Academic literature on the topic 'Canada, directories'

The adoption and use of the telephone in urban central Canada between 1876 and 1914 are explored within the context of the wider communications environment and the marketing strategies of the Bell Telephone Company. This context becomes the framework for a case study of the social diffusion of the telephone in Kingston, Ont, between 1883 and 1911. Utilizing telephone directories and early city directories, the case study concentrates on the socioeconomic and organizational characteristics of early phone subscribers and the physical location of their phones. Both business and residential subscribers are shown throughout the period to have been drawn mainly from the commercial and prof essional classes in Kingston and to have used the phone mainly for institutional, work-related purposes.

Historical scholars have not recognized the importance of housing in modern Canada. There is no overall conception of what needs to be known on the subject. In terms of the consumption as opposed to the production of housing, residential segregation, tenure, housing costs and conditions are the four major aspects to be considered. Their full significance can be understood only when viewed as part of the experience of social groups, particularly those defined in terms of class, ethnicity and gender. In describing social variations in housing consumption the most generally useful sources are the Census, City Directories and Assessments. The Censuses for 1871, 1941 and especially 1931 are rich but neglected sources of information on housing, while City Directories are more reliable than many think. These sources could illuminate changes in housing consumption in the first half of the twentieth century, a period of marked scholarly neglect.

In the last decade, software engineering has emerged as a discipline very useful for computer application programmers in various engineering fields. In this paper the author considers the programming and management techniques for developing useful and commercially viable engineering software that may be used in the analysis and design of civil engineering projects. The issue of utilizing existing software effectively and efficiently is also discussed. At the conclusion of the presentation, several recommendations are made to encourage engineering software development in Canada. Key words: engineering, software engineering, software, computers, computer service bureaus, software directories.

Evidence suggests that language barriers present obstacles to healthcare access and quality for Francophone seniors in official language minority communities across Canada. Addressing language barriers and providing continuity is challenging, as French language services (FLSs) rely heavily on bilingual providers and the practice of active offer by all staff. This qualitative research used semi-structured group and individual interviews to explore mechanisms supporting FLS coordination and continuity in two Canadian provinces. Identification of the language variable in health records, virtual healthcare, and FLS directories are conducive to FLS continuity, but financial and resource limitations present major obstacles. Management strategies to facilitate continuity of FLS across health organizations are discussed.

The young colonial city of Toronto was a landing place for many newcomers to Canada, and was a city of opportunity. The steady growth in population between 1834 and 1861 afforded women employment outside of the home, notably in the needle-trades (i.e. the roles involved in the manufacture of clothing). This article argues that the needle-trades were a significant source of employment for women in pre-industrial period Toronto and explores the social and professional distinctions between ‘dressmakers’ and ‘seamstresses’, by enumerating and aggregating women from the City Directories and 1861 census. Several biographical case studies are included to demonstrate the variety of women employed in the needle-trades, based on information from the primary source data.

Purpose: This study investigates the impact of microplastic pollution on freshwater ecosystems and effective mitigation measures in Canada.
 Methodology: The study adopted a desktop methodology. Desk research refers to secondary data or that which can be collected without fieldwork. Desk research is basically involved in collecting data from existing resources hence it is often considered a low-cost technique as compared to field research, as the main cost is involved in executive’s time, telephone charges and directories. Thus, the study relied on already published studies, reports and statistics. This secondary data was easily accessed through the online journals and library.
 Findings: The literature review and research findings demonstrate that microplastic pollution is significantly impacting freshwater ecosystems in Canada. Microplastics can accumulate in water, biota, and sediments, leading to water quality changes, ecological disruptions, and potential risks to human health. The study also highlights the ecological and societal impacts of microplastic pollution, such as changes in habitat structure, alterations in food webs, and potential health risks. Various mitigation measures, including source reduction, wastewater treatment, education and awareness, policy and regulatory measures, and ecosystem-based approaches, are effective in reducing microplastic pollution in freshwater environments.
 Recommendations: This study contributes to the understanding of microplastic pollution's impact on freshwater ecosystems and effective mitigation measures in Canada. The research advances knowledge in environmental science, freshwater ecology, and pollution management, providing insights into sources, pathways, and impacts of microplastic pollution in freshwater ecosystems, and the effectiveness of various mitigation measures. The findings have practical implications for policymakers, environmental managers, and stakeholders involved in freshwater management and pollution control, highlighting the need for interdisciplinary approaches, stakeholder engagement, and evidence-based policy and management strategies to mitigate the negative effects of microplastic pollution on freshwater ecosystems and safeguard their health and sustainability.

