Maybe it was the way Canada kept insisting that their good intentions were enough to excuse abuse and neglect. Or how, though they kept saying “sorry”, they couldn’t help but take up all the space, ‘flagspreading’ their way to occupy 98% of the sofa without once handing over the remote. Tired of watching Beachcombers re-runs and being gaslit over wounds ancient and fresh, Indigenous Peoples negotiated, accommodated and — finally — litigated. 

So it’s no big surprise that Canada’s legal systems tend to borrow from family law when it comes to repairing relationships. From the issuance of Advance Costs to fund litigation, all the way down to the idea of reconciliation itself, instruments developed to settle disputes between quarrelling parties have been adapted to address this country’s most fundamental fallout. 

Let’s look at just one case: colloquially known as the Defend the Treaties trial, Anderson v Alberta was launched in 2008 by Beaver Lake Cree Nation(BLCN). Located 200 km north of Edmonton in the heart of what was once Alberta’s boreal forest, BLCN was faced with the explosive expansion of oil and gas projects in their territory. As a result, the community was finding it increasingly impossible to get out on the land to hunt, fish, and collect berries and medicines. Without these activities, it was growing difficult for families to make ends meet, and to pass on cultural knowledge from elders to parents, and from parents to children. 

Imagine if every time you set out to check on your traplines, you discovered another road, another well, another tailings pond. What you once knew as a sinuous landscape layered with lineages of your ancestral ecosystem knowledge has become a maze of dead-ends and no-go zones. Imagine if the rare caribou or moose you did encounter was inedible, the meat poisoned after the animal licked at the salty-tasting bitumen that seeps to the bog’s surface because of in situ oil sands extraction. 

For the small Indigenous Nation, the writing was on the wall: go to court, or lose everything at the heart of what it means to be Beaver Lake Cree.  

The Ecological Promise at the Heart of Canada’s Treaties

“A truly exceptional matter of public interest.” 

That’s how Canada’s Supreme Court described Beaver Lake Cree Nation’s legal challenge. At its core, the case involves a tiny Nation standing up to Canada and Alberta to demand that the protections assured in Treaty 6 be upheld. The treaty, signed in 1876, spells it out in black and white: Indigenous rights to hunt, fish, and practice cultural activities on their territory are enshrined in perpetuity in one of the country’s oldest contracts. 

The treaty protects not just reserve land, but access to vast tracts of boreal forest that Beaver Lake Cree have been sustained by, and have stewarded, for thousands of years. 

The Defend the Treaties case emphasises that it’s the cumulative impacts of industry on treaty rights that is at issue. A win would force regulators to evaluate new project applications not piecemeal, as is currently the practice, but according to how any well, mine, or pipeline fit into the overall picture affecting the availability, health and productivity of hunting and fishing grounds. 

When the case was filed, environmentalists took notice. A scrappy start-up organisation called RAVEN (Respecting Aboriginal Values and Environmental Needs) took on fundraising for the case. “We felt like it shouldn’t be up to First Nations to bear the huge cost of holding industry to account,” says RAVEN’s founding Executive Director Susan Smitten. “It’s not fair to rely on the poorest people in what is now called Canada to stand alone and be the voice of reason in this effort. They have the power of their treaties to protect the planet, and we have the power of a nation to support them.” 

Together with Chief Al Lameman, for whom the Defend the Treaties case was initially named, Smitten first stewarded funds from the Cooperative Bank of the UK, whose members invested, recognizing the strategic importance of BLCN’s challenge in halting the devastating impacts of tar sands extraction. Since then, RAVEN has raised more than $2 million dollars to cover a portion of BLCN’s hefty legal bills. 

For the governments of Canada and Alberta, Beaver Lake Cree’s ambitious challenge was a dire portent of a future where oil was no longer king. They knew that adopting a holistic view of project impacts would slow down the gold-rush frenzy that fuels the race to develop Alberta’s tar sands and get at vast deposits of bitumen and natural gas.  

Besides the fact that Alberta is sitting on the largest deposit of crude oil on the planet is the irrevocable climate reality that if we extract and burn it, we’ll assure the extinction of a million species: including, if we really blow it, ourselves. 

The whole industry is built on the pressure of short-term imperatives. Especially in the years since the Copenhagen and Paris climate agreements, the race has been on to squeeze as much profit out of the tar sands as possible before serious emissions controls come along to curtail development and ultimately make their product obsolete. If industry continues at its rampant pace, there just won’t be any caribou left for Beaver Lake Cree Nation members to hunt – that would turn the conversation from one about conservation of precious resources into one about compensation for irrevocable losses. 

The challenge for Beaver Lake Cree is simple and urgent: if tar sands development continues to expand in their territories, BLCN’s treaty won’t be worth the parchment that it’s written on. 

Court to First Nations: How broke are you? 

After a decade of fighting motions to strike and appeals, the Nation has won the right to have its case heard in court: the trial is set for 2024. Beaver Lake Cree are also making the case for why the government should advance them the money needed to pay for it. 

12 long years after filing the Defend the Treaties challenge, Beaver Lake Cree Nation was exhausted and flat out of funds. So, in 2018, Chief Germaine Anderson applied for what are known as Advance Costs. 

Let’s just go back to the family law analogy. When a married couple who disagree are seeking a divorce, if the husband holds all the financial cards, it puts the wife at an unfair disadvantage. He can finagle the house, the car, and even the kids if she is reduced to relying on legal aid or forced to go under-represented. To avoid that kind of scenario, the courts developed an instrument so that the richer party would be ordered to advance a set amount to the more ‘impecunious’ party, allowing them to afford a decent lawyer. Though they are sometimes called ‘awards’, Advance Costs are not grants but rather are a tool to level the playing field so that both parties are on more equal footing. 

To receive Advance Costs, the less wealthy party has to turn out their pockets in front of the court and prove just how broke they are. 

That’s exactly what Beaver Lake Cree Nation did. It really should come as no surprise that a rural Indigenous Nation — struggling to cope with outdated infrastructure, substandard housing and a shabby education budget — might not be able to sustain million-dollar litigation. But the Nation had to argue for the necessity of, for example, paying for the delivery of clean drinking water to community members ahead of spending that money on litigation. 

Having gone through the patronising process of being nickel and dimed by the government, the Nation managed to prove their ‘impecuniousness’ and in 2019 BLCN was awarded Advance Costs. Had that lower court ruling stood, it would have required Alberta, Canada and BLCN to share the costs of litigation to the tune of $300k each, annually, for the duration of the trial. 

In keeping with tactics the powers that be had been deploying all along, the award decision was appealed and overturned. With their very existence as a people at stake, fiercely committed to seeing justice done, BLCN took their Advance Costs fight to the Supreme Court of Canada. 

A milestone for Indigenous justice

After months of nail-biting, in March 2022 Beaver Lake Cree Nation received a unanimous Supreme Court Decision that will echo down the years as a landmark ruling on Indigenous access to justice. In a 9-0 decision, the Supreme Court of Canada overturned Alberta’s removal of Beaver Lake Cree’s Advanced Cost order.

The Supreme Court recognized that in an era defined by reconciliation and respecting Indigenous self-determination — to take care of pressing community needs first, before spending on court costs — must come first.

While the SCC ruling requires Beaver Lake Cree Nation to go back to the trial judge for a deep dive into BLCN’s financial situation and how it meets the fine-print criteria of “pressing needs” set out by the court, their appeal is a huge win for access to justice. 

It is also a big win for RAVEN. 

“It’s not every day we watch the needle move to advance the law in favour of Indigenous rights,” says Smitten. “We’re really proud to be part of this, and humbled by the never-flagging determination of BLCN’s leadership.”

All’s fair in love and litigation

Advance costs are actually extraordinarily rare, as they require that applicants pass a series of legal tests. Anderson v. Alberta clarified what those tests will be going forward. One thing that has not changed is that Advance Costs are only available for cases that are considered to be in the public interest. The court determined that there is a strong public interest in obtaining a ruling on the claims brought forward by Beaver Lake Cree Nation in its Defend the Treaties challenge. That alone may seem obvious — tar sands expansion affects us all, and Albertans, Indigenous and settler alike, have treaty obligations that should matter to everyone. 

