Relatively little is known about Canadian casino employees. The present study is a broad-based investigation intended to shed some light on this population. There were several specific areas of investigation. These included job satisfaction, substance use and abuse, gambling behaviour, gambling attitudes and beliefs, and problem gambling status. Because of this high-risk group’s excessive exposure to gambling, casino employees’ gambling behaviour may be indicative of the general adult population’s future gambling behaviour. Although there is some prior evidence of higher rates of problem gambling in this population, the causal direction of this relationship is not well established. That is, does working in a casino place employees at a higher risk for problem gambling, or does the industry actually attract problem gamblers? The present study investigated the characteristics of 123 Canadian casino employees from two Alberta casinos. The study aimed to establish the actual impact of casino employment on substance use and gambling behaviour by means of a follow-up questionnaire that was distributed six months after the baseline questionnaire was collected. The results of the follow-up questionnaire tentatively suggest that problem gamblers are attracted to the casino industry, rather than the casino industry placing its employees at a higher risk for problem gambling. The study also found that Northern Albertan casino employees have higher rates of smoking, alcohol use, illicit drug use, medication use, gambling, and problem gambling than the general Albertan workforce. / viii, 140 leaves ; 29 cm. --

This thesis discusses the issues that are prioritized in policy documents, and the concerns which appear in newspaper stories, concerning housing issues in Calgary, Alberta. It holds that certain, ‘voices’ are accounted for and accommodated over other, more vulnerable, ‘voices’ in the policy arena. The ways in which these voices are constructed, and how particular agents, subjects, objects, and ‘truths’ are formed, all result from particular uses of language. The thesis maintains that those who have the most to gain from supportive housing policies are often excluded from the process of developing, or commenting on, policy altogether. It also suggests that their discursive construction as objects of policy, as moral examples, or as constituent elements of an “issue,” has implications both for actions undertaken in relation to them by governments and other agencies, and for their own ability to act effectively to articulate and to address their own concerns. / ix, 311 leaves ; 28 cm. --

This thesis explores the immigration experiences of five Latino-American women who reside in Lethbridge, Alberta. Rather than using interviews as a research protocol, the author used conversation as a tool to explore the narratives of these women’s experiences. Four of the five told their story in Spanish, and after transcribing the conversations, the author used critical inquiry to find common ground between the women’s narratives and her own immigration experiences. This thesis explores topics such as belonging and connections to different communities and how these women use stories of change and continuity in constructing their identities. Language, employment, recognition of previous education as well as separation from their families and support networks were the main difficulties identified. As anticipated, these women accessed federally funded and provincially delivered immigrant settlement services, such as ESL classes. While hesitant to use formal counselling, three of the women accessed these services for gendered matters such as spousal abuse. Relationships based on kinship were crucial resources and central to their narratives as was church, which provided both a familiar and significant source of community and support. This study found that when using conversation the researcher establishes relationships with the participants, other writers/academics, as well as the readers. Thus this thesis suggests that narrative research is fundamentally a relational activity. In this context stories are considered gifts, and the exchange of gifts an important aspect of research design. The narratives were shaped by, and interpreted in light of, various contextual factors such as the women’s relationships with the researcher, and their individual as well as socio-cultural and historical circumstances. The five women who participated in this research were found through community networking, and had some familiarity with counselling–either as service recipients or a professional connection–circumstances which shaped their willingness to participate as well as the stories they narrated about their immigration experiences. In constructing the narratives of their past experiences, from the vantage point of the present, the women emphasize gratitude to Canada and only subtly allude to issues such as racism or stereotyping. / viii, 170 leaves ; 29 cm. --

As anthropogenic demands on water resources intensify instream flow needs are becoming an increasingly important area of study, particularly over winter months during which time little is known about the behaviour and physiology of fishes. This thesis addresses the implications of water withdrawal from a small in situ stream on brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) during the winter of 2007 and 2008 in the Rocky Mountains. Water was withdrawn from one of two stream enclosures reducing the discharge by 50% and 75%, for 4hrs daily. Behaviour was monitored using radio transmitters that were externally attached to the small trout. Changes in physiology were monitored by measuring stress hormone levels and by measuring predicted body composition parameters using bioelectrical impedance analysis. Trout reacted to water withdrawal by being more active, but this change in behaviour did not elicit detectable changes in physiology. / x, 129 leaves : ill. ; 29 cm. --

Recent international and national events such as the SARS outbreak in 2002–2003, the rising incidence of West Nile Virus, and the increasing threat of a pandemic influenza outbreak have brought critical attention to the Canadian public health system and how prepared the system is to respond to various types of contemporary public health threats. The effective coordination of all agencies at metropolitan, regional, provincial, and federal levels is essential to the management of public health emergencies. The level of inter-organizational coordination and preparedness of public health and emergency preparedness organizations throughout Alberta was investigated. An online organizational questionnaire provided a census of organizations involved in public health preparedness, and information on the structure of inter-organizational relations in Alberta and the state of public health preparedness from the perspective of organizational members. The primary goal was to use the information provided by individual agencies to help improve how policymakers and public health and emergency management officials plan and organize for public health threats and emergencies. Major findings are as follows: i) organizational characteristics including organizational training opportunities, size, and jurisdiction are associated with different dimensions of organizational-level preparedness in Alberta, ii) perceived organizational connectivity serves as a proxy measure of formal ties objectively reported by organizations with respect to pandemic influenza preparedness, iii) higher jurisdictional organizations display greater degrees of interconnectedness on average, and iv) organizational connectivity moderates the association of perceived public health preparedness with an organization’s objective level of preparedness, independent of jurisdictional level. The true test of public health preparedness is in how the system responds to an actual crisis. Since public health emergencies are rare, there is an absence of province-wide data in this regard; however, this work has measured organizational-level perceptions of public health preparedness as a proxy for actual preparedness. It is critical that organizations have a written emergency response plan which is tested in practice through exercises or in a real situation to observe jurisdictional and organizational ability to execute an appropriate response and assess communication and resource flow among organizations. / Thesis (Master, Kinesiology & Health Studies) -- Queen's University, 2009-04-17 15:58:33.093

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