OBJECTIVE The objective of this survey was to assess the current use of continuous infusion propofol in PICUs across the United States and Canada. METHODS A list of institutions with PICU beds/units was identified through the residency directories available on the American Society of Health-Systems Pharmacists (ASHP) and Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists (CHSP) Web sites. A REDCap questionnaire was sent to each identified institution's program director via email. An initial reminder email was sent out 2 weeks later and a second reminder email was sent 4 weeks after the initial request. The survey was closed at 6 weeks. RESULTS A total of 514 emails were sent to residency program directors, and 50 pharmacists responded to the survey. Of the pharmacists that did respond, 27 (54%) reported using propofol while 23 (46%) did not. Of those that did not, 43.5% reported the FDA boxed warning as the primary reason. Thirty-seven percent of respondents using propofol felt comfortable using a maximum infusion rate of 200 mcg/kg/min. Twenty-nine percent, 25%, and 33% of those who responded as using propofol felt comfortable using this agent for a maximum duration of 24, 48, and 72 hours, respectively. The majority of respondents using propofol did not have a case of propofol-related infusion syndrome. CONCLUSIONS Despite the FDA warning, propofol is used as a continuous infusion (with variable limitations) by a majority of pharmacists in North America. Self-reported incidence of propofol-related infusion syndrome (PRIS) remains low.

Objective: Mental health (MH) care in remote areas is frequently scarce and fragmented and difficult to compare objectively with other areas even in the same country. This study aimed to analyze the adult MH service provision in 3 remote areas of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries in the world. Methods: We used an internationally agreed set of systems indicators, terminology, and classification of services (Description and Evaluation of Services and DirectoriEs for Long Term Care). This instrument provided a standard description of MH care provision in the Kimberley region (Australia), Nunavik (Canada), and Lapland (Finland), areas characterized by an extremely low population density and high relative rates of Indigenous peoples. Results: All areas showed high rates of deprivation within their national contexts. MH services were mostly provided by the public sector supplemented by nonprofit organizations. This study found a higher provision per inhabitant of community residential care in Nunavik in relation to the other areas; higher provision of community outreach services in the Kimberley; and a lack of day services except in Lapland. Specific cultural-based services for the Indigenous population were identified only in the Kimberley. MH care in Lapland was self-sufficient, and its care pattern was similar to other Finnish areas, while the Kimberley and Nunavik differed from the standard pattern of care in their respective countries and relied partly on services located outside their boundaries for treating severe cases. Conclusion: We found common challenges in these remote areas but a huge diversity in the patterns of MH care. The implementation of care interventions should be locally tailored considering both the environmental characteristics and the existing pattern of service provision.

Purpose: The study sought to analyze the trends and implications of emerging markets and new destinations for the hospitality and tourism sector.
 Methodology: The study adopted a desktop methodology. Desk research refers to secondary data or that which can be collected without fieldwork. Desk research is basically involved in collecting data from existing resources hence it is often considered a low cost technique as compared to field research, as the main cost is involved in executive’s time, telephone charges and directories. Thus, the study relied on already published studies, reports and statistics. This secondary data was easily accessed through the online journals and library.
 Findings: Canada's hospitality and tourism sector is expanding into emerging markets and diversifying beyond traditional destinations. This shift towards sustainability and technology integration is improving the visitor experience and attracting eco-conscious travelers. Enhanced accessibility and economic benefits underscore the need for strategic collaboration to maximize opportunities while ensuring responsible tourism development.
 Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: Diffusion of innovation theory, Resource-based theory & Market segmentation theory may be used to anchor future studies in the trends and implications of emerging markets and new destinations for the hospitality and tourism sector. Hospitality businesses should tailor their offerings to cater to the unique needs and preferences of travelers in emerging destinations, while also ensuring sustainability and cultural sensitivity in their operations. Policymakers should prioritize the development of supportive regulatory frameworks and infrastructure to attract investment and foster tourism growth in emerging destinations.

Private schools have frequently provided innovative, experimental, and creative program unavailable to students in the public system. The most successful have survived and expanded by offering an educational experience widely perceived to be not just as good as that available in the public system, but better. In Canada, private schools are enjoying an unprecedented popularity and while most are day-only, over sixty sustain boarding programs, as do two off-shore Canadian schools. The Handbook of Canadian Boarding Schools presents information on the educational environment of each province,then offers comparative information on each boarding school. The information on each school includes: basic data, location, history, philosophy, the campus, boarding facilities, health and safety, administration and faculty, student body and student conduct, academic calendar and program, information technology, student activities and student conduct, admission and costs. The Handbook also supplies several appendices outlining important programs often available through boarding schools, such as Advanced Placement courses and the International Baccalaureate. For parents in Canada and abroad about to commit substantial sums to their children''s education, the Handbook of Canadian Boarding Schools is an essential tool to help them make the right decision. It is also an indispensable resource for supporters of the public system looking for ideas that have worked elsewhere.<br>Ashley Thomson, a faculty member in the J.N. Desmarais Library at Laurentian University of Sudbury, is the author/editor of the Directory of Canadian Private Residential Schools (1986), of which this is a major revision. Sylvie Lafortune is a faculty member in the J.N. Desmarais Library at Laurentian University of Sudbury.<br>Laurentian University subsidized the research for this project.

