Licensing without law: legalized gambling in British Columbia

Abstract: British Columbia, like the other provinces, has experienced the rapid growth of legal public gaming over the past two decades. Such gambling schemes must be licensed or conducted by a province. Thus, a new sphere of provincial public policy has been created. This article examines the emergence of this policy in British Columbia and of the regulatory structures set up to administer it. The recognized indices of administrative law - statutory authority, structure, function, discretion, and remedies - are applied thereto, subjecting this area of public administration to critical scrutiny. It becomes clear that the licensing of lottery schemes in British Columbia is conducted by an administrative agency which is not a statutory creation and which uses licensing tools that are devoid of statutory authority. There is, in effect, licensing without law. The argument is then made that there is a duty to make law in such a situation to minimize unfettered discretionary powers. Sommaire: En Colombie-Britannique, comme dans les autres provinces, les jeux de hazard publics légaux se multiplient rapidement depuis les vingt dernières années. Ces jeux doivent se faire avec un permis ou sous la responsabilité de la province. Une nouvelle sphère de politique publique provinciale est done apparue. Get article étudie l'émergence de cette politique en Colombie-Britannique ainsi que les structures de réglementation mises en place pour veiller à son application. A partir de critères reconnus en droit administratif (autorité législative, structure, fonction, pouvoir discrétionnaire et recours), l'auteur soumet ce secteur de l'administration publique à un examen approfondi et critique. II en ressort que la délivrance des permis pour les loteries en Colombie-Britannique incombe à un organisme administratif qui n'a pas de fondement législatif, et qui recourt à des moyens de délivrance dénués de toute autorité statutaire. En fait, la délivrance des permis se fait en dehors de la loi. L'auteur soutient qu'il est nécessaire de légiférer dans pareille situation pour réduire l'utilisation de pouvoirs discrétionaires.     

Suing Canadian governments: Core public policy and operational decisions

Challenges in distinguishing between core policy and operational decisions in the public policy process have spawned a legal grey area in Canadian public administration. Governments are immune from civil liability for policy decisions made by the cabinet yet they remain exposed to liability for operational decisions by public servants. We seek to raise awareness of this nexus within the Canadian public administration community by drawing on key interviews with lawyers, former attorneys general, a former premier, a former judge and a legal scholar. We explain that demarcating policy from operational decisions relies on written documentation that is difficult to locate and may not exist. Clarity is desired, but Canadian courts are reluctant to overrule a public authority’s opinion, which is based on socio-economic and political considerations. We conclude with observations for public administrators.     

The centralisation of local government functions in Northern Ireland — an appraisal

This paper reviews the work of Local Development Agencies (LDAs), such as Councils for Voluntary Service and Rural Community Councils in promoting and supporting voluntary and community action in local communities in the UK. Based upon the first substantive study of these bodies since the late 1970s the paper evaluates both their work and the extent of their support to local communities. It then maps this work against the roles delineated for LDAs in the Wolfenden Report, in 1978, and suggests a reformulation of their roles for the new millennium. It concludes by considering the import of these ‘reformulated’ LDAs for the community governance initiative of the present Labour government.     

Interviewing to Elicit Cues to Deception: Improving Strategic Use of Evidence with General-To-Specific Framing of Evidence

Previous research has demonstrated that the strategic use of evidence (SUE) approach of interviewing criminal suspects is effective at eliciting cues to deception. This study aims at expanding on the SUE approach by testing the technique of general-to-specific evidence framing. We conducted an experiment using a mock terrorism paradigm. Guilty participants took part in a simulated act of terrorism, while innocent participants performed a similar act involving no transgression. All participants (N?=?102) were then interviewed using one of four evidence disclosure styles (early disclosure, late disclosure, 2-step disclosure, or 4-step disclosure). We expected that disclosing evidence to the suspect gradually, with increasing specificity, would induce guilty suspects to alter their statements to a greater extent than innocent suspects. General-to-specific evidence framing effectively discriminated between guilty and innocent suspects, but results only partially supported the hypotheses.     

Community Involvement in Rural Regeneration Partnerships: Exploring the Rural Dimension

This paper is about the involvement of local communities in rural regeneration and area development partnerships. In particular it asks questions about the extent to which there are distinctive rural elements to this which differentiate and counterpoise it to such involvement in urban areas. The paper concludes that, whilst there are some commonalities between such involvement across urban and rural communities, there are also challenges particular to rural areas. These are the spatial features of rural areas, the paucity of human capital in rural communities and a much lower resource level than in urban communities. The paper concludes that these challenges can only be met effectively in rural areas where there is strong local voluntary and community sector infrastructure to support community involvement in rural regeneration partnerships.     

Gender Analysis and Community Consultation: The Role of Women's Policy Units

Community consultation has become a widely accepted part of policy development in Australia. In this article, we consider how, in an Australian context, consultation can be incorporated within gender analysis processes. Gender analysis refers to systematic procedures to detect and correct gender bias in the full range of government programs, projects and policies. We draw upon insights from a qualitative case study to argue that policy workers located within women's policy units could play a key role in designing and coordinating meaningful and inclusive consultation. We conclude that well‐resourced women's policy offices within Australian governments are essential to ensuring effective, equitable consultation exercises are included within gender analysis processes.