But the court went further. Recognizing that we are in a new era where self-determination and reconciliation confer upon First Nations the right to allocate spending as they see fit, the Supreme Court affirmed that Indigenous governments — not courts — are best suited to set their own priorities and identify the needs of their communities. 

The Court also found that when a government has used delay and outspend tactics — bloating the costs of, and timeline for, urgent legal action — the court should ‘exercise its discretion’ in awarding Advance Costs. From now on, the fact that a First Nation might choose to allocate its limited funds to address the needs of its community – including for cultural survival and to fund basic services that most other Canadians take for granted – should not be used as a basis to disqualify the First Nation from advance costs for litigation to protect its Section 35 rights. 

Back to our family law metaphor: the court’s new ruling means that the person in charge of the household and children will be able to determine their own priorities and needs ahead of what some judge decides is ‘best for them’. This ruling takes some of the paternalism out of the Advance Cost process and opens the door for Nations to meet government and industry on a more level playing field. 

The Supreme Court also awarded solicitor-client costs to Beaver Lake Cree Nation for all three levels of court hearings related to the Advance Cost application and appeal. Now that Canada and Alberta have to pay BLCN back for what the Nation spent on the Advance Costs process, BLCN can immediately use these funds to gather evidence, elder testimony, and prepare arguments for what could be one of the most monumental legal challenges Canada has ever seen. 

An ambiguous win

BLCN’s victory was a major milestone in the Nation’s decades-long process to push back against the cumulative impacts of industrial development in their territory. But you’d never know what a big win they scored from reading mainstream media coverage. 

Most outlets failed to recognize the groundbreaking nature of the SCC ruling. Headlines reported both that the Nation had won, and that they had lost. Partly, that’s because the Nation was sent back to the lower court in Alberta for a rehearing on Advance Costs, this time using the new test set out by the Supreme Court. But under those conditions, the Nation not only qualifies: they literally set the standard. The opportunity to go back to the court to adjudicate the award amount and terms under these new Supreme Court criteria may result in an even larger sum being awarded to the Nation. 

Karey Brooks, lawyer for Beaver Lake Cree Nation, is unequivocal. “The Supreme Court of Canada ruling is a huge win for access to justice.” 

She explains that the Court recognized Indigenous self-determination when it emphasised that a Nation’s pressing needs must be understood within the broader context from which a First Nation government makes decisions.

“I think it’s a huge win in that respect.” 

Fair’s Fair: Enshrining Access to Justice into Law

Going before the courts – for both advancing the original claim to trial and to achieve Advance Costs — Beaver Lake Cree Nation has been validated, and their right not only to pursue their case but to receive support, fully affirmed.

“The greatest barrier to justice – and victory for this court challenge – is the high cost of the legal system,” says RAVEN’s Susan Smitten. “How fantastic that a small group of dedicated donors was able to shore up this challenge to fund a trial that could stagger the tar sands behemoth. Also: how spooky to think how many worthy cases have faltered due to lack of resources.”

The implications of this judgement are nation-wide and capture in law the sovereignty of a Nation’s decision-making. Judges will now be able to take into account systemic factors such as the history of colonialism, displacement, and residential schools and how that history continues to operate today. 

Thanks to Beaver Lake Cree Nation, Indigenous Peoples will no longer, as a judge in Alberta’s Court of Queen’s Bench put it, have to “stand naked before the court.”

No matter how the lower court chooses to award Advance Costs, Beaver Lake Cree will still be on the hook for hundreds of thousands of dollars a year for the duration of the trial, which could last several years. No matter how the court rules: RAVEN will be there. 

“When we join forces as Indigenous Peoples and settlers, we can move mountains – and create better laws” Susan Smitten, Executive Director, RAVEN

This story was generously funded through support from Metcalfe Foundation.

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A ‘just transition’ is defined as ‘a vision-led, unifying and place-based set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy’ by the Climate Justice Alliance. Just transitions take a holistic view of where we are going, as well as how we get there. When thinking of a just transition towards green energy, one of the groups that will be disproportionately affected is Indigenous communities. This is a direct result of a disproportionate dependency on fossil fuels to fuel both energy needs and daily life requirements. Additionally, these communities are also likely to experience the effects of climate change much more than others due to these changes impacting many aspects of their lives. Some of these changes can include loss of land and resources, extreme weather events impacting agriculture, future supply chain issues, and more. As a result of this, it is of paramount importance that for these indigenous communities, we ensure the transition to green energy is a just one.

This is where Melina Laboucan-Massimo saw an opportunity to make a difference. Laboucan-Massimo is Lubicon Cree, from the community of Little Buffalo, located in Alberta, Canada. Little Buffalo is an oil sands region, and as a result, Laboucan-Massimo grew up witnessing firsthand the negative impacts that oil sand development has had on the environment, as well as the development of her Indigenous community. To put into perspective how little the oil sands have done for Indigenous communities, Laboucan-Massimo states in this article with the Nobel Women’s Initiative that since 1978 over $14 billion had been made off of her family’s traditional territory, yet they still don’t have running water. She goes on to say that the more than 2600 oil wells on the land make it impossible to live sustainably, to make matters worse, almost 70% of Lubicon territory has been leased for future development without the consent of the Lubicon people, directly violating their charter rights.

Laboucan-Massimo has been attending protests about this matter since 1988, at the tender age of 7 years old. This first protest was in her Lubicron Cree community of Little Buffalo which held a 6-day protest against oil and gas drilling on their land. While her parents and grandparents were part of the blockade, Laboucan-Massimo watched from the safety of their car, with this experience having a profound impact on her. This protest in 1988 was a whole 34 years ago, yet oil and gas drilling continues on this land, much to its detriment. If the community of Little Buffalo sounds familiar, then you were probably paying attention to the news in 2011. This is because in 2011 the Rainbow Pipeline spill occurred on this land, causing a total of 28,000 barrels of oil to be spilled – the largest oil spill in Alberta in three decades. This spill is still impacting the community to this day, and those responsible for it, Plains Midstream, were only fined a measly $1.3 million two years after the spill. Were those funds used to clean up the area or were they enough to cover the costs of those cleanup efforts? No and no. After this spill, Laboucan-Massimo felt even more inspired to take action, saying in an interview with Mongabay, “Wow, I need to really start building: What does transition technology look like? What does a just transition look like in our communities? That’s why I founded Sacred Earth Solar, which began with my Master’s thesis…”

The creation and inspiration behind Sacred Earth Solar are why I find Laboucan-Massimo to be so inspiring personally. Sacred Earth Solar was born out of their Master’s degree thesis in Indigenous Governance, with a focus on energy which was completed at the University of Victoria. As part of her thesis, Laboucan-Massimo proposed building a solar-powered center in her hometown of Little Buffalo, in order to ensure just transition to green energy. This proposal was not without resistance, with Laboucan-Massimo recalling in an interview with Fashion Magazine, “One of my professors actually tried to dissuade me from doing it—he said ‘It’s too big of an undertaking, you’re not going to finish in time.’” Despite these concerns, Laboucan-Massimo decided to go ahead with the project due to her determination of creating a just transition for her community, as well as wanting to inspire others to do so. This was completed in 2015 and since then, the project has provided power to the community’s health center. This project, now known as the Piitapan Solar Project, involved the installation of 80 solar panels resulting in a 20.8kW renewable energy project – not only does this provide green energy, but also creates jobs in the community, and provides a template for other communities to follow. How inspiring is that? Despite even professors voicing their concerns, and having no experience directly in that field, Laboucan-Massimo followed through on her mission of creating a more sustainable future for her community.

