This thesis examines the changing role of British Columbia's municipal governments in affordable housing policy. In recent years, the federal government of Canada has withdrawn from active involvement in affordable housing provision, and has passed responsibility back to the provinces. The government of British Columbia has, in turn, amended its Municipal Act through Bills 20 (1992), 57 (1993) and 31 (1994), to grant municipal governments increased planning powers in the field of affordable housing. This thesis examines the responses of municipal governments to these changes and specifically investigates whether the decentralization of responsibility has to led to policy innovation. This research question is addressed in three ways. First, through a review of the theoretical literature and legislation, a discussion is presented concerning the issue of decentralization and the ways it has been enacted in the case of housing policy in British Columbia. Secondly, the results of a postal survey of 52 municipalities in British Columbia are presented, reflecting the range of local responses to the provincial housing legislation. Thirdly, case studies, derived from key informant interviews and document analysis in three municipalities (Burnaby, Sidney and Prince George) are presented. These provide more detailed illustrations of housing strategies in different geographical contexts. The research suggests that housing is a dynamic area of public policy in British Columbia, with a distinct pattern of innovation. In particular, some 'entrepreneurial' municipalities exhibited a shorter response time in reacting to the provincial legislation, and have adopted more innovative approaches to housing policy; these in turn, serve as examples to other jurisdictions. The wide range of innovative housing strategies adopted by local governments across the province, which are highlighted in this thesis, suggest that decentralization has ensured the potential for a greater fit between the preferences and needs of a particular locale. To the extent that it provides municipalities with the powers and resources they need, the decentralization policy allows communities to capitalize on their existing strengths and to more readily meet their housing needs.

The goals of this thesis are to identify the objectives for creating a Sustainable Community Network (SCN) within B.C., to acknowledge the various tools available to facilitate the network, and to develop illustrative models to guide those contemplating the establishment of a network. Three primary research methods were utilized in this project: literature reviews, group discussion in a focus workshop, and individual interviews. The literature reviewed focused on the fields of collaboration, networks in both technical and social capacities, and coalitions. Four objectives are identified as motives to create a SCN: to provide exchange mechanisms, to organise the "unformalized" field, to create a community of interest, and to be a vehicle for power, influence and empowerment. The emphasis at the beginning should be on building personal relationships over creating an electronic network. Other specific products and services are identified as beneficial for the stakeholders: newsletters, conferences, inventories, facilitation, and a clearinghouse for information. Alternatives for administering the network include a network manager, an administrative body, a governing body, and an intermediary broker. This research helps define networks within the field of planning. They may act as a support system, streamline efforts through collaboration or by reducing duplication of effort, act as a forum for monitoring and assessment activities, and be a source for on-going public participation. Three conceptual models are developed representing a range of possibilities for creating the network. The models are labeled the "Fundamental Network" at the basic level, the "Coalition Network", and the "Collaborative Network" at the most complex level. The need for a SCN is reconfirmed. The network should proceed from a "human scale" and develop the capabilities of the electronic network as computer literacy and technological capacity become generally available. Finally, it is recommended that the network should proceed slowly, building on community objectives and incorporating the diverse activities possible through collaboration as experience is gained. Further research is needed to clarify the potential for networks in planning and management, to better understand the evolving place for computer technology, and to monitor the effectiveness of the networks as they are implemented.

Scholars have sorely neglected the subject of religion in British Columbia during the interwar years. This thesis will address this gap through a study of the relationship between Protestantism and society in the province's major urban centers, Vancouver and Victoria. I will approach the issue through a new window into the role of churches in British Columbia - the church taxation debates of the 1920's. This work begins with a review of the literature that sets the historical context of the church tax issue and reveals gaps in our knowledge of the role of religion in British Columbia. Primary source material is derived largely from newspapers, magazines, and archival material including private correspondences, City Council documents, pamphlets, and booklets. The church taxation issue illustrates the agenda of British Columbia's urban churches in a rapidly changing and secularizing society. In order to remain relevant, they were forced to consider their purpose and persuade society to agree. Exemptionists employed different strategies to convince the public of their indispensability. In Victoria, churches clung to tradition, while in Vancouver churches responded by redefining the relationship between church and state. Victoria's churches wanted the role of churches to remain unchanged while Vancouver churches sought to harmonize the churches' agenda with that of the state. In both cities, the exemptionists won their cases. However, their victories did not permanently define or secure the future role of churches.

