Browsing by Author "Brodie, Ian"
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- ItemOpen AccessA Canadian Space Odyssey: Canada, the Great Space Powers, and the Space Power Dilemma(2017) McClelland, Kiernan; Huebert, Robert; Keenan, Tom; Stapleton, Timothy; Brodie, IanCanada, despite being the third country to launch an artificial satellite, was unable to develop into a space power commanding a long-term strategic presence in outer space during the Cold War. Whereas the "great space powers" of the period, the United States and Soviet Union, held a dominant position in the space environment, Canada's space power influence declined over the years. By analyzing declassified strategic documents and the strategic literature on space power, and by interviewing members of Canada's national space organizations, this thesis will compare the strategic, political and economic variables of space power to determine why Canada did not maintain space supremacy when compared with the United States and Soviet Union from 1957 to 1991. This thesis concludes that Canada did not develop into a space power during the Cold War because, opposite the great space powers, the country did not have a comprehensive space strategy, political leadership and support, or the economic resources that would allow for the development of a long-term satellite presence.
- ItemOpen AccessAge-friendly Cities and Calgary: Evaluating for Success(2013-04) Anderson, Miranda; Brodie, IanThe demographic bubble represented by the Baby Boomer generation is beginning to graduate into that stage of life known as senior citizenry and, as such, there will be a shift in the overall distribution of the global population from a majority of young people to a majority of older people. By 202, there will for the first time be more old people than there are young people in the world. The City of Calgary, however, lags far behind many other cities in Canada and in the world in terms of preparation for this change.
- ItemOpen AccessThe Evolution of Candidate Vetting in the Liberal Party of Canada 1993-2015(2023-03) Thorkelson, Ruth; Stewart, David; Thomas, Melanee; Brodie, IanCandidate selection for political parties in Canada plays a critical role in the democratic process. As part of candidate selection, most parties require candidates for nomination to go through a vetting exercise. This exercise is little known, however, and has not been widely reviewed in academic literature. Using a series of interviews with senior Liberal Party of Canada campaign personnel, this thesis will review the vetting exercise for candidates of the Liberal Party of Canada from 1993 to 2015. This thesis considers the evolution of candidate review, or “green lighting,” within the context of theories of party organization in Canada. It argues that the green lighting process has contributed to the weakening of a dynamic interplay between areas of authority at the local level that has provided equilibrium against the power of the leader within Canadian political parties. It argues that the stratarchical imperative within the franchise model of party organization in Canada that had provided the capacity for local autonomy as exercised uniquely and individually by constituencies is diminished by the entrenchment of the green lighting process. As a result, the green lighting exercise has contributed to the continuing centralization of power of the leader. As arguably the only brokerage political party in Canada, the candidate selection process of the Liberal Party of Canada is important, given how often it forms government, and how many Liberal Members of Parliament may be elected during each election. The vetting process across parties in general also directly affects representation in Parliament and in government.
- ItemOpen AccessAn Examination of Homicide Clearance in Canada(2021-12-21) Lee, Winnifred; Gibbs Van Brunschot, Erin; Adorjan, Michael; Brodie, IanWhile there is fear over homicide, crime statistics reveal that homicides are generally on the decline in Canada and have one of the highest clearance rates among other types of crimes (Moreau, 2018). However, recent years also show that unsolved homicide rates are increasing, with no clear explanation behind the recent trends. Studies examining the factors affecting homicide clearance reveal contradictory findings, particularly the role that victim’s characteristics play in homicide clearance. This thesis explores how victim, accused, and situational/incident characteristics affect clearance outcome and the speed in which homicide cases are cleared through using 1991-2015 data from the Homicide Survey. My results indicate that many factors influence homicide clearance, and that victim, accused, and situational/incident characteristics must be considered when examining homicide clearance.
- ItemOpen AccessExamining the Politics behind Secondary Suites in Calgary(2015) Thaker, Purvi; Brodie, IanRolled as an election promise by Mayor Naheed Nenshi, secondary suites have gone from being the best idea among 12 Smart Ideas of Mayor Nenshi for Calgary, to being an issue, that has seen a long, tiring tug-of-war between Councillors every time it was on table for a vote, but always resulted in a stalemate. Both sides of the argument have their own reasons for voicing for or against allowing city-wide secondary suites. With around 50% of the Calgary City Council’s time spent on debating upon the homeowner’s applications for secondary suites in single family dwelling units, the policy paralysis continues to exist. The issue has been procrastinated to be discussed around the next municipal elections in 2017. While the tight rental market keeps widening the gap between demand and supply of affordable housing, status quo on secondary suites has only worsened the situation of housing in Calgary. In this paper, we begin by stating the land-use regulations that guide the zoning of Calgary city, provincial regulations that govern the building types in Calgary and then state the arguments of those for and against secondary suites based on the issues of land use and building codes. We provide a theoretical base to the politics of land use by relating the problem to the Home Voter Hypothesis of William Fischel and examine the viewpoint of City Councillors in the light of the theory. We then suggest various remedies to overcome the political stalemate on secondary suites using the Median Voter Theorem, and learning from various cities that have successfully implemented the idea in Canada.
