Confronting (In) Security: Forging Legitimate Approaches to Security and Exclusion in Migration Law

Perceived connections between security concerns and migration are a central preoccupation of our time. This dissertation explores how the preoccupation has played out in the Canadian context and asserts that a basic and common infirmity of administrative decision-making in this domain is a lack of justification. The dissertation commences by exploring foundational debates within immigration theory about borders, exclusion, the rule of law and the role of justification in decision-making in liberal democracies, particularly in times of perceived emergency. From there, the dissertation moves on to an exploration of immigration inadmissibility determinations in Canada, with particular attention to the emergence of security concerns as a primary ground of inadmissibility. Central to this exploration is a quantitative analysis of inadmissibility determinations rendered by the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, pursuant to s34 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act [IRPA]. The results of the quantitative analysis challenge the perception that migrants within Canada pose an exceptional security threat to the state, as the provisions related directly to Canadian national security and public safety have essentially never been invoked in s34 cases. Rather, the majority of those found inadmissible to Canada on security grounds tend to be asylum-seekers or Convention refugees from countries of the Global South that have undergone periods of domestic political turmoil. This fact raises important questions about the obligations of the Canadian state with respect to the principle of non-refoulement, obligations that can only be met, it is argued, through appropriately deliberative processes. To help explain the results of the quantitative data and to identify ways of enhancing security-related decision making, the dissertation proceeds to a body of scholarship on international law that places the concerns of individuals from the Global South at the centre of its analysis. This approach referred to as the Third World Approaches to International Law movement (TWAIL) emphasizes the importance of history, context and individual experience when confronting legal domains, such as the security-inadmissibility context, that affect people from the Global South. The dissertation then concludes by pairing the TWAIL analysis with an approach to administrative law that posits that legitimacy and justification in administrative decisions are contingent upon good faith exercises of dialogue between decision-makers and those who are affected by their decisions. In combining this approach to administrative law with TWAIL, the dissertation closes by putting forward a number of proposals for reform that would enhance the quality, justification and legitimacy of decisions in the security-inadmissibility context

Confronting (In)Security: Forging Legitimate Approaches to Security and Exclusion in Migration Law

Perceived connections between security concerns and migration are a central preoccupation of our time. This dissertation explores how the preoccupation has played out in the Canadian context and asserts that a basic and common infirmity of administrative decision-making in this domain is a lack of justification. The dissertation commences by exploring foundational debates within immigration theory about borders, exclusion, the rule of law and the role of justification in decision-making in liberal democracies, particularly in times of perceived emergency. From there, the dissertation moves on to an exploration of immigration inadmissibility determinations in Canada, with particular attention to the emergence of security concerns as a primary ground of inadmissibility. Central to this exploration is a quantitative analysis of inadmissibility determinations rendered by the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, pursuant to s34 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act [IRPA]. The results of the quantitative analysis challenge the perception that migrants within Canada pose an exceptional security threat to the state, as the provisions related directly to Canadian national security and public safety have essentially never been invoked in s34 cases. Rather, the majority of those found inadmissible to Canada on security grounds tend to be asylum-seekers or Convention refugees from countries of the Global South that have undergone periods of domestic political turmoil. This fact raises important questions about the obligations of the Canadian state with respect to the principle of non-refoulement, obligations that can only be met, it is argued, through appropriately deliberative processes. To help explain the results of the quantitative data and to identify ways of enhancing security-related decision making, the dissertation proceeds to a body of scholarship on international law that places the concerns of individuals from the Global South at the centre of its analysis. This approach referred to as the Third World Approaches to International Law movement (TWAIL) emphasizes the importance of history, context and individual experience when confronting legal domains, such as the security-inadmissibility context, that affect people from the Global South. The dissertation then concludes by pairing the TWAIL analysis with an approach to administrative law that posits that legitimacy and justification in administrative decisions are contingent upon good faith exercises of dialogue between decision-makers and those who are affected by their decisions. In combining this approach to administrative law with TWAIL, the dissertation closes by putting forward a number of proposals for reform that would enhance the quality, justification and legitimacy of decisions in the security-inadmissibility context

Recent Records of Hooded Seals, Cystophora cristata Erxleben, from the Western Beaufort Sea

