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Debates of March 22nd, 2011
House of Commons Hansard #146 of the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was c-12.
- Question Period
- Committees of the House
- Telecommunications Act
- Petitions
- Questions on the Order Paper
- Citizen's Arrest and Self-Defence Act
- Democratic Representation Act
- Points of Order
- Democratic Representation Act
- Hockeyville
- Jewish Refugees
- Jean-Luc Labrecque
- The Budget
- The Economy
- World Water Day
- The Economy
- Luc Picard
- Global Transportation Hub
- Chinese Canadians
- The Economy
- Government Accountability
- Regional Development
- Government Advertising
- The Economy
- Wolseley Barracks
- Government Accountability
- Champlain Bridge
- Ethics
- Access to Information
- Ethics
- Champlain Bridge
- Canada--U.S. Border
- Public Safety
- National Defence
- The Budget
- Ethics
- Shipbuilding Industry
- Citizenship and Immigration
- Aboriginal Affairs
- Health
- Regional Development
- Official Languages
- G20 Summit
- Research and Development
- Taxation
- Presence in Gallery
- Privilege
- Democratic Representation Act
- The Budget
The House resumed from December 16 consideration of the motion that Bill C-12, An Act to amend the Constitution Act, 1867 (Democratic representation), be read the second time and referred to a committee, and of the amendment.
Democratic Representation Act
Government Orders
10:10 a.m.
Christiane Gagnon Québec, QC
Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak to Bill C-12, which has to do with democratic representation and which would reduce Quebec's political weight if it were passed. My Bloc Québécois colleague from Joliette proposed an amendment urging all of the parties to oppose this bill, which would reduce Quebec's representation to a level below its proportion of Canada's population.
This is not the first time, since 2006, that we are voting on this issue in the House. Here, in this House, we passed a motion that had to do with the recognition of the Quebec nation. The government is intent on bringing forward bills that would reduce Quebec's political weight. First, we had Bill C-56, then Bill C-22, and now we have Bill C-12. The consensus in Quebec is that this bill must not pass.
Bill C-12 would amend the formula set out in the Constitution to determine the number of seats allocated to each province. There would be a considerable increase in the number of seats in the rest of Canada. We are talking about five seats in Alberta, seven seats in British Columbia and 18 seats in Ontario, for a total of 30 new members of Parliament in the rest of Canada, not to mention the fact that Quebec's number of seats would not increase.
I would simply like to remind the hon. members that Quebec's electoral map is being redrawn. We are trying to strike a balance and resolve the dilemma between urban and rural communities. We want to give special status to rural communities that, by and large, are being threatened. We need only consider the Magdalen Islands or the Gaspé, where there are communities whose populations are dwindling with the passing years. We would like to see a balance: one person, one vote. We would also like to see the specific character of communities reflected in the National Assembly. Accordingly, a number of constitutional experts, including Benoît Pelletier, a former minister in the Liberal government, are working on just that. The Parti Québécois put forward a proposal to keep segments of the population from disappearing and to ensure that they are represented during votes in the National Assembly or where their priorities are concerned. We know that the economies and realities are different. We are trying to find a solution to strike a balance.
I can see today that we are looking for that same kind of balance that the Bloc would like to see, to ensure that all votes are equal and that there is effective representation. That is what all of the parties in the National Assembly are trying to do in Quebec so that there is a balance between urban and rural communities.
Here in this House we are not talking about urban and rural communities. We are talking about a nation, the Quebec nation, which has been recognized, and the nation of Canada, which is the rest of Canada's reality.
We can see that there are not many members in this House who will speak today, be they from the party in power—the Conservative Party, which introduced the bill—or from the opposition parties. We hope that they will explain to the people what is pushing the different parties to vote for this bill. They wanted to recognize the Quebec nation, and it must be recognized for what it represents, for the consensuses in the National Assembly, for the polls showing that 61% of the people are opposed to this bill. And when push comes to shove, we will see how this House really feels about recognizing the Quebec nation.
Many seats would be added: 30 new members would sit here in the Canadian Parliament.
As I was saying earlier, one person equals one vote. The government claims this bill is based on that principle. In a moment I will show how this principle has often been ignored over the years, since the Constitution was first created.
The Bloc Québécois, which represents Quebeckers, opposes this bill. The Bloc Québécois defends Quebec's realities and we are consistent in our commitment. We are the voice of Quebec and we oppose this bill.
It shows a lack of respect for democracy, and the recognition of the Quebec nation is therefore a sham. We were promised open federalism, but instead, muzzling seems to be the norm when we vote on bills in the House of Commons.
The principle of one person, one vote has been breached several times since Confederation. That is why we are seeking absolute equality, in terms of each vote and effective representation. For instance, certain commitments have been made to the maritime provinces and the Northwest Territories. Thus, the fact that they have been granted special protection goes against this very principle.
Now why does Bill C-12 not grant special protection to the Quebec nation regarding its potential for representation in the House of Commons, which will be reduced by about 2%? Over the years, Quebec has never been granted this special protection. Since 1976, I believe, our population has been under-represented.
Bill C-56 and Bill C-22, which were introduced in the last two Parliaments, were very similar to Bill C-12. There was a consensus in the National Assembly and among the population on this issue. The government has introduced Bill C-12 most recently—with an election campaign probably right around the corner—in order to please Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia.
The proposed amendment to the Constitution determines the number of seats in the House of Commons allocated to each province after a decennial census. That is set out in Bill C-12.
Readjusting the number of seats, as set out in Bill C-12, would give only three provinces more seats: Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario. There would be 30 new seats. The total number of members in the House of Commons would increase from 308 to 338.
This new reality would diminish Quebec's presence, even though some would have us believe that Quebec will still keep its 75 seats. Quebec will keep its 75 seats, but 75 seats out of 308 does not represent the same percentage of the population as 75 seats out of 338. That is easy to understand. There will be 30 additional MPs and the same 75 MPs representing Quebec in the House. Quebec's current representation is 24.3%, a percentage that would decrease to 22.9% if Bill C-12 is passed.
I invite the hon. members from the other political parties to speak in the House and tell us where they stand on this. I realize that it might be difficult for the Liberal Party or the NDP to speak in favour of Quebec, but we expect hon. members to rise in the House and tell us what their party's political intentions are.
The Bloc Québécois is disputing this bill that is unfair to Quebec for three reasons. The first argument has to do with one person, one vote. In fact, this principle has never been applied. Historic fact proves that this statement being used by the Conservatives is false. Historic fact proves the contrary. Why not look at what is already happening in the Maritimes and in the Northwest Territories?
The second argument is the harmful consequences of under-representing Quebec in the House of Commons. Many people in Quebec are echoing the fear of this bill being passed.
The third argument has to do with the false impression of democracy that Bill C-12 gives. What the government is saying does not hold water, and the bill does not recognize the nation of Quebec. If the Conservative government wants to move forward with this bill, then it does not recognize the nation of Quebec. Once again, consensus in Quebec on the political intentions of the Conservative Party is being ignored.
In a democracy, there is the very simple principle of one person, one vote. The principle is very straightforward: each voter has the right to express himself or herself by exercising the right to vote, and each vote has the same worth, the same weight. We agree on that. However, in reality, this is not exactly the situation because of the nature of our electoral system. But that is an altogether different debate. One person, one vote. Since Confederation, as I was saying, the rules have been bent to reach compromise and to find a balance between absolute equality and effective representation.
I said I would give a brief historical overview. Section 52 of the Constitution Act, 1867 stated:
The Number of Members of the House of Commons may be from Time to Time increased by the Parliament of Canada, provided the proportionate Representation of the Provinces prescribed by this Act is not thereby disturbed.
That is not the case here. We have seen deviations from the principle of one person, one vote in the Maritime provinces. The Constitution was amended to ensure that each province would have a minimum number of members at least equal to the number of its senators. This is known as the senatorial clause. The Northwest Territories have had the right to representation in the House of Commons although, under the rules, their population would not justify it. If, for example, the number of people living in the Northwest Territories had been taken into account, they would not have had the right to be represented here in the House. Therefore, the one person, one vote principle was ignored.
Other changes to section 51, governing the distribution of seats, have been made in order to prevent a loss of more than 15% of the seats in a province with low population growth and to prevent one province from having fewer representatives than a less populated province. We have the examples of the Northwest Territories for the former scenario and the Maritime provinces for the latter, the 15% situation.
The approach set out in the bill, which involves increasing the number of seats in the House of Commons without compensating for the dilution of representation for provinces with low demographic growth rates, puts the government at risk of violating section 42(1)(a) of the 1982 Constitution Act. When the Constitution was repatriated in 1982, Parliament was given the right, subject to section 32, to amend the provisions of the Constitution relating to the House of Commons. Under section 32(1)(a), any amendment to the principle of proportional representation of the provinces set out in the 1867 Constitution Act is subject to the constitutional amending procedure with which we are familiar, namely, the agreement of at least seven provinces that have 50% of the population or the 7/50 formula.
It is also important to remember that section 52 of the Canadian Constitution states that:
The Number of Members of the House of Commons may be from Time to Time increased by the Parliament of Canada, provided the proportionate Representation of the Provinces prescribed by this Act is not thereby disturbed.
We know that such would not be the case were this bill to pass.
