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Sujit Choudhry - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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still not equal Visible Minority vote dilution in canada
Social Science Research Network, 2014Co-Authors: Michael Pal, Sujit ChoudhryAbstract:This article takes the long-standing fact of deviations from representation by population in Canada and asks whether a consequence is Visible Minority vote dilution. It builds on our earlier article on this topic by calculating voting power for Visible minorities and non-Visible minorities for the 2004 federal electoral map and for provincial electoral districts in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec. We conclude that vote dilution continues to exist and is concentrated in the ridings with the highest proportion of Visible minorities. Visible Minority vote dilution carries special significance in light of demographic, policy, and constitutional considerations. The article concludes by offering options for reform.
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still not equal Visible Minority vote dilution in canada
Canadian Political Science Review, 2014Co-Authors: Michael Pal, Sujit ChoudhryAbstract:This article takes the long-standing fact of deviations from the principle of representation by population in Canada as the starting point and asks whether the consequence is the dilution of Visible Minority votes. It calculates Visible Minority voting power and compares it to the voting strength of voters who are not Visible minorities for the 2004 federal electoral map using 2006 Census data and for provincial electoral districts. We conclude that vote dilution exists and is concentrated in the ridings with the largest proportions of Visible minorities. Visible Minority vote dilution carries special significance in light of demographic, policy and constitutional considerations. The article concludes by offering some suggestions for how the electoral boundary commissions that set the contours of ridings can address Visible Minority vote dilution, as well as possible legislative amendments.
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is every ballot equal Visible Minority vote dilution in canada
Social Science Research Network, 2007Co-Authors: Michael Pal, Sujit ChoudhryAbstract:Although all adult citizens have the right to vote under section 3 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the worth of one's vote depends upon where one lives. Representation from Canada's three fastest growing provinces - Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario - is increasingly out of step with demographic realities. The average ballot cast in these provinces is worth less than one cast in any other province. Moreover, within provinces, rural ridings are overrepresented in relation to urban constituencies. In this paper, we revisit this familiar debate in the wake of dramatic demographic change. Canada's Visible Minority population is increasing in absolute terms and as a proportion of the national population, and this increase is fuelled by immigration. Moreover, Canada's Visible Minority population is growing where Canada's population growth is increasingly concentrated - in Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia and in its urban areas. The new question the authors pose is whether the underrepresentation of these provinces and urban areas in the House of Commons translates into the dilution of the votes of citizens from Visible Minority communities. Does promoting the interests of rural minorities and the Minority of Canadians who live in smaller provinces necessarily come at the cost of the interests of a Visible Minority? We conclude that Visible Minority vote dilution exists in Canada. The worth of an average vote in Canada is 1. In 1996, the weight of a rural vote was 1.15, while urban Visible Minority voters had a voting power of 0.95 (83 percent of a rural vote). In 2001, while the weight of a rural vote increased to 1.22, the weight of an urban Visible Minority vote declined to 0.91 (75 percent of a rural vote). While the trend for urban Visible Minority voters is downward, the voting strength of urban voters remained largely unchanged, standing at 0.97 in 1996 and 0.96 in 2001. This suggests that urban Visible Minority voters are concentrated in certain urban ridings. Moreover, the results broken down by province show the particular impact of vote dilution upon Visible Minority voters in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario. To provide a rough estimate of future vote dilution, we counted all permanent residents of voting age as if they were citizens. Under this scenario, we found that national results for vote dilution are even more troubling. In 2001, rural voters would have a voting power of 1.27. The voting power of urban voters would be 0.85 for urban Visible Minority voters, or 67 percent of the voting power of rural voters. The provincial results for this scenario again highlight the disadvantages faced by Visible Minority voters in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario. In 2001, urban Visible Minority voters would have a voting power of 0.78 in British Columbia, 0.85 in Alberta and 0.83 in Ontario. Visible Minority vote dilution arises from the way seats in the House of Commons are distributed interprovincially and intraprovincially. Interprovincial inequality is the result of two rules that depart from representation by population in the House of Commons: the Senate floor (which guarantees each province at least as many MPs as it has senators), and the grandfather clause (which ensures that provincial representation will not decline below the levels in the 1986 House of Commons). These rules benefit every province except Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario, and as population growth is concentrated in these three provinces, their impact is increasing over time. In 2003, these rules accounted for 27 MPs, or 9 percent, of the House of Commons. Intraprovincial inequality results from the decisions of electoral boundary commissions, which consistently overrepresent rural areas, and the federal Electoral Boundary Readjustment Act(EBRA), which permits the commissions to do so. To address Visible Minority vote dilution, we consider three reform options: amending the EBRA and provincial legislation to minimize variances in riding size; pressuring the electoral boundary commissions to limit deviations from voter equality; and increasing the size of the House of Commons to 327 members to accommodate population growth in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario.
