An examination of the mediation process as it is used to resolve sexual harassment complaints in Canadian universities /

The ways in which the process of mediation affected those involved in the resolution of sexual harassment complaints in Canadian universities were explored. Questionnaires were sent to forty- six Canadian universities and interviews were conducted with fifteen advisors. An analysis of the twenty- two questionnaires returned indicated that mediation was utilized in 11% of the sexual harassment complaints and effected a successful resolution in 67% of these. Both complainants and those con^lained against were reported to have spoken more favourably than unfavourably about the process and outcome of mediation. Questionnaire respondents in general found mediation a slightly less than satisfactory method of complaint resolution. Those respondents who had successfully used mediation; however, describe its usefulness within a university context.

Dancing politics : connecting women's experiences of rave in Toronto to ageism and patriarchy

Based on a critical analysis of recent Canadian and British media, academic, and political representations of rave, in conjunction with the author's and ten female interviewees' past experiences as active rave participants, the purpose of this thesis is to show the ways that rave can be understood as political. Drawing on a post-structural understanding of politics, which understands macro social issues and micro personal experiences as intimately linked and inseparable, this thesis fills a gap in the existing rave literature by explicitly drawing out (a) the ways that active rave participation is entangled in dominant understandings of age and gender-appropriate activities, and (b) the implications that these entanglements have on the ways that some women experience and construct their past active rave participation. Specifically, the author examines the ways that age and gender intersect and inform the discourses on which research participants drew to describe and rationalize their experiences of becoming, being, and ceasing to be active rave participants in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. At the same time that the majority of research participants' introductions to rave followed heterosexualized and heternormative patterns, they also constructed active rave participation as a way to challenge popular representations of rave as an inappropriate activity, especially for young women. When rationalizing the cessation of their active rave participation, however, these women reproduced depictions of rave participation as a transitory and juvenile phase where older women are particularly misplaced. The various ways that these women simultaneously challenged, experienced, and facilitated dominant ageist and patriarchal discourses about who does and does belong in rave are interpreted as evidence that micro rave experiences cannot be divorced from macro discriminatory discourses, and that "the personal is political."

Physical access for persons with disabilities

For persons with disabilities, the activities that able-bodied people take for granted can be major, often insurmountable challenges. Attempting to enter a restaurant for lunch with friends can result in lengthy and adversarial litigation if the facility is not accessible to a person with a disability or other mobility impairment. This litigation would be initiated after the individual was effectively refused service; a refusal based on hislher personal physical characteristics. If a shopping mall is not equipped with "access amenities", then the disabled person may be excluded from shopping there and thus exercising consumer freedom. If workplaces are not equipped to accommodate the access needs of persons with disabilities, then those people are effectively barred from gainful employment there. If a municipal goveniment building is inaccessible to disabled persons, then they may be excluded from participating in council meetings. These are all activities that the majority of the population enjoys as a matter of course, in that they represent the functions of a free citizen in a free society. If a person is excluded from such activities because of some personal characteristic, then that person is subjected to differential or discr~minatory treatment. The guarantees provided in Canadian feden! and provincial rights legislation, are such that people are not to be discriminated againsL Where buildings and facilities othen\iise open to the public are not accessible for persens with disabilities, then those people are being discriminated against. To challenge these discriminatory practices, individuals initiate complaints through the administrative justice system. To address the extent to which this is a problem, many sources were consulted. Constitutional lawyers, tribunal members, advocates for the disabled and land use planners were interviewed. Case law and legislation were reviewed. Literature on citizenship theory, dispute resolution and dispute avoidance was compiled and assessed. And, the field of land use planning was analyzed (drawing on the WTiter's educational and experiential background) as a possible alternative method for effecting systemic access for persons with disabilities. The conclusion of this study is that there does exist a proactive method for assuring access, a method that can apply the systemic remedy needed to deal with this problem. The current method, which is an adversarial and piecemeal complaint process, has proven ineffective in remedying this discrimination problem~ Failure to provide an appropriate remedy means that persons with disabilities will not enjoy the degree of citizen status enjoyed by the able-bodied. This is the current circumstance, and since equity is the aim of rights legislation, and since such legislative and administrative frameworks have failed in that purpose, then an alternative method is necessary. An alternative model is the one in which land use planning is based. It has conflict avoidance and conflict minimization as underpinnings. And, most importantly, land use planning is already a proyen method of combatting discrimination.