In an effort to demonstrate that the "one person, one vote" principle has practically never been respected in the House, I would like to close by citing a study conducted by a political scientist at Laval University, Louis Massicotte. Based on a study comparing our country to other federations, he found that Canada has the highest rate of violation of the principle of proportionality. Clearly, the Conservatives violate this principle when it works to their advantage.
The Conservatives introduced Bill C-12, An Act to amend the Constitution Act, 1867 (Democratic representation) when it suited them. As everyone knows, this draconian approach is all about winning votes, without considering Quebeckers and their reality. Let there be no mistake about it. Bill C-56 and Bill C-22 were introduced during the last two Parliaments. And the impact of Bill C-12 on Quebec, if it passes, is clear: it would marginalize Quebec even further and diminish its political weight. I have heard the arguments of some members here, including the member for Lévis—Bellechasse. They say there would be more Bloc members if the Bloc members did not sit here in this House. They are giving us another wonderful lesson on democracy. Here is what political scientist Louis Massicotte had to say:
Under the Harper government's new approach, whereby the provinces experiencing population growth would be given fairer representation, Quebec's representation would fall below its proportion of the Canadian population.
We will see how the other parties react to this bill. As we know, for the Conservatives, recognizing the Quebec nation is a sham. They have no idea what issues are at stake in Quebec's reality. I think it is obvious that we will be undermined here, in terms of Quebec's representation compared to the increased number of members from the rest of Canada.
Quebec's political weight in the House of Commons has diminished considerably since 1867. In 1867, 36% of the seats here in the House of Commons were held by members from Quebec. That dropped to 26% in 1976. And under Bill C-12, it would drop to 22.4%.
So why is Quebec trying to strike a balance between rural and urban communities? If our nation were truly being recognized, this same balance could be reproduced, that is, between what it represents, what it is and what it has to defend. It is a province that is mainly francophone, the home of the Quebec nation, and Quebec must maintain a fair proportion of the seats in the House of Commons in order to address its distinct character and particular needs. As we know, the Conservatives often scoff at the particular needs of the province of Quebec, even though they are the ones who recognized it. How hypocritical.
All of the federal partners agreed to what is in the 1992 Charlottetown accord, a guarantee of 25% of the seats in the House of Commons. Today, it is a whole other story. The Conservatives' lack of good faith here is quite clear. They are proposing this to please the rest of Canada. They are abandoning Quebec and could not care less about its reaction. We need only look at the harmonization of the QST and the GST: there is a consensus in the National Assembly and among the public. And I think that in today's budget, the government will ignore Quebec's demands regarding the harmonization of the QST and the GST. We have seen a number of examples where a consensus in Quebec has been completely disregarded here in the House.
Many people are voicing their opposition and believe that Quebec is being muzzled in the rest of Canada. The National Assembly is a credible voice; its members were elected democratically to represent the interests of Quebec. There are 125 members in the National Assembly. There are 48 members of the Bloc Québécois in the House of Commons accounting for two-thirds of elected members from Quebec. This means that 87% of elected members from the Quebec nation are opposed to Bill C-12 and are calling for it to be withdrawn.
I mentioned earlier that Benoît Pelletier, Quebec's former minister of intergovernmental affairs, has spoken out against this bill and is calling for it to be withdrawn. He does not understand why there were no special measures to protect Quebec, which is home to Canada's main linguistic minority and a founding province of Canada that is losing demographic weight. This was done, for example, with the Maritimes and the Northwest Territories. We wanted to create a balance. Why could it not be done with Quebec?
In addition, the National Assembly has adopted a unanimous motion calling for this bill to be defeated.
We would like to see the bill defeated today at this stage.
Democratic Representation Act
Government Orders
10:30 a.m.
Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia
Steven Fletcher Minister of State (Democratic Reform)
Madam Speaker, I listened with interest to the member's comments. I just want to point out some of the logical inconsistencies. First of all, Quebec's seat count remains constant. It is protected under Bill C-12. We know that if that member and her party had their way, Quebec would have zero seats in the House of Commons. So, there is obviously a contradiction there.
The member spoke of one person, one vote. In fact, under Bill C-12, even though other provinces are gaining more seats, the votes per person still has greater weight in Quebec because the number of constituents in a constituency in Quebec is still less than the national average of 108,000. We could argue that votes will have more weight in Quebec.
I also find it interesting that just a few weeks ago the Bloc supported a motion to eliminate the Senate. The Senate has 24 senators from Quebec, and surely reducing the number of senators in Parliament would reduce the influence of Quebec in Parliament. So on one hand, the Bloc members say one thing and on the other hand they say something else for the other chamber.
This is a nation-building exercise for Canada and Quebec, and we know that the member does not want to build a strong, united Canada. That is really the agenda of the Bloc Québécois.
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10:30 a.m.
Christiane Gagnon Québec, QC
Madam Speaker, it is my pleasure to reply to the question from the Minister of State for Democratic Reform. If there are contradictions in what I say, there were contradictions in what the National Assembly says as well. There are federalist members of the National Assembly. Benoît Pelletier is neither a Péquiste nor an avowed sovereignist, far from it. He was a cabinet member with the Liberal Party of Quebec. He says he is opposed to Bill C-12. So there are a number of people in Quebec who, like us, are opposed to the House passing this bill.
The contradiction really comes from the Conservative Party. It wants to recognize the Quebec nation, but it takes away the means for it to be better represented or represented according to its population. The Conservatives are exhibiting bad faith. They are free to tell the members of the National Assembly that they are contradicting themselves. If there is a contradiction in what I say, it exists elsewhere, because I speak for the majority of Quebec's population, who object to this bill.
A moment ago the member referred to the partisan Senate, where a large number of representatives from Quebec also sit. Over 75% of Quebeckers are opposed to this partisan Senate. It is not a Senate that represents the entire population, because it is not elected. We are opposed to this unelected Senate, which the Conservatives have made partisan, too. Senators are not even able to look at a bill because the Prime Minister forbids it. The Senate is the long arm of the Conservative Party, and we oppose it.
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10:35 a.m.
Michael Chong Wellington—Halton Hills, ON
Madam Speaker, I want to thank the member for her argument against the bill. I understand where she is coming from and her logic. However, I want to give a different perspective on this.
I believe that there is no constitutional principle that ensures that the Quebec division in this House has a certain percentage of the seats in this House. In fact, some of the members of the Bloc have mentioned that there is a guaranteed percentage of a quarter of the seats. In fact, they are below that level right now. There are 308 seats in this House and the Bloc has 75 of the 308 seats. That is, in fact, less than one-quarter. So clearly, there is no fundamental constitutional provision there.
There was a fundamental constitutional principle that guaranteed the Quebec division a certain percentage of the seats, but that was in the Act of Union in 1840. Between 1840 and 1867, Canada East was guaranteed half of the seats in the legislature of the day. That changed with Confederation in 1867, in part because the then leader of the Liberal Party, George Brown, argued in favour of representation by population.
That has been the fundamental constitutional provision since 1867, albeit modified by two minor provisions concerning the senatorial floor and the grandfathering of the seats in 1986 that guaranteed no provincial division would fall below that number. Nevertheless, the fundamental constitutional principle that governs the federal chamber here in the House of Commons is representation by population.
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10:35 a.m.
Christiane Gagnon Québec, QC
Madam Speaker, he says there has never been an exception to that principle, and that is totally false. There are in fact exceptions to the principle of one person, one vote, or the principle of increasing and decreasing population. We need only look at the Northwest Territories or the Maritimes. The Northwest Territories did not have a large enough population to be represented, and an exception was made to the principle.
I note that section 52 also provides that the number of members of the House of Commons could be increased, as long as the proportionate representation of the provinces was not disturbed.
I would like to tell the member that 75 members out of 308 is not 75 members out of 338. I know that the Conservative Party dreams of the day when it will form a majority government and can do as it likes. Today we have seen a charge of contempt of Parliament against the Conservative Party. Now imagine how the Conservative Party would govern if it formed a majority government. We know perfectly well that it wants to get all the votes in the rest of Canada and work to make sure their candidates get elected in all ridings in the rest of Canada.
During that time, Quebec's political weight in the House of Commons will decline. This is important when you want to defend a nation.
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10:40 a.m.
Robert Bouchard Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC
Madam Speaker, I want to commend the hon. member for Québec. Her very interesting speech presents a number of arguments against this bill, which does not respect democracy. If this bill were applied, Quebec's political representation would be less than its demographic weight. What is more, this bill rejects the recognition of Quebec as a nation.
Does the hon. member find that this bill is a departure from the historical consensus? In the past there has been a modicum of recognition. It seems to me a certain Canadian consensus has already been mentioned, regarding political representation of roughly 25% of the MPs here in the House of Commons.
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10:40 a.m.
Christiane Gagnon Québec, QC
Madam Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for his question. In the Charlottetown accord, it was agreed that this representation would never go below 25%. We are far from that. With this bill, Quebec's representation is being reduced to 22.3%.
There is cause for concern. Since 1867, Quebec's representation has decreased over the years. It was 36%, then 26% in 1976, and if this bill were to pass, our representation would drop to 22.3%.
If I were the Conservative Party, I would wonder about the contradictory thinking of the Conservative Party's detractors with regard to my party's vision. That is what they are called and that is how they are viewed and perceived. Why are people like the constitutional expert Benoît Pelletier and Louis Massicotte from Laval University studying what the representation should be and how our people and nation should be represented here in the House of Commons, regardless of the party in power or the political party that wins the next election?
