To date, there has been little research on the morphodynamics of Canada’s Pacific mesotidal beach-dune systems and their potential response to climate variability and change. Accordingly, this study examines and characterizes the morphodynamics of a mesotidal beach-dune system on western Vancouver Island (Wickaninnish Beach) and investigates its potential response to extreme seasonal storms, climate variability events, and climate change trends. This research also informs protected areas management approaches, whose effectiveness is important to the conservation of early successional and proportionately rare specialized dune species. Research methods include repeat cross-sectional surveys, repeat vantage photographs, and analysis of the wind, wave, and water level regime. Both the regional wind regime and aeolian sediment transport regime are bimodal, with a WNW (summer) component and a SE (winter) component. The nearshore littoral sediment transport regime is characterized by both longshore and rip cell circulation cells. To date, survey results are informative only of seasonal changes. Longer-term monitoring will better reveal contemporary trends of the beach-dune system. A high dune rebuilding potential (aeolian sand transport potential = 9980 m3 m‐1 a‐1, resultant aeolian sand transport = 3270 m3 m‐1 a‐1 at 356 degrees) was found based on the incident wind regime and sand grain diameter. A threshold elevation for dune erosion was defined at 5.5 m aCD. Erosive water levels were analyzed using three approaches yielding the following results. Erosive water levels are reached on average, ~3.5 times per year; with a probability of 65% in any given year; and, annual return levels are 5.59 m aCD, suggesting erosive water levels are reached annually. Statistical relations show that the positive phase of El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) (El Niño) shares the most variance with the incident oceanographic regime (e.g., significant wave height, peak period), and although a causal relationship cannot be drawn, El Niño may contribute to the occurrence of erosive events on Wickaninnish Beach. Beyond El Niño, overall findings suggest climate variability signals are manifest in regional erosional water level regimes.

This thesis explores regenerating Anishinaabekwe (women’s) empowerment. The teaching of the ogichitaakwe (an Anishinaabekwe who is committed to helping the Anishinaabe people) was investigated to gain knowledge of how this aspect of the Anishinaabekwe ideology can be used to challenge the effects of colonialism in community. The goal of the thesis is to frame solutions to the effects of colonialism from the foundation of empowerment via the Anishinaabekwe ideology. The thesis examines how the Anishinaabekwe ideology in collaboration with radical indigenous feminism is useful in challenging colonialism. To this end, the utilization of self-consciousness-raising groups or Wiisokotaatiwin (gathering together for a purpose) provides the opportunity to address personal decolonization and regeneration. The author will show that by committing to the Anishinaabekwe ideology, the effects of colonialism will be addressed from a place of empowerment and ultimately regenerate the Anishinaabe Nation.

While it is generally agreed that family homelessness is rapidly increasing, there is very little research to find out how families have exited homelessness and become stable. There is even less research to investigate the strengths that were employed by family members as they journey toward housing stability. Is it possible that this potentially dis-empowering experience can be enriched by the care and support of fellow community members and helping professionals? More importantly, can family members draw on this experience to recognize their inner strengths and move toward greater happiness and self-sufficiency? This thesis shows how families who have been displaced from their community due to an experience of homelessness can be better supported to return to a stable life. A narrative lens was used to investigate the findings from semi-structured, one-on-one interviews with three mothers. One of the main criteria was that they found and retained stable housing for at least one year. The families in question currently live in Victoria, B.C. Canada, where this research took place. Examination of participant’s narratives revealed a five-stage process in which inner strengths and outer community supports combined to assist them in moving toward their goals. Participant mothers were able to access new ways to view the situation that did not leave them feeling marginalized. They also built both material and social assets that led to greater happiness and stability. Participants were able to develop resilient behavior by drawing upon past experience for knowledge, insight and inspiration. They overcame inner and outer barriers to these strengths by communicating their needs and reaching out to family, friends or services in a more confident way.

The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences and support needs of community mental health and addiction services providers in the context of rapid social and economic change in communities in the Northwest Territories (NWT) of Canada. Two main questions guiding this inquiry were: How do community mental health and addictions workers experience and respond to rapid socio-economic change in relation to their professional practice? What are the support needs of practitioners in light of continued change in the region? Primary data consisted of personal interviews with 15 community-based mental health and addictions practitioners throughout the NWT. Findings drawn from the thematic analysis of these interviews highlight the positive and negative changes taking place in communities with respect to mental health and addictions, the significant impact of organizational change on front-line practice, and the possibilities that exist for the future of mental health and addiction service delivery in the NWT. In the discussion chapter, community-based practitioners’ views are related to key themes within the literature and recommendations to improve the NWT mental health and addiction services policies and practices are made.

This paper offers a critical framework for understanding how liberal democracies will be tested and constrained by the twin energy crises of climate change and energy scarcity. The analysis is developed in three distinct phases: the first phase pursues a critical understanding of the contemporary liberal democratic state as it relates to the fossil fuel dependent capitalist economy. I argue that the state’s dependence on economic growth prevents it from confronting the structural nature of the twin energy crises. In phase two I shift focus, engaging with the historically significant relationship between liberal democracy and market-capitalism. This argument is developed by exploring (1) the historical connection between democracy, liberalism and capitalism; (2) the permanent and dynamic tension that arises from these mutually dependent, yet conflicting ideologies and (3) the crucial role fossil energy has played, and continues to play, in masking and displacing the sources and the consequences of this tension. Finally, in phase three, I explore the divergent interests of the liberal and democratic traditions, suggesting this generates points of tension within liberal democracy that may be exacerbated as the twin crises worsens. I conclude by arguing that it is only through understanding how the twin energy crises will test and constrain liberal democracy that we will be able to defend, strengthen and deepen its core values.