A Struggle Against the Odds: Understanding the Lived Experiences of Canadian Hockey League (CHL) Players

The purpose of this research was to examine the experiences of Canadian Hockey League (CHL) players using a Foucauldian theory-based analysis. Specifically, this thesis contends that power relations between players and CHL hockey authorities need to be critically assessed. The CHL is the world’s leading developmental junior ice hockey league. Comprised of 1,400 hockey players, aged 15–21 years old on 60 teams through three divisions, the CHL is a primary supplier of talent for the National Hockey League. In the last year, several issues surrounding unjust practices within the CHL have been brought to the forefront, indicating that the potential for harassment, abuse, and exploitative practices are heightened in an organization such as the CHL, where profits are extracted from the labour of youth. Ultimately, this study is designed to contribute to both scholarly and public audiences, providing a critical analysis of the welfare of youth in the CHL.

Contract between John Cronyn and Nelson Forsyth, December 16, 1854.

John Cronyn (1827-1898) emigrated to Canada from Ireland in 1837. He studied medicine at the University of Toronto, but was not granted his degree upon completion of the requirements. He refused to take the test oaths meant to exclude Catholics from the profession and was not granted his degree until several years later, when the discriminatory laws were rescinded. In 1850, he married Elizabeth Willoughby of Toronto. They settled in Fort Erie and he established a successful medical practice there. He was active in the community, serving as Superintendent of schools and one term as Reeve. In 1859 he relocated to Buffalo and continued to practice medicine there. Cronyn was instrumental in the establishment of a medical department at Niagara University, where he was a professor and president of faculty. Nelson Forsyth was the son of William Forsyth (1771-1841), a prominent businessman in Niagara who owned and operated the Pavilion Hotel (later known as Forsyth’s Inn). Nelson was also a businessman and lived in Fort Erie with his wife Archange Warren.

Do Neuro-Muscular Adaptations Occur in Endurance-Trained Boys and Men?

Most research on the effects of endurance training has focused on endurance training's health-related benefits and metabolic effects in both children and adults. The purpose of this study was to examine the neuromuscular effects of endurance training and to investigate whether they differ in children (9.0-12.9 years) and adults (18.4-35.6 years). Maximal isometric torque, rate of torque development (RTD), rate of muscle activation (Q30), electromechanical delay (EMD), and time to peak torque and peak RTD were determined by isokinetic dynamometry and surface electromyography (EMG) in elbow and knee flexion and extension. The subjects were 12 endurance-trained and 16 untrained boys, and 15 endurance-trained and 20 untrained men. The adults displayed consistently higher peak torque, RTD, and Q30, in both absolute and normalized values, whereas the boys had longer EMD (64.7+/-17.1 vs. 56.6+/-15.4 ms) and time to peak RTD (98.5+/-32.1 vs. 80.4+/-15.0 ms for boys and men, respectively). Q30, normalized for peak EMG amplitude, was the only observed training effect (1.95+/-1.16 vs. 1.10+/-0.67 ms for trained and untrained men, respectively). This effect could not be shown in the boys. The findings show normalized muscle strength and rate of activation to be lower in children compared with adults, regardless of training status. Because the observed higher Q30 values were not matched by corresponding higher performance measures in the trained men, the functional and discriminatory significance of Q30 remains unclear. Endurance training does not appear to affect muscle strength or rate of force development in either men or boys.