Many professionally trained immigrant applicants receive high marks in the selection process for their perceived value to the host Canadian society and economy. Upon arrival, however, many new immigrants find that employers and industry-regulated accreditation boards do not recognize their foreign degrees and work experience. In this thesis, I interview 25 underemployed or unemployed foreign-trained engineers in Vancouver to investigate the diversity of their experiences in the labour market. I focus on how they perceive the obstacles they are facing and how they are responding to these barriers in seeking employment. This thesis is situated in a growing body of literature that considers labour markets as complex, place-contingent, socially and institutionally embedded constructs. Using a "socio-institutionalist" approach, which refutes conventional neoclassical economics' theories of labour markets as free, self-equilibrating, and uninterrupted markets, enables me to compose, then put to work, a multilogical theoretical model that examines the ways in which various institutions control, shape, and govern access to professional engineering jobs in Vancouver. In particular, I draw upon theories of regulatory, social and cultural institutions in the labour market. I find that regulatory institutions, such as the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia (APEGBC), create licensing obstacles that are indeed profound for new immigrants. In addition, many recent immigrants are excluded from local social networks that diffuse information about professional job availabilities; assistance is provided through inclusive immigrant and ethnic networks, but this rarely leads to professional employment. Lastly, many newcomers perceive their cultural institutional affiliation to be wanting, and so pursue Canadian academic credentials in an attempt to gain entrance into the market.

Major questions regarding the roles of school psychologists and delivery system reforms have appeared in the school psychology literature over the last of couple decades (Benson & Hughes, 1985; Fagan & Wise, 2000; Jackson, Balinky, & Lambert, 1993; Jerrell, 1984; Lacayo, Morris, & Sherwood, 1981; Reschly, 1988; Reschly & Wilson, 1995; Roberts & Rust, 1994). Consequently, many U.S. national survey studies have been conducted (Anderson, Cancelli, & Kratochwill, 1984; Benson & Hughes, 1985; Curtis, Chesno Grier, Walker Abshier, Sutton, & Hunley, 2002; Fischer, Jenkins, & Crumbley, 1986; Hutton & Dubes, 1992; Lacayo et al., 1981; Reschly & Wilson, 1995; Smith, 1984; Smith, Clifford, Hesley, & Leifgren, 1992; Stinnett, Havey, & Oehler-Stinnett,1994). However, there is little current empirical research on the roles and functions of school psychologists in British Columbia. Research is needed to help assess the state of the art in this province and explain what psychologists are doing. The profession of school psychology is unregulated in B.C. and so it is possible that persons practicing in the schools have a variety of training and offer a variety of services. Further, there is much existing uncertainty regarding the future path of the profession (Benson, 2002). The purpose of this study is to explore the job roles and functions of practicing school psychologists in B.C. and to examine the impact of various personal, professional, and job-site characteristics and external influences on job roles and functions. Survey methodology (N=42) was used with five select follow-up interviews for a sample of school psychologists around the province. Results revealed that the majority of respondents held a masters degree in school or educational psychology. Although respondents allocated a majority of their professional time to the role of assessment, school psychologists occupied a broad number of roles and desired to increase their time allocated to the other roles of interventions, consultation, counseling, and research and evaluation. Further, job roles were impacted by the number of students and schools served by psychologists, and psychologists' supervisors' field of specialization.