Three records of hooded seals, Cystophora cristata Erxleben, from the western Beaufort Sea were obtained between 1970 and 1975. Two of these sightings were verified. The third seal was identified based on descriptions from Eskimo informants. During a period of 106 days in captivity, seal Number 2 increased in weight by 51% at a rate of 0.45 kg per day. Its length increased by 12.3 cm

Unappealing: An Assessment of the Limits on Appeal Rights in Canada\u27s New Refugee Determination System

Canada’s refugee determination system was revised in 2012. One key feature of the new process is a quasi-judicial administrative appeal, on matters of both fact and law, at the Refugee Appeal Division (RAD) of the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB). Under the new process, however, many claimants are denied access to the RAD. This article assesses these limits on access to the RAD, drawing mostly on quantitative data obtained from the IRB and Citizenship and Immigration Canada through access to information requests. Our aim is to provide evidence-based analysis and recommendations for reform. Essentially, our conclusions are that the bars on access to the RAD are arbitrary and dangerous, and that the system should be reformed to provide access to the RAD for all refugee claimants.The article proceeds in two parts. First, we set out the context for our research, explaining why access to the RAD matters. Specifically, we discuss the history of the RAD, explain how the process works, explore the difference between the appeal and judicial review, and overview the results from the revised system’s first two years of operation. Next, we examine in detail each of the bars on access to the RAD for claimants whose applications were refused at first-instance. The article ends by setting out our conclusions

Residential traffic exposure and children's emergency department presentation for asthma: a spatial study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There is increasing evidence that residential proximity to roadways is associated with an elevated risk of asthma exacerbation. However, there is no consensus on the distance at which these health effects diminishes to background levels. Therefore the optimal, clinically relevant measure of exposure remains uncertain. Using four spatially defined exposure metrics, we evaluated the association between residential proximity to roadways and emergency department (ED) presentation for asthma in Perth, Western Australia.</p> <p>Method</p> <p>The study population consisted of 1809 children aged between 0 and 19 years who had presented at an ED between 2002 and 2006 and were resident in a south-west metropolitan area of Perth traversed by major motorways. We used a 1:2 matched case-control study with gastroenteritis and upper limb injury as the control conditions. To estimate exposure to traffic emissions, we used 4 contrasting methods and 2 independently derived sources of traffic data (video-monitored traffic counts and those obtained from the state government road authority). The following estimates of traffic exposure were compared: (1) a point pattern method, (2) a distance-weighted traffic exposure method, (3) a simple distance method and (4) a road length method.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Risk estimates were sensitive to socio-economic gradients and the type of exposure method that was applied. Unexpectedly, a range of apparent <it>protective </it>effects were observed for some exposure metrics. The kernel density measure demonstrated more than a 2-fold (OR 2.51, 95% CI 2.00 - 3.15) increased risk of asthma ED presentation for the high exposure group compared to the low exposure group.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We assessed exposure using traffic data from 2 independent sources and compared the results of 4 different exposure metric types. The results indicate that traffic congestion may be one of the most important aspects of traffic-related exposures, despite being overlooked in many studies on the exacerbation of asthma.</p

Residential exposure to traffic emissions and adverse pregnancy outcomes

Motor vehicle traffic emissions are the single largest contributor to ambient air pollution in many developed countries and it has been suggested that these emissions can affect outcomes of pregnancy. An individual's exposure experience is greatly influenced by where they live as emission concentrations are much higher closer to roads. A systematic review was conducted using the MOOSE guidelines in order to synthesise studies published 1989-2009 which investigated pregnancy outcomes in relation to residential exposure to traffic emissions. Twelve studies met the inclusion criteria and were consequently reviewed. We identified exposure assessment methods and the scope of health endpoints that have been investigated. Gestational duration, intrauterine growth, mortality and pregnancy complications have been studied using simple distance, distance-weighted traffic density, annually averaged daily traffic counts, dispersion models and land-use regression models. Few studies investigated mortality and pregnancy complications and no study investigated the risk of congenital anomalies. The evidence to date suggests an adverse effect was consistently reported for gestational duration and less consistently reported yet plausible for intrauterine growth. However, the small number of studies, the possibility of publication bias and the limited research conducted on biological mechanisms precluded more formal statements on the existence of an effect. The ubiquity of motor vehicle traffic emissions, the biological vulnerability of the fetus, and the adverse associations detected among many of the twelve reviewed studies motivates a multidisciplinary collaborative effort toward further research on the topic