After the establishment of this solar project, Laboucan-Massimo created the aforementioned Sacred Earth Solar. Sacred Earth Solar has now branched out to create projects outside of the Piitapan Solar Project in Little Buffalo. In all of its work, Sacred Earth Solar ensures that a just transition, as defined earlier in this article, can take place. According to their website, Sacred Earth Solar currently assists Indigenous communities in exploring renewable energy within the broader context of antiracist climate work, ensuring that these communities are given priority in keeping their communities safe and healthy. A just transition is one that Laboucan-Massimo is very passionate about, and in addition to setting up Sacred Earth Solar, also sits as the Senior Director of Just Transition at Indigenous Climate Action, an organization that aims to integrate Indigenous rights and knowledge into developing solutions for the climate crisis. Other initiatives by Sacred Earth Solar, and as a result Laboucan-Massimo, include the solarization of the art studio at Nimkii Aazhibikong with Onaman Collective in partnership with Indigenous Climate Action, which will serve as a centre for the language revitalization, transmission of indigenous knowledge, and communal space for Anishinaabek and surrounding Indigenous communities to have a communal space to share teachings. Another initiative included sending several sets of solar panels to Indigenous youth who were protesting at Ada’itsx/Fairy Creek. These solar panels were used to power the kitchen and charge devices so that they could have communication, but also record the police brutality that was on display. Laboucan-Massimo in addition to sending these panels also joined Indigenous leaders, environmental activists, and other celebrities in the condemnation of the logging at Ada’itsx/Fairy Creek. Sacred Earth Solar has continued to provide green energy for those fighting for climate justice by solarizing three homes at the Gidimt’en checkpoint in Wet’suwet’en Territory. This was done so that families could have access to their territory as the Gidimt’en checkpoint is directly in the path of the proposed Coastal Gas Link pipeline. Additionally, Sacred Earth Solar has been creating tiny homes that run off of solar energy to assist those protesting the Trans Mountain pipeline. These tiny homes are set up directly in the path of the pipeline, acting as both an act of resistance, but also a symbol of how green energy can be used for a just transition.

As you can see, Laboucan-Massimo’s Master’s thesis has grown a movement towards a just transition outside of her home community of Little Buffalo. Sacred Earth Solar may, in my opinion, be one of her most notable initiatives, however, Laboucan-Massimo has done much more than this. In addition to being the Director of Just Transition at Indigenous Climate Action, she was appointed as the first Indigenous research fellow at the David Suzuki Foundation where she has continued her research on Climate Change, Indigenous Knowledge, and Renewable Energy. In order to disseminate the message around green energy in Indigenous communities, Laboucan-Massimo created the Power to the People series. This series takes a look at the renewable energy revolution in Indigenous communities around Canada and the world, showcasing how a just transition may occur. This series found many different projects from wind farms, to solar plants, to tidal electric projects, and serves as a showcase for how other communities may become self-sufficient. Laboucan-Massimo has also worked alongside icons such as Jane Fonda, David Suzuki, and Naomi Klein to help build a better future for not only Indigenous people but the planet. She has also given many speeches which have inspired many, some of these including US Congress, the Harvard Law Forum, in British Parliament, and numerous international organizations like Amnesty International, allowing for her message of equitable climate justice to be heard around the world.

If you did a thesis, I implore you to think back to it. I can remember the thesis I completed in my undergraduate degree very well. Now, prior to this, have you thought about your thesis since completing it? Furthermore, has your thesis been of use? For some of you I’m sure that answer is yes, but for others like myself, not so much. It is of such great inspiration that Laboucan-Massimo took an issue that was so dear to her, and despite resistance from even her own professors, turned this thesis into a project that has since spiraled outwards, creating a movement. It is a great message of being the change you want to see, no matter how big the mountain you must climb is. Laboucan-Massimo could have stopped there, feeling that by improving her community she has done enough, but instead she has since campaigned to create a just transition to green energy for Indigenous people and communities around the world, and also acts as an example of how the entire world must act. It is for these reasons that Melina Laboucan-Massimo is an Every Day Eco-Hero.

The post Every Day Eco-Heroes: Melina Laboucan-Massimo appeared first on A\J.

Artwork by Margarita Krasutskaya

On the theme of eco-anxiety, we partnered with Earth Day Canada to create our ‘Every Day Eco-Heroes’ series. The aim of this series was to shine a spotlight on Canadian environmental activists who make every day, Earth Day. This series can be found here:

1. Autumn Peltier 
2. Shefaza Esmail
3. Melina Laboucan-Massimo

Additionally we created a few off series posts, centred around ideas of sustainability and the feelings of eco-anxiety! These articles can be found here:

1. Sowing a Better Future
2. Our Environmental Origin Stories
3. Addressing Eco-Anxiety
4. Touch the Earth

Thank you so much for joining us for this collaboration, and a very special thanks to Earth Day Canada for making this possible. We hope you have had a great Earth Day so far, and hope that these articles can inspire you in some form or fashion to make every day Earth Day.

The post Earth Day 2022 appeared first on A\J.

There are actions that individuals can take at the household level, such as planting native species in your garden or taking public transit. There are also actions that people can take at a collective level, such as organizing litter clean-ups. And then there are actions that people can take at a government scale, such as advocating for greener policies and voting for individuals who represent positive environmental and social change. All types of approaches are important and needed to address the slew of issues, but what happens when the laws and policies in a given area restrict certain sustainable actions at the household or individual scale? What if there are policies in place that perpetuate unsustainability? For these problems, the government scale is needed to make systemic changes. This starts with people who advocate for change to their local government as well as representatives of the people who translate their hopes into action and change. Our local politicians are these representatives who hold the power of listening to their community members, addressing their concerns, and implementing change to allow our individual and collective sustainable actions to continue.

This week’s hero for our Every Day Eco-Hero series is Shefaza Esmail, a researcher, teacher, nature-lover, and down-to-earth human who is passionate about making steps towards systemic change for the environment and for people. Through Shefaza’s studies in engineering and environmental studies, her PhD research experiences, and her teaching experiences, she has developed an understanding of the importance of politics and system-level change in the environmental movement. That is why she has decided to run for office in Waterloo as the Green Party candidate for the upcoming provincial election. This article shares Shefaza’s story of why she decided to take the path of politics to approach the systemic changes she wants to see happen in local communities, why she is an Earth Day hero, and what her hopes are for this election to work toward a sustainable and just future. 

Shefaza’s educational and environmental foundations

Born in Tanzania, Shefaza moved to Canada with her family in 2001. She started her undergrad at McGill University in the Arts and Science program. Her curiosity and enjoyment of learning fueled her studies and she realized she wanted to continue learning in a new area. She found a unique program called “bioresources engineering” in the Faculty of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences at McGill, based at their MacDonald campus.

Not long after joining this program at MacDonald Campus, she realized that she was part of a strong community. It was a smaller campus with smaller class sizes and the classes were taught by professors who really cared about their students. One professor who particularly inspired Shefaza was Dr. Robert Bonnell, who created fun assignments that got students excited about engineering. Shefaza remembers having to power something using only rubber bands or only a flame, and also making sumo robots that would battle each other. Learning in this hands-on and creative way fueled the way Shefaza decided to teach when she became a teacher later on.

Shefaza did her Master’s in Chemical Engineering and worked a bit as a Facilities Engineering Intern before moving on to do her PhD in the Environment Faculty at the University of Waterloo (UW). She felt very excited about environmental engineering, but realized that there was more to learn about the social sides of environmental problems.

“The issues at the environmental level cannot only be solved by engineering solutions. We need to look at the policy, the economics, the social aspects – the social aspect is a really big aspect and I didn’t have a lot of grasp on that, so I came back to Environment [the faculty at UW], but this time, I brought the engineering and wanted to learn the other parts. That’s why I chose this interdisciplinary department, the School of Environment, Resources and Sustainability (SERS).” 

From PhD researcher and teacher to politician

Shefaza’s PhD research focused on agriculture and food waste in Tanzania. She saw a lot of potential in Tanzania for a circular-based economy. Once beginning her research, she realized that Tanzania had a strong urban agriculture community of folks who did not want land to be idle but who wanted to give life to land and have that life sustain them and their communities. She noticed that lots of people were growing a variety of crops, but it was a volatile business given the fluctuating market prices and by-laws that restricted urban agricultural practices. She saw first-hand groups of people who were interested in doing sustainable, community-based projects for themselves, but there were laws that prevented them from doing those things and from being sustainable. 