That is not how this should be viewed. I know they are practising short-term politics, but while Quebec is represented here, its representatives have to be spokespeople for what is happening in Quebec. We see how the spokespeople seated on the Conservative benches remain seated when it is time to speak for Quebec.
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March 22nd, 2011 / 10:40 a.m.
Guy André Berthier—Maskinongé, QC
Madam Speaker, I am pleased to speak in opposition to Bill C-12.
From the outset, I would like to say that this bill on democratic representation is a deliberate affront to the Quebec nation. The bill is an attack against the Quebec nation launched by the Canadian federalist parties because it is an attempt to reduce the Quebec nation's political weight in the House of Commons. Reducing the Quebec nation's political weight in the House of Commons is unacceptable to Quebeckers.
When the Canadian federation was created in 1867, Quebec held 36% of the seats in the House of Commons. I remain hopeful that Quebec will leave this federation. I am a staunch sovereignist and when I see a bill like this before the House of Commons, I feel an even greater urgency. I believe that it is even more pressing for Quebec to leave the Canadian federation. That day will come, I hope, and that is what I am fighting for.
This bill is unacceptable to Quebeckers. In 1867, Quebec held 36% of the seats in the House of Commons. If Bill C-12 were passed, that proportion would decrease to 22.4%, which is less than the Quebec nation's current demographic weight within Canada. There is an attempt to lessen our political weight within the Canadian federation. This is another great contradiction from the Conservative Party; a party that boasts that it has recognized the Quebec nation. And yet, it is quite clear that it does not recognize the Quebec nation, Quebec's identity, Quebecker's culture or their language. The Conservative Party even wants to see Quebec's political weight diminished. That is a pity. It is an unacceptable step backwards in light of the current representation we enjoy in the House.
Many people will say that it is a Conservative Party strategy aimed at attaining a majority. That may well be true, but this bill is not democratic and in no way respects the Quebec nation. As a number of my Bloc Québécois colleagues have already stated in the House, the Bloc Québécois unanimously opposes this bill. We will do everything in our power to prevent it from passing.
This is a minority government and an election may be triggered within days or weeks. Our objective is for this attempt to further marginalize and diminish Quebec's culture and identity to become an issue in Quebec in the coming election. Imagine every Conservative and Liberal member of Parliament and candidate for election telling Quebeckers that when there was an attempt to reduce Quebec's political weight in the House of Commons they sat on their hands and went so far as to vote in favour of a policy to diminish the political weight of the Quebec nation. I am referring here to the Conservatives and Liberals from Quebec. It is truly shameful.
Make no mistake. This bill is a direct assault on the fundamental rights of the Quebec nation. That is why we moved the following motion in the House on April 20, 2010:
That the House denounce the fact that the government seeks to marginalize the Quebec nation by introducing a bill to decrease Quebec's political weight in the House, and that it affirm that Quebec Members of Parliament, who represent a nation, must hold at least 25% of the seats in the House.
This motion was our response—the response of Quebeckers—to Bill C-12. It was defeated by the Conservatives and by the Liberal Party of Canada, a party that continues to oppose Quebec, as evidenced by all the action it has taken against Quebec for generations.
On November 22, 2006, the Conservative government tabled a motion of which it was very proud. Clearly, it was an attempt to win votes. They wanted to win seats in Quebec. The Conservatives wanted Quebeckers to believe that they recognized the specificity of the Quebec nation, its language, culture, identity and differences. The Conservatives therefore tabled this motion that recognized the existence of the Quebec nation. Our nation does not need this recognition to exist but it was still a kind gesture and it was interesting to see the House of Commons vote on the existence of this nation and to officially recognize it.
However, everything went downhill from there. The government should have followed through on this recognition and should have walked the walk by introducing a series of measures to respect the language, culture and identity of the Quebec nation. Clearly, Bill C-12 does not walk the walk when it comes to recognizing the Quebec nation. On the contrary, this bill denies the existence of this nation and marginalizes its representation in federal institutions and here in the House of Commons.
The Bloc Québécois then tried many times to introduce bills that would solidify the recognition of this nation, for instance, to have the French language charter apply to federal institutions. Once again, Quebec was recognized as a nation but everyone in the House voted against the bills. These bills would have solidified the recognition of the Quebec nation and ensured that the nation, as well as its language, culture and identity, were respected. Now Quebec's political weight is under direct attack. It is shameful.
Our opposition to this bill is also based on a consensus in Quebec. All elected members of the National Assembly of Quebec oppose Bill C-12. What are the elected Conservative representatives for Quebec doing? They are not even here in the House. None of the Conservative members for Quebec are here to debate a specific issue—
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10:50 a.m.
The Acting Speaker Denise Savoie
I am sorry to have to cut you off.
The hon. member for Wellington—Halton Hills on a point of order.
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10:50 a.m.
Michael Chong Wellington—Halton Hills, ON
Madam Speaker, I apologize to the hon. member, but it is contrary to the rules to say whether or not members are in the House.
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10:50 a.m.
The Acting Speaker Denise Savoie
I would like to thank the hon. member. He is correct.
It is against the rules to point out the absence of members. I would ask the Bloc member to refrain from such comments.
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10:50 a.m.
Guy André Berthier—Maskinongé, QC
Madam Speaker, I will continue with my speech. Our opposition to this bill is also based on the consensus in Quebec. The only people who do not agree with the general consensus in Quebec are the Conservative and Liberal members from Quebec who sit in this House.
Quebec's National Assembly unanimously voted on three occasions, and again in May 2010, to ask that this bill not be passed in the House. Members from the Liberal Party, the ADQ, Québec solidaire and the Parti Québécois unanimously voted against Bill C-12. Conservative and Liberal members from Quebec who vote in favour of this bill are voting against the interests of their constituents as well as the National Assembly.
All of the members in the National Assembly unanimously demanded that this bill be withdrawn, and all of the Bloc Québécois members condemn, without hesitation and without compromise, the reduction of the Quebec nation's political weight in the House. There seems to be a lack of representation from the other parties.
It is important in this debate to emphasize that the House of Commons or any other democratic institution can never be a purely arithmetic reflection of various proportions of the population. One criterion, which should be central to this debate, is that the recognition of the Quebec nation means that it should get the political clout necessary in federal institutions to make its voice heard.
Bill C-12 is a step in the opposite direction. Its effect will be to increase the number of seats in the House of Commons for representatives of Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia, while leaving nothing for Quebec, which is now a distinct nation within Canada, so long as it is not sovereign. In 1867, Quebec had 36% of the seats, but in 2014, it would have only 22.7%. Quebec's share of the seats in the House of Commons would be even less than its demographic weight would suggest. We think that the standard should be a minimum of 25% of the members from Quebec so that they can defend its interests in the House.
We should all agree on that. What we have here, though, is very far removed. For the Bloc Québécois members of this House, recognizing the existence of a nation is more than a symbolic gesture or fine words, like what the Conservative Party has offered since it was elected in 2006. The Quebec nation should not be at the mercy of the election strategies of Canadian governments that want to increase their share of the vote in Quebec. We are more than that. We are a people, a nation, a culture. We are different, and we deserve to have our differences recognized. Nations have basic rights, like the right to control their own social, economic and cultural development. This bill is an insult to all the proposals made by the Government of Quebec and the National Assembly.
I would remind the House that the members of the Bloc Québécois and of the National Assembly are all opposed to Bill C-12, as was previously stated by the hon. member for Quebec.
The vast majority of members are opposed therefore to this bill, just as they were opposed to the previous Bill C-56.
More than 85% of Quebec members, whether of the National Assembly or the House of Commons, are opposed to this bill. How can the other parties explain the fact that under the current setup, a voter in Prince Edward Island has three times the political clout of a voter in Quebec? How can the Conservatives and Liberals explain that?
The Bloc Québécois is fighting to ensure that at least 25% of the seats in the House of Commons go to Quebec. For a nation like ours, 25% of the political weight is still not very much. It is not enough. What we need is 100% of the political weight. Until that day, we will content ourselves with 25%. That is what is called political freedom, or in a word, sovereignty.
There are Quebeckers who have not chosen the path of sovereignty. Nevertheless, Quebec is entitled to this substantial amount of political representation.
After a lot of pressure, Quebec was recognized as the Quebec nation by the House of Commons. However, the fact that this House now refuses to recognize the need for Quebec to have a special status regarding its political weight shows that the Conservatives, like the Liberals, care very little about this recognition.
The previous rejection by the House of the Bloc's motion and the support for this bill illustrate the adverse impacts of federalism for Quebec.
These federal parties want to increase the number of seats for Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia in the House, but they do not provide anything for the Quebec nation.
This Conservative legislation will marginalize the Quebec nation within Canada by reducing its political weight in the House. Indeed, back in 1867, Quebec held 36% of the seats, but by 2014 that percentage will be down to a mere 22.7%.
Lastly, the proposed legislation shows that federalist parties get along extremely well on at least one issue: they will stop at nothing to make the recognition of the Quebec nation meaningless.
The Prime Minister promised us open federalism, but with this bill he is proposing a token federalism. It is obvious that Quebec is perceived as the guest spoiling the party for Canada, because it has its own set of values and interests, which are not recognized by the House. This nation and its culture, its language, the specificity of its social, economic and political development, as well as its institutions, are not recognized by federalist parties.
