Toronto is experiencing a food renaissance. Although there has been a resurgence in the popularity of local food and specialty products, neither supermarkets nor farmers’ markets have adequately responded to meet the demand. Contemporary retail infrastructure, comprised mainly of supermarket chains and independent farmers’ markets, is insufficient. In the supermarket reliable global imports are valued over regional products that support local farmers and the economy. Chain retailers prefer global players that produce consistent results in order to feed consumers who have become accustomed to seasonless food. On the other side of the spectrum, farmers’ markets do not generate the economy of scale required to keep the food industry afloat. As a convenience-driven consumer culture, the limited hours and seasonal variability associated with the farmers’ market typology inadequately fills the desire for locally sourced products. Simultaneously, wholesale distribution nodes have created a closed circuit of food delivery. In Toronto the main distribution point of wholesale produce stems from the Ontario Food Terminal, which feeds the city’s myriad grocery stores and restaurants. This ‘just in time’ food delivery system relies heavily on moving food in and out as quickly as possible. How can it be re-imagined as a dynamic space of interaction among a diverse group of vendors, purchasers and consumers? This thesis looks at the spatial impact of the food distribution network in Southern Ontario by re-imagining the Ontario Food Terminal as an organism of both local and global agricultural distribution. It attempts to respond to the growing desire of the public for locally sourced food products and fill a void that is currently missing: that of a reliable network to support local agricultural products. Local food can only survive by leveraging the global system. The reconciliation of two seemingly incompatible systems - local and global - will create a dynamic hybrid that captures the authenticity lacking in contemporary food culture.

This research focuses on the role of water governance in building resilience and fostering sustainability in socio-ecological systems (SES). Water governance refers to the structures, processes and actors – and the dynamic interactions among them – that facilitate and influence decisions affecting water resources and aquatic ecosystems in terms of their collective influence on sustainability of SES. As human water demands grow and the impacts of climate change set in, water governance regimes are increasingly challenged to provide sufficient water to support livelihood and economic activities while also protecting the life-supporting functions of freshwater ecosystems. The objective of this thesis was to understand and assess whether governance arrangements for water allocation in Ontario are effectively addressing this challenge. A broad literature review focused on three overlapping bodies of literature – (1) sustainability, resilience and systems thinking, (2) governance and planning, and (3) water policy and management. From this review, a conceptual framework was developed to guide understanding and assessing the effectiveness of water governance arrangements to enhance resilience and foster sustainability. The framework includes seven criteria: socio-ecological system integrity; equity; efficiency; transparency and accountability; participation and collaboration; precaution and adaptation; and, integration. A case study of water allocation was undertaken in Whiteman’s Creek watershed, a sub-watershed of the Grand River in southwestern Ontario, where water scarcity is a persistent concern and where conditions are anticipated to worsen under climate change, posing problems for both human livelihoods and the integrity of the creek ecosystem. Data for the case study were collected through content analysis of documents, records and websites and through semi-structured interviews with key informants. The conceptual framework was used to synthesize the data into a narrative from which recommendations for strengthening water governance were proposed. Water governance is increasingly taking on forms more distributed or polycentric in structure and more inclusive, collaborative and participatory than previous models built largely on top-down, centralized decision making. This shift is viewed by many as a critical element for building resilience and sustainability. While the governance regime for water allocation in Whiteman’s Creek reflects these general trends, the case study findings suggest that Ontario’s existing water governance system is not capable to deal effectively with more frequent and prolonged drought conditions anticipated in Whiteman’s Creek as the climate changes. Introduction of decentralized governance arrangements over the past decade, primarily the Ontario Low Water Response (OLWR) plan, has enhanced capacity in Whiteman’s Creek to cope with recurring low water conditions. Yet when pressed with extreme drought conditions, as experienced during the period of field work for this thesis, the challenge of satisfying both instream water needs and withdrawal uses reveals weaknesses in the governance system, including unclear decision-making criteria (e.g., related to hydrological thresholds), uncertainty related to roles and responsibilities of various actors, and generally limited capacity for precaution and adaptation. Recommendations are proposed for improving water governance in Whiteman’s Creek, and in Ontario more broadly. Ecologically-based thresholds should be integrated into water management regimes to ensure sufficient water is secured to sustain aquatic ecosystem integrity and to provide clarity on limits to permitted allocation and OWLR thresholds. More broadly, a focus on building adaptive capacity and engaging in anticipatory planning will be central to building resilience and fostering sustainability in Whiteman’s Creek.

