The Origins of Political Policing in Canada: Class, Law, and the Burden of Empire

This essay examines the origins of the Canadian secret service from the 1860s to the Great War. During this time, the Canadian government faced political challenges from Irish republicans and South Asian radicals. Both groups sought to liberate their home countries-Ireland and India-from British rule by promoting the idea of independence and the necessity of militant tactics amongst their respective immigrant communities in North America. Faced with this subversive activity, which had both domestic and international implications, the government created a secret service to gather political intelligence. Significantly, the government\u27s political response was shaped decisively by its status as an outpost of the British Empire. Not only did Canada make use of the imperial civil service to confront this danger, but the very subversion it faced was a product of the mother country\u27s own history of imperialism and colonialism

The Origins of Political Policing in Canada: Class, Law, and the Burden of Empire

This essay examines the origins of the Canadian secret service from the 1860s to the Great War. During this time, the Canadian government faced political challenges from Irish republicans and South Asian radicals. Both groups sought to liberate their home countries-Ireland and India-from British rule by promoting the idea of independence and the necessity of militant tactics amongst their respective immigrant communities in North America. Faced with this subversive activity, which had both domestic and international implications, the government created a secret service to gather political intelligence. Significantly, the government\u27s political response was shaped decisively by its status as an outpost of the British Empire. Not only did Canada make use of the imperial civil service to confront this danger, but the very subversion it faced was a product of the mother country\u27s own history of imperialism and colonialism

Presidential Address: The Empire Strikes Back: The Nineteenth-Century Origins of the Canadian Secret Service

While the history of the RCMP security service is becoming better known, study of its nineteenth-century predecessors is just beginning. From experiments with a rural police force established in Lower Canada in the aftermath of the 1837 Rebellions, the United Provinces of Canada created two secret police forces in 1864 to protect the border from American invasion. With the end of the Civil War, these forces turned to protecting the Canadas from Fenian activities. The Dominion Police, established in 1868, provided a permanent home for the secret service. The NWMP followed in 1873. Unlike the English, whose Victorian liberalism was suspicious of political and secret police, Canadians appear to have been much more accepting of such organisations and did not challenge John A. Macdonald's creation or control of a secret police. Republicanism, whether in the guise of Quebec, Irish or American nationalism, was seen as antithetical to the new nation of Canada, and a secret police was deemed necessary to protect the nation against it.Si l'on connaît mieux maintenant l'histoire du Service de sécurité de la G.R.C., on en sait toutefois encore peu sur ses origines, au XIXe siècle. Dans le sillage des rébellions de 1837, le Canada-Uni avait établi une police rurale dans le Bas-Canada et riche de cette expérience, il avait créé deux forces de police secrète en 1864 pour défendre sa frontière contre une éventuelle invasion américaine. La guerre civile terminée, on donna à ces deux corps policiers le mandat de protéger le Canada-Uni de l'activisme des Fenians. La Police fédérale, créée en 1868, prit sous son aile les services secrets. Puis, ce fut l'établissement de la Police à cheval du Nord-Ouest en 1873. Contrairement aux Anglais, que leur libéralisme victorien rendait méfiants envers toute police politique ou secrète, les Canadiens semblaient plus ouverts à la présence de telles organisations ; ils ne songèrent donc pas à contester la décision de John A. Macdonald de créer ou de disposer d'une police secrète. Celle-ci, estimait-on, devait prémunir la jeune nation contre le républicanisme, qu'il se manifestât dans le nationalisme québécois, irlandais ou américain, car l’on jugeait cette doctrine politique contraire à l’esprit devant animer le nouveau Canada

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries