Management improvement in the Canadian public service, 1999–2010

This article surveys management improvement initiatives in the federal public service during the 2000s and assesses their progress. It reviews eight key areas: management accountability; expenditure management; financial management; human resource management; grants and contributions management; project management and capital investment; internal audit; and processes to sustain public service values and ethics. Although not all of the initiatives have been equally successful, this article argues that general improvement has been realized. The article also considers factors behind the successes, arguing that improvements typically arise from a combination of political, organizational, cultural and economic factors including public service leadership and support at the political level. Recent budget pressures may affect the sustainability of continuing management improvement, but elements for moving forward are clear.     

The Effects of Polymer Pigmentation on Fingermark Development Techniques

The effectiveness of latent fingerprint development techniques is heavily influenced by the physical and chemical properties of the deposition surface. The use of powder suspensions is increasing for development of prints on a range of surfaces. We demonstrate that carbon powder suspension development on polymers is detrimentally affected by the presence of common white pigment, titanium dioxide. Scanning electron microscopy demonstrates that patches of the compound are clearly associated with increased levels of powder adhesion. Substrates with nonlocalized titanium dioxide content also exhibit increased levels of carbon powder staining on a surface‐wide basis. Secondary ion mass spectrometry and complementary techniques demonstrate the importance of levels of the pigment within the top 30 nm. The association is independent of fingermark deposition and may be related to surface energy variation. The detrimental effect of the pigment is not observed with small‐particle reagent (MoS₂ SPR) or cyanoacrylate (superglue) fuming techniques that exploit different development mechanisms.     

Development of Latent Fingerprints on Thermal Paper by the Controlled Application of Heat

Apparatus to produce a spatially and temporally uniform heat source is described and this is used to visualize latent fingerprints deposited onto thermal paper by raising the temperature of the paper. Results show an improvement over previous research when fingerprint deposits are aged or the developed fingerprints faint; visualization being enhanced by the use of a blue LED light source of 465 nm peak wavelength. An investigation of the components in fingerprint sweat likely to affect the solubility and hence color change of the dye present in the thermal paper has shown that polar protic solvents able to donate a proton are favored and a polar amino acid found commonly in eccrine fingerprint sweat (lysine) has been shown able to produce the desired color change. Aged fingerprint deposits on thermal paper from a variety of sources up to 4 years old have been visualized with this technique.     

Evaluation of a Hybrid Seed Contract between Smallholders and a Multinational Company in East Java,Indonesia

This article evaluates a hybrid seed contract between Indonesian smallholders and Pioneer Hybrid International. A transaction cost approach was used to analyse contract participation, total farm gross margins and labour and chemical use. The empirical results suggest: (a) the contract favours farmers with more irrigated land; (b) the contract improved returns to farm capital and was welfare improving; (c) the contract increased the demand for non-family labour, particularly female labour; and (d) the contract increased the intensity of chemical use. The success of the contract was attributed to the nature of the contracting process, which was between Pioneer and grower groups and not individual smallholders.     

Policing with Contempt: The Degrading of Truth and Denial of Justice in the Aftermath of the Hillsborough Disaster

The Hillsborough disaster happened at a premier United Kingdom soccer stadium in April 1989 claiming the lives of ninety-six men, women, and children. Over the next decade there followed a Home Office inquiry, a criminal investigation, compensation hearings as far as the House of Lords, the longest inquests in recent history, a judicial review, a judicial scrutiny, and private prosecutions. Media coverage has remained intense and there has been persistent parliamentary debate. Despite the evidence amassed, much of it undisclosed, the legal argument and official discourse, the bereaved and survivors remain deeply concerned that the 'truth' of Hillsborough has been suppressed and reconstructed.
This paper considers Hillsborough and its long-term aftermath in the context of a theoretical discussion of the reconstitution and registration of 'truth' within social democracies when state institutions stand accused. It adopts a critical analysis drawing on human rights discourse in discussing how 'regimes of truth' operate to protect and sustain the interests of the 'powerful'. In examining the formal legal processes and their outcomes regarding Hillsborough, the paper demonstrates how they were manipulated to degrade the truth and deny justice to the bereaved. In revealing the procedural and structural inadequacies of these processes, the paper raises fundamental questions about the legal and political accountability of the police. Finally, it discusses alternative forms, informed by a human rights agenda, through which 'truth' can be acknowledged and institutionalized injustices reconciled.     

Identification of Protected Avian Species Using a Single Feather Barb*,†

Abstract: We report on the unambiguous identification of protected avian species from as little as one barb of a feather. Many avian species are protected by international agreements and national legislation, yet they are traded illegally because of their high value. Two sections of the avian mitochondrial genome were chosen to identify bird species, being a 561‐bp section of ND2 gene and a 921‐bp section of the ND5 gene. Two different DNA extraction methods were compared for their ability to reliably isolate sufficient DNA to be detected in a subsequent PCR. Using a commercial kit supplied by QIAGEN, a complete sequence was obtained from one barb for the ND2 gene, whereas two barbs were required to reliably sequence the 921‐bp section of the ND5 gene. The process worked on all species tested using feathers from archival museum specimens, resulted in minimal damage to the specimen and can readily be adopted by a forensic science laboratory.