Sustainable Development, Natural Resource Extraction, and the Arctic: The Road Ahead

Sustainable development has emerged as an integral nexus, linking together critically important global issues including environmental stewardship and economic growth. Understanding sustainable development demands a close analysis of evolving definitions, conceptual applications, and areas of convergence and divergence within international, regional, and domestic institutions. The import and impact of hard law and soft law must additionally be explored to understand the application of sustainable development to the Arctic. This Article suggests a three-tier framework to assist the multiplicity of stakeholders with diverse equities to navigate the socio-economic and legal hurdles and potential associated with Arctic development. First, a trend has emerged where soft law is effectively “hardening.” Second, the guiding role of domestic law must not be underestimated. The final tier proposes that multidisciplinary Arctic approaches are integral and yield efficiencies. Taken together, this framework provides guidance for novices and experts alike when considering Arctic sustainable development

Les Télécommunications à Montréal entre 1846 et 1946

Dans le cadre du 350e anniversaire de Montréal, il serait utile de comprendre l’évolution des télécommunications dans cette ville en présentant non seulement les événements qui ont marqué la progression technique de ces moyens de communication, mais en considérant également les protagonistes qui ont contribué à leur développement. Ainsi que l’auteur le démontre dans ce texte, Montréal réagit rapidement à toute innovation technologique qui lui permet de mettre en valeur les attributs nécessaires à son rayonnement socio-économique et devient ainsi le berceau de la première station radiophonique au monde.In the context of the 350th anniversary of the founding of Montreal, it might be useful to examine the evolution of telecommunications in this city by looking at both the progress of technology and the important figures who contributed to the development of these means of communication. In this article, the author shows that Montreal reacted rapidly to each technical innovation allowing it to develop the attributes essential to its socioeconomic growth and to become the cradle of the first radio station in the world

Navigating the Blue Economy

The time has come, the Walrus said, To talk of many things: Of shoes—and ships—and sealing-wax— Of cabbages—and kings— And why the sea is boiling hot— And whether pigs have wings. And like the conversation of the Walrus and Carpenter walking along the “wet as wet could be” sea, the blue economy offers us the opportunity to talk of many things. Part I of this Article analyzes what the blue economy is and its relevance. Governance mechanisms, including ecosystem-based management and marine spatial planning are introduced and reviewed. The section discusses the benefits associated with such mechanisms, including streamlined decision-making, promoting levels of certainty, and convening stakeholders. Associated challenges also exist, such as emboldening bureaucratic in-fighting, perceptions of sovereignty threats, and implementation hurdles. Part II further reviews public and private law issues which intersect the blue economy within the domestic and international governance context, focusing on topics including seafood fraud; illegal, unreported, and unregulated (“IUU”) fishing; and bioprospecting. This includes analysis of various coordination challenges concerning international enforcement measures, particularly regarding the United States and European Union. Part III examines the Arctic as a blue economy case study where many of these governance-focused concepts intersect. The Article concludes with a discussion of the blue economy’s unique research potential

Augustin Frigon et la Radio Nationale au Canada

This paper traces the main steps of Augustin Frigon's career who has devoted the largest part of his life to the development of the national radiobroadcasting in Canada. The studies that he did in the United States and France as well as the positions he held at the École Polytechnique de Montréal will be used as a catalyst for his future administrative carreer in the radiobroadcasting sector. His nomination as member of the Royal Commission on Radiobroadcasting in 1928 (Aird Commission) is the starting point of his career. A few years later, Frigon was nominated as assistant director, and then later as director general of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. These two key positions allowed him to realize the initial plan proposed in the Aird report, that is to introduce new radiobroadcasting services (FM network, international service, short waves, etc.) and to play a major role during the international conferences on radio. Inevitably, such positions have brought Frigon to the fore front of the national broadcasting scene and, therefore, he found himself in the middle of the controversy on the 1942 plebiscite. The paper also underlines Frigon's role in the development of the French CBC network.Cet article retrace les principales étapes de la carrière d’Augustin Frigon qui a consacré la plus grande partie de sa vie au développement de la radio nationale au Canada. Les études qu’il a entreprises aux États-Unis et en France de même que les fonctions qu’il a occupées à l’École Polytechnique de Montréal servent de catalyseur à sa future carrière d’administrateur dans le domaine radiophonique. Sa nomination comme membre de la Commission royale sur la radiodiffusion en 1928 (Commission Aird) constitue le véritable point de départ de sa carrière. Quelques années plus tard, Frigon accède au poste de directeur adjoint, puis de directeur général de la Société Radio-Canada. Ces deux fonctions-clés lui permettront de réaliser le plan initial proposé dans le rapport de la Commission Aird, d’introduire de nouveaux services de radiodiffusion (réseau MF, service international, ondes courtes, etc.) et de jouer un rôle majeur lors des rencontres internationales sur la radio. Forcément, de telles fonctions conduiront Augustin Frigon à l’avant-plan de la scène radiophonique nationale et, dès lors, nous le retrouverons au centre d’une controverse reposant sur le plébiscite de 1942. L’article met également en relief le rôle de Frigon dans le développement du réseau français de Radio-Canada

Justice, Dissent, and the Sublime

Read the Romantics from the perspective of both political theory and literary studies—and consider justice through the lens of the sublime.In the past ten years, theorists from Elaine Scarry to Roger Scruton have devoted renewed attention to the aesthetic of beauty. Part of their discussions claim that beauty—because it arises from a sense of proportion, symmetry, or reciprocity—provides a model for justice. Justice, Dissent, and the Sublime makes a significant departure from this mode of thinking. Mark Canuel argues that the emphasis on beauty unwittingly reinforces, in the name of justice, the constraints of uniformity and conventionality. He calls for a more flexible and inclusive connection between aesthetics and justice, one founded on the Kantian concept of the sublime. The sublime captures the roles that asymmetry, complaint, and disagreement play in a complete understanding of a just society—a point, the author maintains, that was appreciated by a number of Romantic writers, including Mary Shelley.Canuel draws interesting connections between the debate about beauty and justice and issues in cosmopolitanism, queer theory, and animal studies

From a Prestige Fleet to the Jeune Ecole

The latter half of the mid-nineteenth century was a period of tremendous and continuous naval transformation--much like the current time. In many ways, twenty-first-century politicians and admirals are arguing in a climate of uncertainty reminiscent of that surrounding the debates that took place in those earlier years. As today, authorities then sought to conciliate conflicting views shaped by the rapid introduction of expensive technologies at sea, the rise of new contenders seeking to challenge the dominating naval power through direct competition or asymmetric warfare, and the ongoing competition for funding among military services that could not agree on a common strategy to face different enemie

The Legal and Social Implications of Insolvent Cross-Border Real Estate Developers

This article analyzes the phenomena associated with cyclical real estate markets, discussing the theoretical and market influences which motivate developers during this cycle. Fluctuating commercial real estate markets necessitate a focus on market upswings and downswings, and consideration of the roles and motivations of a wide array of actors, ranging from industry analysts and developers to lenders. Legal considerations, particularly during real estate downturns, or busts, include a variety of issues, particularly if the commercial real estate developers in question conducted business internationally. This Article details the theoretical and economic conditions found during real estate market cycles, with special emphasis on cross-border real estate developers. Relevant legal considerations faced by such developers confronting insolvency are also considered. Finally, the Article notes possible measures which may mitigate the many pitfalls confronting the insolvent developer