This thesis explores how five Canadian women directors who define themselves as feminists have engaged with work from the traditional Western theatre canon. However, that world actually is created by the social expectations, cultural mores, and theatrical conventions of its time. Audiences have been indoctrinated to accept unquestioningly the value of these texts while the plays’ valorized status masks social constructs that are continually reinforced and surreptitiously naturalized through their repetition. At the crux of this thesis is the notion that while repetition is used as a tool for social instruction, it can also be used as a tool for social change. Therefore, I explore how the Canadian feminist women directors whom I have interviewed use the uniqueness of performance in different ways to challenge social structures within canonical texts. In the individual chapters, each director first shares her education, training, experience, and influences; then she articulates her own feminist perspective and discusses its impact on her career and work process; and finally she reflects on how she directed a text from the Western theatre canon and used the liminal space of performance to challenge the text’s embedded gender constructs. At the end of each chapter, I present the critical response I found for each production, including reviews, individual statements, and academic investigations, and assess the extent to which the director’s intent was understood by her audience and reviewers. In the final chapters, I examine each individual director’s interview responses in the context of the others’ and situate them within the spectrum of feminisms. In general, the directors used liminal space to expose gender as a construction and destabilize social expectations based on gender. However, what also emerged from these interviews is that while there is no broad consensus of what constitutes ‘feminist’ work, each director must temper her feminist perspectives if she wants access to the upper echelons of directing in Canada and the benefits that it entails.

This thesis explores whether independent directors in the USA and Canada are effective in holding management accountable by: (1) analyzing how the policy of relying on independent directors developed and operates; (2) introducing the main theoretical critiques of independent directors’ monitoring effect; and (3) examining whether empirical studies in the field of management science and financial economics support the policy in both countries of relying on independent directors as corporate monitors. Empirical evidence shows that boards with a majority of independent directors, in some circumstances, were associated with better firm performance (in the post-SOX period) and fulfilled certain board tasks effectively in the United States. Canadian studies, however, have not shown a positive association with improved firm performance. Audit committees composed entirely of independent directors have been effective in ensuring the quality of financial reporting in the United States, but this effect has not been found in Canada. Compensation committees composed fully of independent directors neither constrained the level of executive compensation nor tied CEO pay to firm performance in either country. US firms with an audit committee member who had accounting expertise, rather than financial analysis or supervisory expertise, were associated with a higher quality of financial reporting, while Canadian firms with an audit committee member who has financial expertise, instead of financial literacy, were associated with a similar effect. Studies also showed that independent directors perform better in certain circumstances. Based on empirical evidence, US regulators should consider: (1) changing the current mandatory requirements for an independent board and a completely independent compensation committee to a comply-or-explain requirement; (2) narrowing the qualification of a financial expert to an individual who has accounting expertise; and (3) recruiting independent directors who have two or fewer outside directorships, hold more of the corporation’s shares, have lower cost of acquiring corporate information, and have no social connections with the CEO. In Canada, weak evidence of the monitoring effectiveness of independent directors supports the existing comply-or-explain approach. Canadian regulators may only need to require or recommend that at least one audit committee member has financial expertise, instead of only financial literacy.

Objective: This study was done to assess the contraception and abortion content of nurse practitioner (NP) and midwifery programs in Canada. Methods: In June 2014, we mailed out surveys to program directors for each of the 32 accredited NP programs in Canada and seven accredited midwifery programs. The mailing included a copy of the questionnaire, a cover letter explaining the purpose of the study, a pre addressed envelope for return of the survey and a pre addressed response card to determine if the respondent wanted a copy of the results. We analyzed the responses using descriptive statistics and content and thematic analysis Results: We received sixteen NP surveys and two midwifery surveys making the response rate 70% and 40% respectively. More than half of the NP programs reported that they did not offer information about options counseling, first-trimester abortion procedures, and/or post-abortion care in their didactic curriculum. Our study found that if the mifepristone/misoprostol regimen was introduced in Canada 50% of NP programs and 100% of midwifery programs would teach it didactically. Conclusion: Abortion education in Canadian NP and midwifery programs is severely limited. It is important to incorporate comprehensive information on contraception and abortion in both didactic and clinical curricula. Medication abortion receives the lowest rates of inclusion in both NP and midwifery programs, but there is overall support for the inclusion of mifepristone into existing didactic curriculum. In programs that cater to rural and remote communities there is a definite need to incorporate medication abortion training, particularly given the anticipated approval of mifepristone for use in early pregnancy termination.

Where individuals standing outside of the corporation have been harmed by the acts of one of its directors or officers, the question becomes whether they have only a claim against the corporation or whether they may have also a personal claim against the executive inflicting the harm on them.<br>The issue of how far it should be possible to hold directors and officers personally liable for tort has been a contested one and even courts within one and the same jurisdiction provide different solutions. On the one hand, there is the general basic principle that individuals causing harm to others should be held responsible. On the other hand, the fact that directors and officers act as agents on behalf of the corporation might call for an exception to this basic tort law principle.<br>This thesis will compare the solutions proposed by Common law (with focus on the law of Ontario) and German law as an example of a Civil law jurisdiction. An attempt will be made to see in how far the proposed solutions are consistent with legal principles like the separate legal entity of the corporation and the concept of limited liability as well as with arguments related to economic efficiency.

