Drugs and criminalisation in Britain, c.1815–c.2000

This thesis is a systematic analysis of the relationship between British drug laws and conceptions of legitimate criminalisation from c.1815 to c.2000. It explores the extent to which historical understandings of what and who can be treated as criminal or requiring regulation, how this should be done, and how this can be justified, were in synergy or tension with the contemporaneous legislation variously regulating, by way of punitive sanctions, substances used for their psychoactive effects. Part One examines the period from the early nineteenth century to around the outbreak of the First World War, tracing the origins of drug criminalisation to Victorian concerns about criminal and accidental poisonings and pharmaceutical regulation, and analysing these against the growth of the Victorian legislative state. Also discussed here are statutes targeting ‘habitual drunkards’ and ‘inebriates’, and the opium suppression movement of the turn of the century. Part Two explores the period from the First World War to c.1960, looking at how the transnational aspects of drug control were constructed alongside domestic controls. These changes are considered through the lens of broader contemporaneous criminal laws and debates about criminalisation. Finally, Part Three focuses on the period c.1960 to the turn of the century, which is when the present system of British drug control was created and (re)shaped. Points of discussion include the enactment of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and the various end-of-century drug policy developments, which are situated against contemporaneous developments in criminal law theory, changes to the processes of law reform, and wider criminal justice policies. Across the whole timeframe considered, there are clear examples of both synergy and tension between drug legislation and contemporaneous conceptions of legitimate criminalisation. More often than not, the findings are more nuanced, with competing justificatory rationales pulling in different directions. Notwithstanding this complexity, it is argued that drug laws have been more central to the development of the criminal law than has been recognised, and are a window into understanding broader patterns and processes of criminalisation and the substantive criminal law

Let’s do the twist: chiral information transfer in self-assembled supramolecular functionalised coiled-coils

Chirality is an inherent feature of life and can be found across many natural systems, from DNA to snail shells. This concept spans from the molecular level, up to visible phenomena at the macroscale, with each step in this increasing scale influencing the next as a result of chiral information transfer. Despite the prevalence of chirality across the scientific field, the exact mechanisms and controls of chiral information transfer are poorly understood. To aid in the understanding of these mechanisms, a model system taking advantage of the innate chiral information transfer in the self-assembly of peptide sequences, known as coiled coils, has been developed and investigated in this work. By modifying these sequences to feature an aromatic chelating unit at the N-terminus, this work demonstrates a cooperative relationship in which the aromatic chelating units (2,2′-bipyridine and 8-hydroxyquinoline) enhance the α-helical character of the peptide assembly, while the chiral information from the peptide is simultaneously transmitted to the complex, resulting in a chiral bias for onehandedness of the resulting complex. After discussion of the relevant literature in Chapter 1, Chapter 2 of this work introduces the chiral information transfer exhibited by the coiled coils onto the coordination complex. This chapter focuses on the stabilisation of a homotrimeric coiled coil peptide sequence by the introduction of an aromatic chelating unit (bipyridine/phenanthroline) to the N-terminus of the peptide sequence. It was found that the sequences resulted in the preferential formation of the Δ-[tris-bpy]-peptide and Δ-[tris-phen]-peptide complexes in response to coordination with first row transition metals, Co²⁺, Ni²⁺, Cu²⁺ and Zn²⁺. Furthermore, a cooperative relationship between the degree of coiled coil helicity and the degree of chiral bias in the resulting complex has been uncovered, with sequences with more helical character exhibiting more chiral preference as a result. Through comparison to non-helical sequences, it was shown that the chirality of the complex occurs as a result of the helicity of the peptide and not the inherent chirality of the amino acid subunits. In Chapter 3, the structural tolerances of this cooperative relationship have been investigated. By variation of sequence length, helical content, register position and the distance of the 2,2′-bipyridine from a chiral centre on the peptide, 17 coiled coil forming peptides were synthesised and investigated. By altering these aspects of the structure, it was found that preference for the Δ- and Λ-isomers of the complex can be controlled by altering the register position of the chelating unit, with the d-position being found to favour the Δ-isomer and the e-position favouring the Λ-isomer. Furthermore, the strength of this preference can be controlled by altering the proximity of the chelate to a chiral centre. The identity of the achiral spacers, however, have been found to be an important factor, their ability to H-bond in an i-i+4 pattern being crucial for continuation of the α-helical turns. In Chapter 4 an alternate chelating unit, 8-hydroxyquinoline, is investigated. The coordination of this ligand to transition metal ion Co²⁺, and p-block metal ions Ga³⁺ and Al³⁺ has been investigated and analysed by circular dichroism and UV-absorbance spectroscopy. The preferential formation of Δ-tris-(8HQ-peptide) and Λ-tris-(8HQ-peptide) complexes were found to be controlled by alteration of the 8-HQ register position, with 8-HQ in the dposition favouring the Λ-isomer and 8-HQ in the e-position favouring the Δ-isomer. The behaviour of these systems in response to pH was also investigated in this chapter and aims to show that the differences between the 2,2′-bipyridine and the 8-HQ chiral preferences are as a result of H-bonding interactions between the 8-HQ chelating units and the peptides. Graphical Abstract – Cartoon representation of the transfer of chiral information in the systems investigated in this thesis. The information is transferred from the point chirality in the amino acid structures (L-AAs), to helical chirality in the secondary structure (P-Helices), to folding of the super-secondary structure into the opposite handedness helical chirality (M-Supercoiling) and finally, controlling the directionality of an 6-coordinate complex at the N-terminus of the sequence (Λ/Δ)

