Legislative Activity in the Canadian House of Commons: Does Majority or Minority Government Matter?
This study assesses the impact of majority and minority governments on legislative activity in the Canadian House of Commons. The quantitative analysis spans the 22nd to the 40th Parliaments (1953–2009) and examines legislative productivity and success by government type. The analysis of descriptive data confirms that minority governments are somewhat less productive and successful than their majority counterparts. However, the analysis emphasizes significant variation for majority governments. Neither governing context guarantees success or failure as contextual factors largely condition legislative activity.
The legislative role of parliamentary committees in Canada: the case of the Joint Committee on the Public Service Bills
. This paper examines the legislative role of committees in the Canadian parliament folloing from changes in the role of committees since 1965, and relates the topic to recent studies on the role of parliament. The particular committee under study as unusual in several respects: it as a joint committee of the to houses; it dealt ith three separate but related bills hich had been the result of long prior discussion and general party consensus; and the civil servants in attendance ere permitted to play an unusually open and prominent role in negotiating significant amendments to the bills. In spite of these unusual factors, it is submitted that this case study thros ne light on the differences beteen the behaviour of legislators on the floor of the House as contrasted ith the ‘small group’ situation in committees. It is argued that more flexible relationships among the government, parliament, and the bureaucracy are possible than either past practice or a rigid theory of responsible government ould suggest. 
 
 
 
Sommaire. Les auteurs de cet expose examinent le role 1egislatif des comites au sein du parlement canadien a la suite des changements survenus depuis 1965 et ils considerent ce sujet a la lumiere d'etudes recentes portant sur le role du parlement. Le comiteetudieetait exceptionnel a plusieurs points de vue: c'etait un comite conjoint des deux chambres; il s'occupait de trois projets de loi distincts mais connexes qui avaient beneficie de longues discussions prealables et d'un assentiment general au sein des partis; les fonctionnaires preents purent jouer un role exceptionnel et de premier plan dans la negociation d'amendements im-portants. En depit de ces caracteristiques inusitees, les auteurs declarent que ce cas illustre bien la difference de comportement des legislateurs a la chambre et en petits groupes au sein du comite. Ils en concluent que les relations entre le gouverenement, le parlement et la bureaucratie peuvent etre plus souples que la pratique passee ou une theorie rigide du gouvernement ne le laisserait supposer.
Comparative study of in vitro flow characteristics between a human aortic valve and a designed aortic valve and six corresponding types of prosthetic heart valves.
A model of a pulsatile cardiovascular system is described including an electronic control, a hydraulic driving unit, a volume storage, a peripheral resistance and measuring equipment. Six different artificial heart valves, a designed aortic valve (Aachen pockett valve II) and a human aortic valve have been tested in the outflow position of the pump. Three of them are presently being used in clinical applications. Measurements of pressure and volume flow have been obtained for different frequencies n, pump volumes Vp and time ratios between pressure and suction phase. From the experimental results a comparative evaluation was deducted for different working conditions. In comparison to natural human aortic valve (NK) large volume flow is verified by the Aachen pocket valve II (AT), the Gott-Dagget value (GD), the Starr-Edwards valve (SE) and the Lillehei-Kaster valve (LK). The Gott-Daggett valve has the smallest back flow volume. The Smeloff-Cutter and in particular the Wada-Cutter valve have the largest regurgitation. This is to be expected since the Cutter valves are purposely so designed that they do not close tightly in order to avoid blood sedimentation. The human aortic valve, the Gott-Daggett valve and the Aachen pocket valve demonstrate the most favourable opening-closing characteristics. The human aortic valve achieves a negligible pressure loss, followed by the Björk-Shiley and the Lillehei-Kaster valve.