Richard H Glazier - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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the weight of place a multilevel analysis of gender neighborhood material deprivation and body mass index among canadian adults
Social Science & Medicine, 2008Co-Authors: Flora I Matheson, Rahim Moineddin, Richard H GlazierAbstract:This study examined the impact of neighborhood material deprivation on gender differences in body mass index (BMI) for urban Canadians. Data from a national health survey of adults (Canadian Community Health Survey Cycles 1.1/2.1) were combined with census tract-level neighborhood data from the 2001 census. Using multilevel analysis we found that living in neighborhoods with higher material deprivation was associated with higher BMI. Compared to women living in the most affluent neighborhoods, women living in the most deprived neighborhoods had a BMI score 1.8 points higher. For women 1.65 m in height (5'4'' inches), this translated into a 4.8 kg or 11 lb difference. For men, living in affluent neighborhoods was associated with higher BMI (7 lb) relative to men living in deprived neighborhoods. The relative disadvantage for men living in pockets of affluence and women living in pockets of poverty persisted after adjusting for age, married and Visible Minority status, educational level, self-perceived stress, sense of belonging, and lifestyle factors, including smoking, exercise, diet, and chronic health conditions. The implication of these disparate findings for men and women is that interventions that lead to healthy weight control may need to be gender responsive. Our findings also suggest that what we traditionally have thought to be triggering factors for weight gain and maintenance of unhealthy BMI-lifestyle and behavioral factors-are not sufficient explanations. Indeed, these factors account for only a portion of the explanation of why neighborhood stress is associated with BMI. Cultural attitudes about the body that pressure women to meet the thin ideal which can lead to an unhealthy cycle of dieting and, subsequent weight gain, and the general acceptability of the heavier male need to be challenged. Education and intervention within a public health framework remain important targets for producing healthy weight.
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urban neighborhoods chronic stress gender and depression
Social Science & Medicine, 2006Co-Authors: Flora I Matheson, Rahim Moineddin, James R Dunn, Maria I Creatore, Piotr Gozdyra, Richard H GlazierAbstract:Using multilevel analysis we find that residents of "stressed" neighborhoods have higher levels of depression than residents of less "stressed" neighborhoods. Data for individuals are from two cycles of the Canadian Community Health Survey, a national probability sample of 56,428 adults living in 25 Census Metropolitan Areas in Canada, with linked information about the respondents' census tracts. Depression is measured with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale Short Form and is based on a cutoff of 4+ symptoms. Factor analysis of census tract characteristics identified two measures of neighborhood chronic stress--residential mobility and material deprivation--and two measures of population structure--ethnic diversity and dependency. After adjustment for individual-level gender, age, education, marital and Visible Minority status and neighborhood-level ethnic diversity and dependency, a significant contextual effect of neighborhood chronic stress survives. As such, the daily stress of living in a neighborhood where residential mobility and material deprivation prevail is associated with depression. Since gender frames access to personal and social resources, we explored the possibility that women might be more reactive to chronic stressors manifested in higher risk of depression. However, we did not find random variation in depression by gender across neighborhoods.
Ingrid Melle - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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the impact of immigration and Visible Minority status on psychosis symptom profile
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 2014Co-Authors: Akiah Ottesen Berg, Ole A Andreassen, Sofie R Aminoff, Kristin Lie Romm, Edvard Hauff, Ingrid MelleAbstract:Immigrants have heightened risks of psychotic disorders, and it is proposed that migration influences symptom profiles. The purpose of this study was to investigate if either migration experience and/or Visible Minority status affected symptom profiles, using a cross-culturally validated five-factor model of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), in patients with broadly defined psychotic disorders. PANSS was assessed in a large catchment area based sample of patients with psychotic disorders verified with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (n = 1,081). Symptom profiles based on Wallwork et al. five-factor model were compared for Norwegians (73 %), white immigrants (10.5 %), and Visible Minority groups (16.5 %). Visible minorities were significantly younger, had less education, more often a schizophrenia diagnosis and higher PANSS positive, negative and disorganized/concrete factor scores than Norwegians and white immigrants. After controlling for confounders only the items “Delusions” and “Difficulty in abstract thinking” differed between groups. Multivariate analyses indicated that these items were not associated with immigration per se, but rather belonging to a Visible Minority. We found mostly similarities in psychotic symptoms between immigrants and Norwegians when using a cross-culturally validated five-factor model of the PANSS. Immigration did not directly influence psychotic symptom profiles but Visible Minority groups had higher levels of “Delusions” and “Difficulty in abstract thinking”, both symptoms that are partially context dependent.
