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This dissertation is divided into three main components that each relate to the socioeconomic wellbeing of Aboriginal peoples in the Canadian labour market. Specifically, using data from the master file of the Canadian census for the years 1996, 2001 and 2006, the first section examines the wage differential for various Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal groups, including a comparison of those living on-and-off-reserves. The study finds that, while a sizeable wage gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal persons still exists, this disparity has narrowed over the three census periods for those living off-reserve. The Aboriginal-non-Aboriginal wage differential is largest among the on-reserve population and this gap has remained relatively constant over the three census periods considered in the study. The second study in the dissertation uses data from the master file of the Canadian Labour Force Survey for 2008 and 2009 to estimate the probability that an individual is a labour force participant, and, conditional on labour force participation, the probability that a respondent is unemployed, comparing several Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal groups. The results reveal that Aboriginal men and women have lower rates of labour force participation and higher rates or unemployment in both periods as compared to their non-Aboriginal counterparts. Aboriginal peoples were also disproportionately burdened by a slowdown in economic activity as measured by a change in the probability of unemployment moving from 2008 to 2009, as compared to non-Aboriginal people, who experienced a smaller increase in the probability of unemployment moving from a period of positive to negative economic growth. Finally, the third study examines the probability of high school dropout comparing Aboriginal peoples living on-and-off-reserve using data from the master file of the Aboriginal Peoples Survey for 2001. The findings reveal dramatically higher rates of dropout among Aboriginal people living on-reserve as compared to those living off-reserve. Limitations of all three studies as well as some possible directions of future research related to similar issues concerning Canada's Aboriginal population are discussed in the concluding chapter of the dissertation.

The article reviews two books written by Andrée Lévesque including "Éva Circé-Côté. Libre-penseuse, 1871-1949" and "Chroniques d'Éva Circé-Côté. Lumière sur la société québécoise, 1900-1942."

The article reviews the book, "Being Again of One Mind: Oneida Women and the Struggle for Decolonization," by Lina Sunseri.

The article reviews the book, "Perspectives internationales sur le travail des jeunes," edited by Mircea Vultur and Daniel Mercure.

The article reviews the book, "The River Returns: An Environmental History of the Bow," by Christopher Armstrong, Matthew Evenden, and H.V. Nelles.

Historically, Canada has adopted immigration policies focused on admitting migrants who were expected to become citizens. A dramatic shift has occurred in recent years as the number of temporary labourers admitted to Canada has increased substantially. Legislated Inequality critically evaluates this radical development in Canadian immigration, arguing that it threatens to undermine Canada's success as an immigrant nation. Assessing each of the four major temporary labour migration programs in Canada, contributors from a range of disciplines - including comparative political science, philosophy, and sociology - show how temporary migrants are posed to occupy a permanent yet marginal status in society and argue that Canada's temporary labour policy must undergo fundamental changes in order to support Canada's long held immigration goals. The difficult working conditions faced by migrant workers, as well as the economic and social dangers of relying on temporary migration to relieve labour shortages, are described in detail. Legislated Inequality provides an essential critical analysis of the failings of temporary labour migration programs in Canada and proposes tangible ways to improve the lives of labourers. --Publisher's description

A eulogy for the social and human rights activist Madeleine Parent is presented.

The article reviews the book, "Canadian Labour in Crisis: Reinventing the Workers' Movement," by David Camfield.

Examines how the increase in precarious employment has exacerbated health and safety hazards and injuries in Ontario work places. Concludes that the Canadian regulatory system is flawed. Based on surveys and interviews conducted in southern Ontario in 2005 and 2006.

The article reviews the book, "Precarious Liberation: Workers, the State, and Contested Social Citizenship in Postapartheid South Africa," by Franco Barchiesi.

The article reviews the book, "Poverty, Regulation and Social Justice: Readings on the Criminalization of Poverty," edited by Diane Crocker and Val Marie Johnson.

Child labour has been present in North America since the beginnings of European colonization, and regulation of their industrial employment dates at least to the early nineteenth century in Rhode Island (Abbott). Given moral injunctions to keep children from mischief and utilitarian demands for labour and family income, such regulation remained basically ineffective. With industrial expansion following the American Civil War children established themselves as a major presence in the workforce and occasionally appeared in industrial stories such as Rebecca Harding Davis’s “Life in the Iron Mills” (1861).

Using panel data from a large sample of Canadian establishments, the authors examine whether there is any link between adoption of an employee profit-sharing plan and subsequent employee earnings. Overall, growth in employee earnings during the five-year period subsequent to adoption of profit sharing was significantly higher in establishments that had adopted profit sharing, as compared with those establishments that had not done so. Employees in establishments that paid high wages before profit sharing adoption appeared to benefit more than employees in other establishments, although employees in other establishments did eventually benefit from profit sharing.

Mobile Living Across Europe II: Causes and Consequences of Job-Related Spatial Mobility in Cross-National Comparison, edited by Norbert F. Schneider and Beate Collet, is reviewed.

The article reviews the book, "Labor's Civil War in California: The NUHW Healthcare Workers' Rebellion," by Cal Winslow.

Uranium miners in Elliot Lake went on a wildcat strike in 1974 to protest their occupational health concerns on the job after a spike in cancer cases. They learned that the provincial government had known of the poor working conditions causing their illnesses, but had not informed them of the dangers or acted to improve their situation. As a result of union and political pressure, the Ontario government created the Ham Commission to investigate and make recommendations. Its hearings revealed the industry's scandalous conditions, and its report eventually resulted in the Ontario Health and Safety (OHS) Act in Ontario. It did not cover the miners until 1984, so they worked through their internal health and safety committees to gain improvements in the work environment. Others have discussed this situation in relation to the emergence of the OHS and environmental movements. This paper discusses the events in terms of the mine owners' attitudes towards their employees, the industry's relationship to governments, and the impact of the uranium mining industry (part of the nuclear industry) on the local community and environment.

Labour landmarks are memorial sites, commemorations, plaques, and burial sites that provide access to the themes and meanings of workers' past experiences. They are instrumental in enshrining workers' "public memories," which are the separate experiences of groups within society, within the larger "collective memory" of the community. A general exploration of the commemorative landscape reveals a number of themes and allows a detailed discussion of several labour landmarks. In the course of this research, 21 separate labour landmarks were identified in the communities of industrial Cape Breton. The majority of these monuments are dedicated to workers in the coal and steel industries. The 1980s saw an expansion in the frequency of labour commemorations, which indicates increased attention to the experiences of workers in Cape Breton. Two monuments in the community of New Waterford reveal the many layers of historical memory in the town. The first is dedicated to victims of the 1917 mine explosion, while the second commemorates the man killed during the 1925 strike. The explosion monument, unveiled in 1922, inserts the public memory of coal miners into the collective memory of New Waterford. The William Davis monument, dedicated in 1985, reveals an existing working-class consciousness in the town and merges individual and public memories of Davis while reflecting on a major event in the town's history. Another monument, dedicated to Sydney's steelworkers, now rests on the site of the former steel plant, and commemorates a century of experience. This memorial is used as an example of how one might "read" a labour landmark to access its themes and meanings, as well as to reach an understanding of the past experiences of workers.

Analyzes the Supreme Court's jurisprudence on freedom of association, notably B.C. Health Services (2007), in respect to Canada's constitutional relationship with international law.