The Bloc Québécois continues to maintain that the government must immediately withdraw its legislation and guarantee Quebec 24.3% of the seats in the House of Commons. That is a minimum, given the repeated concessions made by Quebec over the past 150 years, and particularly because it needs the tools that will enable it to protect its distinctiveness, its culture and its language.
I conclude by asking all members of this House to vote against Bill C-12.
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11 a.m.
Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia
Steven Fletcher Minister of State (Democratic Reform)
Madam Speaker, I listened to the member's comments with interest.
The Parliament of Canada is a bicameral system: we have the House of Commons and the Senate.
Just a few weeks ago, the member's party voted to eliminate Quebec's representation in the Senate, where it has 24 out of 105 seats, or almost 25%. It wants to eliminate all seats that Quebec has in the Senate. Then in this chamber, it is demanding a guaranteed percentage of the seats, on the one hand, yet on the other hand its objective is to separate and, therefore, to have zero seats in the House of Commons. There is a contradiction in its position on the Senate and on the House.
I would also like to point out to the member that a vote in Quebec compared with a vote in Ontario, Alberta or B.C. will still has a greater punch, because the average constituency under Bill C-12 will be 108,000, and in Quebec it will be just over 100,000. Therefore, a vote in Quebec will still carry more weight than a vote in Alberta, B.C. and Ontario even after Bill C-12 is passed.
I think that is a fair balance. We will never get everything perfect in Canada, but this bill will help to ensure that under-represented provinces that have grown faster over the last few years will be better represented in this House, and Quebec voters will still get a greater punch per vote.
Let us face it: this bill makes Canada stronger and the Bloc Québécois wants to make Canada weaker. We are for Canada on this side of the House, and I think the other federalist parties are as well.
Democratic Representation Act
Government Orders
11:05 a.m.
Guy André Berthier—Maskinongé, QC
Madam Speaker, I was listening to my colleague talking about the contradictions in the Bloc Québécois position on the bill before the House. The greatest contradiction that we have here, in this House, is that the Conservative Party and the Liberal Party are voting in favour of Bill C-12. I will explain.
In 2006, the Conservative Party moved a motion recognizing the Quebec nation. If you recognize the Quebec nation, you should strengthen this nation and give it more rights. The opposite has happened, and that is the contradiction.
From that point forward, the Conservatives have voted against any bill that sought to ensure respect for the French language, to ensure that the French language would be used in federal institutions. They rejected the bills introduced by the Bloc Québécois. Here, in this House, they recognized the Quebec nation. The major contradiction is that they now want to diminish the political weight of Quebec in the House of Commons. That is the fundamental contradiction.
The parliamentary secretary should admit that he is wrong, or at least think about what the recognition of the Quebec nation means. If you recognize a nation, then you ensure that it is given rights.


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In this "Good Practice/Bad Practice" post I hope to give some guidelines to choosing between MySQL's numeric types, using longitude and latitude as a modelling example. (Disclaimer: I am not a mathematician, and the generalisations here are meant to help with practical modelling questions rather than be rigorously theoretical.)
Numeric types in MySQL fall into two main varieties:
- "precise" types such as INTEGER and DECIMAL;
- the IEEE-standard floating point types FLOAT and DOUBLE.
As a rule of thumb, the first group are for exact, or "counted" quantities. The INTEGER types represent whole numbers, and DECIMAL represents "fixed point" decimal, with a preset number of places after the decimal point.
Various widths of INTEGER are available in MySQL, from 8-bit TINYINT to 64-bit BIGINT. Calculations with integer types are fast, as they usually correspond to hardware register sizes.
DECIMAL is commonly used for quantities like decimal currency where the number of digits of precision is known and fixed. For example, exactly counting pennies in two decimal digits. Computation with DECIMAL is slower than other types, but this is unlikely to impact most applications.
In the other category are FLOAT and DOUBLE, which are the 32 and 64-bit IEEE standard types, which are usually supported in hardware and are therefore fast and convenient for arithmetic. These are generally good choices for "measurements" – values with limited precision.
It is important to understand what is meant by "precision" (Wikipedia has a full discussion). For example, I can measure my height at 185.8 centimetres. Because of the way I make the measurement, which we know to be approximate, this figure is understood have only one meaningful digit after the decimal point.
Precision is a property of all inexact real world "measurements" – such as position, length, weight, brightness; it is usually expressed as the number of "significant figures" or significant digits. (My height measurement has four significant digits.) This should be considered when values are displayed. It is somewhat misleading to represent my height as 185.8000 – common sense tells us that the value is not this accurate.
Serious problems can occur when we do not know the actual precision of measurements, if we wrongly assume a greater precision than exists. A typical example might be a GPS map display which uses measured position to locate the user relative to features such as rivers, roads, and railway tracks. The map display is high resolution and implies a great deal of precision to the viewer. Let us say that based on incoming data, it places our vehicle three metres East of a river. If the measurement has a true precision of, say, 20 metres, we cannot even know even which side of the river we are on! So to allow users to draw safe conclusions, the presentation of data needs to take precision into account.
(While very frequently cited as examples of "precise" figures, not all monetary values are. For example, the value of USA's national deficit was estimated today at $11,983,250,643,192.95. I am no economist, but rather few of these digits can be actually significant!)
Throwing away precision with inappropriate modelling is also a potential problem. Ideally measurements arrive with an implied or explicit precision. But even without that, we need to assure ourselves that we are safely storing them.
Keep in mind that we are always dealing with two kinds of precision:
- Machine precision, which is defined by the chosen type; and
- Data precision, which is a property of the values we are storing.
If I am storing my height as cm in a FLOAT column, the data precision is only 4 significant digits as discussed, but the machine precision of this column is always about 7 significant digits, no matter what we try to store. Clearly to avoid throwing away significant parts of your input, the machine precision should exceed your data precision.
Consider a CSV file of latitude and longitude, and notice that every value has 10 digits after the point:
Afton Station,NS,45.6051050000,-61.6974950000
This does not mean that every value has 13 digits of precision – if that were so, then these coordinates would be accurate to within 4mm on the ground! This is clearly not possible.
Let's say we merely want to stick markers on a web page showing a national map. One hundred metre resolution would be more than adequate. Given an Earth circumference of 40,075,020 metres, 100 metres is approximately 1/1113 of a degree. While three digits (0.001) can represent 1/1000ths of a degree, this is not quite precise enough, so let's keep four fractional digits after the point. Therefore we are looking to represent 7 significant figures, for example:
Afton Station,NS,45.60511,-61.69750
Which of FLOAT or DOUBLE is the right type to use for such values? Let's investigate.
A key difference between floating point types and fixed point representations (such as DECIMAL) is that while the overall binary precision is fixed, the precision of the fractional part of the value can vary! The available precision depends on magnitude of the value. The highest precision is available for values closest to zero, and precision gets worse as numbers increase in magnitude (by every power of two).
To understand the effect of this, it is necessary to examine floating point representation in more detail. (I am going to handwave more esoteric features of the IEEE standard and try to give a general picture. In particular I am not going to talk about rounding, biased exponents, or denormalised numbers.)
Floating point values have three parts:
- a sign (+/-)
- an "exponent" (binary scale factor)
- the value itself (known as the fraction or "mantissa").
These are analogous to decimal "scientific" or "exponential" notation that you may already be familiar with (e.g. 76.4935 = 7.64935 x 10^1 or 7.64935E+1, where 1 is the decimal exponent).
The combination of these fields precisely defines a rational number, whose value is desirably "close enough" to the value you need to store (which was imprecise to begin with, so the approximation involved in converting to floating point representation is normally not a problem).
The overall precision available is determined by the bits allowed to store the fraction. For reference,
- FLOAT allows 23 physical bits for the fraction (with hidden bit, effectively 24 bits of fraction)
- DOUBLE allows 52 physical bits for the fraction (with hidden bit, effectively 53)
Respectively, this is 7 and 15 precise decimal digits in the whole figure. So FLOAT probably meets our 7 digit requirement.
To make sure, let's work backwards and confirm just how precisely a FLOAT value can represent a latitude. To do this I will show how an example value is converted into the FLOAT representation. None of the values in our table will have latitudes greater than 77 degrees, so I will pick 76.4935. (Higher values have larger exponents and hence the least available precision for the fractional part, so are the safest test.)
First we need to determine the correct exponent for the value. Then we can work out the real-world "resolution" of the number, i.e. how much the actual value changes if we change the fraction by the smallest possible amount (i.e., in its least significant bit).
The exponent is the largest power of 2 that divides the value, to "normalise" it into a value between 0 and 1. Since our starting value is more than 1, we need to look at divisors among the powers of 2, which are greater than one: 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256… A glance at this list shows us that for 76, a divisor of 128 (2^7) is the right one; i.e., the floating point exponent is 7. And the resulting fraction part is 76.4935 / 128, or in decimal, 0.59760546875.
(Normalisation works similarly for starting values less than one, but in the other direction. We multiply by the largest power of 2 that leaves the value less than one, and store the negative exponent. Negative values are simply dealt with by converting to positive before normalising, and noting a negative sign.)