During her PhD, Shefaza also got the opportunity to teach, which she continues doing at UW and loves. She has met many students who are eager to share great ideas and have strong interests in improving their understanding of the world. These students inspire her to show them new ways to see the world, for example, through field ecology courses that immerse students in nature.

“There is life that we can give to students connecting them back to nature, but also they are the ones who have these ideas of how we can make the world a better place. The systems we have are going to prevent that, similar to the folks who are trying to do urban agriculture in Tanzania.”

Through all her educational experiences and teaching, Shefaza learned that we need systemic change at the policy level. Then, she was approached by the Green Party twice. The second time, having finished her PhD and having had time to think about herself in the role of a politician, she decided that it was time to take that leap and run.

What made Shefaza say “yes” to politics?

When I asked her if she had ever imagined herself to be running for a political party 5 years ago or even 1 year ago, she quickly responded with the following: 

“I did not. I never imagined myself in politics because I found it all very confusing. I still remember grade ten civics learning about the first-past-the-post system and not understanding it, and I was a good student! I understood things very quickly.” 

Her confusion led her to feel turned off from politics in her early career.

“I wonder if other people feel the same way because it’s politics – it’s supposed to be decisions that affect our lives and I wonder what emotions that brings up in people. For me, the shame of not understanding led to guilt because I didn’t understand the first-past-the-post system and I also didn’t really understand the party system. I felt like I pushed away from that … Then, in university, Jack Layton was running for NDP and he made things accessible. I just remember understanding what he said and that made me feel like I had a chance at understanding what the politics were like here in Canada and that I could make a difference. After that, I lost interest again… but it came back when I was teaching … I learned a lot about it because I had to teach it.”

As Shefaza was teaching and learning, she was getting more involved in politics and getting to know the liberal, conservative, and NDP sides of issues but still didn’t really know much about the Green Party until she was approached to be a candidate. At this point, she learned about the Green Party’s values, federally and provincially, and found that they aligned very well with her own.

“I hadn’t really seen myself in a political point of view and I think that’s the problem with politics. We think that politics is about politics, but it isn’t. It’s supposed to be about people and I’ve always been a people person, and by translation, I could be a voice for people, which would make me a politician – a representative of the people.”

Shefaza’s vision for the future

“We can achieve a communal sense of being through sustainability. We just need to be able to envision what that looks like and that’s what politicians are supposed to do – to see where we are going, and to make decisions and set the roots for us to be able to get there. It isn’t about buying votes or a popularity contest or a tug-of-war, it’s supposed to be envisioning a future together.”

Shefaza has a vision of a better future for the people in Waterloo. Part of this vision stems from her time at MacDonald Campus during her undergrad at McGill University. MacDonald Campus was a “self-sustaining eco-hub”. It had a farm, a student-run composting initiative, and a student-run “happy belly” program where students would go to grocery stores on stocking days, take the food that would be thrown away, cook it all, and serve it for free to anyone on campus the next day. All of these initiatives brought people together and fostered a sense of community, creating an “in-built sustainability ethos”, which inspired Shefaza by showing her what life could look like – what a future could look like for other places.

“People want to have space to connect, to walk, have things to do, cook good food that is locally available and affordable … We can achieve a communal sense of being through sustainability. We just need to be able to envision what that looks like and that’s what politicians are supposed to do – to see where we are going, and to make decisions and set the roots for us to be able to get there. It isn’t about buying votes or a popularity contest or a tug-of-war, it’s supposed to be envisioning a future together. And we trust our politicians to do this for us, which is why we vote for them to make those decisions on our behalf. But that is not happening and it needs to happen.”

Politics is not just for the politicians

As I prepared for this interview with Shefaza, I reflected on my own limited knowledge of politics in Canada. My only formal political education came from grade ten civics class, which I didn’t enjoy and don’t remember much from. In my university studies, I began to learn a bit more about the importance of politics in a more indirect way and I am now just beginning to understand our political system and what it means to me as an individual. When I shared this with Shefaza, she said the following:

“Every decision that a politician makes has an impact, not just on you, but on your family, friends, neighbours – everyone.”

“It’s interesting that you bring up grade ten civics because it is the power of a teacher to either teach you well or turn you off completely, and even if they do teach you well, the system is still very confusing and there’s a chance you may turn it off anyway … But it’s funny because schools have student associations and you vote for someone to be your representative in those, so even though you’re not learning about politics in a structured way, you’re actually taking part in politics in high school and university.”

There are still many people, not only young people, who don’t fully grasp the importance of politics, likely because if our grade ten civics class does not teach us this importance, we have to find these lessons elsewhere, but some people may not find themselves in places where those lessons are taught. So, I asked Shefaza what she would say to someone who doesn’t fully understand why politics is important for them.

“Politics makes the decisions for your everyday life. They decide where money that you are giving as a tax-payer will be spent … From your income, there is a portion of it that goes to the government … It’s important to think ‘where is my money going once I don’t get it?’ First, your money is going to a government body that you are entrusting to spend well. If they end up going on a shopping spree with your money, will you feel good about it? Probably not. Although, it depends what they buy … Every decision that a politician makes has an impact, not just on you, but on your family, friends, neighbours – everyone.”

Eco-anxiety, youth, and politics

Shefaza is passionate about getting young people involved in politics as well as teaching youth the importance of connecting with nature. Having done several partnerships and Earth Day events with the Waterloo and Kitchener public libraries as well as the City of Waterloo Museum, she has been able to connect with several groups of youth in the region to teach them about nature and spark their curiosity.

“It’s really important to get the youth involved and not just the ones who can vote. It’s important for youth to be informed of the values of the people who are representing them or who want to represent them, and see what they stand for and make that informed decision at the polls. It’s time we voted from our hearts.”

Considering the importance of youth getting involved in politics and how youth are being severely impacted by eco-anxiety, I asked Shefaza what she had to say on these topics.

“With climate change, there is a potential for apathy and there is a potential for empathy, but it really depends on whether or not you’re acknowledging how you’re feeling with every piece of news that comes. And that is the first step to understanding what you can actually do about it.”

“When talking about the environmental movement to youth, it’s a bit like learning from them rather than telling them about it because they are living it. We’re seeing news of more natural disasters, fires, droughts – in places there didn’t necessarily used to be. And it’s not just a current effect but will be a future effect. I think the youth are already acutely aware of that. So, I wouldn’t say that there is anything I could tell them about the environmental movement except one thing: really understand how it’s impacting your emotions. In the way we live right now, emotions aren’t talked about as freely as opinions, and opinions are very much based on emotions … With climate change, there is a potential for apathy and there is a potential for empathy, but it really depends on whether or not you’re acknowledging how you’re feeling with every piece of news that comes. And that is the first step to understanding what you can actually do about it.”

One of the courses that Shefaza has taught at UW was on climate change and films. With each film, Shefaza had the students reflect on their feelings and thoughts as they watched. From conducting a research study in tandem with teaching the course, Shefaza learned that the students feel and think a lot about climate change. This experience really reiterated for her the power of a teacher to be able to guide students through their feelings.

“It is important to acknowledge the times that we are making them sad and help them through that, and it is important to acknowledge the times when they are inspired to show them how they can channel that inspiration into action.”

“We need to be able to support them on this journey as they are feeling things related to climate change, especially as we’re teaching them about climate change. It is important to acknowledge the times that we are making them sad and help them through that, and it is important to acknowledge the times when they are inspired to show them how they can channel that inspiration into action … Creating that support network for students is really important as we start talking more about climate change, not just in the Faculty of Environment, but in all Faculties.”

And this is why Shefaza is an eco-hero. Not only is she actively pursuing positive environmental change at the policy level, but she also aims to guide, inspire, and teach youth about environmental change and help them through eco-anxiety. Shefaza has explored environmental solutions in many spaces through the diversity of educational and professional experiences she has accumulated. The political space is her next challenge, which she is approaching with compassion, curiosity, and commitment. I can’t wait to see how she uses this political platform to share her visions for a sustainable and just future, especially around Earth Day. I hope to see many more people like her – people who see unsustainable, inequitable systems that need improvement and feel driven to change them – taking that leap and running for office in the coming years.