Trachoma is a major public health concern throughout Ethiopia and other parts of the developing world. Control efforts have largely focused on the antibiotic treatment (A) and surgery (S) components of the World Health Organizations (WHO) SAFE strategy. Although S and A efforts have had a positive impact, this approach may not be sustainable. Consequently, this study focuses on the latter two primary prevention components; facial cleanliness (F) and environmental improvement (E). A geographical approach is employed to gain a better understanding of how culture, economics, environment and behaviour are interacting to determine disease risk in the Kembata Zone of Southern Ethiopia. Specifically, mixed methods were used to investigate what social and environmental factors are influencing the distribution of active trachoma amongst children (aged one to nine) in the Kedida Gamela and Damboya Woredas of the Kembata Zone. The research was completed in collaboration with ORBIS Ethiopia – an NGO providing ophthalmology services - and is a follow up to a baseline trachoma survey conducted in the region. ORBIS Ethiopia provided data on the household trachoma prevalence and the knowledge, aptitude and practices (KAP) of household heads. These data sets were linked in ArcGIS to the geographic coordinates for each household surveyed. Mixed effects logistic regression was used to investigate the strength of a set of fourteen predictor variables in 1) determining whether or not a child a had active trachoma (TF or TI) and 2) determining the level of active trachoma (TF or TI) a child had, given that they had active disease. Younger age, an unclean face and low household expenses were found to be significant risk factors for active trachoma (p < 0.05). Older age and an unclean face were found to be significant risk factors (p < 0.05) for TI, the more severe form, in children with trachoma. Next, the Kulldorff spatial scan statistic was used to identify and map clusters of each risk factor as well as clusters of active disease. The results identified areas of overrepresentation of cases (i.e. active disease, unclean faces, low monthly expenses and low latrine ownership) where the need for intervention is particularly high. Qualitative data from in-depth interviews and focus groups with household heads, teachers and health care professionals were used to identify factors that were encouraging or impeding facial cleanliness and environmental improvement efforts to reduce the spread of trachoma. Lack of food, water and money were identified as important concerns amongst household heads. Based on the interviews with teachers, the study recommends that hygiene education be supported by appropriate access to water in schools. The results of the qualitative and quantitative analyses converged and support continued implementation of the facial cleanliness (F) and environmental improvement (E) components of the WHO’s SAFE strategy.

In 2006 the Capital Regional District (CRD) initiated an ADR process to resolve a regional dispute that arose from a proposed Regional Growth Strategy (RGS) amendment called Bylaw 3443. The ADR process itself is a provision within the RGS in the Local Government Act, Section 860. Bylaw 3443’s ADR process began with an interest-based facilitation that identified overlapping interests; however, by the end of the facilitation the dispute persisted. Although the facilitated intervention was unable to bring the parties to resolution, the submission chosen by the arbitrator closely resembled the recommendation put forward by the facilitator. The shift in process from facilitation to arbitration, and the content of the resolution itself, led to the central questions of this research. Considering the eventual outcome of arbitration, why did this dispute remain unresolved after facilitation? This qualitative research utilizes an inquiry-based methodology, a narrative interviewing technique and a discursive analysis. These combined methods enabled the examination of talk and text of participants. The analysis uses discursive notions of power, knowledge and agency to deconstruct descriptions and interpretation of events in the ADR process. The discursive analysis of participant’s actions supports the thesis that people’s conflict actions are shaped by discourse. In this instance, the actions of local governments in the dispute were shaped by the discourses of law, politics and facilitation. This research provides two recommendations. First, the ADR procedures outlined in Local Government Act, Section 860, should be revised to place a greater emphasis on a consensus model of ADR, such as mediation, and less emphasis on the command models of ADR, such as arbitration. Second, there is a sense in resolving political disputes through facilitation, however it recommends that those who facilitate and those that dispute need to be aware of the role discourse plays in shaping conflict and suggest incorporating discursive deconstruction as a practical tool to complement a conflict practitioner’s technique.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Miami University, Dept. of Educational Leadership, 2008. / Title from second page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 112-121).

This study explores the health and well-being of eight racialized and Indigenous women between the ages of 21 and 28, who live in Victoria, BC. Participants use Photovoice, a participatory research strategy, to examine and discuss their intersecting everyday realities in the contexts of health, well-being and identity. Through this project, I aim to provide an in-depth understanding of social exclusion, as a social determinant of health, and investigate the micro-social processes that occur at the intersections of race, class and gender, among many other social relations. I draw upon transnational feminist, anti-racist and postcolonial theories to shed light on the complexity of our shifting and emergent identities. The stories that participants share indicate that historical processes of colonization, daily forms of racism, migration, nationalism, citizenship and cultural essentialization are key contributors to their processes of identity formation and subsequently, their experiences of health and wellness.

Western spruce budworm (Choristoneura occidentalis (Freeman)) is a native defoliator of the Interior Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca (Mirb.) Franco) forests of British Columbia, Canada. This thesis used dendrochronology and the software program OUTBREAK to reconstruct a defoliation history of Douglas-fir for nineteen forest sites near Kamloops in central British Columbia. By comparing the radial growth response of non-host ponderosa pine trees to Douglas-fir trees growing in nearby but separate stands, seven western spruce budworm outbreaks were distinguished over the past 300 years. Although there is considerable variation in the timing and duration of these western spruce budworm events at the stand level, synchronous outbreaks have occurred at approximately 43-year intervals. Climate variation appears to have been important to budworm outbreaks in the 20th century. Notable outbreaks tended to occur during years of early springs with average air temperature, following winters with lower than average precipitation. Based on this finding, it is proposed that with high overwintering survival, increased population growth rates, and a longer growing season, the extent of future outbreaks will shift northward and may increase in size.