Federalism Under Fire: The Role of the Supreme Court of Canada

The role of the Supreme Court of Canada in the country\u27s federal system is discussed. Globalization will have an important impact on interpretation of the Canadian Constitution. The special status of Quebec will also have to be taken into account

Accommodating Equality in the Unionized Workplace

This article explores the appropriate relationship between human rights and collective bargaining laws through an examination of the Supreme Court of Canada\u27s jurisprudence on the duty to accommodate. While collective bargaining can be an important force to promote equality for disadvantaged groups, resistance to changing the terms of collective agreements to accommodate those groups can arise, especially when other employees\u27 seniority rights are affected. The emerging jurisprudence suggests that seniority rights will be respected in many situations, especially in layoffs, but the article outlines circumstances in which accommodation will be necessary to vindicate equality rights

Simulating association between training load and injury using the acute: chronic workload ratio and Bayesian methods in youth football.

Previous research has examined the relationship between relative workload and injury, where acute training load is expressed in relation to chronic training load using simple ratio scaling or non-linear models including the exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA). Research has demonstrated that higher relative workloads are associated with greater injury risk; however, statistical models generally report non-intuitive statistics such as odds ratios and as a result the practical consequences of increased player loading remain unclear. Here we combine training and injury data collected in youth football with a predictive simulation approach to model the number of injuries sustained across a range of seasonal workloads

Reliability and validity of the running anaerobic sprint test (RAST) in soccer players.

To investigate the validity and relative and absolute reliability of the Running Anaerobic Sprint Test (RAST) in ama teur soccer players. Cross-sectional experimental design with an element of repeated measures. Twenty three males completed the RAST on two occasions and a Wingate test (WAnT) as criterion measure of anaero bic power. Criterion validity for the RAST was strong for peak power (r = 0.70, p < 0.001) and average power (r = 0.60, p = 0.002); however, the RAST significantly underestimated peak power compared to WAnT. The RAST showed very good relative reli ability for average power, ICC = 0.88 and good relative reliability for peak power, ICC = 0.72. Assessment of absolute reliability highlighted that although when averaged across a group, test and re-test scores will be similar, when monitoring individuals an individual's retest score may range between 0.81 and 1.2 times the original value for peak power and between 0.9 and 1.16 for average power. The RAST is a practicable field test to estimate levels of average anaerobic power. However, the results show that the RAST is not sensitive enough to detect strongly individual changes below 20 % and is therefore not recommended to continually monitor an individual's anaerobic power. Also, if true measures of peak power are required the RAST test is limited

Effects of self-monitoring of heart rate and additional sprint running on exercise intensity and technical performance during small-sided games in soccer.

The purpose of this study was to assess whether relatively simple interventions including self monitoring of heart rate and the use of targeted sprints for those with the lowest relative HR values (%HRmax) could be used to increase exercise intensity during small sided games (SSGs) in soccer. A secondary aim of the study was to assess the effect of these interventions on overall gameplay. Fourteen male semi-professional players performed SSGs (6 vs. 6) under four conditions including a control, a self-monitoring approach where players monitored their own HR via a wristwatch, and two sprint conditions where players with HR values below 90%HRmax performed sprints either during the game or during the recovery period between games. A linear mixed effects model was used to test for main effects whilst accounting for covariances between observations made on the same player. The results identified relatively small but significant differences in average %HRmax (p<0.001) and RPE values (p<0.001) between the three modified conditions and the control. No significant differences were found between any of the modified conditions for measures of exercise intensity. On average, the modified conditions resulted in a 3.7% increase in %HRmax values and a 9.3% increase in RPE. The results from this study demonstrate that exercise intensity of SSGs in soccer can be increased by relatively simple and practical manipulations, the most basic of which requires only the use of inexpensive HR monitors

Time-course analysis following initial warm-up to inform pre-pitch entry preparations of soccer substitutes.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the time-course of decrements in physical performance following a pre-match warm-up in soccer players. Knowledge of this information could be used to inform re-warm-ups and pre-pitch entry practices of soccer substitutes. Data were collected over five sessions with 12 male youth professionals (15-17 yrs). Across the five sessions each player performed countermovement jumps (CMJ) and drop jumps (30 and 40 cm), pre-warm-up, immediately post-warm-up, and following 10-, 20-, 30-, 40-, and 50-minutes of inactivity. Physical performance was assessed by jump height and calculation of reactive strength index (RSI). Hierarchical generalized linear models (HGLMs) were fitted within a Bayesian framework to identify plausible time to achieve 10 to 50% decrements of the initial pre to post warm-up improvement. Mean improvements of 5.4 cm (95%CrI: 4.8 to 6.0), 0.24 ms-1 (95%CrI: 0.19 to 0.29), and 0.32 ms-1 (0.27 to 0.36) were obtained for the CMJ, and RSI measured from the 30 and 45 cm box, respectively. Decrements for all assessments were non-linear with the steepest rates of decline measured in the initial periods following warm-up. High probabilities were calculated (p ≥ 0.979) that up to 50% of the initial warm-up improvement for the CMJ would be lost between 20 and 30 minutes. The results of this study provide a guide for future research and practitioners managing the pre-pitch entry of soccer substitutes. It is suggested that practitioners consider and assess the effectiveness of exposing players to a re-warm-up between 20- and 30-minutes prior to pitch entry to maintain performance capabilities