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perceived discrimination is associated with severity of positive and depression anxiety symptoms in immigrants with psychosis a cross sectional study
BMC Psychiatry, 2011Co-Authors: Akiah Ottesen Berg, Kristin Lie Romm, Ingrid Melle, Jan Ivar Rossberg, Sara Larsson, Trine Vik Lagerberg, Ole A AndreassenAbstract:Immigration status is a significant risk factor for psychotic disorders, and a number of studies have reported more severe positive and affective symptoms among immigrant and ethnic Minority groups. We investigated if perceived discrimination was associated with the severity of these symptoms among immigrants in Norway with psychotic disorders. Cross-sectional analyses of 90 immigrant patients (66% first-generation, 68% from Asia/Africa) in treatment for psychotic disorders were assessed for DSM-IV diagnoses with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM Disorders (SCID-I, sections A-E) and for present symptom severity by The Structured Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (SCI-PANSS). Perceived discrimination was assessed by a self-report questionnaire developed for the Immigrant Youth in Cultural Transition Study. Perceived discrimination correlated with positive psychotic (r = 0.264, p < 0.05) and depression/anxiety symptoms (r = 0.282, p < 0.01), but not negative, cognitive, or excitement symptoms. Perceived discrimination also functioned as a partial mediator for symptom severity in African immigrants. Multiple linear regression analyses controlling for possible confounders revealed that perceived discrimination explained approximately 10% of the variance in positive and depression/anxiety symptoms in the statistical model. Among immigrants with psychotic disorders, Visible Minority status was associated with perceived discrimination and with more severe positive and depression/anxiety symptoms. These results suggest that context-specific stressful environmental factors influence specific symptom patterns and severity. This has important implications for preventive strategies and treatment of this vulnerable patient group.
Maha Kumaran - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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succession planning process that includes Visible Minority librarians
Library Management, 2015Co-Authors: Maha KumaranAbstract:Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to stress the importance of including Visible Minority librarians in the process of succession planning in academic libraries. In Canada Visible minorities is the accepted term used for librarians of color. This paper identifies the challenges faced by these librarians in putting their names forward for administrative/leadership positions and proposes ideas on how to include these librarians in the succession planning processes so the leadership/administrative pool can also reflect the multicultural student demographics. Design/methodology/approach – This paper is an extensive study of the literature on succession planning and Visible Minority or ethnic librarians in the academic libraries. Literature shows that the senior administration of academic libraries does not reflect the population demographic it serves. Findings – This paper shows that Visible Minority librarians are not proactively found, recruited, retained. They are certainly not being included in succes...
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Visible Minority librarians of canada at ontario library association super conference 2013
Partnership: The Canadian Journal of Library and Information Practice and Research, 2013Co-Authors: Maha KumaranAbstract:This article is based on the panel presentation offered at the Ontario Library Association Super Conference in January 2013. Six of the ten founding members of Visible Minority Librarians of Canada (ViMLoC) Network were able to attend and offer a panel presentation on the challenges faced by Visible Minority librarians. Topics varied from finding the right job, education, lack of financial support, upgrading skills, lack of mentorship opportunities, and socialization at work. Although Canada has always been a land of immigrants, the social makeup of immigration has shifted from Eastern Europe to the Middle East, Africa and Asia. There is an influx of immigrants to historically not so popular destinations such as Saskatoon and Winnipeg. Are there more Visible Minority librarians in Canada as a result? If not, will there be room for them? Based on feedback received at this presentation, ViMLoC will focus on two major projects: gathering statistics on the number of Visible Minority librarians working for Canadian institutions, and creating a mentorship program.
Michael Pal - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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still not equal Visible Minority vote dilution in canada
Social Science Research Network, 2014Co-Authors: Michael Pal, Sujit ChoudhryAbstract:This article takes the long-standing fact of deviations from representation by population in Canada and asks whether a consequence is Visible Minority vote dilution. It builds on our earlier article on this topic by calculating voting power for Visible minorities and non-Visible minorities for the 2004 federal electoral map and for provincial electoral districts in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec. We conclude that vote dilution continues to exist and is concentrated in the ridings with the highest proportion of Visible minorities. Visible Minority vote dilution carries special significance in light of demographic, policy, and constitutional considerations. The article concludes by offering options for reform.