Background and context: Given the constant evolving developments in information technology (IT) in healthcare in Canada and Ontario, and the relatively nonexistent body of literature on IT management issues from the perspectives of top IT managers (i.e. Chief Information Officers, IT directors, IT top managers) in hospitals, a follow up study of IT management issues to the study done by Jaana et al. is conducted. Purpose: To develop an authoritative list of IT management issues in Ontario hospitals and compare the results to the earlier study and the literature. Methods: Using the Ranking Type Delphi technique, the responses from IT top managers in three main panels of Ontario hospitals were solicited through a controlled iterative feedback process. The hospitals were divided into the academic panel (n = 6), community panel (n = 12), and the rural panel (n = 8) for a total of 26 out of 33 participants who completed the study. Results: 26 issues were raised and a total of 24 issues were ranked in the study. Among the 14 common issues between the three panels, the top five issues were limited funding, keeping infrastructure current, external security threats, increasing cost, and managing demands for IT projects. Comparing with the study by Jaana et al. (2011), a total of 7 new issues emerged which are concerned with technology, regulatory challenges, and human issues. A total of 10 issues were dropped from the earlier study spanning areas of strategic, technological, organizational, and human issues. The participants in the study did not significantly differ individually based on their background characteristics, where the only significant difference observed between the hospital panels was due to hospital characteristics. During the brainstorming phase a total of 195 issues were provided which were consolidated by two researchers to form a list of 26 IT management issues, with an inter coder reliability of 88%. The issues with a 4.5 out of 7 rating and higher on a Likert scale were retained to narrow down the list. This resulted in 19 issues for the rural and community panels, and 21 issues for the academic panel, with 14 of the 26 issues being common to all three panels. The ranking phase was conducted with two rounds of ranking due to the low consensus levels during the first round. The consensus level after two rounds was; W academic = 0.235, W community = 0.254, and W rural = 0.381. Contributions: This study presents a significant contribution to the management of medical informatics field by providing an approach to categorize IT management issues to observe trends overtime as well as present the application of a seminal framework to explain the changes in these issues as organizations change and grow overtime. At the management and practical levels, the list of prioritized issues provides an evidence base for top IT managers to make IT related decisions at the organizational level. The list also acts as a second benchmarking tool to evaluate hospital performance overtime with the various issues. At the policy development level, provincial governments can use the list to devise comprehensive IT management strategies to address the various regulatory issues reported. Future research can focus on exploring the resonating behind the rankings provided and replicating this study over time and across various geographies so that a large survey can be developed to follow the evolutions of IT management issues in healthcare over time.

In the years following success at St Louis, Moorcroft’s designs began to follow two distinct paths: some appealing to the contemporary nostalgia for eighteenth-century elegance, others developing more innovative and experimental ideas. One of his most radical creations, named ‘Flamminian’ ware, reduced ornament to a simple roundel, and focussed attention on form and glaze; it was an uncompromising challenge to the swirling lines of Art Nouveau, and was a great success both at home and in the US. Reviews published in the UK, France and Canada regularly distinguished Moorcroft’s work from much art pottery, underlining the originality of his decorative technique, the quality of his colours, and the integrity of his designs. It is a mark of his growing international reputation that he was invited to write an article for the newly founded American Pottery Gazette. But even as his reputation grew, the first signs of tension with H. Watkin, Director and General Manager at Macintyre’s, can be seen between the lines of reviews in the Pottery Gazette, where Moorcroft’s name was increasingly subordinated to that of Macintyre’s. Factory Minutes show that Watkin was tabling proposals to close down Moorcroft’s department from as early as 1905, to the evident surprise of the other Directors; surviving financial documents suggest that the reason was not the unprofitability of the Ornamental ware, as Watkin would affirm.

Abstract Magnetic debris in a drilling fluid have a significant influence on the ability of the drilling fluid to maintain its function. Down hole logging can suffer from poor signal to noise ratios. Directional drilling in areas close to the magnetic North Pole, such as in the Barents Sea, Northern Canada or Russia can suffer because of magnetic contamination in the drilling fluid. Magnetic particles in the drilling fluid introduce additional errors to the magnetic surveying compared to those normally included in the ellipsoid of uncertainty calculation. On many offshore drilling rigs, there is mounted ditch magnets to remove metallic swarf from the drilling fluid. These magnets normally only remove the coarser swarf. In this project, we use a combination of strong magnets and flow directors to significantly improve the performance of the ditch magnets. This combination, together with proper routines for cleaning the ditch magnets, significantly helps to clean the drilling fluid. Through the combined use of flow directors and ditch magnets, it was possible to extract more than five times as much magnetic contamination from the drilling fluid as normal compared with other proper ditch magnet systems. This is verified by comparing the ditch magnet efficiencies from two drilling rigs drilling ERD wells in the North Sea area. In the paper, it is discussed how the accuracy of directional drilling and well position effected by various interferences can be improved by the use of a drilling fluid with minimal effect to the MWD measurement.

