Class dismissed? Student opposition in Ontario

Dans cette communication sur les origines de classe et diverses formes de résistance chez les élèves des écoles secondaires en Ontario, l'auteur met en doute la tendance chez de nombreux chercheurs à généraliser certaines méthodes qui les font conclure que l'origine de classe est un des principaux facteurs déterminants de la participation aux sous-cultures 'anti-école'. Alors que ces chercheurs donnent à entendre que les taux de participation sont proportionnels aux différences entre classes sur le plan de la réussite scolaire, l'auteur applique diverses mesures de la résistance à un important échantillon d'éleves sans trouver de rapport de proportionnalité entre les résultats scolaires et la resistance selon la classe sociale. La presentation des données s'accompagne d'une analyse des facteurs structured et culturels qui pourraient contribuer à obscurcir les liens entre les origines de classe et la résistance chez les éliéves ontariens.     

Accountability Agreements in Ontario Hospitals: Are They Fair?

Governments can be accountable for improving the fairness oftheir priority setting through enhanced transparency and stakeholderengagement. A case analysis is conducted of priority settingin a government health care context in Ontario, Canada, assessinghow implementation of hospital accountability agreements meetsthe conditions of a leading international ethical frameworkfor priority setting, "accountability for reasonableness" (A4R).Hospital accountability agreements provide a mechanism for governmentto ensure that public funding achieves desired performance inhospitals. A key goal of priority setting is fairness. A4R linkspriority setting, legitimacy, and fairness to theories of democraticdeliberation, making a claim for fairness if the four conditionsof relevance, publicity, revision/appeals, and enforcement aresatisfied. Regarding the relevance condition, this analysissuggests that government only partially met the relevance conditionproviding limited stakeholder engagement but with evidence ofpolicy learning and movement toward the establishment of inclusivestakeholder arrangements. Evidence suggests that governmenteventually progressed toward meeting the publicity condition.Government only partially met the revision/appeals conditionand did not meet the enforcement condition, as the other conditionswere only partially met. It is our view that regional governancestructures in Ontario (i.e., Local Health Integration Networksor LHINs) provide an opportunity for the province to improvethe fairness of their accountability agreement processes throughenhancing transparency and stakeholder engagement. More broadly,this case study provides a guide for government to enhance accountabilityby focusing on A4R to improve the fairness of its priority setting.     

Representation of Muslim characters living in the West in Ontario’s language textbooks

This study examined how Muslims living in the West were represented in English language textbooks in Ontario, Canada. The review showed that Muslims were consistently placed in inferior and dependent positions in relation to ‘white folks’ by focusing on their origins in violent and backward societies, their cultural deficits, social ineptitudes, conflicted identities, and low-status jobs. It is suggested that textbooks should encourage critical literacy by including a wider, more accurate range of depictions of Muslims in western societies to combat stereotyping.     

Increasing Research Capacity in Ontario Child Welfare Organizations: A Unique University–Child Welfare Agency Partnership

The objective of this article is to describe the successes and challenges of a unique knowledge mobilization initiative that was funded through the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. This initiative focused on promoting knowledge mobilization by increasing the capacity of child welfare organizations in Ontario to conduct and use research. Building on existing knowledge mobilization models in Ontario, this initiative brought university-based researchers together with child welfare practitioners to use existing data sets from the Ontario Incidence Studies of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect. Overall, this knowledge mobilization initiative resulted in several positive outcomes. Along with the successes, the research team faced several challenges in implementing this initiative, which are described in detail.     

Is where i sit,where i stand? The Ontario farm women's network,politics and difference

The objective of this paper is to trace how the Ontario Farm Women's Network (OFWN), a provincial association formed in 1988, has translated an ideological commitment to an explicitly feminist struggle and to an economic struggle to ensure the survival of the family farm in Canada into practical politics. This article argues that the effectiveness of OFWN's activism lies in its creation of a reverse discourse that iteratively negotiates what it means to be a farm woman with what it means to be a farmer in the Canadian political economy.     