Since all non-zero positive numbers begin with binary '1', IEEE representation cleverly implies this "hidden" 1 bit, and doesn't physically store it. This frees up one more bit for the fraction, i.e. giving a total of 24 bits for FLOAT precision. (Because of this, and "exponent biasing", the binary sequence shown isn't the actual IEEE bit pattern representing this number.)
Assuming a fraction of 24 bits, let's examine its "binary expansion". This is effectively just the result of 0.59760546875 x 2^24, written out in base 2:
1001100 . 01111110010101100 (total 24 bits including "hidden" bit)
^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
whole # fraction part
= 76 . 4935 (approx)
Because the exponent is 7, the first 7 bits in my binary sequence above are the whole number part (= binary 1001100 = 76). I've put a gap where the "binary point" belongs. Written out like this, we can see that we have 17 bits to the right of this point. 2^17 = 131072; so, around this magnitude of 76 degrees (and up to 128, as at 128 the binary exponent increases to 8), we can resolve no worse than 1/131072th of a degree. This is enough bits for five decimal digits (which only requires 1/100000th).
So how precise on the ground will this be?
1/131072th of a degree of latitude is about 0.85 metres: much better than our hoped for resolution of 100 metres. So we have shown that FLOAT is more than adequate for the job. This is not to say that FLOAT is the correct choice for all geographic uses; only that it is adequate for this use, where we decided 100m resolution was enough. On the other hand, source data for geocoding may need more precision than FLOAT can deliver. (Naturally the extra precision must be present in the source data. Simply using a more precise type cannot add any precision to the original measurement, of course 🙂
The analysis above can be done for DOUBLE, of course. For interest's sake, the equivalent binary expansion is:
1001100 . 0111111001010110000001000001100010010011011101 (total 53 bits including "hidden" bit)
We have 29 more bits to play with, or a total of 46 fraction bits after the whole number part, at this magnitude. This is ridiculously precise, and can resolve no worse than 1/70368744177664th of a degree; or 0.0000015mm on the surface of the globe. (This is enough to represent 13 decimal digits after the point.)
This example has shown how knowing a little of how floating point works can help you be confident about issues of precision, when choosing types to represent approximate values, or measurements – rather than automatically falling back on DOUBLE or even DECIMAL as a "paranoid default". The key is to know your data, and understand how much precision you have, and how much your application needs.


text: LANSING COMMUNITY COLLEGE CURRICULAR GUIDE Basic Emergency Med Services Certificate of Achievement Curriculum Code: 0269 (Effective Fall 2001 - Summer 2006) This certificate program prepares an individual as a Basic Emergency Medical Technician (EMT). Basic EMTs perform immediate basic emergency care in medical and traumatic emergencies. Basic EMTs staff ambulances and are employed in hospitals. State licensing is required. An EMT Academy option is available to students. PREREQUISITES Students should see the "Course Descriptions" section of this catalog or the Course Schedule for course prerequisite information. Basic skills assessment and advising information may be found on page 8 of this catalog. INFORMATION Contact the Human, Health and Public Service Careers Department, Gannon Vocational-Technical Center, Room 1750, telephone number (517) 483-1410. REQUIREMENTS TOTAL: 32 CREDITS CODE TITLE CREDIT HOURS AHCC 110 Pharmacology-Allied Health 2 BIOL 145 Introductory Anat & Physiology 4 CISB 200 Info Sys Tech/Problem Solving 3 EMTA 101 Basic EMT I 4 EMTA 102 Basic EMT II 2 EMTA 103 Basic EMT III 4 EMTA 104 Basic EMT IV 2 EMTA 105 Ambulance Driving 1 EMTA 108 Legal Issues in EMS 2 EMTA 112 Basic EMT Clinical 2 EMTA 114 Rescue/Extrication/Danger Situ 3 WRIT 124 Technical Writing 3 MINIMUM TOTAL 32 SUGGESTED COURSE SEQUENCE Students should see course descriptions to find out when departments plan to offer courses. Students who for any reason are unable to follow the course sequence suggested below (for example, those who are part-time, have transferred in courses from another school, or have prerequisites to fulfill) should contact an academic advisor or counselor for help with adjustments. I II BIOL 145 AHCC 110 CISB 200 EMTA 103 EMTA 101 EMTA 104 EMTA 102 EMTA 108 EMTA 105 EMTA 112 EMTA 114 WRIT 124 EMT Academy Option I II III EMTA 101 BIOL 145 AHCC 110 EMTA 102 EMTA 105 CISB 200 EMTA 103 EMTA 114 EMTA 108 EMTA 104 WRIT 124 EMTA 112


text:
Updated: February 8, 2016, 12:15 pm
Application dates
To obtain your drawing results, visit the drawing results page, call 1-800-221-0659 at any time or contact a Division office during business hours. Note: Drawing results are not final until the Division posts the results online or you receive an official notification email. To protect your privacy and to comply with changes in governmental records access laws, you'll receive access to only your own drawing results.
Season dates
Season dates vary, depending on the species and the area. For season date listings, see the 2013 antlerless hunt tables:
Permit fees
This table does not list antlerless moose permit fees because none are available in the 2013 antlerless drawing.
* Nonresidents may only obtain CWMU permits through the CWMU operator. See a list of CWMU properties.
Wildlife crossing structures on Utah highways
Mule Deer: Saving the Icon of the West
Links to more Utah hunting-related information


text:
Welcome to the official online home of the Diamond Darlings!
The Diamond Darlings are a student support group, founded in 1972, that promotes school spirit and supports Texas A&M Baseball through community involvement and other activities.
What We Do...
As a Dimaond Darling, a member will participate as a group to assist with game day operations at Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park and provide support to the Aggie Baseball organization in several capacities including, but not limited to, selling programs at games, assisting with on-field activities, serving as bat girl, running Guest Services, and providing assistance to visitors at the stadium.
Community Involvement...
Each year the Diamond Darlings participate in Big Event, write letters to our troops overseas, do an equipment drive at an Aggie Baseball home series (benefitting the Boys & Girls Club of the Brazos Valley), and participate individually in other university and community organizations. The Diamond Darlings also host an annual "Diamond in the Rough" golf tournament to benefit the group in support of Texas A&M Baseball.
Interested in Joining?...
Any member of the student body who has a full time status (12 hours or more), is in good standing with the university, has at least a 2.0 GPR at the time of selection and maintains at least a 2.0 overall and semester GPR throughout the fall and spring semesters, and who will attend Texas A&M for the upcoming fall and spring semesters, may apply for membership with the Diamond Darlings. Applications for membership will be accepted beginning the first day of classes each fall semester with an interview process to follow. 20 members will be chosen annually by a selection committee made up of school administrators and past Diamond Darlings.
Feel free to message us with any questions concerning the Diamond Darlings. .


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3M: Five Keys to Getting Visual Attention
December 15, 2010
Bill Smyth, business manager, 3M Digital Out of Home Department, discussed five keys to creating a strong visual hierarchy that can help assure that your marketing messages are getting through. He also described how to use these keys to create advertising and marketing materials that get visual attention.
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Life of Oliver P. Morton, Including His Important Speeches Volume 2 by William Dudley Foulke (Hardback, 2015)
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About this product
- DescriptionThis work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the kwledge base of civilization as we kw it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other tations in the work.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important eugh to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this kwledge alive and relevant.
Key Features
- Author(s)William Dudley Foulke
- PublisherSagwan Press
- Date of Publication21/08/2015
- LanguageEnglish
- FormatHardback
- SubjectBiography: General
Publication Data
- Country of PublicationUnited States
- ImprintSagwan Press
- Content Noteblack & white illustrations
- Weight1025 g
- Width156 mm
- Height234 mm
- Spine33 mm
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- Format DetailsSewn,Cloth over boards
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Ph.D. in Economics
- Area/Department Website: Economics
- More Info: Loading...
The Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Economics offered by the Department of Economics at the University of Nevada, Reno is an applied graduate program based on strong theoretical and quantitative foundations. Students are required to choose two of the following four major fields of specialization:
- Applied Microeconomics
- Business Economics
- Environmental and Resource Economics
- Urban and Regional Economics
As the first and the only Ph.D. program in Economics in Nevada, our program provides a collegial and supportive academic atmosphere where students and faculty have a high level of contact. Students have opportunities to work as teaching or research assistants. Collaboration between the Department of Economics and other departments in the College of Business, and the Department of Mathematics and Statistics in the College of Science enables a wide range of coursework, options for applied research, and access to a variety of faculty interests.
More Information
- Specific Degree and Course Information
- Graduate Student Handbook
- Department Faculty Directory
- Student Resources
- Job Market Candidates
- Previous Comprehensive Exams
Contact the Economics Ph.D. Director
Mark Nichols
(775) 784-6936
The University of Nevada, Reno Graduate School requirements for doctoral coursework include a minimum of 72 graduate credits, with:
- at least 48 credits in course work and
- at least 30 credits in 700-level courses, exclusive of dissertation credits.
- 2 consecutive semesters (excluding summer sessions) of 9 credits each, and
- a minimum of 24 dissertation credits.
A maximum of 24 credits of course work (with grades of "B" or better) from a master's degree program may be allocated toward the Ph.D.. Students may use as many as 18 700-level credits from a master's degree program. The student's advisory committee, the Graduate Program Director and the Dean of the Graduate School all must approve a Credit Transfer Evaluation Request Form.