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still not equal Visible Minority vote dilution in canada
Canadian Political Science Review, 2014Co-Authors: Michael Pal, Sujit ChoudhryAbstract:This article takes the long-standing fact of deviations from the principle of representation by population in Canada as the starting point and asks whether the consequence is the dilution of Visible Minority votes. It calculates Visible Minority voting power and compares it to the voting strength of voters who are not Visible minorities for the 2004 federal electoral map using 2006 Census data and for provincial electoral districts. We conclude that vote dilution exists and is concentrated in the ridings with the largest proportions of Visible minorities. Visible Minority vote dilution carries special significance in light of demographic, policy and constitutional considerations. The article concludes by offering some suggestions for how the electoral boundary commissions that set the contours of ridings can address Visible Minority vote dilution, as well as possible legislative amendments.
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is every ballot equal Visible Minority vote dilution in canada
Social Science Research Network, 2007Co-Authors: Michael Pal, Sujit ChoudhryAbstract:Although all adult citizens have the right to vote under section 3 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the worth of one's vote depends upon where one lives. Representation from Canada's three fastest growing provinces - Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario - is increasingly out of step with demographic realities. The average ballot cast in these provinces is worth less than one cast in any other province. Moreover, within provinces, rural ridings are overrepresented in relation to urban constituencies. In this paper, we revisit this familiar debate in the wake of dramatic demographic change. Canada's Visible Minority population is increasing in absolute terms and as a proportion of the national population, and this increase is fuelled by immigration. Moreover, Canada's Visible Minority population is growing where Canada's population growth is increasingly concentrated - in Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia and in its urban areas. The new question the authors pose is whether the underrepresentation of these provinces and urban areas in the House of Commons translates into the dilution of the votes of citizens from Visible Minority communities. Does promoting the interests of rural minorities and the Minority of Canadians who live in smaller provinces necessarily come at the cost of the interests of a Visible Minority? We conclude that Visible Minority vote dilution exists in Canada. The worth of an average vote in Canada is 1. In 1996, the weight of a rural vote was 1.15, while urban Visible Minority voters had a voting power of 0.95 (83 percent of a rural vote). In 2001, while the weight of a rural vote increased to 1.22, the weight of an urban Visible Minority vote declined to 0.91 (75 percent of a rural vote). While the trend for urban Visible Minority voters is downward, the voting strength of urban voters remained largely unchanged, standing at 0.97 in 1996 and 0.96 in 2001. This suggests that urban Visible Minority voters are concentrated in certain urban ridings. Moreover, the results broken down by province show the particular impact of vote dilution upon Visible Minority voters in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario. To provide a rough estimate of future vote dilution, we counted all permanent residents of voting age as if they were citizens. Under this scenario, we found that national results for vote dilution are even more troubling. In 2001, rural voters would have a voting power of 1.27. The voting power of urban voters would be 0.85 for urban Visible Minority voters, or 67 percent of the voting power of rural voters. The provincial results for this scenario again highlight the disadvantages faced by Visible Minority voters in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario. In 2001, urban Visible Minority voters would have a voting power of 0.78 in British Columbia, 0.85 in Alberta and 0.83 in Ontario. Visible Minority vote dilution arises from the way seats in the House of Commons are distributed interprovincially and intraprovincially. Interprovincial inequality is the result of two rules that depart from representation by population in the House of Commons: the Senate floor (which guarantees each province at least as many MPs as it has senators), and the grandfather clause (which ensures that provincial representation will not decline below the levels in the 1986 House of Commons). These rules benefit every province except Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario, and as population growth is concentrated in these three provinces, their impact is increasing over time. In 2003, these rules accounted for 27 MPs, or 9 percent, of the House of Commons. Intraprovincial inequality results from the decisions of electoral boundary commissions, which consistently overrepresent rural areas, and the federal Electoral Boundary Readjustment Act(EBRA), which permits the commissions to do so. To address Visible Minority vote dilution, we consider three reform options: amending the EBRA and provincial legislation to minimize variances in riding size; pressuring the electoral boundary commissions to limit deviations from voter equality; and increasing the size of the House of Commons to 327 members to accommodate population growth in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario.