Social justice school leadership as a concept, while familiar in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States school leadership literature, is not widely recognized in other parts of the world. Social justice school leadership appropriately differs from one culture to another and is always context-specific to a particular school setting, great organization structure or country. However, social justice is a necessary and fundamental assumption for all educators committed to combating ignorance and the promotion of student global citizenship as a central theme of school practices. The purpose of this study was to provide understandings of ways that selected social justice school leaders from three countries; Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia conceive of and practice social justice in leading their schools. The manuscript describes how six Baltic directors, identified by local educators on the basis of research conducted by the International School Leaders Development Network (ISLDN) as social justice school leaders, responded to interview questions related to their practice. Four directors were Latvian and one each from Lithuania and Estonia. Limitations to the study include basing conclusions upon a single (or in one case, several) interview(s) per subject and limitations on generalizability of qualitative exploratory case study. By definition, every case study is unique, limiting generalizability. Interviews were thematically analyzed using the following definition: A social justice school leader is one who sees injustice in ways that others do not, and has the moral purpose, skills, and necessary relationships to combat injustice for the benefit of all students. Findings reveal strong application of values to identify problems based on well-being of all students and their families and to work collaboratively with other educators to find solution processes to complex issues related to social justice inequities. As social justice pioneers in their countries, these principals personify social justice school leadership in countries where the term social justice is not part of scholarly discourse.

The main objective of this talk is to report on the First Brazilian Symposium on Computer Music, which occurred in August 1994, at the city of Caxambu, Minas Gerais, promoted by the UFMG. The meeting occurred one year after the creation of NUCOM, a group of young academics dedicated to this emerging research field in Brazil gathered as a discussion list. This quite exciting and fancy event at Hotel Gloria in Caxambu was able to imposingly launch the group to the national, as well as to the international academic community. First, due to the excellency of the event’s output and its daring program, that included 34 selected papers by researchers from various institutions from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, France, Hong Kong, Mexico, UK, and USA, five lectures an two panels of discussion offered by researchers from the most advanced computer music research centers all over the world. The program also included eight concerts, two of them featuring traditional music, such as Bach, Mozart, and Brazilian music.Six computer music concerts presented 48 selected compositions submitted to the symposium. Second, as the symposium happened as apart of the 14th Congress of Brazilian Computer Science Society (SBC), the excellency of its output was able to attract the interest of SBC’s board of directors. They invited NUCOM to integrate the society as a Special Committee, which are sub-groups of SBC dedicated to specific computer science topics. At the end of the description, this report aims at raising questions, arguments, and debates about today’s format of NUCOM meetings, considering more seriously the interdisciplinary character of the methodologic approaches adopted by the field. Interdisciplinarity should be pursued by striving to contaminate a growing number of different topics of musical sciences, as well as of other research fields.

The subject of the study is the ideological, financial, economic and socio-social conditions of the publishing house and the editorial board of the magazine “New Pathway” Winnipeg period 1941-1977. The main objectives is to determine the peculiarities of the conditions of publishing a Ukrainian magazine in exile, which provides for the systematization and introduction into scientific circulation of factual material on creative and material activities of the “New Pathway” and socio-political environment that influenced the information and ideological and business policy of the publication. The basis of the research methodology is axiological, cultural, systemic approaches; methods of historicism, analysis, synthesis, generalization were used. The study provides not only a description of the historical path of the publication in this period, but also the reasons for miscalculations and successes, both financial and economic and socio-political, which allowed not only to stay in the information field and market for more than ninety years, technical circumstances of its existence, the political struggle in the new wave of emigration after World War II, changes in demographic and linguistic situation among the Ukrainian diaspora in Canada. The reasons for the situational increase and decrease in the activity of the publication’s subscribers were identified; the mechanisms of expanding the readership, attracting new readers and authors are analyzed; confirmed that the efforts of editors and directors of the publishing house at the initial stage of the Winnipeg period created and strengthened the material and technical base of the publishing house, conducted advertising campaigns and direct work to attract new subscribers and readers; The significance of the study is that for the first time in Ukraine the information about the Winnipeg period of the Ukrainian-Canadian weekly “New Pathway”, its financial and financial problems and creative and editorial successes was analyzed and summarized, thus filling another page in the history of Ukrainian diaspora periodicals.