Spectral fluorescence lifetime imaging for the quantification of biomarkers in the retina

Abstract not currently available

Prevention and response to rabies incursions in Low-and-Middle-Income Countries (LMICs)

Rabies is a viral, zoonotic disease that kills 59,000 people annually, mainly in low-andmiddle-income countries (LMICs) in Africa and Asia, through dog-to-human transmission. To eliminate dog-mediated human rabies deaths, the ‘Zero by 30’ global strategy developed by WHO and fellow international organisations recommend a sustained 70% vaccination coverage in dog populations. However, in rabies-endemic countries, rabies surveillance is severely limited due to lack of political will and insufficient resources for rabies detection, treatment and prevention. Rabies control measures including diagnostic tools, dog vaccines and post-exposure prophylaxis or PEP for humans, are undersupported in LMICs, therefore resulting in poor case detection and reporting, and high numbers of human deaths. Nevertheless, the path toward dog rabies elimination is straightforward, and has been achieved and sustained by many high-income countries (HICs), although incursions from LMICs are occasionally reported. My objective was to explore different strategies aimed at controlling rabies incursions in LMICs. I used a transdisciplinary approach involving analysis of past incursions, realtime evaluation of an incursion as it unfolded into an outbreak, and assessment of a novel intervention that could potentially reduce rabies transmission. Beginning with an introductory chapter, this thesis focuses on what constitutes a rabies incursion and the current status of rabies surveillance and control measures worldwide. Next, in Chapter 2, I performed a systematic review of rabies incursions reported globally from 2001 to 2022 to highlight the catalytic role that incursions have played in global rabies (re-)emergence. My analysis identified incursions that resulted in outbreaks mainly in LMICs, and pinpointed common factors that contributed to different outcomes, from those that were contained to those causing fatal outbreaks and establishing endemic circulation. My findings illustrated the importance of preparedness and response capacity to minimize resurgence in nearby rabies-free zones, which is typically lacking in LMICs. For the third chapter, I investigated the detection and response to a dog-mediated incursion in the previously rabies-free island province of Romblon, Philippines. A positive canine rabies case was initially detected in late 2022, and led to the detection of more than 40 positive samples within a year, as well as two laboratory-confirmed human rabies deaths. Lack of surveillance and suspension of mass dog vaccination activities due to COVID-19 restrictions contributed to the introduction of rabies into Tablas Island, which was human-mediated via boat travel. Contact tracing and dog vaccination were initiated but reach was limited. Integrated bite case management (IBCM) was essential for detection of this outbreak, and phylogenetic analysis of outbreak samples revealed possible introductions from rabies-endemic provinces within the Philippines. My fourth and fifth chapters describe the implementation of long-lasting collars during a mass dog vaccination event in Puerto Galera municipality, Philippines. In the fourth chapter, I evaluated the feasibility of incorporating collars into vaccination campaigns by interviewing practitioners about their experiences with using collars. I also administered questionnaires to community members to gauge their behavior changes toward collared dogs, and conducted transect surveys to assess collar durability. While practitioners experienced minimal difficulty with learning and applying collars, questionnaire answers exposed a lack of understanding of rabies transmission among the local community. Most believed that dogs are susceptible to rabies even when vaccinated, and reported displaying indiscriminate behavior toward collared and non-collared dogs. Understanding of rabies among residents must therefore be improved for collars to induce a change in human behavior toward collared dogs. Collars were found to be vulnerable in coastal conditions as most were lost within months, necessitating a different material for improvement of collar durability. In Chapter 5, I used mark-resight survey results to estimate the free-roaming dog population and vaccination coverage in Puerto Galera, capitalizing on the deployment of collars. I determined that overall vaccination coverage was low, especially among freeroaming dogs, and that the dog population in Puerto Galera is severely underestimated. Targeting vaccination toward free-roaming dogs caused significantly increased coverage in an area where vaccination of free-roaming dogs was prioritized. Summarized in my final chapter are the main conclusions to be drawn from this thesis: incursions in rabies-free zones in LMICs are frequent, underscoring the importance of targeting and sustaining rabies vaccination in rabies-endemic areas. Delayed incursion detection results from gaps in rabies surveillance, which can be enhanced with tools like IBCM, while genomic sequencing can determine incursion sources. LMICs such as the Philippines face unique cultural challenges to rabies elimination: knowledge gaps on rabies and traditional practices that have normalized free-roaming dogs are some of which have prevented rabies control interventions like collars from being more effective. My work shows that key priorities for LMICs like the Philippines should be sustaining control strategies (particularly dog vaccination and rabies surveillance) and improving rabies education, to accelerate progress toward the ‘Zero by 30’ goal