Note: Alternatives Journal chose the eco-hero to spotlight. Earth Day Canada is affiliated with the series, but is not a political organization and does not endorse the Green Party in this piece.

The post Every Day Eco-Heroes – Shefaza Esmail appeared first on A\J.

Siobhan’s Environmental Origin Story

I am about to graduate my undergrad in Environment, Resources and Sustainability with a minor in English Language and Literature. Throughout my 5-year degree, I have had 4 very different co-op jobs in environmental education, ecological lab work, environmental journalism (at A\J!), and fieldwork in Labrador for my own research. I am passionate about ecology and writing and using creative means for environmental learning. I’m a budding environmental professional and I’m eager to go into the world and make positive change.

All of this is fine and dandy, but you could learn all of that about me from my LinkedIn page. It’s only a part of my bigger story. We all have a story (or multiple) of how we have become who we are now and I often reflect on mine. It always starts with, naturally, my childhood. I’ve been an advocate for nature my entire life. I developed a relationship with nature from a young age because I had the privilege to do so. I had a heart for animals, plants, and the natural parts of life. I went camping and hiking with my family when I was young. I had parents who forced me outside to play on nice days (and there wasn’t that much else to do back then anyway). Growing up, I used my imagination to create games with nature. I climbed trees, I caught bugs and let them crawl up my arms and legs, I made “cookies” out of mud and grass and whatever other special ingredients I could find. I remember having fun outdoors and feeling free when I was.

A lot of my comfort in nature stems from my time spent at my family’s cottage in Prince Edward Island. PEI is my favourite place in the world and my heart belongs there. I was so lucky to spend most of my childhood summers at the cottage, right by the ocean. I was given a lot of freedom there. My grandparents, who were usually taking care of my sister and I when my dad couldn’t stay long because of work, let us explore to our hearts’ content. I ran around playing games with my cousins, chasing butterflies, swimming in the ocean, catching crabs and lobsters and starfish, playing in the red clay along the cliffs, and exploring everywhere I possibly could. It was a dream.

In high school, I started becoming more aware of environmental issues despite never having any formal environmental education in any of my schooling years. I started making changes in my lifestyle to be more environmentally-conscious. I began with the simplest first steps into environmental learning: I started caring about recycling and composting and reducing waste. At 16, I went vegan. A small seed of environmentalism started growing inside of me. As it grew, I started thinking more about environmental issues, and I felt driven to know more and do more. I took an interest in my high school biology classes as it was the closest subject at my school to any kind of environmental science. Then, I began to feel driven to talking to people about environmental issues. And then, the time came when I had to choose where and what I wanted to study in university. Biology was the natural choice.

I went to Queen’s University for my first year in General Science. During my year, I realized that Queen’s wasn’t the right fit for me. I also realized I was in the wrong program. I was not passionate about biology and chemistry and geology. I was passionate about environmentalism, including how humans were so tied to environmental issues, so I started avidly searching other universities for a program that suited my passion. My search led me to the University of Waterloo’s Faculty of Environment. I discovered a program called Environment, Resources, and Sustainability, which included a diversity of interdisciplinary courses with topics ranging from ecology, to environmental history; environmental assessment, policy and governance; gender and environment; environmental psychology; water governance; and beyond. From my first day in ERS, I knew it was exactly where I needed and wanted to be. I found my niche. I realized that I could spend my education – and in turn, my career and life – studying and pursuing my passion. I desperately wanted to make the world a better place for people and nature, and that has not changed in me. That passion led me here, to A\J, to tell stories about environmental topics in the hopes of informing and inspiring others. It has led me to all the spaces I’ve been able to dip my toes in my undergrad and I expect it will lead me into whatever comes next for me.

Although the passion for environmentalism is a huge driver in this field of work, it can be really hard to stay motivated at times, especially since constantly learning about environmental and world issues can be depressing and often brings feelings of eco-anxiety, cynicism, and helplessness. But staying focused on the vision of a better world is crucial. I do so by looking to my friends, my professors, and other activists. There are so many people in environmental work who are just so incredibly motivating and encouraging. Being inspired by others helps all those negative feelings fade and reignites the excitement. 

I’m still a very fresh environmental thinker, writer, and researcher – it’s barely just the beginning for me – but I really do see myself spending my whole life in this field of work. As the years go by, I might become more jaded and hard around the edges, but I know the core purpose of why I chose to be in this space will be the same. It’s pretty simple. No matter where I end up or what I end up doing throughout my career, my heart for people and for nature will drive me towards the spaces that need me most. I can only hope now, at the start of this journey, that I will thrive in those spaces, places, and opportunities, and help others to do the same.

Alex’s Environmental Origin Story

My environmental origin story is probably different to yours, however, at the end of the day we all want the same thing – a sustainable future for the earth we are lucky enough to live on. I was born and raised in Barbados – a small island in the Caribbean and it is due to this upbringing that I am as passionate about the environment as I am.

From the time I was young, no one has been able to keep me from the beach or from the embrace of the ocean. As a kid I probably spent more time in the sea than I did at my house – what I would give to spend that much time in the Caribbean sun again! There has always been something about the ocean that calms me – the quietness I feel when snorkeling is a kind of stillness I have never been able to replicate, a calmness that grounds me and reminds me of the harmony that should exist between us and nature. I can remember going snorkeling for as long as I remember going to the beach. When I was young, my dad would pull me out on a boogie board so that I could see the reefs that I wasn’t quite strong enough to swim to yet. As I grew older I continued to snorkel on these same reefs and even found a few new ones of my own. To this day one of my favourite hobbies is floating along the surface of the ocean, trying my best not to disturb the fish as we peacefully coexist.

In school I was always interested in geography, more specifically earth system sciences and earth processes. The hurricanes that seemed to just miss us every year intrigued me, as well as the way that earth evolved over millennia due to tectonic movements. For example, Barbados is one of the few islands in the Caribbean that is not volcanic, but rather having been formed by the collision of the Atlantic and Caribbean plates causing a landmass to be built up. Coral was then formed on this landmass and as it continued to grow and be pushed upward, Barbados was formed. Coral reefs – pretty important! We’ll be back to them soon. As a result, my plan was always to major in geography – we didn’t have any environmental science courses at my school, so this wasn’t even on my horizon. It wasn’t until I went to Queen’s University in 2015 when I realised that while I love earth processes, I might love earth itself even more. During my first year I took general science which allowed me to take a few courses more geared towards environmental science – at the time, the first environmental science course offered at Queen’s was in second year. During this time I was also beginning to notice a change in a natural environment I knew very well. The reefs. 

If you know anything about reefs I’m sure you know they haven’t been having a great time recently. Coral bleaching due to warming sea temperatures and ocean acidification due to a rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide has resulted in reefs around the world being threatened. Recently, it was announced that the Great Barrier Reef was experiencing another mass bleaching event – this time even more concerningly during the cooler periods when La Nina is in effect. I have unfortunately been able to witness these effects firsthand. I truly wish I had documented the reefs I have had the privilege to snorkel on over the course of my life. A piece of me is glad I didn’t – the memories make me sad enough, I don’t know if I could handle looking at pictures of what once was. Over the course of my life I have watched these reefs turn from bountiful underwater landscapes, teeming with vibrant forms of all ocean life, to barren, grey landscapes, covered in seaweed and fire coral. Sidenote – don’t touch any coral, however DON’T TOUCH fire coral, it feels like a third degree burn… maybe this is nature getting back at us. Not only has the coral died, but the fish which it provides a habitat for have disappeared as well. What used to be schools of vibrant parrot fish, cavalli, snapper, have turned into fleeting schools of small baitfish like sprats, or even the newly arrived and invasive lionfish species. These changes were directly as a result of coral bleaching as the water has become warmer, as well as poorly planned coastal construction projects which have resulted in fine sediments being deposited on the reefs, starving them of light.