Employing Gramsci’s theory of hegemony, this study will examine the origins, creation, and implementation of Ontario’s Career Studies course as it relates to existing economic and workplace practices. Specifically, two broad aspects of the course will be addressed. First, the expectations for the course will be examined to determine the general approach to workplace education as outlined in course curriculum documents and approved-for-use textbooks. Also included in this analysis will be the ways Career Studies teachers interpret and deliver course material. Secondly, this study will uncover the opportunities students have to control and empower themselves in their career development. This includes an exploration of the alternatives to current workplace and economic practices as presented in the course materials, as well as the strategies emphasized for students to adopt in their career planning. At the moment Career Studies, like other career education and guidance programs in Canada, presents current neo-liberal market and labour trends as permanent and outside the control of human agency. In response to these trends, students are expected to improve their marketability for employment through individual and competitive career-development practices, in effect distancing themselves from others through formal credential attainment and attitudinal adjustments that best suit employers. Opportunities for students to experience collective empowerment through alternative workplace and economic practices are noticeably absent from the course. This study wishes to shed light on some of the shortcomings of career education in Ontario and to propose recommendations that truly situate students as architects of their career planning. Employing Hyslop-Margison and Graham’s (2003) Principles for Democratic Learning (PDL), this study concludes that opportunities for students to critically examine and question current workplace practices, explore alternatives to the status quo, and, most importantly, understand the social elements behind current workplace and economic conditions, will better position students to control their future work lives.

Thesis (M.A.) - Carleton University, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 160-164). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Toronto, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--Carleton University, 1992. / Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (M.A.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of History. / Electronic thesis. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 106-110). Also available in print ed.

Egerton Ryerson is remembered today mainly as an educational reformer and religious leader. His work in connection with the public library movement in Ontario has received little attention. Yet Ryerson himself attached great importance to the provision of free libraries for the general public, as an extension and completion of the school system. His object was to ensure that all citizens, both young and old, would be able to enjoy the fruits of education. A study of the library system introduced by Ryerson is needed to shed light on a neglected aspect of his career. At the same time, it fills a gap by furnishing a connected account of public library history in Ontario from 1844 to 1876. For source material, the chief documentary items are found in various works edited by J.G. Hodgins. Ryerson's own Annual Reports provide an abundance of valuable information. A search of newspapers and periodicals of the period has revealed some pertinent articles, which have been particularly useful in gauging the reaction in Ryerson's contemporaries to his library scheme. The scheme was first formulated by Ryerson in his 1846 Report, two years after he became Superintendent of Education for Upper Canada. It was given government approval in 1850. School trustees and municipal councils were authorized to start libraries in their communities, and money could be raised for the purpose by an assessment on property. Many of the libraries were placed in school buildings, though they were intended to be used by the adult population of the surrounding district as well as by the students. Local initiative was emphasized. Once a library became established, a government grant was available for the purchase of books, on a matching basis with funds raised locally. All the books had to be selected from a list of authorized publications compiled and annotated by Ryerson, known as the General Catalogue. They were supplied at cost price from a central Depository in Toronto. Most of them came from British and American publishing firms. For about twenty years, the libraries grew and flourished. In I850 free public library service was unknown in Upper Canada. By 1870 there were over a thousand libraries circulating a quarter of a million volumes. The success of the scheme was partly due to the energetic backing Ryerson gave it. After his retirement in 1876, the libraries declined rapidly. Government support was withdrawn, and given instead to the libraries of the Mechanics' Institutes. Of all Ryerson's enterprises, this was one of the few that did not survive. Its collapse was due partly to dissatisfaction with the material available in the General Catalogue, and partly to public apathy. There was also strong opposition from Canadian publishers, who resented the Department of Education buying books in bulk from foreign sources. Even though the libraries disappeared, Ryerson's efforts had not been wasted. During his lifetime, the project filled an important need, and much praise was accorded to it at all levels of society. It was the first real attempt in Canada to extend free library service to the whole population. Though changed in direction during the final quarter of the nineteenth century, the movement started by Ryerson continued to advance at a steady pace through the work of the Mechanics' Institutes. / Education, Faculty of / Graduate