Novel probes for multimodal imaging at the nanoscale

Tip enhanced Raman spectroscopy is a technique which allows the user to retrieve topographic, morphological and chemical information of a sample with single molecule resolution, far beyond the Raman spatial resolution of conventional techniques. Its usefulness extends into many scientific fields, such as medicine, electronics and material science. Conventional probes used to conduct TERS , where metal is deposited onto commercial AFM tips, tend to be made of silver. This is due to silver having strong plasmon resonances in the visible and near-infrared regime, alongside low optical losses and there are well established processes for making them. The issue with these probes is that they are commonly deposited one at a time and silver is known to grow a sulphide layer. This sulphide film inhibits the electric field, shifting the plasmon resonance and limits the lifetime of these probes to 24-48hrs. The use of a conventional AFM tip as a substrate for the plasmonic film is also problematic since the coupling of the far field radiation to the tip plasmon occurs close to the tip and is facilitated by local roughness, leading to critical and irreproducible alignment requirements for the illuminating beam. The issue of tip contamination and lifetime may be eliminated by the use of gold instead of silver, at the expense of plasmonic performance. The use of a long-lived metal allows the use of more elaborate coupling methods based on plasmonic gratings or slot couplers fabricated by focused ion beam milling or self-aligned plasma processing. Both techniques of silver growth and gold coupler tip fabrication are irreproducible however, they do not have nm resolution placement or techniques to ensure the same tip is made over again using plasma or chemical etches. The work-around for this is to use a focused ion beam with the benefit of very high resolution (nm), but each probe has to be milled one at a time. A lot of effort goes into making these tips, where if one fails due to over/under etch or other reasons, another metal deposition or plasma processing has to occur as the tip is scrapped. A method for the wafer scale fabrication of novel TERS-AFM probes is presented. The probes are based on the use of a grating to couple light from free space into the dielectric of the tip at some distance from its apex, the grating allowing for the use of fixed – angle illumination at a known position far from the tip. Waveguide to surface plasmon coupling occurs near the tip and plasmons are then concentrated to the tip by a triangular metal structure. The fabrication was successfully completed, although operation at useful wavelengths was precluded by poor reproducibility of the probe dielectric thickness. Development work on the fabrication of scanning electro-chemical microscopy probes, where insulator adhesion to the metal electrode is a key issue, has also been been conducted. To test the TERS probes, novel calibration samples were made. These samples employed statistical and correlation alignment strategies with an e-beam lithography tool to produce 70nm thick gold dots and dimers with separation distances of 1nm and above (1nm increments) in the x and y direction. Once coated with Raman Active molecules this sample will be useful for testing of TERS probes, allowing the study of separation distance vs. enhancement for different probe archetypes. A topography free sample with interdigitated electrode