Tough on Crime, Tough on the Causes of Crime : Liberal Carceral Logics and the Reproduction of Settler Colonial Violence in Winnipeg, MB, Canada

This dissertation illustrates how settler colonialism is reproduced in present-day Canada through the governance of crime, and how political struggles against policing, imprisonment, and colonialism are linked. It focuses on the politics of crime in the Province of Manitoba from 1999–2016, during which the left-of-center New Democratic Party (NDP) government engineered a significant expansion of the carceral state, overseeing unprecedented increases in policing and jail growth. In Manitoba, the vast majority of prisoners are Indigenous. This dissertation explores the logic through which the NDP integrated their support for policing and imprisonment into their “progressive” value system, packaging their carceral expansion as a project of protecting poor people from victimization. The central argument of this dissertation is that carceral expansion in Manitoba was made to fit into a “progressive” agenda by appealing to a contemporary colonial common sense: that Indigenous communities are suffering from the legacy of a colonial past, and that policing and imprisonment are necessary but not sufficient responses to violence that originates within those damaged communities. Through interviews with NDP politicians, political advisors, bureaucrats, policy researchers, and people who work at community-based organizations (CBOs) recruited to participate in crime prevention, this dissertation documents how colonial logic structured both the NDP’s crime-prevention programming, and their punitive tough-on-crime initiatives

Control of a hydraulically actuated mechanism using a proportional valve and a linearizing feedforward controller

A common problem encountered in mobile hydraulics is the desire to automate motion control functions in a restricted-cost and restricted-sensor environment. In this thesis a solution to this problem is presented. A velocity control scheme based on a novel single component pressure compensated ow controller was developed and evaluated. The development of the controller involved solving several distinct technical challenges. First, a model reference control scheme was developed to provide control of the valve spool displacement for a particular electrohydraulic proportional valve. The control scheme had the effect of desensitizing the transient behaviour of the valve dynamics to changes in operating condition. Next, the pressure/flow relationship of the same valve was examined. A general approach for the mathematical characterization of this relationship was developed. This method was based on a modification of the so-called turbulent orifice equation. The general approach included a self-tuning algorithm. Next, the modified turbulent orifice equation was applied in conjunction with the model reference valve controller to create a single component pressure compensated flow control device. This required an inverse solution to the modified orifice equation. Finally, the kinematics of a specific single link hydraulically actuated mechanism were solved. Integration of the kinematic solution with the flow control device allowed for predictive velocity control of the single link mechanism

Evaluation of the effectiveness of a desulphurized tailings cover at Detour Lake Mine

Cover technology has developed over the last decade as a remediation option to reduce acid rock drainage from mine tailings. Desulphurized tailings have been investigated as a cover material due to their potential to consume oxygen, hydraulic properties and relative abundance at mine sites. A desulphurized tailings cover was installed at the Detour Lake Mine to cover a portion of the tailings impoundment. The desulphurized tailings cover was intended to reduce oxygen penetration into the sulphidic tailings by maintaining saturation to reduce oxygen diffusion and by consuming oxygen by oxidation of the remaining sulphide minerals. A research study was initiated to evaluate the effectiveness of this cover at reducing oxygen penetration into the sulphidic tailings. The scope of the research involved a field investigation, laboratory analysis and numerical modeling. The field investigation involved instrumenting the tailings impoundment to measure weather data, water levels and water content. Tailings samples were evaluated in the laboratory investigation for geotechnical and geochemical characteristics. The purpose of the field and laboratory investigation was to satisfy two objectives: to yield qualitative conclusions regarding the effectiveness of the desulphurized tailings cover and to establish representative profiles for the numerical modeling. The purpose of the numerical modeling was to evaluate the oxygen concentration through various tailings profiles to determine the relative effect of weather, vegetation and water table depth. The program SoilCover and a finite difference program were used for this evaluation. The general conclusion from this research was that the desulphurized tailings cover is likely not reducing oxygen penetration into the sulphidic tailings to very low levels over the entire tailings surface. The factors acting to reduce the oxygen penetration are the ability of the sulphidic tailings to remain saturated well above the water table, the consumption of a portion of the oxygen by kinetic oxidation and the potential, based on field observations, for fine tailings layers within the tailings profiles to act as oxygen barriers

Linking waste rock dump construction and design with AMD risk : a quantitative approach

The characterization and assessment of waste rock has been the subject of considerable published research. While these documents provide detailed information on the technical aspects of geochemical characterization of waste rock, there is lesser published detail on how to integrate these studies into engineering planning decisions and waste management. These planning decisions require quantitative assessment to balance environmental management (risk) and operational constraints (cost). For example what is the risk/cost tradeoff for using different placement methods e.g. end tipping vs paddock dumping. Because current industry practice and the majority of guidance documentation focuses on geochemical classification, there is a disconnect between the outputs of the studies and the operational requirements for a direct assessment of placement method such that risk and cost can be quantitatively assessed. An assessment approach is presented to address the need for a qualitative risk/cost tradeoff assessment based around a quantitative risk tool. This tool captures multifaceted inputs, and employs an analytical model to provide quantitative analysis and outputs. This method of assessment allows risk to be assessed on the basis of waste placement technique, and whole waste facility engineering design, and not just on material properties such as geochemical characteristics in isolation.Non UBCUnreviewedOthe

Evaluation of a single-layer desulphurized tailings cover

The potential effectiveness for long-term closure of a desulphurized tailings cover placed on reactive tailings at the Detour Lake Mine was assessed. The single-layer cover was aimed at reducing oxygen ingress using high water saturation to limit oxygen diffusion and consumption of oxygen in the cover by residual sulphide minerals. The cover was 1.0 to 1.5 m thick and met desulphurization targets, but was coarser grained than the design. One-dimensional unsaturated flow and oxygen diffusion modelling was used to predict water content profiles, depth of oxygen penetration, and diffusive oxygen fluxes. Effective diffusion and reaction rate coefficients estimated from field data matched laboratory measurements. Depth to water table was identified as the most important factor for reducing tailings oxidation. The deeper (4 m) water tables measured at the cover edges led to a lower degree of saturation and higher oxygen flux. Finer grain size and higher air-entry values in the cover materials helped maintain saturation, and a capillary break (fine over coarse) cover reduced oxygen fluxes to &lt;5% of fluxes to uncovered tailings. The as-built cover (coarse over fine) reduced oxygen influx by at most 50% and as low as &lt;1% of uncovered tailings. </jats:p

Millennium For All Alternative Report on Public Library Security

In response to the airport-style security measures implemented at the downtown Millennium Branch of the Winnipeg Public Library, concerned library users, academics, and library workers came together to prepare a report assessing the negative impact of the measures as well as to explore alternatives. Focusing on how securitization disproportionately affects already marginalized communities and is part of a larger trend of social exclusion in Winnipeg's public spaces, the report also covers existing community-led alternatives in Canadian libraries.https://osf.io/preprints/lissa/vfu6h