The first year of the Ph.D. program includes core theory courses which are followed by theory comprehensive exams. Students should focus on their coursework (and not any dissertation work) particularly in that year.
The three categories of coursework for the Ph.D. in Economics are:
- 6 core courses,
- 4 field courses, and
- 6 or more elective courses.
Math Camp
New graduate students are expected participate in Math Camp, an intensive review/summary of the mathematics necessary for the Ph.D. core courses. Math Camp is held during the week prior to the start of classes each fall semester.
If after Math Camp a student determines that he or she would benefit from additional coursework during the first year to remediate deficiencies, changes in her or his schedule can be made prior to the start of classes.
Math Camp does not count toward graduate course credit. Math camp takes place the week prior to the start of classes. A full schedule and material for the upcoming math camp will be available here.
Core Courses
Three two-course sequences comprise the Ph.D. core curriculum:
- Microeconomic Theory I and II (ECON 702, ECON 712),
- Macroeconomic Theory I and II (ECON 703, ECON 704), and
- Econometrics I and II (ECON 741, ECON 742).
Students are expected to give their full attention to these core courses as they will take 2 comprehensive exams on microeconomic theory and macroeconomic theory to test knowledge of core course content at the end of their first year. These comprehensive exams are graded on a pass/fail basis.
Students are expected to take a total of 6 courses in their first year. These courses must include the 2 microeconomic theory courses, two macroeconomic theory courses, and two econometrics courses. Students should normally take all 6 Ph.D. core courses during their first year; those who do not must complete all core courses by the end of their second year.
Comprehensive Exams
Students must be accepted into the Ph.D. program in order to take the comprehensive exams. Ph.D students are required to take the comprehensive exams in the first summer following the completion of the core microeconomic and macroeconomic theory courses. Failure to take the comprehensive exams at this time will be considered a Fail and the student will have only one additional opportunity to re-take the exams in January.
Fields of Specialization
Students choose specializations in 2 fields from the following four:
- Applied Microeconomics
- Business Economics
- Environmental and Resource Economics
- Urban and Regional Economics
Each field consists of two 700-level courses, but these would typically be complemented by other courses from a list of recommended electives. In cases where the same course satisfies requirements of two fields, students are still required to take a minimum of four 700-level courses for their two fields.
Recommended electives listed for each field are not a comprehensive list of possible electives. Students may find that other elective graduate courses effectively complement their chosen fields.
Elective Courses
The 6 Ph.D. core courses and 4 field courses account for 30 700-level graduate credits. Students take 6 additional elective graduate courses (18 credits) to complete their course requirements.
Elective courses are typically chosen in consultation with the student's academic advisor to support the student's doctoral research, to strengthen fields of specialization. Most 600 or 700 level courses in the departments of Economics, Mathematics and Statistics, and some in other departments in the College of Business are approved electives.
Students who are engaged in research applications that are related to other fields may find it helpful to take graduate courses in another field. These can be counted toward fulfilling the elective requirements as long as they are at the graduate level (600 or 700 level) and are approved by the student's advisory committee.
Courses from the Department of Mathematics and Statistics supplement core economics coursework and provide technical expertise for research. Students who desire additional preparatory coursework may take some of these early in the program to support the Ph.D. core coursework. A list of some of these courses is below. Courses that are particularly useful in preparing for the Economics Ph.D. Core sequence are noted with a *.
- MATH 612 – Functional Analysis
- MATH 619 – Topics in Analysis (Techniques of Problem Solving)*
- MATH 620 – Math Modeling
- MATH 629 – Dynamical Systems
- MATH 640 – Topology
- MATH 661 – Probability Theory*
- MATH 662 – Introduction to Stochastic Processes
- MATH 666 – Numerical Methods 1
- MATH 667 – Numerical Methods II
- MATH 686 – Game Theory* MATH 687 - Deterministic Operations Research
- MATH 685 – Graph Theory and Combinatorics
- MATH 701 – Numerical Analysis 1
- MATH 713 - Abstract Real Analysis I
- MATH 751 - Operations Research I: Linear Programming and Extensions*
- MATH 752 – Operations Research II: Stochastic Operations Research
- MATH 753 – Stochastic Models and Simulation
- MATH 786 – Cooperative Game Theory*
- STAT 652 – Statistics: Continuous Methods*
- STAT 653 – Statistics: Discrete Methods*
- STAT 667 – Statistical Theory*
- STAT 756 – Survival Analysis
- STAT 758 - Time Series Analysis
Transfer of Graduate Coursework from Master's Programs
Students who have completed a Master's degree prior to enrolling in the Doctoral program may transfer up to 24 credits of graduate coursework with a grade of "B" or better, including up to 18 credits of 700-level credits to partially fulfill elective requirements. The Program director and the Dean of the graduate school must approve these credits.
Contact the Economics Ph.D. Director
Mark Nichols
(775) 784-6936
All Graduate programs at the University of Nevada, Reno are governed by Graduate School requirements. Individual departmental and programs may include additional requirements. Students are expected to become familiar with the University of Nevada Graduate School requirements.
Graduate School online materials include all application forms and instructions, the Graduate Catalogue, information about Graduate Research and Teaching Assistantships, and critical information for international students.
Admission Criteria
Admission criteria for the Ph.D. in Economics include, but are not limited to:
- A minimum GPA of 3.0 for all previous coursework from accredited undergraduate and graduate institutions,
- GRE scores and
- Department-level evaluation of a student's preparation.
- Intermediate Microeconomics or comparable undergraduate course.
- Intermediate Macroeconomics or comparable undergraduate course.
- Undergraduate Econometrics or comparable course
- Two semesters of calculus
The TOEFL is required of international students. Students must fulfill all University of Nevada, Reno Graduate School requirements.
While no minimum GRE score is required, students scoring below the 70th percentile are generally not admitted. Admission is competitive and meeting minimum qualifications is not a guarantee of admission.
Application Deadlines
In order to be considered for the fall semester, all materials must be received by March 15th.
To be considered for Spring admission, application materials must be received by October 15th.
Application Process
The Ph.D. in Economics program is governed by University of Nevada, Reno Graduate School requirements. Prospective and current students are expected to become familiar with these, starting with the online materials.
Application forms and a list of required application materials are found on the Graduate School web pages. These include official transcripts from all previous educational institutions and GRE scores. These materials must be returned directly to the Graduate School.
In addition to the application material required by the graduate school, applicants should also submit
1. A minimum of two and preferably three letters of recommendation addressing the applicants potential for rigorous graduate study.
2. A letter of intent describing research interests, background preparation, and experience.
Prospective students may elect to submit resumes and short examples of written work (articles published and/or working papers).
All material should be submitted online through the graduate school. Candidates seeking assistantships should indicate their preference for teaching versus research assistantships in the University's application for graduate school admission.
Contact the Economics Ph.D. Director
Mark Nichols
(775) 784-6936
Tuition for the MA & MS in Economics programs will vary depending on the number of courses needed and the background of the student. To estimate the cost use the cost calculator.
More information about tuition and fees at the University of Nevada, Reno.
The Office of Student Financial Aid and Scholarships
Information about grants, financial aid and scholarship opportunities.
Contact the Economics Ph.D. Director
Mark Nichols
(775) 784-6936
The Economics Ph.D. program director serves as the temporary academic advisor for all graduate students. Within a semester after passing their qualifying exams, the student selects a permanent advisor who will chair the student's advisory/examining committee. The student and the permanent advisor arrange the appointment of the advisory/examining committee. This committee, the advisor and the program director together supervise the student's course of study and examinations. A program of study form must be filed with the graduate school as soon as possible after the advisory committee is formed.
All Graduate School forms, paperwork, and other correspondence regarding the academic progress of Ph.D. students must be routed through the program director, irrespective of whether a permanent advisor has been selected.
NOTE: Students employed as Graduate Research Assistants (GRAs) have research supervisors associated with their employment. The GRA supervisor, who may be assigned upon entry to the program, is not the student's academic advisor. It is often the case that a student will request that their GRA supervisor become their academic advisor; however, these are two different roles.
The advisory/examining committee consists of at least five graduate faculty members. In addition to the permanent advisor as chair, this committee includes three or more members of the Ph.D. in Economics program list of Graduate Faculty and at least one graduate faculty member from outside the program faculty who serves as the Graduate School Representative. The role of the graduate school representative committee member is to assure compliance with Graduate School regulations and procedures, and report any deviations from prescribed standards to the Graduate School.
The research advisor may be a different faculty member than the permanent chair. Students may request the appointment of a committee member from the faculty of another university or from a relevant discipline or profession, provided the prospective member has achieved a record of distinction. The Graduate Dean formally approves the appointment of the student's advisory/examining committee.
All advisory/examining committee members are involved in the approval of the student's program of study and in the topic design of the dissertation and in the conduct of the comprehensive examination and the dissertation oral examination.
Changes in the program may be made only with the approval of the entire committee and graduate dean. When necessary, substitute members of the committee may be appointed by the graduate dean.
Program of Study
The approved program of study describes the student's specific plan of courses, research and related activities. The graduate student's advisor, the program graduate director and the advisory/examining committee determine the program of study for each degree candidate. This includes the dissertation and the acceptable courses for completion of the degree. The Graduate Dean has final approval of the program of study. The program of Study Form and instructions are online here.