- ItemOpen AccessThe Foreign Investment Protection Agreement: Will it Lead to Greater Canadian-Chinese Bilateral Investment?(2015-07) Jarvis, Steven; Brodie, IanIn September, 2014, the Canadian government ratified the Foreign Investment Protection Agreement (FIPA) with China. The move was heralded as a milestone in Canadian-Chinese relations and a harbinger for an increase in Canadian-Chinese bilateral investment. But does the experiences between China and other countries whom China has a similar agreement with support this narrative? After comparing foreign direct investment (FDI) data between China and other OECD countries that have BITs with China, there appears to be no significant relationship between a BITs and FDI. One implication of this is that Canada cannot rely on the FIPA to attract investment from China; it needs to be active in other areas that may be conducive to attracting FDI. Given the political nature of Chinese outward investment decisions, this paper recommends that Canada engage China politically and address other policy areas that are seen as obstacles to FDI in order to attract FDI.
- ItemOpen Access"A great gathering of those who came over on the Mayflower": examining the Southern Alberta Pioneers and their Descendants, 1901-1929(2020-12-15) Kerr, Samuel Thomas; Elofson, Warren M.; Brodie, Ian; Stortz, Paul J.This thesis examines an organization known as the Southern Alberta Pioneers and their Descendants, which emerged in 1901 in Calgary. Through an analysis of newspaper records and internal club documents, including annual reports and financial statements, membership applications and certificates, meeting minutes, invitations, notification cards, photographs, and letters it argues that the club’s initial purpose was social and celebratory, but that after reorganizing it increasingly worked to perpetuate pioneer narratives. The club’s formation can be understood as one effort that settlers took to underscore the distinctiveness of those who went west, and its transformation can be placed within the broader context of a flourishing of club participation and national consciousness that took place in the 1920s. In a similar manner to how its purpose diverged across both periods, so too did its relation to marginalized others, as this transitioned from one of relative silence on these groups to a perspective that furthered pioneer narratives, but that through its activities it was principally concerned with advancing the interests of members. In this way, this thesis explores the evolving nature of the club’s purpose, while also suggesting that it worked to produce a selective history of the West.
- ItemOpen AccessInterest groups and Supreme Court of Canada(1997) Brodie, Ian; Morton, Frederick L.
- ItemOpen AccessLocation Lottery: An Evaluation of the Economic Regions of Employment Insurance(2014-09) van Waes, Amanda; Brodie, IanThe eligibility of Employment Insurance (El) is partially determined by the area in which the applicant lives. Based upon address, an individual can receive anywhere from 14- 45 weeks of benefits with different levels of required insurable hours to qualify. The result is that the current regional policy leads to different coverage levels, and can prevent workers who have paid into the system from collecting benefits. Yet despite this, the way in which the district boundaries are determined is unclear, and has been accused of being used for political gain. The majority of analysis on the regional nature of El has focused on which provinces benefit from the status quo, but research into how the districts compare with each other has not been forthcoming. This capstone endeavors to add to debate about how Employment Insurance is administered in Canada. To compare the current 58 El districts to each other, both population and standard deviation of unemployment rate have been compiled. Figures were compiled from the National Household Survey, which is collected from Statistics Canada every five years. This metric allows for more comprehensive analysis than would have been provided through studying the monthly Labour Force Survey. The majority of analysis was conducted across an urban-rural lens to determine if one method of district creation was more likely to capture a single labour market. The main policy argument behind the regional program is that different labour markets should have differed program access. Under the current program, this ideal is being obscured in favour of administrative ease. The status quo more closely resembles an informal redistribution program that benefits some areas at the expense of others. justification for the boundaries is nonexistent in the public sphere beyond platitudes, allowing for the potential for political interference. In order to improve the system, the boundary review process should become more transparent so that it can be evaluated independent of government. Longer term, Service Canada should find a new way of operationalizing the labour market in a way that more closely reflects the economic diversity. If they are unable to devise another framework that is administratively feasible, serious consideration should be given to reforming the qualification requirements for Employment Insurance.