active areas has also been developed for the test of Scanning Electrochemical Microscope probes. This sample removes the introduction of topographic artefacts from a SECM scan, whilst retrieving useful information on the electro-chemical nature of the probes. After extensive and rigorous testing, probes failed to exhibit local plasmonic enhancement at the available wavelength of the TERS systems. The lack of enhancement was confirmed by extensive processing of the acquired data using baseline correction and adaptive smoothness penalised least squares (asPLS) methods. For comparison of the SERS and TERS spectra the data was also intensity normalised and cosmic rays removed. This is attributed to poor control of dielectric deposition thickness preventing phase matching of the guided light to the surface plasmon polariton: Possible solutions are presented and their practicality discussed

An investigation into performance monitoring in women’s elite rugby sevens, with consideration towards the Countermovement Jump (CMJ) Test and the GPS-Derived Metric High Metabolic Load Distance (HMLD)

This study examined the effectiveness of performance monitoring strategies in elite women’s rugby sevens, by evaluating the Countermovement Jump (CMJ) test and the GPS-derived metric, High Metabolic Load Distance (HMLD). While GPS tracking is widely used to quantify athlete workload, HMLD remains underexplored in rugby sevens, despite its potential to reflect training and match intensity. Seventeen elite female rugby sevens players (age: 26.4 ± 2.9 years; height: 167.6 ± 5.2 cm; body mass: 70.5 ± 8.9 kg) were monitored across one competitive season. CMJ performance was assessed using the Output Sports V2 Sensor, and GPS data were collected from STATSports Apex Pro technology. Backs outperformed forwards in the CMJ (40.78 cm vs. 38.02 cm) and accumulated greater HMLD in both training (560.68 m vs. 470.17 m) and competition (263.85 m vs. 216.64 m). Significant positional differences were observed across GPS metrics. HMLD correlated most strongly with total distance (r = 0.82), suggesting that in rugby sevens, HMLD behaves more as a volume metric, rather than a measure of intensity. Current speed thresholds may not adequately capture the sport’s intensity, highlighting the need for sport-specific interpretations. CMJ performance improved over the season, though not linearly, suggesting varying levels of fatigue and physiological adaptation. HMLD volumes reflect the fluctuations and variability in training and competitive demand across a rugby sevens season. This study highlights the value of integrating CMJ testing with monitoring of HMLD across a competitive season in elite women’s rugby sevens. The CMJ provides insight into neuromuscular function and lower-body power, whilst HMLD reflects the physical demands of training and competition. Together, they offer a comprehensive view of athlete readiness. This research addresses the gap in the literature surrounding the application and interpretation of HMLD in women’s rugby sevens, and the disparity in research in the women’s game. These results contribute new insight into the use of HMLD in an elite rugby sevens environment, and emphasise that alongside CMJ testing, HMLD monitoring can bring significant value to an elite training programme. The metric has the potential to be individualised to athletes, for the most effective approaches in performance optimisation, injury prevention and return-to-play strategies

