Re-Charting the Remedial Course for Section 11(b) Violations Post-Jordan

In R v Jordan, the Supreme Court of Canada adopted a new framework for establishing violations of the right to be tried within a reasonable time under section 11(b) of the Charter. It did not, however, adopt a new approach to the remedy applicable thereafter. Since the 1987 decision R v Rahey, the only remedy for unreasonable delay has been a stay of proceedings. This article contends that this “automatic stay rule” must be revisited post-Jordan. It does so by conceptualizing Jordan as a shift from an “interest balancing” framework—where individual and societal interests are weighed against one another—to a calculus largely devoid of interest balancing. The first section of this article contends that, while this shift promises a host of practical benefits, the dearth of any interest balancing under either Jordan or Rahey results in a reductive section 11(b) regime, which ignores case-by-case variations in factors that are plainly relevant to whether a given prosecution ought to be stayed. The second section of this article surveys existing interest balancing remedial frameworks under the Charter, arguing that the interests removed in Jordan are otherwise considered to be, and ought to be re-introduced as, remedial factors. The third section addresses the practical effects of the automatic stay rule on Canadian society, accused persons, and section 11(b) jurisprudence itself. The fourth proposes that the rationale for the automatic stay rule is both problematic and obsolete, necessitating the adoption of a “corrective justice” approach to section 11(b) violations. The paper concludes by outlining how the ideal remedial framework would function

Moving to world class land-based spill preparedness and response in British Columbia

In 2012, the Province of British Columbia called for world-class land-based spill preparedness and response. As part of this work it set out to meet with industry, First Nations, local governments, and other interested stakeholders in order to define what constitutes world class. As 2013 drew to a close the Province began to narrow in on what it believes would constitutes a world class regime for British Columbia. The focus of its presentation will be to discuss the history of B.C’s Environmental Emergency Program, outline the leading options for how land-based spill preparedness and response in British Columbia may change in the future – what are the elements of a new regime; who would be involved in its delivery; and, how world leading spill management is an important part of protecting the Salish Sea. The presentation will also explore the navigation of policy development given the current context of high public interest. There are numerous major project proposals in B.C. driving the need for change, a number of regulators operating in the same space, and a large number of stakeholders expressing divergent opinions about the regime. This presentation will also touch on spill management in neighbouring jurisdictions, and their efforts to effectively incorporate industry funding into government program budgets and spill response funds; have emergency response staff and robust prevention, preparedness and response work, and to have coordinated geographic response plans. Given BC’s strong partnership with Pacific Coast States, and the focus of the conference on marine issues, this presentation will also include discussion on: • Steps BC is taking to ensure world class spill response in the marine environment; and, • Trans-boundary Projects and partnerships (Trans-boundary spill study, joint exercises, other projects and benefits of the BC / Pacific States Oil Spill Task Force

Delineating groundwater-surface water exchange flux using temperature-time series analysis methods

Groundwater-surface water interactions can play a crucial role in river-, riparian and wetland management. Their delineation and quantification at various spatial and temporal scales has become an important aspect in the study of contaminant transport and attenuation processes at the groundwater-surface water interface. One of the main parameters of interest is the groundwater-surface water exchange flux, which provides indications regarding stream-aquifer connectivity, the local flow regime as well as hydrogeological properties of the streambed. One of the methods to assess vertical exchange flux is through the analysis of temperature time-series. In this paper we delineate vertical exchange flux from temperature-time series collected at a Belgian River by comparing established numerical and analytical techniques with a novel approach. Results indicate a spatial variability of vertical fluxes over two orders of magnitude at the site

Multirate cascaded discrete-time low-pass ΔΣ modulator for GSM/Bluetooth/UMTS

This paper shows that multirate processing in a cascaded discrete-time ΔΣ modulator allows to reduce the power consumption by up to 35%. Multirate processing is possible in a discrete-time ΔΣ modulator by its adaptibility with the sampling frequency. The power reduction can be achieved by relaxing the sampling speed of the first stage and increasing it appropriately in the second stage. Furthermore, a cascaded ΔΣ modulator enables the power efficient implementation of multiple communication standards.@The advantages of multirate cascaded ΔΣ modulators are demonstrated by comparing the performance of single-rate and multirate implementations using behavioral-level and circuit-level simulations. This analysis has been further validated with the design of a multirate cascaded triple-mode discrete-time ΔΣ modulator. A 2-1 multirate low-pass cascade, with a sampling frequency of 80 MHz in the first stage and 320 MHz in the second stage, meets the requirements for UMTS. The first stage alone is suitable for digitizing Bluetooth and GSM with a sampling frequency of 90 and 50 MHz respectively. This multimode ΔΣ modulator is implemented in a 1.2 V 90 nm CMOS technology with a core area of 0.076 mm2. Measurement results show a dynamic range of 66/77/85 dB for UMTS/ Bluetooth/GSM with a power consumption of 6.8/3.7/3.4 mW. This results in an energy per conversion step of 1.2/0.74/2.86 pJ