Analysis and Prediction Model of Fuel Consumption and Carbon Dioxide Emissions of Light-Duty Vehicles

Due to the alarming rate of climate change, fuel consumption and emission estimates are critical in determining the effects of materials and stringent emission control strategies. In this research, an analytical and predictive study has been conducted using the Government of Canada dataset, containing 4973 light-duty vehicles observed from 2017 to 2021, delivering a comparative view of different brands and vehicle models by their fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. Based on the findings of the statistical data analysis, this study makes evidence-based recommendations to both vehicle users and producers to reduce their environmental impacts. Additionally, Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) and various regression models have been built to estimate fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions for future vehicle designs. This study reveals that the Univariate Polynomial Regression model is the best model for predictions from one vehicle feature input, with up to 98.6% accuracy. Multiple Linear Regression and Multivariate Polynomial Regression are good models for predictions from multiple vehicle feature inputs, with approximately 75% accuracy. Convolutional Neural Network is also a promising method for prediction because of its stable and high accuracy of around 70%. The results contribute to the quantifying process of energy cost and air pollution caused by transportation, followed by proposing relevant recommendations for both vehicle users and producers. Future research should aim towards developing higher performance models and larger datasets for building APIs and applications.

Archival Interventions and Disentangling Legacy Records

Appraisal and disposition of government records at Library and Archives Canada (LAC) focuses primarily on acquiring the “right” records to best document a given function of the Government of Canada. Once records pass into LAC’s care, access is provided through an inconsistent approach of online descriptive records and on-site finding aids, often with minimal or incorrect contextualizing information that hinders their overall discoverability and use. Through a study of both the legacy photographic records in the National Film Board of Canada Fonds and the recontextualization project currently underway at LAC, the author examines the history of the record, from recordkeeping practices to the transfer to LAC, and some of the interventions by the archives to describe and shape these records over several generations of custodial care. All of these various actions have had a hidden impact on the use and understanding of both the individual records and the larger collection. This article provides a case study in how rearrangement based on research into creators, organizational recordkeeping systems, and archival custodial practices can draw out complex, multiple provenances and provide researchers with a fuller contextual history of the record.

Neologisms of COVID Era

This article is an attempt to analyze English neologisms that appeared in the language during the COVID-19 era. The authors examined a series of English-language publications, presented on open-access public domains such as BBC News, The Conversation, Business Mirror, The Economic Times, as well as Glossary on the COVID-19 pandemic, published on the website of the Government of Canada. The chronological scope of the study lies within April 2020 – February 2021. The analyzed glossary included 143 lexical units. The authors conducted content analysis, which helped to reveal five main groups of neologisms: neologisms that came into our speech from the limited use vocabulary; neologisms describing our new reality; neologisms formed by joining two lexical units with or without contamination; neologisms, which are phrases that either existed earlier, but experienced a semantic shift, or phrases that have appeared in the COVID era and are used to denote previously non-existent realities; neologisms formed by phonetic distortion of already existing words. The study showed that the most extensive groups of neologisms were those that have come from the limited use vocabulary, in particular from medical terminology, and neologisms describing a new reality, which include the very name of the virus (COVID or corona). It should be noted that neologisms that have come into general use from medicine require a special interpretation, since they are not always clearly understood by the recipients. Moreover, many neologisms, having arisen in English, have not got an adequate translation or analogue in the Russian language yet, therefore, these words require a further more careful study.

Fixed Trajectories: Race, Schooling, and Graduation from a Southern Ontario University

According to Statistics Canada, during this decade (2019–2028) about 75% of new jobs will require a post-secondary education (Government of Canada, 2017). This study explores a unique dataset that follows students (n = 11,417) from a large urban school district to a local university in Southern Ontario. Using both descriptive statistics and a binary logistic regression and a framework of categorical inequality (Domina et al., 2017), we examine the academic trajectories of students—particularly of Black students. Findings show that, compared to their peers, neither high school nor university programs provide Black students with the kinds of educational experiences needed for university graduation and academic success that wouldenable them to realize their fullest social and economic potentials.

OTESSA's Submission for the Government of Canada's Federal Pre-Budget Consultations

Governments have the opportunity to influence policy in education and to facilitate funding to support its implementation. This document contains seven recommendations made to the Government of Canada as part of its public consultation in developing its federal budget. It was developed with input from both members and public contributors involved with the Open/Technology in Education, Society, and Scholarship Association (OTESSA), then submitted to the Canadian federal government in August of 2021. The document was originally posted on a blog post on the OTESSA website at https://otessa.org

