Whatever Happened to Canadian Children's Equality Rights? A Reconsideration of the Eaton Special Education Case

This paper reconsiders the Canadian Supreme Court Decision in Eaton and examines its implications for the equality rights of Canadian children in general. The suggestion is made that a 'best interest of the child' standard cannot be met if it involves the violation of fundamental Charter rights. Segregated special education placement, when against the wishes of the parents or guardians and with no s. 1 justification, it is argued, is unconstitutional. The latter gives rise to violations of equality provisions with regard to the student's freedom of association, the right to personal autonomy in decision-making for parents in regards to their child's education, as well as, in some cases, security of the person insofar as the psychological, social and cognitive development of the disabled child is concerned. Such an exclusion from the mainstream, if imposed, it is suggested, does not generally meet the test for 'reasonableness' in accommodation consistent with Charter guarantees. The presumption in favor of integration unless the parent or guardian wishes otherwise is, it is argued, a constitutional imperative based on Charter equality rights rather than a preference for one pedagogical theory (integration) over another (segregated special education placement).     

Kantian Dynamics Revisited: Time-Varying Analyses of Dyadic IGO-Conflict Relationships

ABSTRACT

The literature on international organizations (IGOs) and interstate conflict in world politics produces a series of contradictory theoretical arguments and empirical findings about how IGOs help to prevent conflict and promote peace between member states. Empirical studies find a range of inconsistent results, ranging from pacifying effects of shared IGO memberships on dyadic militarized disputes to conflict-inducing effects of shared IGO memberships to null relationships. Theoretically, we consider how IGOs promote the rule of peace preservation through the mechanisms of coercion, self-interest, and legitimacy, and we describe how these mechanisms help explain the time-varying relationships between shared IGOs memberships and militarized conflict since WWII. Analyses of time-varying parameter models of dyad-year data from 1948 to 2000 suggest that shared IGO memberships reduce the likelihood of militarized conflict in some historical periods (Cold War) but increase the chances for dyadic conflict in other periods (post-Cold War). The design of IGOs is relevant as well, with security-based, highly institutionalized IGOs best suited to prevent militarized conflict between member states. The results suggest that evolutionary dynamics in the Kantian peace vary across legs of the Kantian tripod and that we cannot understand the Kantian peace without considering dynamic relationships over time.     

Human rights treaties and mobilized dissent against the state

How does state obligation to international human rights treaties (HRTs) affect mobilized dissent? We argue that obligations to protect human rights affect not only state behavior but also the behavior of dissidents. We present a theory in which the effect of HRTs on dissent is conditional on expectations of when it will constrain government behavior. We assume that HRT obligation increases the likelihood that government agents face litigation costs for repression but argue that leaders are only constrained when they would be most likely to repress. The expectation of constraint creates opportunity: citizens are more likely to dissent in HRT-obligated states with secure leaders and weak domestic courts. We find empirical support for the implications of our theory using country-month data on HRT obligation and dissent events from 1990 to 2004.     

Characterization and Comparison of Injuries Caused by Accidental and Non‐accidental Blunt Force Trauma in Dogs and Cats

Motor vehicle accidents (MVA) are often difficult to distinguish from non‐accidental injury (NAI). This retrospective case–control study compared animals with known MVA trauma against those with known NAI. Medical records of 426 dogs and cats treated after MVA and 50 after NAI were evaluated. Injuries significantly associated with MVA were pelvic fractures, pneumothorax, pulmonary contusion, abrasions, and degloving wounds. Injuries associated with NAI were fractures of the skull, teeth, vertebrae, and ribs, scleral hemorrhage, damage to claws, and evidence of older fractures. Odds ratios are reported for these injuries. MVA rib fractures were found to occur in clusters on one side of the body, with cranial ribs more likely to fracture, while NAI rib fractures were found to occur bilaterally with no cranial–caudal pattern. Establishing evidence‐based patterns of injury may help clinicians differentiate causes of trauma and may aid in the documentation and prosecution of animal abuse.