Banco de la República is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2023. This is a very significant anniversary and one that provides an opportunity to highlight the contribution the Bank has made to the country’s development. Its track record as guarantor of monetary stability has established it as the one independent state institution that generates the greatest confidence among Colombians due to its transparency, management capabilities, and effective compliance with the central banking and cultural responsibilities entrusted to it by the Constitution and the Law. On a date as important as this, the Board of Directors of Banco de la República (BDBR) pays tribute to the generations of governors and officers whose commitment and dedication have contributed to the growth of this institution.1 Banco de la República’s mandate was confirmed in the National Constitutional Assembly of 1991 where the citizens had the opportunity to elect the seventy people who would have the task of drafting a new constitution. The leaders of the three political movements with the most votes were elected as chairs to the Assembly, and this tripartite presidency reflected the plurality and the need for consensus among the different political groups to move the reform forward. Among the issues considered, the National Constitutional Assembly gave special importance to monetary stability. That is why they decided to include central banking and to provide Banco de la República with the necessary autonomy to use the instruments for which they are responsible without interference from other authorities. The constituent members understood that ensuring price stability is a state duty and that the entity responsible for this task must be enshrined in the Constitution and have the technical capability and institutional autonomy necessary to adopt the decisions they deem appropriate to achieve this fundamental objective in coordination with the general economic policy. In particular, Article 373 established that “the State, through Banco de la República, shall ensure the maintenance of the purchasing power of the currency,” a provision that coincided with the central banking system adopted by countries that have been successful in controlling inflation. In 1999, in Ruling 481, the Constitutional Court stated that “the duty to maintain the purchasing power of the currency applies to not only the monetary, credit, and exchange authority, i.e., the Board of Banco de la República, but also those who have responsibilities in the formulation and implementation of the general economic policy of the country” and that “the basic constitutional purpose of Banco de la República is the protection of a sound currency. However, this authority must take the other economic objectives of state intervention such as full employment into consideration in their decisions since these functions must be coordinated with the general economic policy.” The reforms to Banco de la República agreed upon in the Constitutional Assembly of 1991 and in Act 31/1992 can be summarized in the following aspects: i) the Bank was assigned a specific mandate: to maintain the purchasing power of the currency in coordination with the general economic policy; ii) the BDBR was designatedas the monetary, foreign exchange, and credit authority; iii) the Bank and its Board of Directors were granted a significant degree of independence from the government; iv) the Bank was prohibited from granting credit to the private sector except in the case of the financial sector; v) established that in order to grant credit to the government, the unanimous vote of its Board of Directors was required except in the case of open market transactions; vi) determined that the legislature may, in no case, order credit quotas in favor of the State or individuals; vii) Congress was appointed, on behalf of society, as the main addressee of the Bank’s reporting exercise; and viii) the responsibility for inspection, surveillance, and control over Banco de la República was delegated to the President of the Republic. The members of the National Constitutional Assembly clearly understood that the benefits of low and stable inflation extend to the whole of society and contribute mto the smooth functioning of the economic system. Among the most important of these is that low inflation promotes the efficient use of productive resources by allowing relative prices to better guide the allocation of resources since this promotes economic growth and increases the welfare of the population. Likewise, low inflation reduces uncertainty about the expected return on investment and future asset prices. This increases the confidence of economic agents, facilitates long-term financing, and stimulates investment. Since the low-income population is unable to protect itself from inflation by diversifying its assets, and a high proportion of its income is concentrated in the purchase of food and other basic goods that are generally the most affected by inflationary shocks, low inflation avoids arbitrary redistribution of income and wealth.2 Moreover, low inflation facilitates wage negotiations, creates a good labor climate, and reduces the volatility of employment levels. Finally, low inflation helps to make the tax system more transparent and equitable by avoiding the distortions that inflation introduces into the value of assets and income that make up the tax base. From the monetary authority’s point of view, one of the most relevant benefits of low inflation is the credibility that economic agents acquire in inflation targeting, which turns it into an effective nominal anchor on price levels. Upon receiving its mandate, and using its autonomy, Banco de la República began to announce specific annual inflation targets as of 1992. Although the proposed inflation targets were not met precisely during this first stage, a downward trend in inflation was achieved that took it from 32.4% in 1990 to 16.7% in 1998. At that time, the exchange rate was kept within a band. This limited the effectiveness of monetary policy, which simultaneously sought to meet an inflation target and an exchange rate target. The Asian crisis spread to emerging economies and significantly affected the Colombian economy. The exchange rate came under strong pressure to depreciate as access to foreign financing was cut off under conditions of a high foreign imbalance. This, together with the lack of exchange rate flexibility, prevented a countercyclical monetary policy and led to a 4.2% contraction in GDP that year. In this context of economic slowdown, annual inflation fell to 9.2% at the end of 1999, thus falling below the 15% target set for that year. This episode fully revealed how costly it could be, in terms of economic activity, to have inflation and exchange rate targets simultaneously. Towards the end of 1999, Banco de la República announced the adoption of a new monetary policy regime called the Inflation Targeting Plan. This regime, known internationally as ‘Inflation Targeting,’ has been gaining increasing acceptance in developed countries, having been adopted in 1991 by New Zealand, Canada, and England, among others, and has achieved significant advances in the management of inflation without incurring costs in terms of economic activity. In Latin America, Brazil and Chile also adopted it in 1999. In the case of Colombia, the last remaining requirement to be fulfilled in order to adopt said policy was exchange rate flexibility. This was realized around September 1999, when the BDBR decided to abandon the exchange-rate bands to allow the exchange rate to be freely determined in the market.Consistent with the constitutional mandate, the fundamental objective of this new policy approach was “the achievement of an inflation target that contributes to maintaining output growth around its potential.”3 This potential capacity was understood as the GDP growth that the economy can obtain if it fully utilizes its productive resources. To meet this objective, monetary policy must of necessity play a countercyclical role in the economy. This is because when economic activity is below its potential and there are idle resources, the monetary authority can reduce the interest rate in the absence of inflationary pressure to stimulate the economy and, when output exceeds its potential capacity, raise it. This policy principle, which is immersed in the models for guiding the monetary policy stance, makes the following two objectives fully compatible in the medium term: meeting the inflation target and achieving a level of economic activity that is consistent with its productive capacity. To achieve this purpose, the inflation targeting system uses the money market interest rate (at which the central bank supplies primary liquidity to commercial banks) as the primary policy instrument. This replaced the quantity of money as an intermediate monetary policy target that Banco de la República, like several other central banks, had used for a long time. In the case of Colombia, the objective of the new monetary policy approach implied, in practical terms, that the recovery of the economy after the 1999 contraction should be achieved while complying with the decreasing inflation targets established by the BDBR. The accomplishment of this purpose was