Being able to see these changes first hand while also reading about them in textbooks or on the news was really what made me realise that my passion aligned more with protecting the earth than it did studying its processes. It also made me realise the disproportionate effects of climate change as the large countries creating the majority of these warming greenhouse gases weren’t feeling the true effects of the pollution they were causing. While people in North America joked about warmer Christmases, our reefs were dying, hurricanes were becoming more prevalent, and the worst droughts we had faced in years were causing water use bans. Imagine having trucks bring you all of the water you were allowed to use once a week. Can you? All the while continuing to peddle my home as a tropical paradise to be used to escape from the reality of the ‘real world’. It is paradise – but it’s only a consistent paradise for tourists, especially those staying on all inclusive resorts that do almost nothing for our island economy.  As a result I decided to major in Environmental Science and minor in Geography. I still felt there was more to learn, and more that I could do however, and decided to pursue a Master’s Degree in Environment and Sustainability from Western University.

This brings me to today. In the past I have worked for the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology creating flood maps for Caribbean nations as they prepare for more inclement weather events. Now at A\J, I am lucky enough to have the opportunity and the platform to raise awareness about environmental issues. And that is really what I have always strived for. To make people aware of their actions and the consequences of living a life of blissful ignorance. Sure, it’d be lovely to drive a way-too-fast sports car, eat all the steak in the world, fly around on planes with no guilt, but that’s not the case and it never will be. At present I am happy to have some impact, and have the chance for my voice to be heard and hopefully inspire. While my initial passion for the environment may have been spurred in my home of Barbados, as we all know, climate change is a global issue and not a local one. I try my best to create positive environmental change here in Canada, as well as back home, however I know there is more to be done. I think this is something that everyone realises at some point in their environmental awakening – we can’t ever do enough. There is always more to be done and ways we can improve. I try to live my life with this in the back of my mind at all times and hope that my actions will inspire others to take action, and to always remember, to try just a little bit harder.

The post Our Environmental Origin Story appeared first on A\J.

Judge Smith was suitably impressed and “recognized Mrs. Rogerson’s original strain as a new, unique, and distinct breed. He went on to encourage development of the (breed) … and he later developed the first breed standards.”

Mrs. Rogerson’s new breed was the Gloster (for Mrs. Rogerson’s home shire) Fancy Canary, and it came in two versions, the Gloster Corona and the Gloster Consort.

The Gloster Corona (left) and Gloster Consort (right) (images from Animal World)

The Gloster Corona was, as its name suggests, crowned with crested plumage, the first to catch the eyes of canary admirers already drawn to its pleasant singing and good-hearted demeanour. The Gloster Consort was, as its name suggests, a bit less regal-looking and, if it were human, possibly harbouring a grudge for being denied the crown and the attention. But each version was equally important and Mrs. Rogerson’s creation, coming in an age when canaries were admired for their singing – and for their utility to us as harbingers of doom in our coal mines – developed a strong and loyal following, persisting to this day as a leading canary-fanciers favourite.

Four years before the birth of the Gloster Consort, a young man was born on a Greek island who would, as fate would have it, come to learn a thing or two about birds. And, interestingly, nine years after the exhibition, a young man would be born in a town in southwest Ontario who would, as fate would have it, also come to learn a thing or two about birds.

Margaret Atwood and Graeme Gibson (left), Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip (right)

***

Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark was born on the Greek island of Corfu, and came to international prominence when his acquaintance with Princess Elizabeth of Great Britain became more than an acquaintance. In 1946, King George VI gave his permission and blessing to the marriage of his daughter, the presumptive heiress to the throne, to this tall, handsome young princeling who’s lineage could be traced back to the German principalities, a lineage shared with his betrothed (and with many of the sovereigns of Europe, in fact).

Prince Phillip was a constant presence in my life. I was born 10 years after Phillip’s Queen ascended to the throne and I have watched from afar as a loyal subject of his (and my) Queen and an admirer of his for the way in which he navigated his life. In many ways, the dynamic that underpinned the relationship between Phillip and Elizabeth was mirrored in my own world as my mother, ‘Queen May’, ruled the realm with the genial assistance of her consort, my father George. My Dad, a former Royal Marine Commando, stayed at home during most of my childhood while my Mom went off to work at the hospital, or the modelling agency, or the nursing home. My Dad did the cooking and cleaning, along with whatever odd job that he’d pick up in his former trade as a carpet-master and flooring specialist. And he did it with a smile on his face that only broadened when he’d meet his grandchildren in his daily parade as the King of Queen Street. A man who could (and probably did; he always hedged when asked specifically) kill somebody with his bare hands, hands that were scarred and calloused from a life’s labour, would stop everything and drop everything to pick up a beaming grandchild and whisk her up into an impromptu dance. And then he’d hurry home to ensure that the supper was on and the place was set for my Mom’s return from work, the happiest part of my Dad’s day.

(George and May McConnachie, circa 1960s)

In most respects, I saw this as completely normal and assumed that every father was so hard yet soft, a sinner yet a saint. Sometimes, though, I’d question how my Dad put aside his masculinity as a member of the supposed superior sex to assume what was a traditional feminine role, the helpmate, in the very patriarchal society of the 1960s and 70s. Did it make him more or less of a man? And what lessons would I draw as I grew into my own manhood?

In these questioning times, and perhaps sensing my unease, my Dad and I would start talking (both of us well-known non-stop talkers) about the military career of Prince Phillip and the important roles that he played for Canada, Scotland and the rest of the British Empire. How he carried himself with great dignity. How he put his family first. How he took the most masculine step possible, to take a step back to allow someone else to shine, and to do so with a sense of duty and responsibility that was absolutely necessary to the role. Being the consort of a Queen was no easy task, but there always seemed to be a smile on Phillip’s face as he beamed at his Queen and she at he. It seemed as real to me as the love that was demonstrated between my parents, and I knew that my mother’s successes in this world were directly related to the scrubbing of the laundry and the seasoning of the stew, and the countless other little duties, that my father fulfilled with a joyfulness in his heart that everyone felt.

Both Prince Phillip and my Dad (and my Mom’s consort), George, were born in the year 1921. They both fought in battles in far off lands and fought battles for their families closer to home. They were faulty human beings – as we all are – but each managed to persevere through their own limitations and life’s challenges to be the strongest supporters and the loudest fan of their respective Queens. It is a lesson that I have taken to heart – and taken home to roost whenever I have been fortunate enough to be joined in my own life’s journey by a Queen.

***

Phillip of Greece and George of Glasgow shared many traits and commonalities. One of the most obvious to me was the love of the outdoors, a respect for nature and an understanding that we human beings are but one small species in a giant ecosystem called life-on-earth. I used to watch the annual BBC specials on the Royal Family, and invariably there’d be a mention of Prince Phillip’s conservation efforts, specifically in the area of birds. My Dad kept his conservation efforts nearer to us, opening the back door in the morning and stepping out to feed his ‘wee beasties’, the squirrels, chipmunks and birds that would soon be eating their own meals from his hands. He’d share wisdom straight from de Saint-Exupéry about the importance of stewardship, not the fleeting kind but the long-tailed kind of stewardship that came with as many tears as triumphs. He’d share tales from his own wartime adventures, the birds that he saw in Egypt or the crows in the bell towers in Italy. He’d sing songs that he’d make up, swearing to me that he was only replicating what he’d been taught by the birds. To this day, I’ll engage in singathons with the jays and others in the trees near me (of which they might not always appreciate), just to recall the feeling of, that moment of, my hero, my father, being in tune with nature. And everything being good in the world

“To this day, I’ll engage in singathons with the jays and others in the trees near me (of which they might not always appreciate), just to recall the feeling of, that moment of, my hero, my father, being in tune with nature. And everything being good in the world.”

My Dad was a near-urban wildlife aficionado, a product of his own upbringing in the tenement blocks of Glasgow. He would sally forth with a backpack on his back as a boy, especially when he was visiting relatives in the relatively bucolic Firth of Forth town called North Queensferry, right across from Mary Queen of Scots’ castle in Edinburgh. And the stories that he’d tell, of going up and down the moors, of splashing through the streams, and of lazing under the bright skies while watching the birds overhead and wondering if these winged creatures were actually God’s cherubim incarnate.

