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The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted society. Vulnerable populations are at heightened risk for exposure, as well as adverse health and social consequences. Policymakers are operating under difficult circumstances, making crucial policy decisions to maximize impact and mitigate harm, with limited scientific evidence. This article examines the pronounced vulnerability of Indigenous Peoples in Canada to the pandemic. We highlight the importance of moving beyond individual-level risk factors associated with COVID-19 by identifying and classifying Indigenous communities most vulnerable to the pandemic. We propose the use of a social diagnostic tool, the Community Well-Being Index, rooted in the social determinants of health, to predict community vulnerability and potentially guide policy decision-making in the fight against COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Remembrance highlights the possibilities of a modest commercial cinema that prioritizes craftsmanship and focus. This has special importance in Canadian and Quebec cinema, and Remembrance's afterlife as the three-season Canadian TV show X-Company raises important questions about the flourishing of small national cinemas in a globalized age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses film festivals including the Toronto International Film Festival in Toronto, Ontario, the Atlantic Film Festival in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and the Cannes Film Festival in France.

Due to shallow depth and high surface area-to-volume ratio, ponds of the Hudson Bay Lowlands are vulnerable to climatic and hydrological changes, but relations between hydrological processes and limnological conditions remain unknown. Here, we measured water balance and limnological variables (water chemistry, suspended sediments, chlorophyll- a) at 20 ponds near Churchill (Manitoba) three times during the ice-free season of 2010 to explore relations among hydrological connectivity, basin morphometry, and waterchemistry variations. Using principal components analysis, we identified that the ponds followed one of four distinctive 'seasonal water chemistry trajectories' (SWCT1-4). Most of the ponds that lacked apparent hydrologic connectivity displayed SWCT1, characterized by rising alkalinity and ionic content between early June and late July due to evaporative concentration. In contrast, most ponds with apparent hydrological connectivity displayed SWCT2 or SWCT3, characterized by marked changes in suspended sediment and total nitrogen concentrations due to inflow that transferred allochthonous materials from the catchment. Ponds in SWCT2 likely possessed temporary hydrological connections during periods of relatively high water supply and exhibited marked decline of suspended sediment and total nitrogen content when hydrological connection was lost. Most ponds in SWCT3 maintained active hydrological connections during all or most of the ice-free season and possessed relatively high suspended sediment and total nitrogen concentrations throughout the season. Ponds in SWCT4 possessed relatively stable water chemistry due to greater water depth and local features that reduced wind-induced sediment resuspension. We conclude that hydrological connectivity and basin morphometry exert important influence on seasonal pond water-chemistry dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Canada went through a tough discussion in July 2013 when it was revealed that between 1942 and 1952 unethical and harmful research was conducted on Aboriginal peoples, most of whom were children. Beyond simply condemning unethical research with Indigenous populations, we need to examine why this happened and understand what the implications and lessons are for "policy research" moving forward. Policy research is a powerful tool when conducted in the proper way. We must never lose sight of the reason we are engaged in the activity: to improve well-being through the improvement of understanding that leads to change. The research process must, itself, be part of the positive process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The condition of water safety and quality on reserve has been a growing concern in Canada. Despite a substantial amount of funding allocated toward improving water infrastructure on reserve, an alarming proportion of communities face boil and drinking water advisories. To understand why this paradox and problem persists, this article will work through the issues and nuances that have created unsafe drinking water on reserve, proposed remedies, and policy implications. To do so, the role of the Government of Canada is reviewed first because reserve land is under federal jurisdiction. Following this, the article will discuss the standpoints of the Assembly of First Nations and other Indigenous groups on the water crisis, and will draw upon focus groups within First Nations that we conducted. To contextualize the water issue on reserve in Canada, a comparison with the United States is then drawn. One of the main themes of this paper with regard to the issue of safe drinking water on reserve is how the legacy of colonization has limited community capacity. This theme is then discussed in depth by comparing Indigenous to non-Indigenous communities, looking to the social determinants of water quality, and possibilities and limitations of building adaptive sustainability allowing for safe drinking water on reserve. To understand what processes consistently intervene in the way of sustainability of safe water in Indigenous communities, regulatory frameworks are examined, funding mechanisms are reviewed, and Aboriginal governance is discussed along with the direction that policy should take [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Canadian assessments of First Nation and Aboriginal education lack any real modelling of reasons for the particular patterns of attainment — it is this void that we wish to fill. This paper examines educational attainment in First Nations communities using combined data from the 1996 Census and Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development Education Survey for the school year 1995/1996, aggregated to the band level, for registered and non-registered Indian and Inuit students who live on reserve in Canada. Multiple sequential regression analysis is used to model the educational success of grade 12 and 13 students with community level characteristics, including an isolation variable, school type variable, demographic variables, economic variables, and human capital variables. We use three measures of educational success: the age appropriate rate, graduate rate, and withdrawal rate. It is shown that the community level variables are similar in their explanatory power of educational success; however, the effects of variables within blocks on measures of educational success differ. The demography and human capital blocks play a particularly important role for all three measures of educational success. Additional analysis includes an examination of standardized regression weights. The paper discusses research and policy implications and articulates future avenues for research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Explores the innovations at the Inuit Broadcasting Corporation, an indigenous Arctic mass media outlet in Canada. Link of the emergence of film and video activity in the Canadian Arctic with Inuit political organizing; Examination of the films of Mosha Michael assisted by the National Film Board of Canada; Relevance of Arctic media in line with its governmental and aesthetic projects.

