This qualitatively-oriented thesis explores, describes, and interprets the emergence of Quebec's environmental movement, placing it in its proper historical and socio-political setting. The environmental movement was one of the myriad of new social movements that arose in the 1960s and '70's in western nations. Although it transcended national boundaries, development of environmental movements in Europe and North America differed, just as they did at more regional levels, depending on cultural distinctions, the structures of opportunity, and the amount of available resources, among other things. With its Quiet Revolution, Quebec society gained a new pluralism, secularism, and liberalism that gave the rising middle class and the large proportion of educated youth a greater say in decisions and fostered the development of public interest groups, such as environmental groups. These were aided by government grants that became available after the October Crisis in 1970. Between 1970 and 1980, environmentalism in Quebec became a legitimate societal concern as various associations and individuals began working separately and together on urban air and water pollution problems, recycling projects, and transportation and energy issues, among others. The impetus to act on behalf of the province's environment was due in part to the severity and distribution of pollution problems and to the moral and ideological convictions of group leaders and core members of environmental groups. Informal social and communication networks, such as the counterculture, the antinuclear movement, and health-food coops provided the burgeoning environmental movement with ideologies, members, and solidarity. Unlike its parallel in the United States, Quebec's movement had few historical or ideological links with efforts to preserve wilderness and it developed social- rather than nature-protection principles. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

The overall goal of this study was to investigate the possibility of reducing NO3-- concentration in the lower soil horizon by promoting denitrification. The study looked at an inexpensive remediation practice for subsurface-drained fields in order to degrade N0j' and consequently diminish NO3-- pollution. The experiments were conducted on a corn field at the Macdonald Campus Farm. The field was composed of sandy loam soil underlined by a clay layer. / In this study, sucrose was injected at a concentration of 20 mg L --1 within the subirrigation water. Furthermore, the water table was maintained at approximately 70 cm from the soil surface in order to create an anaerobic environment that allows for denitrification. The purpose was to furnish dissolved organic carbon (DOC) to the resident microorganisms in order to carryout a higher amount of denitrification. / The NO3-- levels in ground water were monitored weekly. Gas samples were taken from the field to observe whether N2O emissions increased as a result of the treatment This was considered to be important since N2O is a greenhouse gas. / It was found that the addition of sucrose significantly resulted in a faster rate of denitrification. The higher biological activity severely damped the NO3-- peaks in the subsoil, which arose following major rainfall events. / The addition of sucrose at 20 mg L--1 was found to be significant in lowering the amounts of released N2O. Therefore, adding DOC in the subirrigation water not only helped remediate water contamination but also served as a remedy to atmospheric pollution. / In addition, the hydraulic conductivity of the soil was monitored to ensure that no bioclogging arose from an anticipated rise in the bacterial population due to the addition of sucrose. It was found that the addition of sucrose at 20 mg L--1 did not contribute in anyway to reduce the soil's hydraulic conductivity.

Children form a bulk of the Canadian population, but have no control over the economic purse that decides their future. The "action-radii" of children between the ages of 6 years to 10 years is limited to the surrounding neighbourhood. This is also the age of physical exercise, emotional, social and full personality development in which play constitutes an important education tool. Over the years, the urgent need to create high-density housing led to subsidized housing projects. During this process, providing an ideal environment in which to raise children has been overlooked. So, what do the children do? Where do they play? The objective of this study is to decipher the functional and safe outdoor areas preferred by children living in high-density housing in Montreal. This led to the evaluation of various mini-parks in the neighbourhood of the Plateau Mont-Royal with respect to their design elements and the play patterns of the children. The identification of positively and negatively perceived play areas demonstrates the child's point of view. This research investigates the relationship between the child, the open spaces and the surrounding built environment in an effort to create an awareness of the need to design a more responsive, cooperative and sympathetic environment for children in urban settings.

The theory of the autonomy of the will plays a central structuring role in Quebec's positive law. It has given rise to a conception of contractual justice that has contributed to the transformation of the role played by equality in contract and influenced the treatment of unfair contract by positive law in Quebec. It cannot however serve as an analytical framework for explaining the entire juridical regime applicable to contract. Based on the theory of the autonomy of the will, positive law states the principle according to which lesion does not vitiate consent, but it also provides for numerous exceptions based on ideas that proceed from another conception of contractual justice. Moreover, although the Civil Code does not set forth any rule destined to ensure equality in contract the idea according to which contracts may not lead to the exploitation of a party by the other and must respect some sense of fairness can be put forward. A look at the body of rules in positive law pertaining to equality in contract shows that this idea plays an important role in Quebec's positive law.

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