Deconstructing The New Federalism

The appearance or imminent arrival of a ‘new federalism’ has been a repeated theme in the study of federal-provincial relations in Canada and in the pronouncements of Canadian governments. At the same time, there clearly is a strong path dependency effect that acts as a check or limitation on the scope of change that federal governments can accomplish, leaving Canadian history littered with the corpses of ‘new federalisms’ that have never been realized. While there is much that separates recent scholarly interventions on the new federalism, all recognize the need to restore a greater measure of political legitimacy and functionality in federal-provincial relations by building consensus on rules and norms of behavior. This paper surveys the history of ‘the new federalism’ as a political strategy and program, and analyzes the competing interpretations of the concept that are currently on offer. I conclude that policy challenges looming on the horizon will demand a coordinated and multilevel response from governments, making it likely that whatever new federalism emerges will continue the trend toward shared jurisdiction and policy-making, rather than disentanglement

Crime et châtiment : le Parti progressiste-conservateur du Canada entre 1984 et 1993

La volatilité de l’électorat canadien est considéré comme un élément marquant du comportement électoral au pays. Ce phénomène a été le plus souvent expliqué soit par les caractéristiques des votants, soit par celles des partis politiques. Dans cet article, nous soutenons plutôt que, dans l’ensemble, l’électorat canadien s’est comporté de façon rationnelle et constante. L’instabilité qui a caractérisé le choix des votants en 1993 et qui a fait éclater le système partisan est due aux partis eux-mêmes; ce sont les manoeuvres partisanes dans la quête de l’électeur médian et la stratégie du « quitte ou double » de la politique de médiation qui ont ébranlé le sentiment d’appartenance aux partis et qui ont modifié le comportement de l’électorat. C’était particulièrement le cas pour le Parti progressiste-conservateur qui, entre 1984 et 1993, a poursuivi une politique trop ambitieuse visant à s’assurer l’appui du Québec en lui proposant continuellement de nouveaux accommodements. Cette politique a eu pour conséquence d’empêcher le parti de faire les ajustements nécessaires au cours de la campagne de 1993 pendant que de nouveaux partis de protestation grugeaient sa base de supporters.The volatility of the Canadian electorate has been a notable feature of Canadian electoral politics. Usually this has been explained either by referring to the characteristics of the voter, or the parties, or both. This paper will argue that the Canadian electorate, on the whole, has been rational and consistent in its electoral behavior. The instability in voter choice in 1993 that shattered the party system was party-induced; it was party maneuvering in search of the median voter and "roll-of-the-dice" brokerage politics that eroded the stability of partisanship and voter behavior. This was particularly the case for the Progressive Conservative Party, who between 1984 and 1993 engaged in a form of "imperial overstretch" in order to win and continuously accommodate Quebec. This prevented the Conservatives from making the necessary adjustments during the 1993 campaign once it was clear that the new protest parties were stealing away the party's support base

Molecular characterization and evolutionary plasticity of protein-protein interfaces

Abstract The sequencing of the human genome provides the parts list for understanding cellular processes. However, as 70% of eukaryotic genes work through multi-protein systems, it is only through detailed study of the interactions of these components, that a more complete, systems-level understanding can be gained. This thesis is centred on the establishment of PICCOLO - a comprehensive database of structurally characterized protein interactions. In generating the resource, issues of interface definition, quaternary structure, data redundancy, structural environment and interaction type are addressed. The resource enables a variety of analyses to be performed concerning interface properties including residue propensity, hydropathy, polarity, interface size, sequence entropy and residue contact preference. PICCOLO has been applied to probing the patterns of substitutions that are accepted in protein interfaces across evolution, and whether these patterns are distinguishable from those seen in other structural environments. The derivation of a high-quality set of multiple structural alignments in the form of the database TOCCATA, a prerequisite for such analysis, is described, as well as procedures to derive environment-specific substitution tables. The Blundell group has contributed a series of methods to predict the likely effect of non-synonymous Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (nsSNPs) on protein stability, function and interactions in order to triage the large volumes of data created from high-throughput genetic screening studies, enabling prioritization of those nsSNPs most likely to be phenotypically detrimental. PICCOLO's contribution to these predictions is described. Historically there has been little focus on protein-protein interactions as drug targets for small-molecule therapeutics. However, alanine-scanning mutagenesis studies have revealed that only a subset of residues contribute the greater part of free energy to binding - so-called "hot-spots". Molecular characterization of hot-spots performed using PICCOLO, probes the molecular basis underlying this important phenomenon leading to the possibility of predictive methods to identify hot-spots 'in silico'