La présente recherche tente d’identifier et de décrire les conditions d’implantation qui ont été mises en place dans deux écoles élémentaires francophones de l’Ontario pour atteindre un stade de fonctionnement avancé, soit l’intégration (Leclerc, Moreau et Lépine, 2009a) des communautés d’apprentissage professionnelles (CAP). En utilisant un échantillon de directions d’école et d’enseignants qui travaillent à l’intérieur d’écoles où les CAP sont à un tel stade de fonctionnement, notre recherche a permis de relever quelles conditions ont été mises en place pour atteindre un fonctionnement avancé des CAP. Des entrevues semi-dirigées ont été menées auprès de deux directrices et de quatre enseignantes d’écoles élémentaires franco-ontariennes. Ces entrevues abordaient de grands thèmes tels que la structure des CAP, la culture de collaboration et les processus employés en CAP dans le contexte de l’école. Un questionnaire sur le sentiment d’efficacité personnelle fut aussi rempli par les directrices d’école. Les résultats mettent en évidence le rôle complexe de la direction d’école dans la mise en œuvre des CAP tout en précisant les conditions d’implantation des CAP mises de l’avant par deux directrices d’école. En fait, nous relevons l’importance de recevoir des appuis humains et financiers et un soutien par la recherche; d’instaurer des exigences organisationnelles « préparatoires »; de respecter des exigences organisationnelles de mise en place des CAP; d’assurer que la direction et les membres du conseil scolaire aient confiance et soient compétents; d’instaurer un leadership partagé entre la direction, le conseil scolaire et les enseignants du comité d’amélioration du rendement des élèves (CARE); de rédiger des objectifs SMART à partir de ressources particulières et aménager un parcours de fonctionnement; d’établir des structures physiques et d’encourager une culture de collaboration entre les enseignants. Les résultats de notre étude rejoignent ce qu’avancent les recherches au sujet de l’implantation de la structure organisationnelle – CAP – dans une école. Or, notre recherche sur le terrain permet d’apporter des précisions quant à ces conditions d’implantation. D’ailleurs, nous avons recensé certaines sous-catégories thématiques qui ne sont pas reflétées explicitement dans la littérature.

This thesis focuses on citizenship education, disability and d/Deafness at the Ontario Institution for the Education of the Deaf (OIED), 1870-1914. It employs a critical reading of school related documents, including the school newspaper, The Canadian Mute, to examine how citizenship education evolved at the OIED and contributed to a (re)construction of the d/Deaf citizenship ideal. This (re)construction took place over two distinct periods: 1870 to1906, the “new” d/Deaf citizenship; and, 1907 to 1914, the “spoken” d/Deaf citizenship. During this timeframe, the OIED undertook a deliberate, structured program to rescue the educated d/Deaf student out from under an expansive disability label that characterized “disabled” persons as lazy, immoral, criminal, insane, unintelligent, and financial burdens. Through the OIED’s three pronged education program – d/Deaf pedagogy (teaching communication), academic and vocational curricula – the “good” d/Deaf citizen evolved as an intelligent, active, financially independent person who was cognisant of how her/his d/Deafness reflected on the broader d/Deaf community.