- ItemOpen AccessNegotiating Design: The Case of the International Criminal Court(2015-12-15) Kondrackyj, Alexei; Franceschet, Antonio; Keeley, James; Brodie, IanWhat determines the design of an international court? Current literature on international courts is focused on what makes courts effective. However, we know less about how and why states seek to negotiate specific design features. This void sparks my driving question: what conditions and factors shape the design features of international courts? I attempt to answer this question through an analysis of the negotiations to create the International Criminal Court (ICC). Literature on the ICC points towards three factors that influenced the negotiations: the influence of a group of states, the influence of non-governmental actors, and the unique structure of the negotiations. Although these factors explain why some of the ICC’s design features give the Court significant independence in some areas, they do not explain why other design features restrict the Court’s independence. My thesis shows the importance of a fourth factor: the nature of the particular design feature.
- ItemOpen AccessPerceptions of Risk and Coping Mechanisms Among Victims of Domestic Violence(2016) Kembel, Lorena; Gibbs-Van Brunschot, Erin; Thomas, Melanee; Adorjan, Michael; Brodie, IanGiven evolving technological advances, GPS technology has increasingly been applied to domestic violence situations. In Central Alberta, a project was undertaken to equip high-risk domestic violence offenders with GPS tracking technologies. In addition to this, a GPS tracking device, equipped with an alert button, has also been made available to victims of domestic violence. This study examined perceptions of risk and coping mechanisms among victims of domestic violence, with a specific focus on GPS technology and the nature of victim protection in the context of technologies proposed to increase perceptions of safety in circumstances of domestic violence. Overall, the study found that the devices did not appear to create a false sense of security, but were rather seen as another tool the women were able to use in order to manage their risk of abuse.
- ItemOpen AccessPolicy Entrepreneurship: Understanding Fiscal Policy Change for the Alberta Oil Sands(2018-09-13) Weber, Jessica Dawn Marie; Lucas, Jack; Morton, F. L.; Cooper, Barry; Brodie, IanIn 1995 and 1996 both the federal and provincial governments introduced major changes to their royalty and tax regimes for the Alberta oil sands industry. The stated goal of these reforms was to incentivize new investment. These changes came after decades of non-cooperation between the two levels of governments over oil sector policy and ignoring industry requests for fiscal reforms. Others have explained these changes as the result of a shift in priorities at high levels of government. However, there is no evidence that the policy change originated in government. Another explanation points to the creation of a new institution, the National Oil Sands Task Force. This is a partial explanation, but it does not ask explain how and why the Task Force was created. Using the policy entrepreneur model of policy change, this thesis provides an alternative explanation. Drawing on first-hand accounts from those who participated in the policy changes, interviews, and a contemporary newspaper analysis, this study concludes that a single person, Eric Newell, was a key factor—a successful policy entrepreneur—in achieving these reforms. The thesis documents how Newell determinedly created narratives, formed coalitions, and navigated multiple institutional venues to shape new fiscal policies for the oil sands industry.
- ItemOpen AccessPopulation Size and Incumbency in Canadian Municipal Elections: Two Essays(2022-05) Merrill, Reed; Lucas, Jack; Brodie, Ian; Tuxhorn, Kim-LeeIn this thesis, I measure the relationship between the electoral success of municipal incumbents and municipal population size in Canada. I first ask how municipal incumbent success rates vary by municipal population size, and discover that acclamations drive overall population-size based trends of municipal incumbent success in Canada. Using an original dataset and a novel modeling approach that accounts for acclaimed incumbents, I find that municipal incumbent success rates generally fall as municipal population size increases. Furthermore, this relationship is particularly strong in Quebec. After excluding acclamations from the analysis, incumbent success rates increase as population size increases. Thus, voters in large municipalities favour incumbents when compared to their counterparts in smaller municipalities. To further investigate this trend, I then ask how the strength of an incumbency cue changes depending on population size, and find that incumbency cues have a stronger effect in larger municipalities. Taken together, these findings reveal that size-related patterns municipal incumbency in Canada are likely dependent on how voters from different sized municipalities process political information and view incumbent candidates.