Subsequent changes may be made at any time via the online Change in Program of Study Form or Change of Advisory Committee Form, with the approval of the major professor, graduate director of the program, advisory/examining committee and the Graduate Dean. The student's advisory/examining committee may require the student to take additional courses if, in its opinion, additional training is needed to achieve the expected level of proficiency.
S/U Grades
A maximum of nine (9) graduate credits toward a doctoral degree of satisfactory/ unsatisfactory (S/U) grading, in addition to the S/U credits for the comprehensive examination including transfer credits, is acceptable.
A maximum of 24 dissertation credits may be applied to a Doctoral degree. Final credits for dissertation are not officially recorded until the faculty for the graduate degree via the online Doctoral Notice of Completion Form approves the candidate.
Contact the Economics Ph.D. Director
Mark Nichols
(775) 784-6936
Related Degrees and Programs
- Economics, Minor
- Economic Policy, Minor
- Bachelor of Arts in Economics
- Bachelor of Science in Economics
- Master of Arts in Economics
- Master of Science in Economics
Contact College of Business
|(775) 784-4912
|(775) 784-1773
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Females focus on weight too much
January 11, 2008
Most of us make resolutions in the New Year and probably have a hard time keeping them even for the month of January. On top of this list there usually is the timeless favorite "losing weight" resolution. It lasts for about one to two weeks and then goes out the window because truth is, no matter which New Year we are celebrating, habits are hard to change.
Purchase of treadmills, weights, and any kind of home equipment skyrockets in the month of December and January only to end up in the closet or garage by February when our resolves waiver in the face of sweets and carbohydrate and all of those prohibited diet foods.
Although many Americans should lose weight, especially if we are dealing with obesity or unhealthy habits and lifestyles, there is another segment of the population that resolves to lose weight or look better even though they are perfectly fine. Oftentimes these people are women.
I am one of these people. My ideal (illusion) of a very tiny and thin woman with large breasts, firm buns, and killer hair looms somewhere on the horizon of this year like many other years, even though the thinner I am, the smaller my chest becomes. So I have already lost this battle. But I keep going forward with my fantasies.
It seems I am not the only one who has this obsession. Magazines are out to catch women in unflattering pictures whenever possible and to confirm that, yes, a size 0 is the way to go. I can't believe how many times I have seen pictures of Jennifer Love Hewitt in her bikini accompanied by comments about how fat or unattractive she looked. A few months ago, Tyra Banks, a beautiful former model and now talk show host, was the target of the same kind of attention when some unflattering pictures of her in bathing suit showed up all over magazines and the Internet. Both women fought back and brought attention to the fact that there was so much emphasis on being extremely thin (they looked just fine in the pictures) but admitted that it was difficult to withstand that kind of scrutiny and criticism.
Weight is such a big issue for women that we get carried always sometimes and move from an emphasis on health to an emphasis on being extremely skinny, even though we rationally know that it's not healthy.
I will try to worry less about this absurd ideal and more about living in the present and enjoying what I have. I think this is a great resolution for the New Year, and it's something that I hope to be able to do this year and for many years to come.
Anita Doberman is a freelance writer, mother of five and wife of an Air Force pilot stationed at Hurlburt AFB in Florida. The family expects to be moving to Cannon Air Force Base in the next year. Contact her at: email@example.com


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Rumor One:
Weeds thumb & forearm be smahed. he may be out for the year.
Rumor two : Don't be surprised to see Gregg Little outright released to send a message.
Brought to you by the Memory of the Ronnie Slam Duncan fan Club and that guy who used to always write "word is" and make stuff up. (cept I didn't)


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"Amazonia is news. It concerns everyone," award-winning online news service O Eco Amazonia writes on its Web site. In 2004, the O Eco Association was launched with the goal of providing decision-makers up-to-date information on this critical ecological region.
During the last five years, the Web site has grown into one of the most celebrated environmental news services in Brazil. Now, it has joined Global Footprint Network as a partner. Through the collaboration, O Eco will host a monthly column by Global Footprint Network on regional topics including the Ecological Footprint, sugarcane ethanol, the Brazilian Century, and "biocapacity issues: Mexico vs. Brazil." The site will also feature the Brazilian personal Ecological Footprint calculator.
The O Eco Association was founded by two well-known journalists and a respected political scientist with the aim of advancing regular, in-depth environmental news coverage of Brazil in the Amazon, a region of tremendous ecological importance. The service, published in Portuguese, Spanish and English, brings experienced scholars and experts together with a network of young journalists all over Brazil. It includes two major sites: O Eco, which features news about Brazilian environmental issues and O Eco Amazonia, which covers the entire Amazon region, including Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, French Guyana, Peru, Surinam and Venezuela.
O Eco was the first media outlet in the country to offer in-depth coverage of issues such as corruption in management of forest resources, monitoring deforestation in the Amazon and the impacts of climate change on biodiversity. The service has won numerous awards and become a go-to for experts and policy-makers.


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Editor for this issue: Karen Milligan <karenlinguistlist.org>
Many thanks for all the responses (R�my Viredaz, Donn Bayard, Dom Watt, Linda Coleman, John Reighard, Susan M. Fitzmaurice, Roy Cochrun, Aur�lien MAX, Robert Papen, Naomi Nagy, Marc Picard, Cornelia Gerhardt, Laurie Bauer, Geoffrey Sampson, Ian Tupper). List participants report OFTEN pronounced with t in England, Scottland, Canada, New Zealand and the US. It's interesting as a spelling pronunciation, preferred by some speakers, dispreferred by others. Though the t-full pronunciation is apparently on the increase in various places, it's not associated with a single group anywhere. Several responses noted below report work-in-progress on the phenomenon. A little background: Wells' Longman Pronouncing Dictionary lists both t-less pronunciations, and a t-full pronunciations with tn as the second syllable, where stands for schwa. This is the pronunciation I intended in calling the t aspirated (I should have written, and I was duly reminded, that this t, like other voiceless stops in onsets of unstressed syllables, is only weakly aspirated, and, hence, counts as unaspirated for phoneticians who require a specific threshold value on the scale). Wells reports that "Many speakers use both the form with t and the form with it," and cites a BrE poll panel preference: 72% t-less, 27% t-full. Fowler's Modern English Usage (1965) says: "According to the OED the sounding of the t was not then recognized by the dictionaries. But that was long before the speak-as-you-spell movement got under way, and as long ago as 1933 the SOED recorded that the sounding of the t was then frequent in the south of England. That would now be an understatement of its currency." List response: Donn Bayard reports: "The spelling pronunciation certainly occurs here in New Zealand. My 1984-85 survey of phonological and lexical variables in NZE (see *Te Reo* vols. 30 and 32, 1987 and 1989) showed 41% of my sample of 141 used the ofTen pronunciation. I also monitor this and a number of other alternative pronunciations in my annual questionnaires to our large first-year classes; since 1984 ofTen has increased from ca. 35% to over 50%, but its change is not as marked as items like "lieutenant", "schedule", and "zed/zee"." Dom Watt says the [Oftn] pronunciation rather than [Ofn]/[Ofn] is current in Scottish English. He writes: "I was born and grew up in Edinburgh, and while both forms were used, the one with [t] was probably as - or more - common that the [t]-elided one (note that the quality of the vowel of the first syllable can be [O] or [o], where [O] is 'open o'). I've got a hunch that the [t]-ful form is more traditional, and perhaps hence seen as less prestigious or 'correct', but don't know for sure. The [t] may alternatively be nasally released, i.e. with no intervening schwa between [t] and [n]. If you're interested in following up the 'stylistic variable' angle on the alternation between [t] and zero, it might be worth your while contacting Deborah Chirrey (chirreydadmin.ehche.ac.uk) or Jane Stuart-Smith (j.stuart-smithenglang.arts.gla.ac.uk) - they've both recently published work on variability in the phonologies of Edinburgh and Glasgow English, so they may have a better idea. Robert Papen writes: "As a speaker of Canadian English, I can tell you that both variants are used in Canada...though I can't tell you what the distribution of either variant may be." Naomi Nagy says:"I have 2 students working on this very question now--collecting data both via surveys and interviews in New Hampshire. I'll pass your query along and ask them to get back to you, but they won't have a "definite" answer until mid-December." Laurie Bauer: "Variable in New Zealand, too. I've always assumed it is basically socio-economic class driven, but I haven't seen any analysis of it, so do summarise for the list if you discover anything." - -------------------------------------------------------------------------- - -- Prof. Dr. Neal R. Norrick Lehrstuhl f�r Englische Philologie Sprachwissenschaft Universit�t des Saarlandes 66041 Saarbr�cken Tel. +49 (0)681 302-3009 URL: http://www.uni-sb.de/philfak/fb8/norrick - -------------------------------------------------------------------------- - --Mail to author|Respond to list|Read more issues|LINGUIST home page|Top of issue


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Big First Half Sends Louisville Past Vandy
from press release
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Behind a strong first-half performance, the University of Louisville women's lacrosse team outlasted Vanderbilt, 13-10, on a chilly Wednesday afternoon in the UofL Lacrosse Stadium. Louisville (4-1), which came out sluggish in the first period in its last game, set the tone by scoring seven goals in the first 16 minutes of the match.
The Cardinals' offensive catalyst, Nikki Boltja netted the game's first goal at the 25:49 mark on a free-position attempt. Just 20 seconds later, Katie Oliverio found the back of the net to put the Cardinals ahead, 2-0.