Does traffic noise alter calling time in frogs and toads? A case study of anurans in Eastern Ontario,Canada

In habitats disturbed by anthropogenic noise, acoustically communicating species may develop behavioral responses that help them transmit information and overcome signal masking. We studied four anuran species breeding in wetlands, ponds, and ditches near a highway in eastern Ontario, Canada, to test whether they called more often when traffic noise intensity was lower, and stopped calling when the noise intensity increased (i.e., gap calling behavior). We made call recordings between April and July 2011, and compared the traffic noise intensity (sound pressure level) between times when the anurans were calling and times when they were not calling. We found that the two species with the highest call peak frequency (American toad, gray treefrog) called randomly with regard to traffic noise intensity. In contrast, the two species with the lowest call peak frequency (green frog, bullfrog) called more often when traffic noise intensity was low. The behavioral response in the two latter species likely represents a short-term strategy that enhances their signal-to-noise ratio thereby increasing the chance of effective communication. Our results support predictions derived from the acoustic adaptation hypothesis: low-frequency signals are more prone to be masked by anthropogenic noise and therefore require behavioral adjustments (in this study gap-calling behavior) to ameliorate this effect.     

“Welfare Mother” Activism,Mainstream Feminism,and the Cunning of History in Ontario’s 1970s Welfare Debate

ABSTRACT

This article examines the voice of mobilized welfare mothers and the mainstream women’s movement in the welfare debate of the 1970s in Ontario. A question debated was whether welfare mothers had a right to “stay home” while receiving welfare. The article shows that a radical strain of welfare mother activists at this time demanded recognition of women’s unpaid work. While mainstream women’s groups were generally sympathetic to welfare mothers, their overriding focus on employability as the solution to their poverty served to derail the radical possibilities of welfare mother politics and solidify a policy agenda that undermined the deserving status of welfare mothers.     

Functional testosterone: Biochemical assessment of hypogonadism in men – Report from a multidisciplinary workshop hosted by the Ontario Society of Clinical Chemists

Objectives. In 2004, the Ontario Society of Clinical Chemists (OSCC) held an invitational multidisciplinary workshop to establish the most reliable, cost-effective approach to the biochemical assessment of hypogonadism in men.

Methods. Specialists across Canada in clinical biochemistry, endocrinology, family medicine and urology were invited to participate in this workshop which included individual presentations and a consensus component addressing two challenge statements: 1) ‘Determinations for total testosterone (TT) are equivalent to those for bioavailable testosterone (BAT) or calculated BAT (cBAT) or free testosterone (FT) (by analogue radioimmunoassay or equilibrium dialysis) or calculated FT (cFT)’; 2) ‘There is no good evidence that borderline low testosterone concentrations in men should be treated’. The main outcomes were to identify what agreement exists in Canada, what issues were still controversial, and what research remains to be addressed.

Results. Six recommendations based on expert opinion addressed these main themes: investigate with morning total testosterone (TT) followed by repetition and reflexive testing of sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) if testosterone is 8–15 nmol/L with automatic calculation of cBAT; discontinue the use of analogue free testosterone assays; and definitive methods and standards must be available to ensure standardized results.

Conclusions. Total testosterone is a reliable marker for the initial investigation of men presenting with symptoms of hypogonadism; cBAT is a reasonable follow-up test in patients with equivocal biochemical or consistent symptomatic findings.     

“It's a gap in awareness”: Exploring service provision for LGBTQ2S survivors of intimate partner violence in Ontario,Canada

ABSTRACT

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a prevalent issue in all relationship configurations, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and two-spirit (LGBTQ2S) relationships. While the experiences of LGBTQ2S IPV survivors are understood, there are issues, needs, and challenges associated with service provision for them. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a sample (N = 10) of professionals (e.g., counselors, shelter managers, program directors) affiliated with organizations that provide services for IPV survivors in Ontario, Canada. Participants answered questions pertaining to the inclusion of LGBTQ2S IPV survivors into their existing services, and what service provision should look like. Data was analyzed using a thematic analysis to uncover themes that reflected participants' responses. The data was organized into recommendations for service provision at three different levels: direct service provision, organizational transformation, and underlying principles and values. Findings reveal suggestions for service providers to consider modifying their current organizations, to adequately include LGBTQ2S IPV survivors.