Manganese-catalyzed dehydrogenative synthesis of urea derivatives and polyureas

A.K. thanks the Leverhulme Trust for an early career fellowship (ECF-2019-161). M.B. wishes to thank the School of Chemistry and EaStCHEM for their support. A.E.O. gratefully acknowledges a fellowship from the Akwa Ibom State University (TETFund).Urea derivatives have significant applications in the synthesis of resin precursors, dyes, agrochemicals, and pharmaceutical drugs. Furthermore, polyureas are useful plastics with applications in coating, adhesive, and biomedical industries. However, the conventional methods for the synthesis of urea derivatives and polyureas involve toxic reagents such as (di)isocyanates, phosgene, CO, and azides. We present here the synthesis of (poly)ureas using much less toxic reagents─(di)amines and methanol─via a catalytic dehydrogenative coupling process. The reaction is catalyzed by a pincer complex of an earth-abundant metal, manganese, and liberates H2 gas, valuable by itself, as the only byproduct, making the overall process highly atom-economic. A broad variety of symmetrical and unsymmetrical urea derivatives and polyureas have been synthesized in moderate to quantitative yields using this catalytic protocol. Mechanistic insights have also been provided using experiments and DFT computation, suggesting that the reaction proceeds via an isocyanate intermediate.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Impacts of Post-metallisation Processes on the Electrical and Photovoltaic Properties of Si Quantum Dot Solar Cells

As an important step towards the realisation of silicon-based tandem solar cells using silicon quantum dots embedded in a silicon dioxide (SiO2) matrix, single-junction silicon quantum dot (Si QD) solar cells on quartz substrates have been fabricated. The total thickness of the solar cell material is 420 nm. The cells contain 4 nm diameter Si quantum dots. The impacts of post-metallisation treatments such as phosphoric acid (H3PO4) etching, nitrogen (N2) gas anneal and forming gas (Ar: H2) anneal on the cells’ electrical and photovoltaic properties are investigated. The Si QD solar cells studied in this work have achieved an open circuit voltage of 410 mV after various processes. Parameters extracted from dark I–V, light I–V and circular transfer length measurement (CTLM) suggest limiting mechanism in the Si QD solar cell operation and possible approaches for further improvement

Manganese catalysed dehydrogenative synthesis of polyureas from diformamide and diamines

Authors acknowledge the funding from UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship (MR/W007460/1). M.T. and J.C.T. thank the ERC Consolidator Grant (PROMOFS grant agreement 771575) for funding the research. ABN gratefully acknowledges funding from the EPSRC through grant numbers EP/L017008/1, EP/R023751/1 and EP/T019298/1.We report here the synthesis of polyureas from the dehydrogenative coupling of diamines and diformamides. The reaction is catalysed by a manganese pincer complex and releases H2 gas as the only by-product making the process atom-economic and sustainable. The reported method is greener in comparison to the current state-of-the-art production routes that involve diisocyanate and phosgene feedstock. We also report here the physical, morphological, and mechanical properties of synthesized polyureas. Based on our mechanistic studies, we suggest that the reaction proceeds via isocyanate intermediates formed by the manganese catalysed dehydrogenation of formamides.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Mycosphaerella and Teratosphaeria diseases of Eucalyptus ; easily confused and with serious consequences

The Mycosphaerella complex accommodated thousands of taxa. Many of these species are economically important plant pathogens, notably on native and commercially propagated Eucalyptus species where they cause a wide range of disease symptoms including leaf spot, leaf blotch, shoot blight and stem cankers. Some of these diseases represent major impediments to sustainable Eucalyptus forestry in several countries where infection by Mycosphaerella and Teratosphaeria species can result in reduction of wood volume and in severe cases tree death. Extensive research has been conducted on these disease complexes over the past 40 years. The incorporation of DNA-based molecular techniques has made it possible to define and to better understand the differences between the Mycosphaerella and Teratosphaeria species occurring on Eucalyptus. These studies have also enabled refinement of anamorph and teleomprph generis concepts for the genera and thus facilitated the more accurate identification of species. They have also promoted a more lucid understanding of the biology, life cycles, population biology and epidemiology of the most important pathogens in the group.http://www.springerlink.com/content/1560-2745/nf201