Social capital refers to the relationships between people that are productive: it can provide people with access to resources, ease transactions, and facilitate social and economic development at the community level. It has been conceptualized as both associations between people and attitudes of trust and cooperation that enable ties to be productive. Within communities, these attitudes underlie social cohesion, which can be defined as social integration and a propensity to cooperate and contribute to the community. Moreover, it is interaction and social engagement that develops social capital by creating and maintaining relationships and fostering social cohesion. This thesis presents an analysis of the development of social capital in coastal British Columbia by considering how the social participation of community members generates socially cohesive attitudes. Moreover, I empirically consider how this relationship varies for different people in different places and across two different types of participation. Formal participation refers to engagement in structured and organized group activities, such as rotary clubs or sports teams, while informal activities are casual irregular and often spontaneous, such as visiting with friends. Using a series of multiple linear regressions on survey data from rural coastal communities in British Columbia, I test how the relationship between these two types of participation and social cohesion varies according to people’s socio-demographic characteristics or the communities in which they live. Not only does this research consider who develops social capital in this way, but also whether the relationship between participation and social cohesion differ along these social lines. The results show that processes of social capital development reflect the characteristics and social environments of community members in coastal British Columbia. The variability shows that social capital development is embedded within particular contexts in ways can lead to inequalities in social capital.

Apprenticeship is an old and venerable method of teaching skills and knowledge stretching back to antiquity. Most of the traditional aspects of this teaching and learning method, the practice of apprenticeship, takes place in the workplace where few educational researchers venture. In addition, because apprenticeship bridges issues related to education, training, labour market, social policy, and anthropology, research reports cover a broad spectrum but do not offer a synthetic view of apprenticeship. This research, focuses on a single trade, in a single company, in order to document the practice of formal apprenticeship. To set the stage, a preliminary classification of the disparate literature on apprenticeship as well as a brief history of apprenticeship in Canada and in British Columbia is offered. The registered cook apprenticeship in British Columbia studied shows that four major themes undergird the 'program': context, progression, knowledge, and vocational training. Context directly affects what can and is practiced on the job, hence affects the outcomes of the apprenticeship. In addition, it can be assumed that micro contextual differences play a role as important as macro contextual differences in apprenticeship. Progression represents the journey from neophyte to master and impacts apprenticeship as it charts one's career progression; a clear view of progression also seems to affect apprenticeship outcomes. Knowledge and vocational education seem to be linked and represent, for the apprentices and the masters, external yardsticks of achievement which are used to confirm stages of the journey. The research shows that present day apprenticeships have retained much of their rich tradition. Historical elements can be recognized in the models which summarize writings about apprenticeship presented in this paper. The models help contrast the practice with the intent of apprenticeship; and allow for the creation of a composite model which best fits fit a real-life case. Suggestions about the current practice of apprenticeship can be made from the models. But future research will have to further clarify some of the issues raised here, as well as chart a coherent course for the study of apprenticeship.

The objective of this project is to propose the addition of a new layer of housing in the typical Post WW II suburban residential context in order to provide more housing alternatives for today's diverse population. This project was also an exploration of ways that this new housing could address the transition of zones from residential to other uses such as commercial, industrial and agricultural. I chose Richmond as my prototype site for exploration because I believe it is typical of many suburban communities throughout North America. The image in North America of the traditional family of a married couple with young children with an employed husband and homemaker wife that characterized the 1950's and 1960's doesn't match today's demographics. Today other types of family structures account for nearly 79% of the households created, the fastest-growing household type is the single person living alone, which comprise 23% of all households and single-parent families account for 14% (Canada Census Statistics 1991 and projections). As household composition becomes more diverse I believe architects must develop new forms to accommodate these changes. The residential landscape we inhabit today is largely the result of Post WW II prosperity and values. In the 1950's the single-family house became the standard and bankers, builders and developers continue to concentrate the bulk of capital resources of housing on the model of the single family detached house despite the demographic shifts to new types of households. Today many individuals and families are experiencing difficulties in finding housing that meets their particular needs. The design solutions for the nineties will not work unless they challenge gender stereotypes glorified in the Post WW II pattern of development. This pattern of development implemented rigid zoning that separated activities of public life such as places of wage work from the activities of home life. Private life and public life, private space and public space are bound together despite cultural pressures to separate them, I believe even more so today more with emergence of the home office. In this project I explored ways to create more flexible forms of housing and much richer and complex sets of transitional spaces in order to accommodate the activities that are required to connect private life and public life effectively for today's population.