After a rare own goal by Vanderbilt that extended Louisville's lead by three, the Commodores' Carly Linthicum scored her first of five goals on the day.
Louisville's defense, which forced Vanderbilt into 20 turnovers, kept the Commodores off the scoreboard for the next 10 minutes, and the Cardinals' offense fed off of it with four-straight scores.
Colleen O'Malley, on an assist from Oliverio, started the run with her ninth goal of the year at the 23:12 mark. Erika Eipp and Oliverio added the next two goals, and Kaylin Morissette netted an unassisted score to push Louisville's lead to six at 7-1.
Vanderbilt closed the half on a 3-2 run after a pair of goals in the final three minutes of the period.
Louisville proved to be the dominant team in the half, limiting Vanderbilt to just four goals on 11 shots, and forcing 10 Vanderbilt turnovers.
After Boltja's third goal of the game, Vanderbilt's offense started to come together, as Linthicum scored three-consecutive goals, and Abby Wheeler netted the Commodores' fourth-straight to bridge the gap at 11-8.
Morissette, who has shined during her freshman campaign, scored two of her three goals over a three-minute span, with Boltja registering a goal in between, to push Louisville's lead back to five. While the Commodores scored two late goals, the deficit proved to be too much to overcome.
Monica Negron played a significant role in the win, as she tallied a career-best seven draw controls and was one of three players with three ground balls. Cortnee Daley recorded a team-best two caused turnovers, and Ashley Herbst, improving to 4-1 in the win, made seven saves for the decision.
Louisville returns to action on Saturday, March 9, in Cumming, Ga., for a neutral-site contest against Presbyterian. First draw at West Forsyth High is scheduled for 5 p.m., and it marks the first of five-straight games away from home for the Cardinals.
For the latest information on Louisville women's lacrosse, log on to GoCards.com, or, for up-to-the-minute updates, follow the team's Twitter account at www.twitter.com/louisvillelax or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/uofllacrosse.
- Today's game marked the third time Louisville has scored at least 13 goals in a game this season.
- Junior Nikki Boltja scored four goals for the fourth-straight game.
- Junior Monica Negron finished with seven draw controls, while the entire Vanderbilt team had nine.
- Freshman Kaylin Morissette now has recorded four-straight games with at least four draw controls.
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Child Passenger Safety Week
Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death for children ages 1 to 13, reports the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
During national Child Passenger Safety Week this week, Sept. 15-21, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation and the Wisconsin State Patrol will remind parents, grandparents and caregivers that consistent and proper use of child safety restraints in vehicles can be a matter of life or death.
In addition, the State Patrol will begin delivery of child safety seats to approximately 25 hospitals, clinics and child passenger safety technicians for distribution to eligible low-income expectant mothers and families.
The 500 infant safety seats and 400 booster seats for statewide distribution were purchased with federal funding.
"The best way to protect children in vehicles is to put them in the right seat, at the right time, and use it the right way," says David Pabst, director of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation Bureau of Transportation Safety.
To help determine the proper safety seat (based on a child's age and size) and how to use it, Wisconsin Department of Transportation offers an instructional video available on its Zero In Wisconsin program web site at www.zeroinwisconsin.gov/ChildSafetySeats/.
"For many parents, grandparents and caregivers, the installation and proper use of child safety seats can be confusing," Pabst says.
"And the types and placement of child safety seats change as your child grows. The Zero In Wisconsin video on 'How to Properly Use Child Safety Seats in Wisconsin' provides easy-to-follow and comprehensive instructions so you can protect your child in your vehicle," Pabst said in a statement.
"This video also will be a great child safety seat reference resource as your child grows .We hope that everyone who transports children will review our video to ensure they are fully protecting their precious passengers," he said.
Common Misuses of Child Safety Seats
If used correctly, child seats save lives and prevent injury, says the American Academy of Family Physicians. Unfortunately, because they are complicated, they are commonly misused. The following points from the American Academy of Family Physicians summarize important aspects of child seats:
– Rear-facing seats should not be used in front of an airbag. The airbag can cause fatal injury to the child in the event of a crash that deploys the bag.
– Children are safer facing to the rear until they weigh 20 pounds and are at least one year of age.
– The child's height and weight should be appropriate for the seat. Each child seat is labeled with its weight and height limits.
– Infant seats can only be used in a rear-facing position.
– Convertible safety seats are designed to face rearward or forward, but each direction has weight limits. The child seat manual or the seat's label lists its rear-facing weight limit.
– A child seat should not be used in a side-facing seat (some trucks have side-facing rear seats).
– The parents should ensure that the correct seat-belt path is being used. When the seat is rear-facing, there is a different place to put the seat belt than when the seat is forward-facing.
– Car seats are often too loosely attached to the car. There should be no more than 1 inch of side-to-side motion when the seat is pulled forcefully at the seat-belt path.
– Tether straps decrease motion of a child's head by attaching the child seat-back to an anchor in the car. These straps can only be used in newer cars that have tether anchor sites (the automobile instruction manual should point them out).
– To maintain the infant's airway, the back of a rear-facing child seat should be at a 45-degree angle from the ground. Many seats have a positioning needle to assist in finding this angle.
– Infant seats often have a carrier handle or sun shield; these options should be in the down position while traveling.
– Harness straps should be snug enough that you cannot pinch the harness strap (lengthwise, not crosswise).
– To maximize their strength, harness straps should be flat and free of knots. Straps should not be ironed or placed in a dryer; the heat makes them brittle.
– The harness clip should be at the arm-pit level. If the clip is lower, the infant may slip out of the harness.
– In a child seat that is facing rearward, the harness straps should be at or below the level of the shoulder.
– In a child seat that faces forward, the harness straps should be in a reinforced harness slot position. Only the reinforced position is able to withstand the force of the forward crash without ripping the plastic. If there is more than one reinforced position, the harness straps should be at or above the level of the shoulder when the child is forward facing. Slots in the seat back allow for this adjustment.
– Bulky clothes (such as winter coats) create slack in the harness. They should not be worn under the harness straps. After the harness is secured, a blanket can cover the child.
– Replacing a child-seat part or altering the seat may weaken the device. Missing or broken parts should be obtained only through the manufacturer.
– Parents should be taught how to check the seat for recalls. Even relatively new seats may have dangerous flaws. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Auto Safety Hotline: 1-888-DASH-2-DOT (1-888-327-4236), offers information about child safety seat recalls.
– Child seats that have been in a crash should be discarded (in a way that prevents them from being reused by anyone else) and replaced, even if they look fine.
– A seat that is more than 10 years old should not be used, and it is best practice not to use a seat that is more than six years old. Older seats are not designed to the same safety standards as current seats.


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If the live fire is to the side of the pie (better to illuminate the pie rather than at the back), how much area do you have for the pie? Depending on the size of the fire, I like to have 6"-10" of buffer between the pie and the fire. What diameter are your pies? In my oven, the coals bed is 6"-12". Plug these numbers in and you'll have your answer. In my oven - worst case: 12" (coals to the side) + 10" (buffer) + 12" (pie) = 34". See why I wish had a bigger oven?Bill/SFNM
Have you ever tried charcoal? A narrow glowing bed of briquettes could sustain heat, with small kindling thrown on for flame, seems like it be workable.
With the oven that bill has (35 inch cooking diameter) you should be able to do 2 - 12" pies. I have done three with the same oven, since bill runs his oven very hot he might be using more wood. I would still think 2 twleve inchers should be no problem. With a 24 x 30 i would think that one 12" pie should be no problem. I'm sure no one is going to come knocking on your door if you made an 11" pizza. VPN is metric anyway.


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Enkhbat wins Mongolia's first boxing gold
BEIJING (AP) Bantamweight Badar-Uugan Enkhbat has won Mongolia's first gold medal in boxing, beating Cuba's Yankiel Leon 16-5.
Enkhbat surged to an early lead Sunday with thousands of raucous Mongolian fans behind him. He easily held off Leon, the third Cuban to lose a gold-medal bout in less than 24 hours.
Enkhbat, the world championship runner-up, captured just the second Olympic gold medal in any sport for Mongolia. Tuvshinbayar Naidan won the first in judo last week.


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as a Last Name
- 134,920
- people in the U.S. have this name View Austin on Whitepages
Meaning & Origins
English, French, and German: from the personal name Austin, a vernacular form of Latin Augustinus, a derivative of Augustus. This was an extremely common personal name in every part of Western Europe during the Middle Ages, owing its popularity chiefly to St. Augustine of Hippo (354–430), whose influence on Christianity is generally considered to be second only to that of St. Paul. Various religious orders came to be formed following rules named in his honor, including the 'Austin canons', established in the 11th century, and the 'Austin friars', a mendicant order dating from the 13th century. The popularity of the personal name in England was further increased by the fact that it was borne by St. Augustine of Canterbury (died c. 605), an Italian Benedictine monk known as 'the Apostle of the English', who brought Christianity to England in 597 and founded the see of Canterbury.
|236th in the U.S.
Nicknames & variations
Quick facts
- Tens of Thousands
- of people in the U.S have this name
- 134,920
- to be exact
- 361,187
- if you include dead people (since the government started keeping track)
- Guam
- has the most people named Austin per capita