Macroinvertebrate taxonomic and functional trait compositions within lotic habitats affected by river restoration practices

The widespread degradation of lotic ecosystems has prompted extensive river restoration efforts globally, but many studies have reported modest ecological responses to rehabilitation practices. The functional properties of biotic communities are rarely examined within post-project appraisals, which would provide more ecological information underpinning ecosystem responses to restoration practices and potentially pinpoint project limitations. This study examines macroinvertebrate community responses to three projects which aimed to physically restore channel morphologies. Taxonomic and functional trait compositions supported by widely occurring lotic habitats (biotopes) were examined across paired restored and non-restored (control) reaches. The multivariate location (average community composition) of taxonomic and functional trait compositions differed marginally between control and restored reaches. However, changes in the amount of multivariate dispersion were more robust and indicated greater ecological heterogeneity within restored reaches, particularly when considering functional trait compositions. Organic biotopes (macrophyte stands and macroalgae) occurred widely across all study sites and supported a high alpha (within-habitat) taxonomic diversity compared to mineralogical biotopes (sand and gravel patches), which were characteristic of restored reaches. However, mineralogical biotopes possessed a higher beta (between-habitat) functional diversity, although this was less pronounced for taxonomic compositions. This study demonstrates that examining the functional and structural properties of taxa across distinct biotopes can provide a greater understanding of biotic responses to river restoration works. Such information could be used to better understand the ecological implications of rehabilitation practices and guide more effective management strategies

Thermoplastic RTM: Impact Properties of Anionically Polymerised Polyamide 6 Composites for Structural Automotive Parts

This study investigates the impact behaviour and post-impact performance of polyamide-6 glass fibre reinforced composites, manufactured by thermoplastic resin transfer moulding. Impact test samples were extracted from quasi-isotropic laminates using two different glass fibre sizings, both with a fibre volume fraction of approximately 52%. A previous study showed that one of these sizings enhanced the interfacial strength and Mode I fracture toughness; however, the effects of the sizing on out-of-plane impact is of greater significance in terms of automotive applications. A drop-weight impact tester was used to determine out-of-plane impact performance for both sizings in terms of impact load-induced and energy returned from the striker. High-speed video of the impact response was simultaneously captured. Testing was carried out at three impact energy levels: two sub-penetration and one full penetration. The impact damage area was observed, and the post-damage compression properties of samples were measured to determine the reduction in their strength and stiffness. Results showed that the use of different sizing technologies had little effect on the post-impact compressive properties and that penetration led to only a 29% drop in compression strength. Overall, the outcomes of this work demonstrate the potential of these materials in automotive applications

The Northern Termination of the Cache Creek Terrane in Yukon: Middle Triassic Arc Activity and Jurassic–Cretaceous Structural Imbrication

The northernmost part of the Cache Creek terrane lies in south-central Yukon and comprises metavolcanic rocks, hemipelagic chert and shale, newly identified volcaniclastic and clastic rocks (Michie formation, informal), pyroxenite and gabbro intrusive rocks with an arc to back-arc geochemical signature, as well as tectonized and serpentinized ultramafic rocks. The proximally sourced Michie formation yielded zircon from two samples with unimodal peaks at 245.85 ± 0.07 and 244.64 ± 0.08 Ma. These dates are likely close to the depositional ages and compare favourably with those from the Kutcho assemblage of northern British Columbia. The Michie formation is exposed along the northwestern flank of Mount Michie and represents singular detrital input from a nearby eroding island-arc. The Cache Creek terrane rocks are imbricated with epiclastic and carbonate rocks of the Stikinia and Lower Jurassic siliciclastic rocks of the synorogenic Whitehorse trough. This imbrication records two compressional deformation phases in the region: (1) an initial phase of west-verging thrusting along the Judas Mountain fault that placed the Cache Creek terrane rocks over the arc and basinal rocks of Stikinia and Whitehorse trough; and (2) a second phase of east-verging thrusting along the Mount Michie fault that repositioned rocks of Stikinia and the Whitehorse trough structurally above those of the Cache Creek terrane. Deformation in the centre of the study area was followed by emplacement of a coarse-grained syenite that yielded 40Ar/39Ar biotite and muscovite cooling ages of 165–160 Ma