Fuzzing techniques for automated vulnerability detection in IoT firmware

A security flaw in the firmware of microcontrollers (MCUs) can lead to devastating consequences. Finding and fixing these bugs before deployment is essential because patching them in the field is often difficult, expensive, or impossible. However, standard software testing techniques like fuzzing struggle with embedded firmware due to its tight coupling with specialized hardware, which makes testing slow, inaccurate, and inefficient. This thesis studies two key design choices: where tests run (emulation, Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL), or on-device) and what feedback and inputs they use (control flow vs. data flow; generic vs. domain-specific). It moves testing from slow emulation to real hardware and replaces simple code coverage with data-flow guidance to drive bug finding. It also measures how new hardware features can prevent whole classes of bugs. The approach is demonstrated through four linked contributions. First, Sizzler solves the input wasted problem by generating valid, domain-aware tests for Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) by deep learning model, so fuzzing effort is not wasted. Second, FuzzRDUCC improves feedback by tracking def-use chains, revealing subtle bugs that edge-based coverage can miss. Third, Hardfuzz brings this data-flow guidance onto real hardware, using hardware breakpoints for fast, consistent testing. Finally, a differential testing framework for MicroPython compares builds with and without architectural memory-safety features from CHERI and shows which bug classes they block. These results show that firmware testing benefits from hardware-centric, data-flow-guided methods. These approaches yield smarter, domain-aware inputs; feedback that is more informative than edge coverage; and fast, consistent testing on real devices. It also provides clear evidence that architectural memory safety-exemplified by CHERI-can block whole classes of vulnerabilities. In short, the thesis shifts the goal from only finding bugs to also preventing them by design

Towards Boolean logic cryogenic applications of Josephson junction field-effect transistors

Abstract not currently available

Social-aware autonomous vehicle-pedestrian coupled decision-making and behavior planning