The labour market outcomes of Aboriginal postsecondary graduates have received very little attention in the research literature. The purpose of this paper is to build on the existing research in the area by investigating the early earnings and employment outcomes of male and female Aboriginals with various postsecondary credentials (i.e., trades, college, and university), and compare their outcomes with those of visible minorities and the rest of the population. The results of this study show that visible-minority postsecondary graduates earn more than do Aboriginals and non-minorities. However, when controlling for socio-demographic characteristics and type of postsecondary attainment (i.e., level of schooling and field of study), Aboriginals earn more than both non-minorities and visible minorities. The extent of these earnings differences depends on both gender and level of schooling. Despite their relatively favourable earnings outcomes, Aboriginal postsecondary graduates generally experience poorer employment prospects. The implications of these findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data from the 1996 Public Use Microdata File (PUMF) on individuals, this paper examines labour force activity of women in Canada, focussing on the effects of familial status and household structure to determine whether these factors have similar elasticities among Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal women. We found that labour force activity varied greatly by Aboriginal Status. In general, Registered Indians were less likely to be employed but more likely to be unemployed than Other Aboriginals and non-Aboriginals. While lower educational attainment, presence of minor children and lone parenthood were found to be associated with a lower likelihood of being employed, significant differences by Aboriginal Status were found. The effect of educational attainment on employment was found to be higher among Registered Indians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses three questions: 1) Why study intra-Aboriginal inequality? 2) What is the gap in wages and income between the general Canadian population and the different Aboriginal peoples? and 3) How much inequality exists within the Aboriginal groups and between Aboriginal groups and the non-Aboriginal population? The article points to a general pattern of increase in measured disparity and polarization in income for all Aboriginal groups in comparison to the non-Aboriginal population. In terms of intra-Aboriginal inequality, Aboriginal groups rank from Inuit at the high end, through Status Indians, to non-status Indians and, finally, to Métis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the events leading to the termination of Canadian Union of Postal Workers during the ad-mail services privatization of Canada Post Corp. in Canada. Process and consequences of the termination in the industrial relations of Canada Post; Implications of privatization; Survey on the outcome of privatization on terminated workers.

The restructuring of the Canadian economy continued throughout the recession of the early 1990s. How do union leaders see this situation and what are their reactions? We discuss the current economic restructuring, examining the "competitiveness" analysis of Michael Porter, the initiatives of capital and the state, such as the FTA and NAFTA, and the restructuring of the workplace through "flexibility initiatives". We explore the response of the unions to this complex situation as seen through the eyes of selected leaders and draw some tentative conclusions on the future directions of labour in Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to describe the profile of nursing leadership structures in Canada and to assess relationships among structures, processes and outcomes pertaining to nurse leaders' work. Data were collected from nurse leaders in 28 academic health centres and 38 community hospitals in 10 Canadian provinces (n = 1,164). The results of this study revealed that the current contingent of nursing leaders in Canada see themselves as an empowered and influential group within their organizations. Despite very large spans of control, nurse leaders at all levels were positive about their work life and confident in their ability to provide effective leadership on nursing affairs within their organizations. Structural and process factors significantly affected nurse manager outcomes at all levels. Senior nurse leaders' work-life factors had a significant effect on middle and first-line managers' perceptions of patient care quality in the organization. Nurse leaders averaged 49 years of age highlighting the need for succession planning.