The outcomes of the paint stewardship program in British Columbia are examined to assess whether the objectives of the program and the principles of product stewardship are being achieved. The objectives are to: 1) compel the paint industry and consumers to take responsibility for waste paint; 2) minimize the volume of paint landfilled; 3) raise consumer awareness about the impacts on the environment of excessive waste generation, and the need to opt for environmentally friendly practices.' The methods of research used include secondary literature, a survey and interviews. Due to the unavailability of some crucial data, I could not carry out a proper program assessment. The following are some insights into the program: 1) waste paint collected increased from 1,300,000 equivalent litre containers in 1995 to nearly 3,000,000 in 1997. However, without knowing the volume of paint sold annually, these figures reveal little about the effectiveness of the program; 2) Of the residual paint collected in 1997, 51% was recycled into products other than paint, 30 % involved energy recovery, 11% was landfilled, while 8% was reused. I discussed the need to increase the volume of paint reused as doing so prevents the problem of waste paint from arising in the first instance. There are both benefits and flaws associated with the process of recycling. Compared to reuse, recycling does relatively little to solve the problem of waste reduction; 3) In the absence of crucial data, the objective of compelling the paint industry and consumers to take responsibility for waste paint is so far merely theoratical. The paint program is consumer funded and industry operated. In practice, a 50c ecofee/litre paint has not served as an incentive to encourage consumers to bring residuals to a depot. Nor has it resulted in meaningful changes in consumption habits. A 50c ecofee also means that paint sales will not likely be affected. It appears the industry is charging this low fee despite the fact that it does not lead to the achievements of the objectives outlined for the program. While a paint program is now in place for the processing of residual paint, the program cannot be assessed based on its objectives. To enable meaningful program evaluation, the primary recommendation is for the authorities monitoring the program to collect the relevant data over time in order improve program effectiveness.

The purpose of this study was to gather information about the demographic variables and responsibilities of British Columbian itinerant teachers of the deaf and hard of hearing, investigate if these teachers experience occupational stress, determine the relationships between these variables and their stress levels, and to determine which manifestations of stress were most prevalent for this population. Two questionnaires were used in this study: the Teacher Stress Inventory (TSI), which was a standardized measure of stress, and the Itinerant Teacher Questionnaire (ITQ), which was a self-created questionnaire to gather information about demographics and itinerant responsibilities. The survey packages were mailed during the months of May and June 1998, to 92 itinerant teachers of the deaf and hard of hearing in BC, Canada. The response rate was 76% (n=70). The demographic information and responsibilities of the typical BC itinerant teacher of the deaf and hard of hearing were presented and discussed. This was the first project of its kind in BC to examine these variables, and it has created a database of information for further research and comparisons. Using the TSI and its norms, it was determined that BC itinerant teachers of the deaf and hard of hearing experience lower levels of stress than American teachers. However, caution should be exercised when comparing BC itinerant teachers to the norms, because the norms were collected from the northeast, mid-Atlantic, and southeastern states of the US. From the questionnaires and a multiple regression analysis, the predominant sources of stress for these teachers were determined to be: work overload, lack of time, high numbers of personnel worked with, poor ability to have rooms assigned in a school, poor quality of rooms worked in, weather interference during travel, and poor communication with school personnel. Using the TSI, emotional (anxious, depressed, etc.) and fatigue (physical exhaustion, weakness, etc.) manifestations of stress were the highest rated symptoms of stress experienced by BC itinerant teachers of the deaf and hard of hearing. Results, implications, concerns, and suggestions for further study are discussed.