This is a study of the politics of language in Canada from the perspective of francophone minority communities – the close to one million French-speakers living in provinces and territories outside Québec. The analysis proceeds in two main parts. The first part examines and engages with the literature in political theory on the respect and recognition of ethnocultural minorities in liberal democracies. It reconstructs Will Kymlicka’s approach to normative theorizing on ethnocultural justice and defends it against recent important works emphasizing the deliberative resolution of issues of ethnocultural diversity. It shows how the Kymlickan approach to multiculturalism and minority rights requires uncovering and articulating the normative logic that underpins both group claims and state measures. The second part of the thesis carries out the Kymlickan approach with respect to the status and treatment of francophone minorities outside Québec. It begins by showing how Kymlicka and his main critics have failed to fully apply, as it were, the Kymlickan approach to the status and treatment of Canada’s Francophone minority communities. It then analyzes these communities’ political claims for justice and equality as well as the rights and accommodations put in place by the state in an effort to come to terms with their claims. It finds that the failure of the federal language regime to respond adequately to their claims for a combination of participation and autonomy lies with its given administrative application of legislative commitments not within commitments themselves. In summary, weaving the political theory of multiculturalism together with l’étude des minorités francophones hors Québec, this thesis incorporates Canada’s Francophone minority communities into a scholarship that has ignored or rendered them invisible and it also shows how the federal government could go about ensuring their just recognition and equal treatment. / Thesis (Ph.D, Political Studies) -- Queen's University, 2012-02-28 12:48:26.713

There have been good arguments made for the development of aggressive affirmative action policies with the end goal of quickly moving black South Africans into corporate and high ranks within management of organisations. One of the central arguments in favour of aggressive AA policies is the risk of racial polarization post-apartheid should a quick fix not be initiated. It makes good business and economic sense for AA policies to be implemented as black consumers coupled with black managers will have the eventual end point of lower unemployment and crime, through job creation and security of the representative majority.

Using a critically oriented qualitative interpretivist approach, this research describes how principals conceptualize social justice and social justice dilemmas and how these understandings influence their practices. Focusing on the context of social justice from the perspective of two participant groups of five principals each from public and Catholic schools in a large urban centre in Western Canada, reflective discussions of professional practice occured through two semi-structured qualitative interviews with each participant and a series of three group dialogue sessions. This research is framed within the theories of social constructivism and situated learning as well as the concepts of educational leadership theory, social justice in education, identity and agency of school leaders, and reflective practice. As a contribution to a growing research base, this study offers a process for principals to explore social justice within the complexities and tensions of the dilemmas and decision-making of their practice. Discourse and dilemma analysis were used to render the findings from this study, which highlight normative practices of school leaders as manifested in individual actions focused on relationships and positional agency. However, this conceptualization obscures the power of historical, cultural, and ideological authority that is unconsciously replicated in the norms of schooling. Furthermore, principals see social justice within their own actions but do not connect it with activist aspirations to challenge social inequities. There are theory, practice, professional development, and research implications of this study which emphasize the need for a hybrid model of individual and collective leadership for social justice, hinged on collective curiosity, knowledge building, equity discourses, open cultures, and change visions to challenge the norms and politicization of schools as status-quo enhancing institutions.

In Canada, no group has a more complex, negative history of involvement with the justice system than Aboriginals. The study investigated differences between the control and satisfaction perceived by Aboriginals and non-Aboriginals through the use of original questionnaires administered both during and after participant contact with the Canadian justice system. As predicted, there was a positive correlation between primary and secondary control ratings. However, Aboriginals and non-Aboriginals failed to differ in level of control and satisfaction. Participants reported higher levels of perceived secondary control than primary control for the treatment they received by staff but not the usefulness of legal services. Women reported higher levels of total perceived control than men, but only for Aboriginal women. Women reported significantly higher levels of expected than obtained outcome satisfaction. Findings suggest that people‟s experiences and misgivings about the Canadian justice system are not significantly different, regardless of ethnicity. Although people are not particularly happy with the current system, no group feels clearly more helpless than any other with regards to addressing their legal needs.

Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was established as one of the responses seeking to address the harm done by the Indian residential school system. While the main goals of the TRC include discovering truth and promoting healing and reconciliation, it is necessary to critically interrogate its design and activities in order to gain insight into its potential to allow Canada to move beyond trauma and build a just future. To accomplish this challenging task, my thesis employs qualitative research design and applies the conceptual framework of restorative justice, Charles Taylor’s theory of recognition, and Nancy Fraser’s tripartite theory of social justice in an attempt to assess the TRC’s restorative and recognitive potential. The main finding of this thesis is that the TRC is not fully restorative and possesses limited potential to contribute to the decolonization of Canada.

Feminist critiques have been instrumental in cautioning the use of restorative justice in cases of domestic violence. However a smaller body of feminist literature examining the issues from the perspective of victim-survivors, supports the use of restorative justice in domestic violence cases. This thesis aims to contribute to the second body of research and incorporate particular victim-survivor voices into a debate that has profound implications for how justice could be administered for future victim-survivors of domestic violence. Thematic, narrative and discourse methods of analysis were used to reveal and explore e-interviews with two B.C women who experienced domestic violence and underwent a restorative justice process in response. Within a feminist framework, the results support the view that, when safety and power can be fully addressed, restorative justice renders benefits not obtainable in the traditional justice system: victim-survivors experience empowerment, and achieve healing and closure. / Graduate

In Canada, no group has a more complex, negative history of involvement with the justice system than Aboriginals. The study investigated differences between the control and satisfaction perceived by Aboriginals and non-Aboriginals through the use of original questionnaires administered both during and after participant contact with the Canadian justice system. As predicted, there was a positive correlation between primary and secondary control ratings. However, Aboriginals and non-Aboriginals failed to differ in level of control and satisfaction. Participants reported higher levels of perceived secondary control than primary control for the treatment they received by staff but not the usefulness of legal services. Women reported higher levels of total perceived control than men, but only for Aboriginal women. Women reported significantly higher levels of expected than obtained outcome satisfaction. Findings suggest that people‟s experiences and misgivings about the Canadian justice system are not significantly different, regardless of ethnicity. Although people are not particularly happy with the current system, no group feels clearly more helpless than any other with regards to addressing their legal needs.

Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was established as one of the responses seeking to address the harm done by the Indian residential school system. While the main goals of the TRC include discovering truth and promoting healing and reconciliation, it is necessary to critically interrogate its design and activities in order to gain insight into its potential to allow Canada to move beyond trauma and build a just future. To accomplish this challenging task, my thesis employs qualitative research design and applies the conceptual framework of restorative justice, Charles Taylor’s theory of recognition, and Nancy Fraser’s tripartite theory of social justice in an attempt to assess the TRC’s restorative and recognitive potential. The main finding of this thesis is that the TRC is not fully restorative and possesses limited potential to contribute to the decolonization of Canada.

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