 μg kg−1, for B1, B2, G1, and G2 respectively. Thirty one terpenes were analysed by selected reaction monitoring via GC-MS/MS and isotope dilution using β-myrcene-d 6 as a surrogate. All quantitative analyses can be accomplished using less than 1 g of material, with minimal solvent and consumable use, on low resolution instruments in less than 30 min of instrument time. Of important note is this method's power of selectivity, working ranges, and lack of need for extraction consumables such as SPE or QuEChERS, thereby minimising analytical costs and time. Image 1 • Validated method developed for analyses of organic chemicals in cannabis. • Cannabinoids and aflatoxins measured by LC/MS/MS; terpenes by GC/MS/MS. • Matrix effects evident for cannabinoids; isotope dilution needed to ensure accuracy. • Method achieves the reporting limits (≤2 μg kg−1) for aflatoxins. • Extractions performed on <1 g material with minimal solvent consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Canadian reference power allows governments to ask appellate courts for an advisory opinion without a live dispute. Reference cases have been an important element of Canadian federalism since their creation in 1875 but have not been subject to a comprehensive analysis. Shifting the focus to understanding government decisions to rely on the courts to navigate federalism, this article has two objectives. First, through analysis of an original dataset of Canadian appellate reference cases from 1875 to 2017, the article provides an examination of how references have been used by governments, with particular attention to issues related to federalism. Second, the article considers how the reference power can be employed as a political strategy by governments. The reference power demonstrates clear support for the blame avoidance and credit-claiming thesis and provides compelling evidence on how the dynamics of intergovernmental relations can shape a government's decision to delegate decision-making to the courts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Public services around the world are grappling to enhance their leadership capacity. One approach is to provide leadership training and development to public servants, while another would be to target and hire individuals with proven leadership ability. The purpose of this paper is to focus on that latter strategy by critically examining the concept of branding the public service as an employer of choice as a means of recruiting and retaining sufficient leadership capacity. Design/methodology/approach: The paper begins by outlining the challenge faced by governments to recruit the best and brightest employees into the public service. It then reviews the literature on the concept of branding as an employer of choice, including its perceived advantages and limitations, before undertaking a case study analysis of the 2007 public sector branding initiative of the Canadian federal government. Findings: It is very difficult to develop a single, master brand given the diversity and complexity of the hundreds of organizations that comprise the public sector. While it may be a popular concept for private sector organizations, the concept of branding the public sector as an employer of choice has yet to demonstrate its merit. Canada, which was ostensibly the vanguard in terms of public sector branding, has been unable to position the federal public service as an employer of choice. Originality/value: There is very little research on the use of branding as an employer of choice in the public sector. This paper contributes to the knowledge about the limitations of such strategies for ensuring that the public sector has the requisite leadership capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, I argue that the dialogue debate has obscured a much richer story that can be told about Halpern v Canada, same-sex marriage, and the complex relationship between courts and legislatures. The federal government was deeply divided on same-sex marriage. Parliament, the Liberal government, the federal Cabinet, and the liberal caucus were all deeply divided. From the outside, it may have appeared as a 'courts versus government' battle, with the federal government defending the opposite-sex definition of marriage right up until the Ontario Court of Appeal struck it down as unconstitutional in Halpern. But a closer look shows that the federal government's about-face after Halpern had been in the making for years, with supporters trying to use court decisions as well as changing public opinion to wedge open the marriage issue. The same-sex marriage case study can be retold as a story not of dialogue between courts and Parliament but, rather, as a contestation within government. I argue that this story – of conflict and contestation within government and the use of court decisions by proponents of same-sex marriage – can provide a richer account of the evolution of the federal government and the adoption of the Civil Marriage Act. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article summarizes two initiatives for artificial intelligence (AI) underway in the Canadian public service: public consultation and collaboration in compiling an algorithmic impact assessment, and a symposium on AI and human rights held by Global Affairs Canada. The findings contextualize the national consultations on digital and data transformation and future steps for more inclusive AI governance in Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The federal government has pledged to update Canada's official development assistance (ODA) policy and this paper examines the potential important role of remittances in the development program. Remittances can serve as a significant form of cross-border capital flows and can have sizable effects on both the sending and receiving countries. This policy piece provides an overview of trends in global remittances and gives a context for the policy discussion on the relationship between remittances and ODA. The paper discusses the primary reasons behind global remittances and their impacts on sending and receiving countries, with a particular emphasis on Canada, the United States and Mexico. Past findings provide insight into the reasons and impacts of remittances on both developed and developing countries. Within the context of Canada, the paper also examines how remittances have been able to complement and possibly drive other development reform efforts domestically and abroad. The goal of the analysis is to help inform the policy discussion in Canada and concludes with a set of policy recommendations for the Canadian federal government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]