remarkable. In the first half of the first decade of the 2000s, economic activity recovered significantly and reached a growth rate of 6.8% in 2006. Meanwhile, inflation gradually declined in line with inflation targets. That was how the inflation rate went from 9.2% in 1999 to 4.5% in 2006, thus meeting the inflation target established for that year while GDP reached its potential level. After this balance was achieved in 2006, inflation rebounded to 5.7% in 2007, above the 4.0% target for that year due to the fact that the 7.5% GDP growth exceeded the potential capacity of the economy.4 After proving the effectiveness of the inflation targeting system in its first years of operation, this policy regime continued to consolidate as the BDBR and the technical staff gained experience in its management and state-of-the-art economic models were incorporated to diagnose the present and future state of the economy and to assess the persistence of inflation deviations and expectations with respect to the inflation target. Beginning in 2010, the BDBR established the long-term 3.0% annual inflation target, which remains in effect today. Lower inflation has contributed to making the macroeconomic environment more stable, and this has favored sustained economic growth, financial stability, capital market development, and the functioning of payment systems. As a result, reductions in the inflationary risk premia and lower TES and credit interest rates were achieved. At the same time, the duration of public domestic debt increased significantly going from 2.27 years in December 2002 to 5.86 years in December 2022, and financial deepening, measured as the level of the portfolio as a percentage of GDP, went from around 20% in the mid-1990s to values above 45% in recent years in a healthy context for credit institutions.Having been granted autonomy by the Constitution to fulfill the mandate of preserving the purchasing power of the currency, the tangible achievements made by Banco de la República in managing inflation together with the significant benefits derived from the process of bringing inflation to its long-term target, make the BDBR’s current challenge to return inflation to the 3.0% target even more demanding and pressing. As is well known, starting in 2021, and especially in 2022, inflation in Colombia once again became a serious economic problem with high welfare costs. The inflationary phenomenon has not been exclusive to Colombia and many other developed and emerging countries have seen their inflation rates move away from the targets proposed by their central banks.5 The reasons for this phenomenon have been analyzed in recent Reports to Congress, and this new edition delves deeper into the subject with updated information. The solid institutional and technical base that supports the inflation targeting approach under which the monetary policy strategy operates gives the BDBR the necessary elements to face this difficult challenge with confidence. In this regard, the BDBR reiterated its commitment to the 3.0% inflation target in its November 25 communiqué and expects it to be reached by the end of 2024.6 Monetary policy will continue to focus on meeting this objective while ensuring the sustainability of economic activity, as mandated by the Constitution. Analyst surveys done in March showed a significant increase (from 32.3% in January to 48.5% in March) in the percentage of responses placing inflation expectations two years or more ahead in a range between 3.0% and 4.0%. This is a clear indication of the recovery of credibility in the medium-term inflation target and is consistent with the BDBR’s announcement made in November 2022. The moderation of the upward trend in inflation seen in January, and especially in February, will help to reinforce this revision of inflation expectations and will help to meet the proposed targets. After reaching 5.6% at the end of 2021, inflation maintained an upward trend throughout 2022 due to inflationary pressures from both external sources, associated with the aftermath of the pandemic and the consequences of the war in Ukraine, and domestic sources, resulting from: strengthening of local demand; price indexation processes stimulated by the increase in inflation expectations; the impact on food production caused by the mid-2021 strike; and the pass-through of depreciation to prices. The 10% increase in the minimum wage in 2021 and the 16% increase in 2022, both of which exceeded the actual inflation and the increase in productivity, accentuated the indexation processes by establishing a high nominal adjustment benchmark. Thus, total inflation went to 13.1% by the end of 2022. The annual change in food prices, which went from 17.2% to 27.8% between those two years, was the most influential factor in the surge in the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Another segment that contributed significantly to price increases was regulated products, which saw the annual change go from 7.1% in December 2021 to 11.8% by the end of 2022. The measure of core inflation excluding food and regulated items, in turn, went from 2.5% to 9.5% between the end of 2021 and the end of 2022. The substantial increase in core inflation shows that inflationary pressure has spread to most of the items in the household basket, which is characteristic of inflationary processes with generalized price indexation as is the case in Colombia. Monetary policy began to react early to this inflationary pressure. Thus, starting with its September 2021 session, the BDBR began a progressive change in the monetary policy stance moving away from the historical low of a 1.75% policy rate that had intended to stimulate the recovery of the economy. This adjustment process continued without interruption throughout 2022 and into the beginning of 2023 when the monetary policy rate reached 12.75% last January, thus accumulating an increase of 11 percentage points (pp). The public and the markets have been surprised that inflation continued to rise despite significant interest rate increases. However, as the BDBR has explained in its various communiqués, monetary policy works with a lag. Just as in 2022 economic activity recovered to a level above the pre-pandemic level, driven, along with other factors, by the monetary stimulus granted during the pandemic period and subsequent months, so too the effects of the current restrictive monetary policy will gradually take effect. This will allow us to expect the inflation rate to converge to 3.0% by the end of 2024 as is the BDBR’s purpose.Inflation results for January and February of this year showed declining marginal increases (13 bp and 3 bp respectively) compared to the change seen in December (59 bp). This suggests that a turning point in the inflation trend is approaching. In other Latin American countries such as Chile, Brazil, Perú, and Mexico, inflation has peaked and has begun to decline slowly, albeit with some ups and downs. It is to be expected that a similar process will take place in Colombia in the coming months. The expected decline in inflation in 2023 will be due, along with other factors, to lower cost pressure from abroad as a result of the gradual normalization of supply chains, the overcoming of supply shocks caused by the weather, and road blockades in previous years. This will be reflected in lower adjustments in food prices, as has already been seen in the first two months of the year and, of course, the lagged effect of monetary policy. The process of inflation convergence to the target will be gradual and will extend beyond 2023. This process will be facilitated if devaluation pressure is reversed. To this end, it is essential to continue consolidating fiscal sustainability and avoid messages on different public policy fronts that generate uncertainty and distrust. 1 This Report to Congress includes Box 1, which summarizes the trajectory of Banco de la República over the past 100 years. In addition, under the Bank’s auspices, several books that delve into various aspects of the history of this institution have been published in recent years. See, for example: Historia del Banco de la República 1923-2015; Tres banqueros centrales; Junta Directiva del Banco de la República: grandes episodios en 30 años de historia; Banco de la República: 90 años de la banca central en Colombia. 2 This is why lower inflation has been reflected in a reduction of income inequality as measured by the Gini coefficient that went from 58.7 in 1998 to 51.3 in the year prior to the pandemic. 3 See Gómez Javier, Uribe José Darío, Vargas Hernando (2002). “The Implementation of Inflation Targeting in Colombia”. Borradores de Economía, No. 202, March, available at: https://repositorio.banrep.gov.co/handle/20.500.12134/5220 4 See López-Enciso Enrique A.; Vargas-Herrera Hernando and Rodríguez-Niño Norberto (2016). “The inflation targeting strategy in Colombia. An historical view.” Borradores de Economía, No. 952. https://repositorio.banrep.gov.co/handle/20.500.12134/6263 5 According to the IMF, the percentage change in consumer prices between 2021 and 2022 went from 3.1% to 7.3% for advanced economies, and from 5.9% to 9.9% for emerging market and developing economies. 6 https://www.banrep.gov.co/es/noticias/junta-directiva-banco-republica-reitera-meta-inflacion-3

