Regional planning is one of the functions most often affected by the dilemma of how to provide services and resolve conflicts that transcend municipal boundaries. Most existing solutions, while they accept the consensus that power should be decentralized, have limited applicability and the greatest need is for institutional innovations.-This report critically examines such an innovation — the regional districts introduced by British Columbia in 1965. The hew concept employs the identical institutional framework td provide regional services riot only in metropolitan alia non-metropolitan municipalities, but also in the unorganized areas which cover more than 98 percent of the province. A review of the literature led to the conclusion that before a province introduces regional institutions it should consider five key factors. These were: the selection of criteria to delimit administrative boundaries; participation by local governments and by citizens; coordination with other levels of government; the delegation of adequate powers; and the flexibility to adapt to different conditions. Regional districts were evaluated in this context. The inductive approach chosen to generate data documents the history of regional planning and regional districts in the province, then analyzes five of the districts in more detail, and finally solicits the views of the directors of the regional boards. The latter form a second tier or federation of local areas governed by locally elected representatives. The study concludes that the size or configuration of the districts is not always rational, that the provision for local participation is satisfactory but, with the exception of inter-municipal liason, the coordination of programs with provincial departments is not. Most of the power delegated to regional districts appears to be really a transfer of powers from local governments, with the exception of powers acquired by residents of unorganized areas. The flexibility of the new system was judged to be its outstanding feature. A conspicuous phenomenon was the speed with which regional districts were volutarily adopted. It was concluded the tactics employed by the province to "sell" the concept, together with the impetus provided by linking hospital financing to regional districts through complementary legislation were important contributing factors. The failure to provide any overall provincial planning policies with which the programs of the regional districts might have been integrated was perceived as a major weakness. A summary of legislation adopted by three other provinces is included to illustrate the diversity of potential solutions available within Canada's form of federation. The report does not consider regional economic planning, the property tax, the role of the planner, or liason between various levels of government are within its terms of reference, although brief comments on all of these are made on occasion.
The Histoire de la Nouvelle-France (1609, 1611, 1612, 1617, 1618) by Marc Lescarbot (v. 1570--1641) is read as a symbolic foundation for the young colony of Port-Royal, Acadia (Annapolis, Nova Scotia), a construct which functions as a valid genesis for French America (thus, "New France" in the title refers specifically to this habitation as well as to the men who contributed to its making). Chapter I is devoted to a reading of the work's abundant paratext and identifies the topics at stake in the unfavourable rumours about the Acadian expeditions as well as about the lieutenant of Port-Royal, Jean de Biencourt, sieur de Poutrincourt. Moreover, this chapter explores the subjective marks, disseminated in the paratext, that build up the historian's ethos, which works as a proof of the validity of his object. This chapter investigates as well the metadiscursive comments on the writing of history and their incidence on the referentiality of the work. Chapter II compares the compilation of travel accounts contained in the Histoire with its sources. This comparison shows how the alteration of these accounts of travellers---who recorded themselves the result of their American expeditions---strengthens the division of the stereotyped dichotomy between the man of letters and the man of action, two functions respectively assigned to Lescarbot and Poutrincourt in the Histoire. The order of this compilation as well as the organisation of its various parts according to a diegetical logic shape specific places where a tension emerges between a reliable discourse, intended to a readership interested in the actual conditions of a colonial establishment, and the production of a textual "coating" aiming at attracting a courtly readership, to which the Jesuits, who challenged Poutrincourt's colonial project, addressed their requests. In chapter III, where are confronted the written and mapped representations of Port-Royal, this tension is even more manifest.
In Saskatchewan, the community colleges, as introduced in lQ73, were heralded as being unique.Politicians, government civil servants and others stressed the unique philosophy and principles upon which these new institutions were to be based.This dream of something new, yet readily applicable to Saskatchewan, caught the imagination of many Saskatchewanians along with a good number of people outside Saskatchewan.Lifelong learning, access to educational opportunities and the worthiness of learning were to become the pillars for enhancing peoples' personal growth and development.These colleges would facilitate the decentralization of learning opportunities to rural Saskatchewan.The learner would determine the location, the type of services and programs offered through community colleges.These colleges would be autonomous within the designed system in order to accommodate the particular demands of individuals, organizations and communities.The college would be the community and the community would be the college.Government and its agencies would work in support of this idea.iii Colleges have operated for nearly ten years.In these years there has come to be a certain emptiness about colleges, their philosophy and how this philosophy has been implemented.This unique system was to have accomplished so much, but by the end of the first decade, there even appeared to be confusion over what the original philosophy was, what it meant and how it was to be carried out.The original architects of the Saskatchewan community college system were interviewed to determine their vision and thinking related to community colleges for Saskatchewan.Other people linked to this ideal were subjected to the same process.An extensive literature search supplemented the interviews and provided further background and explanation for the development of community colleges.