Supervised injection sites (SISs) have become subject to much political and social controversy in Canada since the late 1990s. Since the implementation of North America’s first SIS, Insite, in 2003 in Vancouver, the controversy has reached new levels. Despite the increasing evidence base available regarding the effectiveness of SISs as a harm reduction strategy trans-nationally, the implementation of this intervention in Canada prevails within public and parliamentary debates. Guided by the theoretical contributions of Joel Best (2008) on claims-making and the construction of social problems, this thesis explores the SIS debate in Canada and the assertions advanced with respect to the implementation of SISs. Building on the available literature, the author identifies numerous types of claims advanced by proponents and opponents of SISs through a qualitative content analysis of 164 newspaper documents from The Vancouver Sun, The Ottawa Sun and The Ottawa Citizen. It was determined that claimsmakers often present the intervention as a solution to the ‘drug problem’ or part in parcel of the problem. Opponents in particular attempt to construct the intervention as harmful for the community in that the implementation of a SIS would exacerbate various aspects of the ‘drug problem’ including drug abuse and crime. Very rarely, however, claimsmakers suggest the SIS is merely one strategy to addressing public health issues related to injection drug use and that there is ‘no easy fix’ to this ‘drug problem’. Further, the author applies the findings from this analysis to make sense of the Canadian federal government’s proposed policy response, The Respect for Communities Act, towards the establishment of SISs.

The thesis describes insurance, its main processes and support of the processes by SAP and TIA applications. The goal is to analyze and describe policy management and claims management processes, find out to what extent are these processes supported by TIA and SAP and compare the applications in conclusion. Description of the processes is based on author's working experience and experts' advices. The comparison of TIA and SAP applications is made according to ISO 9126 and other more specific criteria. Rating of the characteristics was made by TIA and SAP experts. Benefit of the thesis is description of support of main processes by SAP and TIA applications and its comparison.

Analysis of the working capital of the company Elektroline based on historical data and sugestions for improves in the area of the working capital. Short financial analysis of the company Elektroline and suggestions for further analysis in some specific areas.

The thesis deals with integration of claim system (APH) into DWH of Česká pojišťovna. Aim of the thesis is characteristic and introduction of all the activities that need to be done to make the claim system integrated. Main goal is to analyze source data, to propose logical model of individual DWH layers, to analyze and to design specific mappings and to test defined transformations. The thesis is divided into three logical parts. In the first part there is the general theoretical definition of BI/DWH. The second part presents methods, principles, tools and techniques used in BI/DWH department of Česká pojišťovna, there is also realized characteristic of claim system, and finally this part is about presentation of the basic characteristics of the project Integration of claim system into DWH of Česká pojišťovna. The last part of the thesis is devoted to integration of the claims into all layers of company´s DWH, this means that there is done an analysis of the source data, design of logical model, analysis and design of specific mappings and testing. Author of the thesis was personally involved in the project, because of the fact that he cooperated on the analytical part of the project. Author´s contribution consists in comprehensive elaboration of the subject of the thesis, but mainly in the presentation of analytical and other activities, which the author implemented by himself, or participated in them.

This thesis deals with claims in insolvency proceedings primarily focusing on the obligations of the insolvency practitioner which arise when dealing with these problems. The aim of this study is to map out all the mentioned claims throughout the whole insolvency proceedings and describe the main role of the insolvency practitioner during the process. The analysis was based on regulations of the Act no. 182/2006 Coll., on Bankruptcy and Its Resolution (Insolvency Act), accompanied by fundamental judicatureand thorough literature review. In addition, the results of this work were also interpretations of the lifecycle of claims from their existence in insolvency proceedings to their extinction.

The aim of the thesis is the analysis of the volume of state receivables overdue arising mainly from the underpayment of taxes, duties, social insurance during the time period from 2000 to 2014. The aim is also an analysis of the recovery of overdue receivables in the Czech Republic that should lead to identification of causes of bad developments in the period. The topic is important and actual because of the fact that the overdue claims are one of the biggest challenges of fiscal policy in the Czech Republic over the past 15 years. Benefit from examining this issue should be to identify the causes of negative developments in the period. The theoretical part describes the theory of economic policy with special reference to one of their major segments, fiscal policy, which is the essence of tackle. Then it analyzes the theory of government failure, the theory of moral hazard, etc. The main content of the practical part is to analyze the volumes of different types of overdue receivables in the period, an analysis of the recovery of overdue receivables in the Czech Republic, the identification and characterization of the causes of negative developments and, last but not least, the draft national economic measures aimed at eliminating these causes.