Rapid advancements in vehicle automation technology have enabled autonomous vehicles (AVs) to move beyond simple, structured highway settings and operate increasingly within more complex urban environments. As AVs become more prevalent, they will inevitably share the road with diverse traffic participants, particularly pedestrians. The high uncertainty and dynamic nature inherent in human behavior significantly complicate the AV’s decision-making process. To ensure both safety and efficiency while exhibiting socially acceptable behavior, AVs must make real-time decisions and continuously adapt their strategies in response to surrounding pedestrian behaviors. This poses a major challenge to existing AV decision-making systems. Therefore, this study focuses on developing the decision-making strategies for AVs in urban pedestrian-involved environments, spanning scenarios from simple interactions with a single pedestrian to complex cases involving multiple pedestrians. The core objective is to uncover the underlying interaction dynamics and to improve the AV’s capability to make decisions that are safe, efficient and socially acceptable in dynamic, human-centric contexts. Initially, this study investigates the critical factors influencing the decision making processes of human drivers and pedestrians during vehicle–pedestrian interactions. A series of controlled experiments were conducted using a virtual reality platform designed to collect realistic behavioral data. The data analysis mainly focused on kinematic variables that are easily measurable in real-world deployments. AdaBoost classification and Partial Dependence Plots were employed to identify and visualize the most influential factors affecting pedestrian crossing intentions and driver approaching behaviors. The results indicate that longitudinal distance and vehicle acceleration are the most influential factors in pedestrian decision-making, while pedestrian speed and longitudinal distance also play a crucial role in determining whether the vehicle yields or not. Based on these insights, a simplified mathematical model was developed to relate observable kinematic parameters to pedestrian crossing intentions, providing a practical tool for dynamically inferring crossing intentions during interactions. Additionally, the study explored driver yielding patterns under varying degrees of pedestrian intention clarity. These findings support the development of interpretable and implementable models for real-time decision-making in vehicle–pedestrian interaction scenarios. In addition, this study examines the decision-making strategies of the AVs when interacting with a single pedestrian in unsignalized intersections. A novel framework was proposed that integrates the Partially Observable Markov Decision Process with behavioral game theory to dynamically model interactive behaviors between the AVs and the pedestrian. Both agents were modeled as dynamic-belief-induced quantal cognitive hierarchy models, considering human reasoning limitations and bounded rationality in the decision-making process. Moreover, a dynamic belief updating mechanism allowed the AV to update its understanding of the opponent’s rationality degree in real-time based on observed behaviors and adapt its strategies accordingly. The analysis results indicate that proposed models effectively simulate vehicle-pedestrian interactions and the AV decision-making approach performs well in safety, efficiency, and smoothness. It captures key patterns of the driving behavior operated by real human drivers in virtual reality experiments and even achieves more comfortable navigation compared to our previous virtual reality experimental data. Finally, this study investigates the decision-making strategies of the AVs operating in pedestrian-rich shared spaces. A novel framework was proposed for modeling interactions between the AV and multiple pedestrians. In this framework, a cognitive process modeling approach inspired by the Free Energy Principle was integrated into both the AV and pedestrian models to simulate more realistic interaction dynamics. Specifically, the proposed pedestrian Cognitive-Risk Social Force Model adjusts goal-directed and repulsive forces using a fused measure of cognitive uncertainty and physical risk to produce human-like trajectories. Meanwhile, the AV leverages this fused risk to construct a dynamic, riskaware adjacency matrix for a Graph Convolutional Network within a Soft Actor-Critic architecture, allowing it to make more reasonable and informed decisions. The qualitative and quantitative results indicate that the proposed strategy effectively improves safety, efficiency, and smoothness of AV navigation compared to the state-of-the-art method. In conclusion, this study addresses key challenges in AV decision-making within human-centric urban environments, providing valuable insights as well as practical solutions to support safe, efficient, and socially aware autonomous navigation

“You don’t know their story”: examining Canada’s housing and homelessness challenges and evaluating its National Housing Strategy

