“To This Day She Continues to Struggle with the Terror Imposed upon Her”: Rape Narratives in Victim Impact Statements

This study locates the victim impact statements of raped women in the sociolegal context of significant sentencing law reforms introduced in Canada to address an ascendant victim’s rights movement. We examine 38 reported sentencing decisions in sexual assault cases in Ontario, Canada (1999–2010). Our objectives are to discern (a) whether the archetype of the ideal victim continues to influence juridical discourse after conviction and (b) what narratives of harm intersect with sentencing objectives and aggravating factors. Our findings suggest women express profound fear of re-victimization and traumatic effects of sexual violence regardless of the relational context of their rape experience. Most surprisingly, our data show sentencing judges view the sexual assault of an intoxicated rape victim as an aggravating factor. Future consideration for victim impact statements in sexual assault cases is discussed.     

文学表征与族群想象——论加拿大新移民华文小说中的“华裔”形象

随着加拿大新移民文学在2000年以后的强劲崛起,加强对其的整体性研究,势在必行。由于时空阈限,20世纪70年代末“新移民”与“华裔”之间虽然在现实生活中共处于新居空间,但由于“历史”的缘故,令二者的新居体验不尽相同。就现有的创作而言,新移民作家们显然认识、体会到了这一“历史的距离”,且可贵的是,新移民作家并没有漠视自身与华裔之间的空间差异,反而通过文学的表征将二者之间的差异审美化,将现实的体验置放于历史与未来的更广阔时空之中去探索“差异”的可能性及其意义,毕竟二者共同面临着公共公开的多元文化与隐性深层的种族歧视之间不可调和的生存处境。新移民作家追求差异的统一,他们在文学想象中既表达了对华人群体间特殊性及其价值的承认,又在承认之中蕴含了对中华民族共同体的期待与渴望。     

Canadian multilateral intergovernmental institutions and the limits of institutional innovation

ABSTRACT

In 2003, the premiers of Canada’s ten provinces and three territories established the Council of the Federation (CoF) to strengthen interprovincial cooperation and exercise leadership on national issues. However, the purpose of COF in practice has not been the subject of systematic study. Against the backdrop of its predecessor, the Annual Premiers’ Conference, and the broader institutional and economic forces that contribute more generally to weak institutionalization of Canada’s multilateral intergovernmental forums, this paper considers the functioning of CoF in practice by analysing the nature of the joint positions of premiers expressed in communiqués it has issued to the end of Conservative government rule, 2015. This analysis reveals the spectrum of ‘vertical’ and ‘horizontal’ measures that CoF has undertaken, and the nature of integration of CoF with other multilateral intergovernmental forums. It concludes that CoF is not immune to the underlying forces contributing more generally to the weak institutionalization of multilateral intergovernmental councils.     

Partisan-motivated prorogation and the Westminster model: a comparative perspective

Recent cases of partisan-motivated prorogations of parliaments at the federal and provincial levels in Canada have focused attention on this phenomenon. While such prorogations are uncommon in the mature Westminster-style parliaments, the Canadian cases are not unique. Systematic study of partisan-motivated prorogations in the Australian states has illuminated the factors commonly associated with such cases. This paper outlines the results of this literature and then tests whether the Canadian cases fit the pattern. It shows that, on balance, these factors do apply. The paper thus concludes that, while partisan-motivated prorogations may not be predictable, it is possible to identify circumstances in which there is a substantially greater risk of their occurrence.     

Institutionalizing precarious migratory status in Canada

This paper analyzes the institutionalized production of precarious migration status in Canada. Building on recent work on the legal production of illegality and non-dichotomous approaches to migratory status, we review Canadian immigration and refugee policy, and analyze pathways to loss of migratory status and the implications of less than full status for access to social services. In Canada, policies provide various avenues of authorized entry, but some entrants lose work and/or residence authorization and end up with variable forms of less-than-full immigration status. We argue that binary conceptions of migration status (legal/illegal) do not reflect this context, and advocate the use of ‘precarious status’ to capture variable forms of irregular status and illegality, including documented illegality. We find that elements of Canadian policy routinely generate pathways to multiple forms of precarious status, which is accompanied by precarious access to public services. Our analysis of the production of precarious status in Canada is consistent with approaches that frame citizenship and illegality as historically produced and changeable. Considering variable pathways to and forms of precarious status supports theorizing citizenship and illegality as having blurred rather than bright boundaries. Identifying differences between Canada and the US challenges binary and tripartite models of illegality, and supports conducting contextually specific and comparative work.