Between 1969 and 1985, native Indians in British Columbia have used the courts in a significant number of cases to pursue goals which can be considered particularly Indian in that they have arisen as a result of the Indians' position as one of the indigenous peoples of Canada. Three general questions with respect to the use of the courts are addressed. First, what goals have native Indians pursued in the courts, and how are these related to the objectives which native Indians are pursuing in the political arena? Second, how have these goals been pursued in court; that is, what legal arguments were used, how were these related to the goals pursued, and how do these affect the possible impact of the cases? Third, what have been the consequences of court action? Through an examination of the court cases in which native Indians were involved from 1969-1985, four major goals were identified. First, native Indians used the courts in order to ensure that they received the benefits to which they were entitled under the provisions of the. Indian Act. Second, native Indians challenged the way in which the federal government had administered the Indian Act. Third, Indians have attempted to preserve their traditional way of life by arguing that federal and provincial legislation which regulates hunting and fishing should not apply to them. Fourth, native Indians have used the courts in attempts to prevent damage to land and resources to which they have a claim. Native Indians have not attempted to achieve a recognition of their right to self-government through court action; rather they have pursued goals which can be termed "economic" from the viewpoint of non-native society. Native Indians have used the courts both in order to achieve legal solutions to disputes, and as a means of putting economic and political pressure on governments. In their attempts to use the courts to achieve legal solutions, Indians have achieved some successes. The overall utility of the courts as a means of putting economic and political pressure on governments has yet to be determined, although to date it would appear that native Indians have made some gains by using the courts in this way. / Arts, Faculty of / Political Science, Department of / Graduate

Compensation Services manages return to work, wage loss, pension and health-care benefits to injured workers, and those suffering from occupational diseases. This thesis presents the methodology and results of a comprehensive study conducted to determine the relationships between existing performance measures, quantify the factors influencing these performance measures, and deterrriine relative efficiencies across case management operations. We use principal components analysis, cluster analysis, and multiple regression to derive the relationships between performance outcomes and influencing factors. We then use data envelopment analysis, incorporating these multiple inputs and outputs, to assess overall relative efficiencies and set performance targets. The analysis has brought about an increased understanding of service delivery location performance and performance measurement. Results may be used to provide managerial decision support, communicate best practices, and serve as a basis for further efficiency or quality initiatives. The factors accounted for in the multivariate analysis can explain between 20% - 50% of the variability in key performance outcomes across case management desks. The overall efficiency analysis revealed strong performers both within case management offices and across regions. Four case management offices consistently contain strongperforming case management desks across several methods of evaluating efficiency. Transferring best practices has the potential to significantly increase relative efficiency improvements for case management desks across the province. / Business, Sauder School of / Graduate

The challenges in human resource allocation drive the present project. Conducted at an office of the Workers' Compensation Board of British Columbia (the WCB), the project aims at developing a simulation model of claim management operations to facilitate decision-making in resource allocation. In this context, resource allocation refers to the alignment of staff to claims. The components of the problem include the number of staff required and the types of staff required, given targeted system performance. The volume of claims, the profile of claims, the Workers Compensation Act, the board's business guidelines and the board's operational targets all influence staffing requirement. It is far from straightforward to answer the following questions: what is the optimal level of staffing? What is the right mix of skills? And what is the proper alignment of staff with claims? How will the system perform given a certain staffing level? How will change in the profile of incoming claims influence staffing requirement? A discrete-event simulation model was developed as a decision support tool in this project. The model was used to evaluate several resource allocation scenarios. Simulation showed that timeliness measures such as time to decision and time to closure would improve with additional resources, but the improvement was not drastic. At the staffing level of 14, compared to the current level of 12, time to decision for unadjudicated claims would reduce by 6%. Simulation further showed that specialization of staff by claim type might have a negative impact on system performance measures, because economics of scale were compromised. Finally, simulation showed that if Site Visits, a required procedure for adjudicating claims related to Activity-Related Soft Tissue Diseases, could be conducted by dedicated personnel, time to decision for these claims might reduce by as high as 60%. / Business, Sauder School of / Graduate

This study deals with the changing dynamics of land use systems in an aboriginal community of British Columbia, namely the Lil'wat Nation, by employing the concept of property as an analytical tool. The focus on the concept of property clarifies the role played by the authority and institutions as regulators and decision-making factors in land use management. The description of the relationship between property and various transitions in aboriginal life constitutes the main contribution of this research project. The methodology used in this descriptive study is a combination of the participantobserver method and archival data collection. Issues around authority are discussed in terms of the power relationship between Canada and the Lil'wat Nation. Several historical events explain the way in which political and economic imperatives have shaped the relationship between the Lil'wat Nation and Canada, as well as the internal power relationship within the aboriginal community. It is found that the rapid and important changes in the decision-making situation (i.e., context of institution change) have significantly affected the land use projects on reserve grounds. Those changes include: high rate of population growth, extension of a money economy through forestry and agricultural activities, and exercise of various outside interests on reserve lands. Also, it is found that a number of governmental initiatives created and perpetuated a state of dependency and dissension among the aboriginal community. Since land use practices cannot be viewed in isolation, this study emphasizes the importance of political reform and sharing of authority. Also, some strategies for Lil'wat's selfdetermination are identified and the urgency to develop community-based economic projects is stressed. / Science, Faculty of / Resources, Environment and Sustainability (IRES), Institute for / Graduate