- ItemOpen AccessRecognizing Campaign Effects on Social Media: A Computerized Text Analysis of the 2015 Canadian General Election on Facebook(2019-09-13) Czarnecki, Lucas; Sayers, Anthony M.; Tuxhorn, Kim Lee; Stewart, David K.; Lucas, Jack; Brodie, IanPrevious research demonstrates that traditional campaign strategies such as door-to-door canvassing and advertisement have minimal persuasive effects on voters’ political attitudes and vote choice while simultaneously demonstrating strong activation effects on voters’ existing preferences. From this literature, numerous theoretical perspectives on campaign contact have emerged. The most predominant is the minimal effects thesis, which posits that campaigns have minimal effect influencing voters’ political attitudes, vote choice, and consequently, election outcomes. In contrast, the activation effects thesis posits that campaigns are consequential to election outcomes because campaign contact activates voters’ existing political preferences and mobilizes the electorate to vote. This thesis proposes to reconcile the two theoretical perspectives by demonstrating that the same type of campaign contact may have both minimal persuasive effects on voters’ political preferences and strong activation effects on voters’ emotions. The thesis hypothesizes then that campaign contact evokes emotional responses that encourage rather than discourage voting. To this end, the thesis examines campaign effects online from a unique dataset queried from Facebook consisting of federal party leaders’ campaign messages (N = 1,711) and the responses to those messages from everyday Facebook users (n = 92,813) during the 2015 Canadian general election campaign. Computational social science methods are employed to directly measure campaign contact’s persuasive and activation effects on partisan and nonpartisan Facebook users. The results demonstrate that campaign contact online has a minimal persuasive effect on Facebook users’ self-expressed political preferences as well as strong activation effects on those preferences. Activation effects manifest as emotional responses that are most pronounced when individuals react to attitude-divergent rather than attitude-consistent campaign messaging. Exposure to attitude-divergent contact evokes Facebook users to experience discrete negative emotions such as anger, which previous research has shown to increase the electorate’s propensity to vote. The efficacy of negative emotions, however, may incentivize political parties to adopt strategies that demonize political opponents and which may, therefore, contribute to negative partisanship online.
- ItemOpen AccessRevisiting the 2003 BSE Crisis: An Analysis of Current BSE Policy in Canada(2015-08) Stadnicki, Brady; Brodie, IanThe Canadian BSE crisis in 2003 had a devastating impact on the country’s cattle industry. The Canadian cattle industry relies heavily on exports and the loss of market access caused significant financial losses for Canadian cattle producers and agricultural businesses. In order to restore Canada’s presence in global cattle and beef markets, the government and industry collaborated to develop policy initiatives designed to eliminate BSE from Canadian cattle and assist the producers who incurred financial losses. Immediately after the BSE crisis, academics in agriculture, economics and international policy contributed an extensive amount of literature on the incident’s initial impact, but did not follow up on its long-‐term developments. After being disease free from 2012-‐2014, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency confirmed the country’s most recent case of BSE this past February. Furthermore, the cow was born developed in a cow born after its Enhanced Feed Ban policy, which was believed to be a safeguard against future disease development. Recognizing the need for more current analysis, this paper examines how effective Canada’s BSE policies have been in terms of disease eradication, industry development and producer risk management. The paper uses metrics such as BSE testing data, changes in market access and government agriculture policy frameworks to judge the effectiveness of Canada’s BSE policies. Although many of Canada’s BSE policies are only recently established, they have generally performed well. Even though it hasn’t completely eradicated BSE, the Enhanced Feed Ban is creating a trend of lower disease prevalence and BSE Surveillance programs are identifying positive cases before entering the food chain. Livestock price insurance programs are providing most producers with better risk coverage and the cattle industry is able to secure increased market access for its product. Government and the cattle industry still need to create stronger communication and management strategies around BSE. This paper recommends the government to adopt a BSE Roadmap policy and the nationalization of price insurance. Additionally, the cattle industry should continue its Verified Beef Production initiative to enhance operational safeguards and the social license for beef. Overall, Canada has rebounded strongly from the 2003 BSE crisis but must commit to a long term BSE policy approach in order to achieve sustainability over the disease.
