Navigating the space between politics and administration: The informal practices of Ontario school board trustees

Through interviews with 25 school board trustees in Ontario, this article contributes to the growing literature that explores the politics-administration dichotomy at the local government level in Canada. While existing literature is oriented from the perspective of the local government administrator, we examine the relations between local government politicians and administrators from the orientation of the former to determine how they navigate the dichotomy, particularly in a context where it is arguably more contested. We identify six informal practices trustees adopt in representing constituents and confronting tensions inherent in their role, namely: navigating, influencing, listening, translating, informing, and uploading.     

If Brain Scans Really Detected Deception,Who Would Volunteer to be Scanned?

Abstract: Recent neuroimaging studies investigating the neural correlates of deception among healthy people, have raised the possibility that such methods may eventually be applied during legal proceedings. Were this so, who would volunteer to be scanned? We report a “natural experiment” casting some light upon this question. Following broadcast of a television series describing our team’s investigative neuroimaging of deception in 2007, we received unsolicited (public) correspondence for 12 months. Using a customized template to examine this material, three independent assessors unanimously rated 30 of an initial 56 communications as unequivocally constituting requests for a “scan” (to demonstrate their author’s “innocence”). Compared with the rest, these index communications were more likely to originate from incarcerated males, who were also more likely to engage in further correspondence. Hence, in conclusion, if neuroimaging were to become an acceptable means of demonstrating innocence then incarcerated males may well constitute those volunteering for such investigation.     

Fatal bupivacaine intoxication following unusual erotic practices

A fatal drug overdose is described which involved unusual erotic practices. A 54-year-old male was discovered supine on the floor surrounded by sexual paraphernalia, syringes, and medications including three empty bottles of bupivacaine. Acute and chronic injection sites of the external genitalia with contusions, scarring, focal necrosis, and calcification were present at autopsy. Toxicology revealed femoral blood, heart blood, and vitreous bupivacaine concentrations of 3.8, 2.8 and 1.3 mg/L, respectively. The urine bupivacaine concentration was 11.4 mg/L. The cause of death was attributed to bupivacaine intoxication and the manner of death was accidental.     

Insurance for Good Losers and the Survival of Chile's Concertación

In the transition from military rule to democracy, the government of Augusto Pinochet bequeathed to Chile a unique electoral law by which all legislative seats are contested in two-member districts. A key implication of this rule is that in order to secure legislative majorities, coalitions have to put their strongest candidates in the most precarious electoral list positions. This generates a divergence of interests between coalitions and politicians. Chile's largest coalition, the Concertación, has resolved the dilemma by providing appointed posts to unsuccessful congressional candidates who accept personal political risk on the coalition's behalf. This study argues that this insurance system has provided the critical glue to hold the coalition together since Chile's transition to democracy in 1990. Recent changes in the electoral environment could threaten the Concertación's control over the appointed posts that have sustained this informal institution. This could jeopardize the Concertación's cohesion during the process of negotiating coalition candidate lists for the 2005 legislative elections.     

A Comparison of the Values and Commitment of Private Sector, Public Sector, and Parapublic Sector Employees

This study investigated differences in general values, work values and organizational commitment among 549 private sector, public sector, and parapublic sector knowledge workers. No differences in general values were observed across sectors, although five significant work value differences were revealed: parapublic employees value work that contributes to society more than public servants, who value it more than private sector employees; parapublic employees value opportunities for advancement less than both public and private sector employees; public servants value intellectually stimulating and challenging work more than parapublic employees; and private sector employees value prestigious work more than public servants. Private sector employees displayed greater organizational commitment than the employees in the other two sectors. Overall, the findings suggest only limited value differences among employees of the various sectors. The finding of some work value differences between employees in the public and parapublic sectors suggests that these two groups merit separate consideration in comparative studies such as this one.     

Recent developments in privacy legislation

In this article, Ruth Carey takes a critical look at recent privacy-of-personal-information legislation drafted in three Canadian provinces--Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia. The article begins with a historical overview of international legal instruments and other privacy guidelines, and the Canadian experience with privacy protection. It then critically analyzes the provincial initiatives in the context of the federal Personal Information Protection and and Electronic Documents Act and accepted privacy principles. The article goes on to highlight certain types of legislative provisions of particular interest to people with HIV/AIDS and those who advocate on their behalf. It concludes that the numerous legislative initiatives underway in Canada provide an opportunity to alter the public discourse around the virus, thereby improving the lives of people with HIV/AIDS.     

Ontario: people can now apply for forced HIV testing in certain situations

Ontario has finally issued a regulation to accompany its controversial "blood samples" legislation, passed in 2001. As a result, in certain circumstances, a person in Ontario can now seek an order to require another person to be tested for HIV, hepatitis B (HBV), and hepatitis C (HCV). However, the regulation contains a number of restrictions on the ability to apply for such an order.