In early June 2021, representatives from a number of CNI member institutions gathered for the third in a series of Executive Roundtable discussions that began in spring 2020, during the early days of the COVID-19 emergency. The conversations were intended to inform our understanding of how the pandemic had impacted the research enterprise and to share information about how institutions were planning to shape investments and strategies surrounding the research enterprise going forward. Previous Roundtables were held in April and September 2020 and reports from those conversations are available from http://www.cni.org/tag/executive-roundtable-report. As with the earlier Roundtables on this topic, June participants primarily included senior library administrators, directors of research computing and information technology, and chief research officers from a variety of higher education institutions across the US and Canada; most participating member institutions were public universities with high research activity, though some mid-sized and private institutions participated as well. The June Roundtable took place in a single convening, supplemented by an additional conversation with a key institution unable to join the group meeting due to last-minute scheduling conflicts. As before, we urged participants to think about research broadly, encompassing the humanities, social sciences, and fieldwork activities, as well as the work that takes place in campus laboratories or facilities shared by broader research communities; indeed, the discussions occasionally considered adjacent areas such as the performing arts. The discussion was wide-ranging, including, but not limited to: the challenges involving undergraduate, graduate and international students; labs and core instrumentation; access to physical collections (libraries, museums, herbaria, etc.) and digital materials; patterns of impact on various disciplines and mitigation strategies; and institutional approaches to improving research resilience. We sensed a growing understanding and sensitivity to the human toll the pandemic has taken on the research community. There were several consistent themes throughout the Roundtable series, but shifts in assumptions, planning, and preparation have been evident as vaccination rates have increased and as organizations have grown somewhat more confident in their ability to sustain largely in-person operations by fall 2021. Still, uncertainties abound and considerable notes of tentativeness remain, and indeed, events subsequent to the Roundtable, such as the large-scale spread of the Delta variant of COVID-19 in the US, have eroded much of the confidence we heard in June 2021, though probably more around instructional strategies than the continuity of the research enterprise. The events of the past 18 months, combined with a growing series of climate change-driven disruptions, have infused a certain level of humility into institutional planning, and they continue to underscore the importance of approaches that emphasize resilience and flexibility.