加拿大地方治理创新及其启示

面对着经济全球化、政治民主化以及国内外一系列经济、政治、社会困境,加拿大不仅对联邦政府的职能、府际关系、运行形式等进行了一些调整,而且还对地方政府的政府职能、组织结构、公民参与形式等治理机制进行了一系列创新。遵循着有利于节约、有利于公平、有利于消除地区冲突的加拿大地方治理创新,虽然与当代中国地方治理的发展在各个方面有很大的不同,但是,它的内在逻辑对于每一个国家包括像中国这样的转型性的社会主义国家却都是共同的,从而也为我国地方治理发展带来一些启示。      

“母系”家族奥秘及其女性命运浮沉——张翎小说《雁过藻溪》的文学关键词解析

加拿大华文女作家张翎,是海外华语文坛上一位并非职业写手的"业余作者",近年来相继出版了《望月》、《交错的彼岸》、《邮购新娘》以及反映19世纪以来飘洋过海出国谋生的华工血泪史的《金山》等小说,频频斩获各种文学奖项。本文选取其中篇小说《雁过藻溪》,运用叙事学、女性主义批评理论和文本细读等方法,对张翎笔下的"藻溪"故事、人物原型及其叙事意蕴与文化隐喻等,作了较为深入而细致的诠释与解读。     

加拿大原住民自治政府:联邦主义下制度构建与政治文化相背离的困境

本文指出 ,加拿大原住民自治政府虽然具有道德正义性而且其合法性与加拿大联邦主义的原则不冲突 ,但其作为一个在联邦制度内的制度构建与加拿大的主导政治文化和政治权力结构却有一种背离矛盾关系。这种主导共同体与亚集体认同矛盾的现象在多民族国家的政治制度构建中是带有普遍性的问题 ,如何在宪政建设中解决这个问题对加拿大联邦制的前景至关重要 ,而且对中国这样的多民族国家将来的宪政建设也有很大的启示作用     

Reporting Volunteer Labour at the Organizational Level: A Study of Canadian Nonprofits

Volunteer contributions in the production of services are an important resource internationally. However, few countries include volunteer contributions in their national accounts, even though many encourage their populations to engage in volunteering. At the organizational level, many nonprofit organizations using volunteers often limit their input to a footnote in annual reports acknowledging their contribution; few estimate their value in financial terms. As a result, their financial accounts lack information upon which to base decisions affecting the organizations and the communities they serve. Additional information is required to assess the impact of volunteers in individual nonprofits as well as the sector as a whole. This study focuses on Canada, one of the few countries that include volunteers in the national accounts, to examine to what extent nonprofit organizations estimate a financial value for these contributions and include this in their financial statements. This paper reports the results of an online survey of 661 nonprofits from across Canada. In order to understand why some organizations keep records for volunteer contributions and quantify them, two sets of explanatory factors are explored: organizational characteristics and the attitude of the executive director. We find larger organizations were more likely to engage in record keeping and estimating volunteer value, as were organizations with a relatively large group of volunteers and volunteer programs. The attitude of the executive director is important in determining which organizations engage in these practices.     

Changes in conjugal life in Canada: Is cohabitation progressively replacing marriage?

This article aims first to contrast the trends of marriage and cohabitation across different regions in Canada, and second, to assess whether cohabitation constitutes a new stage in the progression to marriage, or an alternative to marriage altogether. Based on various empirical demographic indicators, the analysis shows profound differences across the country. In Quebec, cohabiting unions are now widely accepted as forming the basis for family life, whereas they still largely constitute a childless prelude to marriage elsewhere in Canada. The authors discuss the role of different religious and cultural backgrounds, and of recent changes in the relationships between men and women, in accounting for the divergent evolution observed.     

One million and counting: the hidden army of young carers in Canada

The term ‘young carer’ refers to those youth under the age of 25 years who provide substantial unpaid support to a family member due to factors including, but not limited to, familial or parental absence, disability, mental health issue(s) or problems with alcohol and/or other drugs. In the UK, national statistics have been integral to tracking the prevalence of young carers while serving as an important tool towards the development of (and justification for) a national legislative framework supporting these youth. In Canada, research and awareness for young carers remains in its infancy and available national datasets have yet to be examined in relation to youths providing unpaid caregiving. As a result, this research provides the first trend analysis of youth-based caregiving in Canada using census data for the 1996–2006 time-period. Methodological limitations of official statistics are also discussed in terms of conceptual and operational constraints limiting the full identification of all those potential young carers.     

A model of the Canadian global exchange rate: A test of the 1970s

This comment points out some methodological weaknesses in the Canadian global exchange rate model and the associated efficiency tests of Marwah and Bodkin. The model is found to be inadequate for policy analysis.     

Lagging behind in suburbia: Suburban versus urban newcomers’ employment settlement service outcomes in Metro Vancouver,Canada

Suburbanization is reshaping the context of immigrant settlement in Canada. Newcomer immigrants are increasingly settling initially in suburban communities as opposed to traditional receiving neighborhoods in urban centers. However, the quality of settlement services for newcomers to suburban neighborhoods has lagged behind, creating a mismatch between newcomer settlement patterns and service provision. As settlement patterns are recognized as significant determinants of employment success for newcomers and employment achievement is a key theme of integration, this study compares suburban and urban newcomers’ satisfaction with employment settlement services, associated financial experiences and coping mechanisms. Drawing upon qualitative interviews with 43 newcomer immigrants in Vancouver and three surrounding suburbs, we argue that suburban newcomers experience more difficulties with employment services from settlement service agencies than do urban newcomers. Subsequent unemployment may contribute to suburban settlers experiencing greater difficulty paying their monthly bills than do urban immigrants.     

Global liberalization on homosexuality: Explaining the African gap

We are trapped in two divergent worlds when it comes to global views on homosexuality. There is the liberal world epitomized by Spain and other nations, where homosexuality is increasingly accepted; gays and lesbians are claiming their human rights; and laws are changing to codify that transformation. The second is the extremely anti-gay world symbolized by Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia, where attitudes are favorable to criminalization. This research explains the “African Gap” in attitudes toward homosexuality in a comparative analysis of six African nations and Argentina and Canada, South and North America's most liberal nations on gay rights. Using Pew's 2015 Spring Global Attitudes Survey data, we find that the major variables have essentially similar effects on opinion in any context. Africa's distinction is explained by its comparatively higher levels of factors such as religion, morality dogma, and low socioeconomic status that generally retard support for homosexuality, at the same time of lower levels of factors such as education, urbanization, and personal liberty that increase gay support. Africa's extreme anti-gay outlook is mutable. Two social forces will facilitate this softening: expansion of liberalizing agents such as education and urbanization, and repositioning away from “traditionalism” toward modernism emphasizing individualism, civil rights, and personal liberties.