When my Dad talked of nature, he’d do so with a reverence in his voice, of the quiet and the peace. Of the giant trees and glistening lakes. Of the clear skies and clearer water, water that was so cool that you could quench your thirst even on the hottest day. Of the animals, large and small, that made the woods and forests their homes. And of the need to respect nature and all her parts, of which we were just one little aspect.

“You’re one in a million to me, Davey, but to the rest of the planet you’re just one of a million.”

As I got older and started reading history books about my father’s battles, I started to gain a deeper understanding of why my Dad, a man of action, would retreat into nature as a place of both solitude and rebirth. In battle, there is no peace, no quiet. In battle, the trees are torn asunder by artillery shells and the lakes stained red. In battle, there is constant thirst, a thirst for life, that is parched by the heat and the dust and the fear, and cool respites are few and far between. In battle, the woods and the forests become death-traps, for the humans and for every species, eerily devoid of bird calls but overflowing with smoke and fire and flames. And death.

Nature, alive, is full of life. Nature, alive, breathes and breeds new life. Nature, alive, is now a known antidote and remedy for those suffering from mental anguish and illness, a perfect ‘safe space’ to retreat into to undergo nature therapy. Breathing with the trees. Ebbing and flowing with the waters. Waking with the birds and drifting off to sleep to the cicadas. Meditation and introspection, a humbling that comes by appreciating your own inanity in this world full of pomposity and insanity.

Today, when I am perplexed by a problem and need to clear my mind, nothing works better than taking Zoey the dog (half border collie, half husky, all go) for a walk in the nearby nature trail here in Exeter, Ontario. I become mindful of each step we take. I become mindful of the sounds of the forest. I become mindful of the wind chilling my cheek. And, in doing so, my mind gains space from the perplexing problem. In most cases, that space and distance is enough to allow my logical thoughts to win the argument in my head and allow me to take the appropriate step(s). My emotional side has been succoured by nature. Nature becomes my consort, if you will.

***

In addition to the aforementioned Phillip and George, there’s another gentleman who embodies the spirit of being a consort in life and to life. Graeme Gibson of London (Ontario) was born into conditions more akin to George than Phillip. The son of Scottish immigrants, he and his family moved around a fair bit as a lad as they sought opportunities in this new land, but Graeme managed to take the right steps by graduating from the prestigious Upper Canada College and the University of Western Ontario. He was drawn to literature, as an outlet, and to the idea that change must be fostered, as a zeitgeist. His early works, released in the late 1960s and early 1970s, were considered by many in Canada’s literary circles as benchmarks of experiential literature, exploring important themes from perspectives not then shared by many. The works were rich in imagery and challenging in comprehension, requiring a degree of open-mindedness that narrowed mass market appeal. But Graeme understood that the purpose of literature was to serve the need of the story, and the storyteller, and if that meant limiting sales potential then so be it.

Becoming a champion of storytelling and storytellers was one of Graeme’s noble purposes, that driving compulsion to act in a manner that is not self-serving but serves the greater good.

Becoming a champion of storytelling and storytellers was one of Graeme’s noble purposes, that driving compulsion to act in a manner that is not self-serving but serves the greater good Graeme was one of the founders of the Writers’ Union of Canada, helped form the Writer’s Trust of Canada, and was a co-founder and president of PEN Canada. In the world of Canadian literature, the name Graeme Gibson became synonymous with fighting for writers’ right to write, and using their collective voices to affect change. And given that most Canadian writers exist within a very small cage of celebrity – with the resulting financial rewards that come with it – Graeme was really fighting for those who could not, through their small sales footprint (or not-yet-written first novel) earn enough daily bread to feed themselves, let alone the neighbourhood birds.

I was drawn to PEN Canada in the early 1980s as that organization began advocating for causes that resonated with my still-developing soul. PEN Canada’s mission:

PEN Canada celebrates literature, defends freedom of expression and aids writers in peril.

There seemed to be two voices that I heard most frequently from PEN. Graeme Gibson was the fiery organizer and orator. Margaret Atwood was the voice from upon high, a Canadian literary author with truly global impacts, and especially important in the areas of equal rights, civil rights and the right to have our voices heard. I could hear his voice but I saw her eyes, those eyes that seemed capable of reproach as stinging as anything she could have written. “Must be tough to be married to her,” my Dad chuckled as we watched the news, adding “and I should know!”

In my life’s journey, I got a chance to dabble in the world of Canadian literature during my time working as the publishing director of the NHL. One year, we released TOTAL HOCKEY encyclopaedia and HOCKEY FOR DUMMIES, both of which rocketed up the charts of Canadian Non-Fiction Bestsellers. I got invited to a few events, rubbed leather-patched elbows with the literati, and learned, to my delight, that the loud tall organizer was the one married to the Queen of Canadian literature. And then paid a bit more attention whenever either would pop up in the news.

At some point, I began to wonder what it must have been like to be married to Margaret Atwood, Canada’s Nobel-winning writer. Especially given that Graeme was a writer himself. How did he manage to be both a fiery advocate and soulful supporter?

How do you dance through life with your partner without stepping on the toes of her Muses?

How do you dance through life with your partner without stepping on the toes of her Muses? How do you add and not take away from her work, being there in whatever capacity may be required? Do you interrupt to offer tea or just bring it?

This contemplative time was after my Dad had passed and during a momentary crisis in my personal life that saw me need to become a good first officer to my marital captain as she launched and developed a new business. There was a random news item from Buckingham Palace that reminded me of Phillip, and of George. And, in hindsight, it helped me to understand Graeme Gibson a little bit better, and myself in the process, too. Something about a species at risk that the Duke of Edinburgh’s conservation trust had managed to nurse back to health, all in and around the ‘annus horribilis’ suffered by Elizabeth and family.

***

So, how do you act as a consort to your partner?

The verbs in the motto of PEN Canada hold a clue:

CELEBRATE. DEFEND. AID.

In the case of Phillip of Greece, he certainly spent considerable time consoling and counselling his Queen as she underwent her travails. In the case of George of Glasgow, he’d put a pot of soup on and make sure that my Mom’s chair was ready for her return. For Graeme of London, I’m guessing that, during moments of crisis in his family, he would celebrate, defend and aid his Queen to the best of his capacities, and in a manner that given the longevity of their relationship, must have worked. Margaret Atwood didn’t get any less famous for her writing or less prodigious in her output.

Now, interestingly, much like Phillip and George, Graeme also became a conservationist and ecological admirer. In his case, Graeme Gibson was a key driver behind the creation of the Pelee Island Bird Sanctuary in Canada’s southernmost point, a near-urban natural oasis that now teems with avian life, migratory and sedentary. Graeme, like the other gentleman consorts mentioned herein, took to nature as a remedy to the noises and nuisances of city life, and perhaps to step away, if even for just a brief moment, from his duties to his Queen. The smallest bird became the biggest focal point. The nurturing, the tears and the triumphs all part of the process of grounding oneself while giving back.

And therein lies the secret, I believe, to how we humans can stop putting our needs first and become consorts to our Queen, Mother Nature.

***

Mining foreman R. Thornburg shows a small cage with a canary used for testing carbon monoxide gas in 1928. George McCaa, U.S. Bureau of Mines

In 1986, the last canary was released from service to the coal mines. In all likelihood, it was not one of Mrs. Rogerson’s Gloster Canaries, be they Corona or Consort. The Gloster Canary was specially bred for its attractiveness and appeal. The canaries that worked in the coal mines were of less exalted stock, albeit hardier than their swankier cousins.

The practice of using canaries to detect carbon monoxide in mining operations was pioneered in 1911 by Dr. John Haldane, who some describe as the ‘father of oxygen therapy’. There was solid science behind the idea, specifically:

Canaries, like other birds, are good early detectors of carbon monoxide because they’re vulnerable to airborne poisons, Inglis-Arkell writes. Because they need such immense quantities of oxygen to enable them to fly and fly to heights that would make people altitude sick, their anatomy allows them to get a dose of oxygen when they inhale and another when they exhale, by holding air in extra sacs, he writes. Relative to mice or other easily transportable animals that could have been carried in by the miners, they get a double dose of air and any poisons the air might contain, so miners would get an earlier warning.