Behavior change techniques utilized in Canadian online smoking cessation programs: A content analysis (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Smoking rates in Canada remain unacceptably high, and cessation rates have stalled in recent years. Online cessation programs, touted for their ability to reach many different populations anytime, have shown promise in their efficacy. The Government of Canada has therefore funded provincial and national smoking cessation websites across the country. However, little is known about the behavior change techniques (BCTs) that underpin the content of these websites, which is key to establishing the quality of the websites, as well as a way forward for evaluation. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study, therefore, was to apply the BCTTv1 taxonomy to Canadian provincial and federal websites and determine which BCTs they use. METHODS A total of 12 government-funded websites across Canada were included for analysis. Using deductive content analysis, and through training in applying the BCTTv1 taxonomy, the website content was coded according to the 93 BCTs across the 16 BCT categories. RESULTS Of the 16 BCT categories, 14 were present within the websites. The most widely represented BCT categories (used in all 12 websites) included: 1. Goals and planning, 3. Social support, 5. Natural consequences, and 11. Regulation. The most saturated BCT categories (those most heavily used) included: 10. Reward and threat, 12. Antecedents, 1. Goals and planning, and 5. Natural consequences. Implementation of BCTs within these categories varied across the sites. CONCLUSIONS This study addresses a critical gap in knowledge around the behavior change techniques that underpin government-funded smoking cessation websites in Canada. The findings offer programmers and researchers with tangible directions for prioritizing and enhancing provincial and national smoking cessation programs, and an evaluation framework to assess smoking cessation outcomes in relation to the web-based content.

Hedge or Counterweight? New Constitutionalism and the Role of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in Intellectual Property Litigation

This chapter looks at Canadian intellectual property law through a new constitutionalist lens. Over the past few decades, Canada has been the target of several international measures in the area of IP law. The chapter examines these measures through the lens of the theory of new constitutionalism. Doing so suggests that these measures have certain significant similarities: they all seek to use international trade law as a means through which to lock in strong protections for owners under Canada's IP system and to limit the ability of either the Government of Canada or Canadian courts to shape IP laws so as to constrain the exclusive rights of IP owners. Beginning from the position that IP rights ought to ‘serve human values’, the chapter proceeds by considering whether, and to what extent, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Canadian Charter) can produce counter-norms to those promoting strong protection for right-holders that are provided by international trade law. It argues that while the Canadian Charter has traditionally had little impact on Canada's IP system, it can and ought to play a more prominent role in this area by helping to preserve space for the Government of Canada to legislate in the public interest.

An A to W of Academic Literacy: Key Concepts and Practices for Graduate Students. Mary Jane Curry, Fangzhi He, Weijia Li, Ting Zhang, Yanhoung Zuo, Mahmoud Altalouli, & Jihan Ayesh. University of Michigan Press, 2021.

In the 2018-2019 academic year, the number of international students registered at Canadian universities rose to over 318,000 (Government of Canada, 2020). Hailing from diverse linguistic and socioeconomic backgrounds, these students face unique challenges when starting academic studies in Canada. But it is not just international students, and not just graduate students, who can benefit from Mary Jane Curry’s An A to W of Academic Literacy: Key Concepts and Practices for Graduate Students. Any first-generation academics, undergraduates in writing-heavy programs, and instructors will find this text useful, too.

Renewing Relationships? Solitudes, Decolonisation, and Feminist International Policy

In this article we seek to understand how gendered coloniality is re-affirmed and reproduced. It does so by analysing the inter-national relationships formalised through two recent policy initiatives by the Government of Canada: its Feminist International Assistance Policy and ongoing bilateral mechanisms with Indigenous peoples organisations. Using feminist discourse analysis, we argue that the logics underpinning these initiatives are treated as mutually exclusive, with the result being solitudes across policy areas – Indigenous reconciliation and feminist governance – that should instead overlap. Our analysis suggests that in addition to failing to address systemic marginalisation, establishing exclusive domains of feminist and reconciliation policy reproduces gendered coloniality through the building of inter-national relationships. Ultimately, this results in a failure of both policy initiatives.

Alexa, Please: Babysit My Child

According to the Statistics Canada report from 2019, when it comes to the amount of time spent online, Canada beats out every other country in the world. This has likely been amplified due to the stay-at-home order caused by the COVID-19 crisis, hence why the new Bill C-11 will strengthen the current policies defending Canadians from corporate digital overstep. Alexa, Please: Babysit My Child will explore, analyze, and evaluate Amazon's neuro-capitalistic technologies, specifically pertaining to the technologies made for child-use. Neuro-capitalism is dangerous as it speaks to controlling the mind through the current hyper-technological society. Jurisdictional complexity surrounding A.I. and cybersecurity can be mitigated by government-funded education. Therefore, my research explores the question: From a neuro-capitalistic & digital-colonial standpoint, to what extent are Amazon's child-targeted technologies' (such as Kindle 4 Kids) consistent with the privacy policies of the new, proposed Bill C-11? This policy analysis will consist of three sections—first, an analysis of Amazon's Kindle 4 Kids Terms and Conditions (Site 1). Second, an evaluation of Bill C-11’s ability to protect children from the pernicious aspects of neuro-capitalism (Site 2). Lastly, a compare and contrast section of the two entities, ending with a discussion of the findings. Particularly during the COVID-19 crisis, we must be sure that the Government of Canada is doing everything in their power to aid the youth of the country that spends the most time online and the most time with their babysitter: Alexa.