Political Science

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/handle/10012/9890

This is the collection for the University of Waterloo's Department of Political Science.

Research outputs are organized by type (eg. Master Thesis, Article, Conference Paper).

Waterloo faculty, students, and staff can contact us or visit the UWSpace guide to learn more about depositing their research.

Browse

Browsing Political Science by Author "Macfarlane, Emmett"

Filter results by typing the first few letters
Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    A Bridge Over Troubled Waters: Should Canada Allow Mental Illness as the Sole Underlying Medical Condition for Accessing Medical Assistance in Dying?
    (University of Waterloo, 2024-09-10) Rossi, Michael; Macfarlane, Emmett
    Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) regime was set to expand its eligibility criteria on March 17, 2024, to allow mental illness as an acceptable sole underlying condition (MAID MI-SUMC) until Bill C-62 rapidly received Royal Assent in late February 2024, delaying this expansion until March 17, 2027. Those who oppose allowing mental illness as a sole condition for MAID often cite fears of what would happen in Canada should MAID MI-SUMC become legal. However, proponents counter these claims with relevant facts, statistics, and information to demonstrate that MAID MI-SUMC can be effectively incorporated in Canada. This study uses evidence from countries with MAID but that do not allow MI-SUMC (Australia, New Zealand, and the United States), and countries with MAID MI-SUMC (the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg) to examine why these countries oppose and allow this legislation, respectively. Using this evidence, this Thesis then focuses on the Canadian context to address the concerns of opponents on why they are adamant that MAID MI-SUMC should not become an acceptable part of Canada’s MAID regime. Incorporating studies conducted by proponents and evidence from permissive jurisdictions helps to find that opponents’ fears are unsubstantiated. Using a rights-based approach, this Thesis observes that the rights of individuals who solely suffer from a mental illness and wish to access MAID are infringed upon, resulting in a call for legislative changes to occur.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    "Free" to Express: Media Rights and Broadcasting Policy in Canada and the United States
    (University of Waterloo, 2017-08-23) Augustinavicius, Petras; Macfarlane, Emmett
    Broadcasters occupy a unique space in Canadian and American societies. These actors are supposed to be able to inform, enlighten, and entertain Canadians and Americans alike. Moreover, both the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the American Bill of Rights contain freedom of the press and freedom of expression provisions which appear as though they ought to protect broadcasters as well. In this thesis I explore how robust these protections are, and the extent to which Canadian and American appellate courts have been willing to empower these actors. To do this, I developed a typology for quantitatively evaluating the judicial empowerment of broadcasters in each country. What I found was that the United States Supreme Court has been more willing to empower broadcasters than the Canadian appellate courts have. This is evidenced by the rate at which American broadcasters have been empowered when compared with Canadian broadcasters. My quantitative findings are further supported by a content analysis of appellate level decisions in Canada and the United States. This thesis also seeks to draw a connection between the current understanding of media rights and the implications that understanding has for the new era of broadcasting in which digital and internet- based media have revolutionized broadcasting.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Manifesting Belief in Canadian Law: What is 'Freedom of Conscience'?
    (University of Waterloo, 2016-08-19) Bergman, Gwyneth; Macfarlane, Emmett; Drake, Anna
    Of all the freedoms articulated within the Canadian Charter, the least defined continues to be freedom of conscience. Discussions of this freedom within the secondary literature have been relatively superficial, and, to date, no Supreme Court of Canada decision has rested on freedom of conscience. This is not to say that freedom of conscience has been entirely ignored. There has been some discussion of it within the case law, and particularly in relation to freedom of religion. This thesis draws upon those cases that reference freedom of conscience to construct a clearer image of what the scope and meaning of that freedom might be. In particular, the thesis seeks to define freedom of conscience within the context of Canadian law, examine how the courts have operationalized this freedom, and outline the relationship between freedom of conscience and freedom of religion. This thesis will also explore the relationships that have been established by the Supreme Court between freedom of conscience and the rest of the Charter – particularly freedom of expression, freedom of association, and the right to life, liberty, and security of the person. These questions are fundamentally important to understanding not only the individual importance of freedom of conscience within the Charter, but also to understanding the Charter as a whole.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Politics of Fear: Unitary Bias of a Federal Design in Nepal
    (University of Waterloo, 2018-08-16) Jnawali, Hari Har; Esselment, Anna; Macfarlane, Emmett
    This thesis explores the reasons that have led the framers of the constitution to centralize powers in the federal government of Nepal, despite claims for accommodation by its minority groups. It contends that the centralized model is chosen to neutralize the potential risk of secession. Taking discourse analysis as its methodological approach, the thesis examines this argument in two sections. First, it develops seven measures: the recognition of minorities, the demarcation of sub-unit boundaries, the distribution of powers, the constitutional amending formula, the appointment process of the Judges in the Supreme Court, the jurisdiction of the upper house in the federal parliament, and the constitutional (a)symmetries, and applies them in the constitution. Second, it assumes that the fear of disintegration existed in the polity due to i) Maoists’ interpretation of the ‘right to self-determination’ ii) utterances of secession threats by regional leaders and, iii) the foreign intervention in the domestic politics of Nepal. In its attempt to dampen the risk of disintegration, the current arrangement of the Nepali state fails to accommodate the demands for the ‘right to self-determination’ and autonomy, further augmenting the discontent among minorities. Despite the change in the structure, the thesis concludes that the present design has not lost the fundamental character of the previous unitary state that repressed diversity and claimed to maintain the territorial integrity. In order to reach this conclusion, official discourses such as the manifestos of political parties, their debates as recorded in the CA transcripts, and the official statements of the governments have been analyzed.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Standards for the control of algorithmic bias in the Canadian administrative context
    (University of Waterloo, 2022-08-30) Heisler, Natalie; Macfarlane, Emmett; Grossman, Maura
    Governments around the world use machine learning in automated decision-making systems for a broad range of functions, including the administration and delivery of healthcare services, education, housing benefits; for surveillance; and, within policing and criminal justice systems. Algorithmic bias in machine learning can result in automated decisions that produce disparate impact, compromising Charter guarantees of substantive equality. The regulatory landscape for automated decision-making, in Canada and across the world, is far from settled. Legislative and policy models are emerging, and the role of standards is evolving to support regulatory objectives. This thesis seeks to answer the question: what standards should be applied to machine learning to mitigate disparate impact in automated decision-making? While acknowledging the contributions of leading standards development organizations, I argue that the rationale for standards must come from the law, and that implementing such standards would help not only to reduce future complaints, but more importantly would proactively enable human rights protections for those subject to automated decision-making. Drawing from the principles of administrative law, and the Supreme Court of Canada’s substantive equality decision in Fraser v. Canada (Attorney General), this research derives a proposed standards framework that includes: standards to mitigate the creation of biased predictions; standards for the evaluation of predictions; and, standards for the measurement of disparity in predictions. Recommendations are provided for implementing the proposed standards framework in the context of Canada’s Directive on Automated Decision-Making.