- ItemOpen AccessSpeak. Share. Thrive. A Retrospective Study of the Public Engagement Process for Alberta's Social Policy Framework(2014-03) Mills, McKensi; Brodie, IanThis Capstone Project provides insight into public engagement practices and analysis of the Alberta Government’s Speak. Share. Thrive. engagement process. In an effort to address social policy issues facing Albertans, Alberta Human Services was mandated to create Canada’s first provincial Social Policy Framework. The Framework, released in 2013, was a direct outcome of input collected through the Speak. Share. Thrive. engagement process. This process collected input from over 31,000 Albertans over six months using a variety of different engagement techniques. Public contributions from employees, businesses, social services, community members, and families provided the content for this Framework, and will guide Alberta’s social policy initiatives over the next decade and beyond. This Capstone Project identifies public participation’s history and theory, the merits and difficulties of public engagement practices, as well as direct insight into the experiences of Speak. Share. Thrive.’s creators and participators. The analysis is centred on identifying best practices and gaps in the engagement process. It provides insight into advantages and challenges of Speak. Share. Thrive. and offers policy options to advance accomplishments and address barriers.
- ItemOpen AccessStrengthening Bilateral Relations Between Canada and the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq(2015-09) Sharifi, Jihan; Brodie, IanThe Government of Canada has done an inadequate job of extending economic and diplomatic relations with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). While many Western nations, including our closest ally the United States, have extended relations with the Kurds, the Canadian government is lagging behind. " " The Kurdish Region in Northern Iraq has risen as a beacon of prosperity within an unstable region and volatile country. It is a pro-Western, democratic region with a growing economy. The Kurds have established diplomatic ties with a number of nations around the world. While Canada is beginning to extend ties with the KRG, including through the opening of a Canada Trade Office in the Kurdish capital Erbil, much more can be done to advance bilateral relations between the two governments."
- ItemOpen AccessThe Law and Politics of Provincial Impaired Driving Legislation(2016) Morris, Brianna; Knopff, Rainer; Morton, Ted; Brodie, Ian; Flanagan, ThomasVarious versions of provincial impaired driving legislation have been challenged in court as unconstitutional on the basis that they invade the field of criminal law. Such laws almost always withstand constitutional scrutiny because they are said to be administrative and predominantly about roadside safety. Because provincial impaired driving laws are labelled as administrative proceedings rather than criminal proceedings, people are receiving significant penalties without the benefit of protections contained in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. This thesis explores the political and legal controversies over the application of the double aspect doctrine and the applicability of s. 11 of the Charter to provincial impaired driving legislation. With the support of the federal government, provincial governments are seeking more efficient and effective ways to address the dangerous threat of impaired driving, making Canadian impaired driving policy a prime example of cooperative federalism in action.
- ItemOpen AccessTo Trade, or not to Trade: Explaining Lobbying Behaviour in the Canadian Dairy Sector(2019-09-05) Goodwin, Brett Owen; Tuxhorn, Kim Lee; Lucas, Jack; Stewart, David K.; Brodie, IanThere is a the motivating question behind this thesis: I am interested in better understanding how international trade negotiations impact the decisions taken by domestic firms when lobbying the government in a small open economy. I want to focus on the role of lobbyists in the relationship between trade policy and firm preference for two reasons. First, data complied on lobbying behaviour indicates that certain sectors have exhibited unusual variations in lobbying patterns. Explaining this empirical question is the core object of the analysis below. A second motivation is to assess the extent to which domestic lobbyists are able to impact the outcome of free trade negotiations in a meaningful way. In addition to the theoretical contributions to the role of lobbying behaviour, the findings in this thesis with respect to intra-industry dynamics and lobbying behaviour will be of keen interest to policy-makers since this behaviour lends insight into the market structure and relative power of firms in the dairy sector.
- ItemOpen AccessTrack-Two Diplomacy & Canadian Foreign Policy: Approaches to Conflict Resolution(2015-04) Proctor, Kate; Brodie, IanGovernment response to conflict resolution can vary. To find a solution to a conflict a government may confer with, and take ideas from, governmental institutions like the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (DFATD), and nongovernmental institutions, such as the Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute (CDFAI). One such response comes from diplomacy and the role that it can play in conflict resolution. Any given sovereign state is represented internationally through the use of diplomats. The role of an individual diplomat, as understood in conventional terms, is to represent their state' s interests and values and to maintain state-to-state relationships. This official diplomacy is also known as "track-one diplomacy." Track-one efforts in conflict resolution, as suggested by Jeff Mapendere, "are facilitated or mediated by government representatives or representatives of political institutions such as the [United Nations] and regional groups."1 Diplomats also represent, in accordance with a state's foreign policy, the primary and most formal avenue of a state's ability to engage in peacemaking and conflict resolution.2 Like other professions in the political field, the occupation of diplomat is highly institutionalized, visible and subject to media scrutiny. Due to these very characteristics of the occupation, efforts to resolve conflict can often be slow to evolve.