Federal Constitutionalism and Aboriginal Difference

The author outlines a new legal approach, which he labels federal constitutionalism, to the question of aboriginal difference in Canada. This approach has the potential to open up more fruitful avenues for the resolution of aboriginal law issues than either the “frozen rights” approach currently adopted by the Supreme Court of Canada or the treaty federalism approach, which posits that treaties should be used to resolve all differences between aboriginals and non-aboriginals. The author outlines the difficulties inherent in both the frozen rights and treaty federalism approaches. Federal constitutionalism, in contrast, draws its vitality from an organic understanding of Canada’s constitutional experience. It would allow aboriginal peoples to be seen as federal actors who have historically shaped the Canadian federation. Federal constitutionalism is a multi-faceted approach that would permit aboriginal questions to be addressed using the federal principle, thereby allowing the legal focus to move away from section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982. Aboriginal peoples would be able to exercise the rights of sovereignty over their own internal affairs, while individual aboriginals could participate directly in federal and provincial governments without having to proceed through the intermediary of aboriginal representatives. Federal constitutionalism would allow aboriginal peoples a guaranteed sphere of autonomy, while permitting recognition of their historical interdependence with non-aboriginal peoples.

Supporting Parallel Legal Systems as a Means of Improving Access to Justice in Guatemala

Parallel legal systems can and do exist within a single sovereign nation, and rural Guatemala offers one example. Such parallel systems are generally viewed as failures of legal penetration which compromise the rule of law. The question addressed in this paper is whether the de facto existence of parallel systems in Guatemala benefits the indigenous population, or whether the ultimate goal of attaining access to justice requires a complete overhaul of the official legal system. Ultimately, the author concludes that while the official justice system needs a lot of work in order to expand access to justice, especially for the rural poor, the existence of a parallel legal system can be a vehicle for, rather than a hindrance to, expanding such access.

Passages inclusifs : le réseau d'organismes communautaires autochtones de Montréal

This research aims to enrich the understanding of the constitution of a sense of belonging to an aboriginal community in Montreal. It has been demonstrated that there is indeed a social cohesion in Montreal based on the collective aboriginal ethnic identity, or aboriginality. This cohesion is supported by aboriginal organizations and associations, whise approaches and engagements have a direct impact on their inclusion into the community. These institutions are considered as the source of communitarian social bond in the city. By the empowerment of a shared aboriginal identity, the representation of community interests, the integration in the urban life, the service delivery to members of the middle class and the creation of secured spaces dedicated to their cultural heritage, aboriginal associations are creating social ties to the community. On the other hand, some problems like the lack of communication between organizations, their hermetic nature, their excessive bureaucratic methods, the way women in the community monopolize the institutions, the presence of non-aboriginal people as well as the gang phenomenon are all experienced in the organizations. These problems produce harmful consequences on the member’s relations to the communitarian system and reduce their participation and attendance. Also, the social bond within the native community is weakened by various factors outside the grasp of the institutions. Some internal discriminations and stereotypes, sometimes tied to the use of administrative indicators of the Canadian Aboriginal Law, the lack of a native district in Montreal, and the different socio-economic members’ situations create divisions and affect the community spirit. This thesis focuses on the native community construction in an urban area through its institutional sphere, which differs from other studies on urban Natives. The objective is to understand the urban realities and the way the urban native communities are developing themselves.

Passages inclusifs : le réseau d'organismes communautaires autochtones de Montréal

This research aims to enrich the understanding of the constitution of a sense of belonging to an aboriginal community in Montreal. It has been demonstrated that there is indeed a social cohesion in Montreal based on the collective aboriginal ethnic identity, or aboriginality. This cohesion is supported by aboriginal organizations and associations, whise approaches and engagements have a direct impact on their inclusion into the community. These institutions are considered as the source of communitarian social bond in the city. By the empowerment of a shared aboriginal identity, the representation of community interests, the integration in the urban life, the service delivery to members of the middle class and the creation of secured spaces dedicated to their cultural heritage, aboriginal associations are creating social ties to the community. On the other hand, some problems like the lack of communication between organizations, their hermetic nature, their excessive bureaucratic methods, the way women in the community monopolize the institutions, the presence of non-aboriginal people as well as the gang phenomenon are all experienced in the organizations. These problems produce harmful consequences on the member’s relations to the communitarian system and reduce their participation and attendance. Also, the social bond within the native community is weakened by various factors outside the grasp of the institutions. Some internal discriminations and stereotypes, sometimes tied to the use of administrative indicators of the Canadian Aboriginal Law, the lack of a native district in Montreal, and the different socio-economic members’ situations create divisions and affect the community spirit. This thesis focuses on the native community construction in an urban area through its institutional sphere, which differs from other studies on urban Natives. The objective is to understand the urban realities and the way the urban native communities are developing themselves.

Of Grizzlies and Landslides : The Use of Archaeological and Anthropological Evidence in Canadian Aboriginal Rights Cases

www.maney.co.uk/journals/pua

Visual demonstration of the ionic strength effect in the classroom: the Debye-Hückel limiting law

The effects of ionic strength on ions in aqueous solutions are quite relevant, especially for biochemical systems, in which proteins and amino acids are involved. The teaching of this topic and more specifically, the Debye-Hückel limiting law, is central in chemistry undergraduate courses. In this work, we present a description of an experimental procedure based on the color change of aqueous solutions of bromocresol green (BCG), driven by addition of electrolyte. The contribution of charge product (z+|z-|) to the Debye-Hückel limiting law is demonstrated when the effects of NaCl and Na2SO4 on the color of BCG solutions are compared.

Power-law creep behavior of a semiflexible chain

Rheological properties of adherent cells are essential for their physiological functions, and microrheological measurements on living cells have shown that their viscoelastic responses follow a weak power law over a wide range of time scales. This power law is also influenced by mechanical prestress borne by the cytoskeleton, suggesting that cytoskeletal prestress determines the cell's viscoelasticity, but the biophysical origins of this behavior are largely unknown. We have recently developed a stochastic two-dimensional model of an elastically joined chain that links the power-law rheology to the prestress. Here we use a similar approach to study the creep response of a prestressed three-dimensional elastically jointed chain as a viscoelastic model of semiflexible polymers that comprise the prestressed cytoskeletal lattice. Using a Monte Carlo based algorithm, we show that numerical simulations of the chain's creep behavior closely correspond to the behavior observed experimentally in living cells. The power-law creep behavior results from a finite-speed propagation of free energy from the chain's end points toward the center of the chain in response to an externally applied stretching force. The property that links the power law to the prestress is the chain's stiffening with increasing prestress, which originates from entropic and enthalpic contributions. These results indicate that the essential features of cellular rheology can be explained by the viscoelastic behaviors of individual semiflexible polymers of the cytoskeleton.