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Background: Climate change has a significant impact on population health. Population vulnerabilities depend on several determinants of different types, including biological, psychological, environmental, social and economic ones. Surveillance of climate-related health vulnerabilities must take into account these different factors, their interdependence, as well as their inherent spatial and temporal aspects on several scales, for informed analyses. Currently used technology includes commercial off-the-shelf Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Database Management Systems with spatial extensions. It has been widely recognized that such OLTP (On-Line Transaction Processing) systems were not designed to support complex, multi-temporal and multiscale analysis as required above. On-Line Analytical Processing (OLAP) is central to the field known as BI (Business Intelligence), a key field for such decision-support systems. In the last few years, we have seen a few projects that combine OLAP and GIS to improve spatio-temporal analysis and geographic knowledge discovery. This has given rise to SOLAP (Spatial OLAP) and a new research area. This paper presents how SOLAP and climate-related health vulnerability data were investigated and combined to facilitate surveillance. Results: Based on recent spatial decision-support technologies, this paper presents a spatiotemporal web-based application that goes beyond GIS applications with regard to speed, ease of use, and interactive analysis capabilities. It supports the multi-scale exploration and analysis of integrated socio-economic, health and environmental geospatial data over several periods. This project was meant to validate the potential of recent technologies to contribute to a better understanding of the interactions between public health and climate change, and to facilitate future decision-making by public health agencies and municipalities in Canada and elsewhere. The project also aimed at integrating an initial collection of geo-referenced multi-scale indicators that were identified by Canadian specialists and end-users as relevant for the surveillance of the public health impacts of climate change. This system was developed in a multidisciplinary context involving researchers, policy makers and practitioners, using BI and web-mapping concepts (more particularly SOLAP technologies), while exploring new solutions for frequent automatic updating of data and for providing contextual warnings for users (to minimize the risk of data misinterpretation). According to the project participants, the final system succeeds in facilitating surveillance activities in a way not achievable with today's GIS. Regarding the experiments on frequent automatic updating and contextual user warnings, the results obtained indicate that these are meaningful and achievable goals but they still require research and development for their successful implementation in the context of surveillance and multiple organizations.… [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Environmental movements depend on mass media to reach the public and shape political decision-making. Without media access, social movements experience political marginality. In this paper, we examine whether the internet is a more open space than traditional media for activists to speak on behalf of nature. Our analysis is based on newspaper coverage and environmental organization websites that focus on the conflict over the proposed Jumbo Glacier Resort ski resort in British Columbia. Environmental websites and mass media texts both define Jumbo Pass as wilderness and grizzly bear habitat, while focusing on ecological concerns as well as questions of local democracy. However, environmental group websites discuss a greater range of environmental risks and provide more detailed discussion of these issues. Environmentalist websites also integrate scientific experts and celebrity supporters to a greater degree than mass media texts, which are dominated by environmentalist, ski industry, and provincial government news sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While many digitization projects are currently underway, to help preserve Indigenous traditions, few explore the full potential of the development of digital media and networked technology through Indigenous cultures. This paper outlines the three phases necessary for a robust digital preservation, promotion and growth project: 1) Straightforward documentation of Indigenous traditions; 2) Translation of Indigenous traditions into emerging technology and contemporary cultural modes of expression; 3) Application of principles of Indigenous traditions to develop new technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In modern organizations, information technologies IT often help drive organizational strategies. As such, IT require both judicious planning and oversight. While executive oversight over IT is quite common nowadays, several studies indicate that due to the many benefits and risks associated with IT, more/better board-level oversight may be in order. Unfortunately, there is a scarcity of research on the involvement of board members in IT governance. We attempt to partially fill this gap by empirically examining the degree to which the 27 IT governance questions that make up an IT board governance framework recommended by the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants are raised by the board members of 94 Canadian firms. We also investigate the extent to which the questions are considered important. Our findings show that: board members use only some of the IT governance questions and not all the recommended ones; there is a gap between the IT governance questions board members ask and the ones they perceive to be important; and the number and importance of IT governance questions that board members ask appear to vary with both their organization's strategic use of IT and the need for IT reliability. Implications for research and practice are offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Public Policy is the property of University of Toronto 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.)

The article focuses on the use of the Champlain BASE eConsult online platform for electronic consultation to provide psychiatric services. It mentions that the platform connects primary care providers and specialists. It notes that there was initial doubt that the service could provide satisfactory care when it comes to psychiatry.

The editorial introduction to the October 2011 issue is presented, focusing on the history of Jews in Canada and commenting on the journal's online resources.

Presents several Internet services focusing on medical care in Canada. Features of the Canadian Medical Association home page; Steps for registering in MD Consult; Access to Medline literature at the PubMed Web site.