This thesis examines housing and homelessness challenges in Canada and evaluates the country’s National Housing Strategy (NHS). It does so through a qualitative lens that foregrounds the lived experiences of individuals. With a commitment to social justice, this research was designed to provide an evidence base to inform policy. Housing has relatively recently risen to the top of the political agenda in Canada, as a result of worsening affordability challenges and increasing rates of homelessness. There is considerable evidence and consensus amongst academics that these housing challenges have increased in conjunction with the federal government’s exodus from housing policy and subsequent devolution of housing responsibility to provinces and then municipalities from the late eighties to the mid-nineties (Gaetz, 2010). Within this context, in 2017, the Liberal government launched the NHS, a 10-year suite of programmes with the top-line objectives to reduce chronic homelessness, remove families from housing need, and increase affordable housing supply. At its launch, the NHS was framed as a transformative re-entry of the federal government into housing policy, filling a decades-long gap. Despite the Strategy’s commitments and an influx of financial resource for housing, evaluations conducted to date have cast considerable doubt on the efficacy of the NHS and its ability to achieve its objectives. The existing NHS evaluation literature has broadly adopted a macro-level, quantitative approach. Policy failure examinations often rely on the objectives asserted within policies themselves to determine success or failure. This approach is the basis for much of the existing NHS evaluation landscape, which broadly, though not exclusively, measures the Strategy’s progress against its targets. Crucially, existing evaluations do not necessarily challenge these targets’ suitability or appropriateness to tackle the nation’s housing and homelessness concerns. This thesis was developed to address these gaps. It provides a qualitative evaluation of the NHS that centres the voices of lived experience experts, critically examines the ideological underpinnings that have shaped the Strategy and its aims, and explores the barriers and challenges within Canada’s housing and homelessness systems from lived experience perspectives. It adopts a two-part, qualitative methodology. First, it applies the “What’s the Problem Represented to be?” (WPR) framework (Bacchi, 2012) to a discourse analysis of government-issued press releases to identify the problem framing of homelessness and housing precarity as constructed by the owners of the NHS, the federal government. Second, it draws on a series of 27 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with individuals experiencing housing need and homelessness and frontline sector staff in Hamilton, Ontario, outlining their experiences to clarify the barriers and challenges being faced. Using these findings, this thesis compares and contrasts the federal government’s problem framing against the barriers and challenges as defined by lived experience experts. This framework has been influenced by the Multiple Streams Approach (Kingdon, 2014), which asserts that creating policy change centres on one’s ability to compel and direct problem definition in order to match one’s desired policy solutions. Drawing on the discourse analysis of federal government press releases, the research finds that Canada’s housing and homelessness challenges are framed as two distinct, parallel rather than inter-linked issues. Federal discourse constructs housing as a national, solvable crisis rooted in structural deficits, while homelessness is positioned as an individualised and ambiguous phenomenon, for which the policy solutions are not yet known. These divergent framings, and the NHS design, are underpinned by ideological commitments to discrete interventions into a market-based housing system and a limited recognition of structural drivers for homelessness, shaping policy responses that are narrowly focused and insufficient. In contrast, in-depth interviews with individuals who have lived experiences of housing precarity and homelessness in Hamilton, Ontario, reveal worsening conditions across both the housing sector and related service systems. Drawing from systems thinking (Gibb and Marsh, 2019) and conceptualising the city as a ‘system of systems’, this thesis outlines the experiences highlighted by participants, who cited interlocking challenges across housing, healthcare, social assistance, and tenant protection that contribute to and sustain homelessness. This approach highlights the complexity of these interlocking systems and their contribution to rates and experiences of homelessness and housing need. Based on these perspectives, this thesis introduces a two-part typology of homelessness experiences in Hamilton: one driven purely by economic hardship and the other compounded by non-financial challenges such as mental health, trauma, or systemic barriers. Crucially, the research notes that financially driven homelessness, if left unaddressed, can quickly become more complex due to the trauma and instability associated with housing loss. These findings suggest a fundamental misalignment between federal policy narratives and NHS design and lived experience. This thesis challenges dominant narratives and problem framings within Canadian housing policy discourse, showing how such framings influence, and arguably hinder, the design and efficacy of policy interventions under the NHS. These findings suggest the need to reframe and reform Canada’s approach to housing and homelessness through integrated structural interventions, such as increased social assistance rates, expanded development of non-market, geared-to-income housing, and improved coordination between housing, healthcare, and social services. This thesis makes three key contributions. First, it centres lived experience perspectives in evaluating the NHS, addressing a persistent gap in the Canadian policy literature. Second, it highlights the disconnect between political framing and the realities of housing insecurity and homelessness in Canada, offering evidence for more responsive, inclusive, and effective approaches to housing and homelessness. Third, it offers a conceptual framework for policy evaluation that incorporates ideological critique and interrogates how housing and homelessness are problematised, rather than simply measuring outcomes against stated goals. This research finds that Canada’s housing and related systems create conditions in which housing precarity and homelessness will continue to be a reality for many. Ultimately, this thesis argues that meaningful policy reform will require not just increased investment, but also a fundamental rethinking of how Canada’s housing and homelessness challenges are defined and reshaping its solutions. Addressing the interconnected challenges that drive these experiences will require a coordinated ‘Team Canada’ approach that brings together multiple policy portfolios and government jurisdictions to deliver integrated system-wide change