Search

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

This municipality invested in an innovative and timely multi-community collaboration for broadband internet services delivery, involving some four municipalities and five First Nations - a collaborative approach celebrated in the annals of rural development (e.g., Beattie & Annis, [4]; Korsching et al., [43]), and currently being rearticulated in so-called New Regionalism (Daniels et al., [15]). And if the senior government subscribes to moving its constitutionally corralled local government mandate more and more toward "community government" (Douglas, [19]; Tindal, [69]), then the principle of subsidiarity, and the requisites of devolution, endogeneity, and increased self-government, will be the guiding lights here. A further contrast is with the Netherlands where the status of local government in a highly decentralized country is evidenced by the fact that the personnel resources employed by local government are some 60% higher than the entire national government (VNG, [73]). This trajectory has taken us from a thoroughgoing colonial enterprise facilitating the agendas of European geopolitical and mercantile interests relating to resources exploitation, settlement, and the secure reproduction of power structures, via a colonial government, and then the Federal and Provincial governments, through to the post-war maturation of a more independent welfare state and the rapid urbanization of Canadian society, on to today's conditions in a highly globalized, technologically driven world. The founding role of these municipalities, as a provincially sanctioned agency to provide services to property, such as roads maintenance and water and sewage services has, for most municipalities, been transformed to a locally responsible government that is now expected to deliver a diverse range of services to people, community organizations, local businesses, international industrial corporations, and others. [Extracted from the article]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Political Science / Revue Canadienne de Science Politique is the property of Cambridge University Press 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.)

Research on climate change policy and politics has become increasingly focused on the actions and influence of subnational governments. In North America, this attention has been particularly focused on why subnational governments have taken action in the absence of national leadership, what effect action might have on future national climate policy, and whether the collective action of networks of municipal governments are reshaping and challenging the character of national and global climate governance. This paper examines Canadian municipal climate in light of the absence of a comprehensive and effective climate national strategy. The paper considers various reasons why local governments in Canada have not been central players in national plans, and why their actions have not been more influential nationally. The paper argues that the potential influence of Canadian municipalities on national climate policy is weak, given the loose nature of the network and the long-held structural view that municipalities are not significant units of political analysis in national political and policy debates. The paper concludes by considering the constraints and opportunities of subnational climate networks and municipal network analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flood risk maps are essential sources of information for flood risk management (FRM) decisions. Commercial flood models used by the insurance industry are rarely studied in the academic literature which has led to difficulties in understanding their sources of uncertainty and opportunities for improvement. This paper compares regions and residential properties identified as exposed to floods by an insurance industry model and by government authorities responsible for FRM in three Canadian cities. Findings show that the insurance model is identifying substantially greater number of regions and properties as at-risk of flood, and little overlap exists between public and private flood maps. The paper discusses opportunities for data integration and increased data transparency for supporting flood resiliency efforts in Canada. • This study leverages flood maps used by governments and insurance companies to detect residential flood exposure. • Findings show large differences in the number and location of residential properties in flood zones recognized by each sector. • The paper discusses opportunities for cross-sectoral collaboration in data management for improving flood risk management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the new techniques of comparative analysis developed in recent years for the study of foreign systems of public administration is the ecological or environmental approach. Utilizing such an approach, the following study compares the public administrative systems of Canada and Ceylon in relation to their geographic, economic, social, and political setting. By examining these administrative systems on the basis of some of the more significant environmental influences affecting them, this study attempts to identify the cultural variables influencing public administration in an industrially well-developed Western nation and a developing new state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Canada and the United States are both committed to the protection of endangered species. This article examines how the legal frameworks created around the USEndangered Species Act(ESA) and the CanadianSpecies at Risk Act(SARA) intersect with Indigenous environmental justice (EJ). Specifically, the distribution of benefits and burdens is examined since critical habitat designations can limit activity on Native American and First Nation tribal lands. Legal documents and recent court cases also give insight into Indigenous inclusion and recognition in conservation approaches in North America. Overall, it is argued that Canada’s approach comes closer to EJ, but neither legal framework meets the criterion of genuine EJ for Native Americans and First Nations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In an influential 2002 study, John Hibbing and Elizabeth Theiss-Morse make the provocative argument that high numbers of Americans seek "stealth democracy," that is, processes that discover the will of the people without requiring substantial citizen effort. This article applies the concept in a Canadian province and argues that the stealth democracy measure represents an ambiguous amalgam of attitudes that are only loosely related to one another, and which do not appear to represent a single, underlying concept. We draw on 2011 Saskatchewan Election Study data and find that Saskatchewan responses to the stealth democracy items generally parallel the responses gathered in previous studies conducted in the United States, Finland, Britain, and Australia. We move beyond these studies by examining the components of the stealth democracy index. We conclude by suggesting that the concept of stealth democracy be rebuilt to better distinguish among attitudes toward democracy, politics, and governing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Public Administration 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 Journal of Political Science / Revue Canadienne de Science Politique is the property of Cambridge University Press 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.)

Disappointment with international efforts to find legal solutions to climate change has led to the emergence of a new generation of climate policy. This includes the emergence of courts as new ‘battlefields in climate fights’. Cross-national comparative analysis of the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia supplements research that has found that litigation plays an important governance gap-filling role in jurisdictions without comprehensive national-level climate change policies. The inductive research design identifies patterns in climate change litigation. The three countries illustrate the varieties of climate policies, and thus serve as a useful entry point for thinking more generally about the interplay between climate politics and legal mobilisation. To improve theoretical understandings of the role of courts in climate change politics, the range of litigants and the variety of cases brought to courts under the umbrella of the term ‘climate change litigation’ are identified. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Political Science / Revue Canadienne de Science Politique is the property of Cambridge University Press 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 and the United States have significantly different arrangements for the provision of health care. They also have contrasting federal systems. While much research has considered the implication of these factors in terms of national health outcomes, there is little consideration of how these differences affect subpopulations within the countries. This article compares rural health outcomes between the two countries and how the variant federal arrangements address rural health. It is found that rural health outcomes are similar in spite of significant divergence in their institutional and intergovernmental responsibilities. Thus, it appears that rural health disparities are best understood as a function of social and economic environments of rural areas rather than institutional and policy assignments flowing from differences in their federal systems. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

There is a rich comparative literature on Australian and Canadian politics but relatively little comparing political discourse, despite the election in both countries of governments promising to 'govern for the mainstream'. This article presents a comparative analysis of market populist discourse as articulated by the Howard and Harper governments, using a conceptualisation of market populism that draws on work by Thomas Frank. The article examines the origins and vectors of this discourse, its adaptation to local circumstances and the way it mobilises resentment against so-called 'elites' and 'special interests' associated with the welfare state and with the intermediary institutions of representative democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Sociology is the property of Canadian Journal of Sociology 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.)

Possible contributions of federalism to civil service reform and government efficiency are getting serious attention in Mexico and Canada, but fears of separatism interfere with revitalization of federalism. Mexican federalism has finally begun to be taken seriously, and Canadian federalism has always been strong. At a time when Mexico is facing an unparalleled succession of political changes, the subject is highly pertinent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]