Vol.
23 No. 1 March 1997
Articles:
Training as the Principal Focus of Adjustment Policy: A Critical
View from Northern Ontario
David Leadbeater and Peter Suschnigg
This is a regional case study of the effects of training on labour
market adjustment following mass layoffs in a single-industry mining
community, Elliot Lake in Northern Ontario.
Based
on longitudinal survey data we find that training programs as a whole
had limited benefits to the laid-off workers, particularly in terms
of re-employment, although longer-duration programs at the college
level appeared more effective. This is not a call to cut funding for
training, which can have important social and psychological benefits
for laid-off workers and their families; but it is a criticism of
the current approach that makes training the principal focus of adjustment
policy, at least as it plays out in single-industry communities like
Elliot Lake.
Police Information Systems, Information Practices and Personal
Privacy
Kathryn Schellenberg
This article describes some common police information systems and
practices in light of legislation designed to protect individual privacy.
The author finds that policy personnel are sensitive to human rights
issues and attempt to reduce threats posed by the use of police information.
Threats are further mitigated by a lack of "soft" information
in the national Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC) system and
limitations on the ability to share electronically data in local agency
records. However, the author also raises concerns about the quality
and security of records, the level of training, questionable information
practices, and pressures to link local records systems. These concerns
merit more focused attention from policy exports.
International Aspects of the Division of Debt Under Secession:
The Case of Quebec and Canada
Dane Rowlands
The contentious issue of dividing Canada's public debt in the event
of Quebec's secession has already received considerable attention.
Many of the proposed division rules, however, have been either normatively
motivated or analytically unjustified. After reviewing the existing
literature, this paper uses a positive analytical framework to evaluate
the problem, drawing on the perspectives of both sovereign debt theory
and bargaining theory. The main conclusion is that while a precise
solution cannot be determined definitively, the range of potential
settlements may be narrowed considerably and is more likely to be
centred around GDP than on population.
Les rérimes d'équité dans le système
de santé du Québec
Pierre-Gerlier Forest
Access
to required medical care and hospital services for everyone, without
prior consideration to their social status or biological condition,
appears to be the one and foremost justification of public intervention
in the health sector. In the real world, though, equity could not
be attained in an absolute fashion, as equilibrium between infinite
expectations and limited resources is very difficult to achieve. A
compromise must therefore be formulated and implemented, using the
rules and standards that prevail in each culture to settle disputes
between conflicting values. Our aim in this paper is to examine and
evaluate those rules and standards in the context of the health-care
system of Quebec. We arrive at the conclusion that no particular set
of values should predominate. On the contrary, for justice to prevail,
the health-care system must integrate a wide range of possibilites,
allowing room for market solutions along with bureaucratic solutions,
and community power along with individual autonomy.
Opportunity Costs of Spotted Owl Management Options for British
Columbia
Roger T. Reid and Michael S. Stone
It
is estimated that there are fewer than 100 pairs of northern spotted
owls in Canada all located in the southwestern mainland of British
Columbia. In 1986, the spotted owl was designated as an endangered
species. A recovery plan was developed setting out six management
options to stabilize spotted owl populations and eventually lead to
an improvement in the status of the species. The purpose of the present
paper is to report estimates of the opportunity costs of the options
for recovering the owl populations. The primary opportunity costs
of the recovery options would be the foregone timber harvests in the
area inhabited by spotted owls. Aggregate and annual household opportunity
cost estimates are reported. The paper also describes some of the
benefits that can arise from the protection of endangered species
and discusses some problems in measuring these values.