The use of canaries as ‘early warning systems’ took root in British mining companies, and soon jumped the pond to influence North American coal miners. The canaries were not only prized by the miners for their life-saving abilities but were also welcomed for their songs. “They are so ingrained in the culture, miners report whistling to the birds and coaxing them as they worked, treating them as pets.”

The phrase ‘a canary in a coal mine’ came into popular use not long after the birds went to work. In the broadest sense, it means that something is an early warning sign of danger ahead. Al Gore applied the analogy to the concept of the extinction of species and the skyrocketing GhGs are canaries in a coal mine of an ecosystem in crisis, in this case the ecosystem that sustains human life. That ‘inconvenient truth’ that Gore was sharing helped to ignite a heightened degree of awareness of environmentalism within everyday society, and became some of the foundational learning of today’s young environmental leaders. The ones leading the research, organizing a blockade to protect the old growth forests, or running for office to affect positive legislative change.

They make these sacrifices for a greater good, beyond simply the preservation of a butterfly or bumble bee. They are sacrificing for the butterfly and the bumble bee, yes, but they do so in service to humanity, keeping a watchful eye on the hands on the Extinction Clock, readying to raise the alarm or scramble to save another last-of. Because, fundamentally, these scientists, researchers, academics and activists understand and appreciate a simple truth: humans are but one species among billions on this planet, equally (if not more) vulnerable to the changes wrought by anthropogenic climate change. Fires, floods and famines, oh my! And if it isn’t good for the canary, it can’t be good for us.

***

We humans, large in numbers but small in planetary significance, have played an outsized role in the destruction and degradation of the natural environment. And while we’ve always been a messy species, we’ve really taken it up a notch since the Industrial Revolution.

You can blame our fossil-fuel-burning machinery poisoning the atmosphere with greenhouse gasses, which contributed to raising the global temperature which eventually begat the mass extinction events that we’re now watching unspool in front of our eyes like a slow-motion train wreck. And given that we’re the most golden of the Goldilocks species, the most vulnerable to extremes and to change in a time of extreme change, we should probably be paying more attention and taking more actions.

Credit: Ed Himelblau, The New Yorker

Start by birdwatching. We are far too zoomed in on our own daily minutiae to appreciate the larger world around us, and the changes that threaten our very existence.

We need to turn the binoculars around and stop demanding that EVERYONE LOOK AT US! We need to become passionate observers of the planet’s beautifully complicated ecosystems, large and small, near and far. 

We need to turn the binoculars around and stop demanding that EVERYONE LOOK AT US! We need to become passionate observers of the planet’s beautifully complicated ecosystems, large and small, near and far. We need to watch the birds as they go about their daily lives. We need to listen to the birds as they call to each other, this song a love poem, this song an elegy. We need to learn about the birds, and from the birds, where they live and why. We need to go to where the birds are and to build welcoming spaces for the birds where we are. There is so much we need to know and an incredible urgency to do so.

We, as humans, need to understand and appreciate the fact that ‘we’re all in this together’ is more than a motto to survive the pandemic. It’s a reminder that we are in a codependent relationship with the natural world – and we humans are more dependent upon the planet than the planet is on humans. We will need all the birds and all the bees that we can to be our allies in our survival. It’s a reminder that we humans are now the canaries and we seem hellbent as a species toward our own self-destruction, going out of our way to poison our cages, our foodstocks and our futures. We must start our efforts by changing the climate of misanthropy; after all, a self-loathing human is a dangerous beast and threatens to take a lot of other species down with it.

Once we’ve come to terms with our horrible-for-nature impacts, once we’ve accepted our responsibilities for past sins of commission and omission, and once we’ve realized that this planet is not all about us, we can begin to take tentative first steps to repairing our relationship with nature. And, yes, we are in a committed relationship with nature but, contrary to our human beliefs, we are most definitely not the most important partner in that relationship. Hell, our partner did pretty well before meeting us and will most certainly do just fine once we’ve departed. And we will depart sooner rather than later on our current trajectory, or more correctly we will be thrown out by an exasperated partner tired of waiting for us to change our ways and be a significantly more loving and more respectful significant other.

We have prioritized us and only us, at the expense of all others. We have blashemphed our inheritance and sullied our home. We have put our needs first, especially recently as the science became clearer while hurdles were thrown in the path of progress-seekers. Rather than acting in a manner that CELEBRATED, DEFENDED and AIDED our Queen in our role as consorts to nature, too many of us have DEGRADED, DESTROYED and EXPLOITED nature for our own benefit or for the benefit of societies that prioritize profits over people. The canaries have already given their lives for us and yet, still, we remain obtuse to the creeping gasses ready to suffocate our lives.

But as in all relationships, there is a chance to change our ways, although we might be on chance Nth by now. Our partner is very forgiving.

For far too long, humanity has demanded a subservience from nature. Some of our holiest books sanction our desecration in the name of the divine (and to the benefit of the few and the detriment of the most). We are the Lords, we are told, and we can bend Nature to meet our needs. But we are not Lords. We are simply a subspecies of simians that somehow managed to find a niche in time to proclaim our preeminence. We build edifices to and from our egos to ourselves and our perceived greatness. We’ll chop down giant, majestic trees to make the paper to make our words immortal, or until the next fire comes along. We use, we exploit, we degrade and we disrespect. Not all of us, and certainly not among the youngest of us, who seem to comprehend the severity of the bill of consequences that they’ll be paying for their ancestor’s transgressions against the environment. And I guess this message is specifically geared towards them.

It will not be easy to navigate your way forward in this new age of Mother Nature pushing back and standing up for herself. The ripples caused by the rising GhGs are well nigh ashore in our present world, manifesting as extreme everything. And these ripples will likely become tsunamis before the worst has passed.

What can we do? many may be asking. May I suggest an edit to How can we help? How can we become a consort to nature, a helpmate in the day to day and a warrior when called upon to fight on our partner’s behalf? We could do worse than look to the examples set by Phillip of Greece, George of Glasgow and Graeme of London.

In the introduction to his seminal book, The Bedside Book of Birds – An Avian Miscellany, Graeme Gibson wrote:

“With the zeal of a convert and the instigated imagination of an ex-novelist, I started taking note of, then collecting, and finally obsessively searching out texts that illustrated something — almost anything — about our human response to birds. This book is the result. It isn’t so much about birds themselves as it is about the richly varied relationships we have established with them during the hundreds of thousands of years that we and they have shared life on earth.”

How will we become the types of humans who deserve to share in a future with such a luminary partner? May I suggest a nature consort’s vow:

CELEBRATE NATURE. DEFEND NATURE. AID NATURE.

Until death do us part.

LEARN MORE AND DO MORE

How do we become better partners and better consorts for nature? Well, there are many steps that you can take and many great organizations doing work in your backyard that can help you gain a deeper understanding and appreciation for the role of nature in your life. Nature Canada, for example, works to help Canadians understand how to be better consorts to nature:

We believe that when the heart is engaged, the mind and body will follow. That is why, since our founding in 1939, Nature Canada has been connecting Canadians to nature, trying to instill in them a nature ethic – a respect for nature, an appreciation for its wonders, and the will to act in nature’s defense.

They’ve got many great programs, and one that would have definitely interested my Dad (and was a topic near to the hearts of Prince Phillip and Graeme Gibson) is birds in urban environments, the dangers that our cities present to our avian friends, and the steps being taken (or should be taken) to minimize the human impact on birds, and nature in general. Nature Canada’s Bird Friendly Cities program seeks to address the devastating impacts of our built structures on the avian ecosystem, and was launched because in “the last 50 years, North American bird populations have dropped by more than 25%.”

Thank you for reading our FOR THE LOVE OF NATURE series, be sure to check out the other articles as well!

And don’t forget to register for Nature Canada’s Pimlott Award Celebration happening this Wednesday on March 2, 2022, where Margaret Atwood and the late Graeme Gibson will be honoured and recognized as champions for birds and nature. Check it out here!

The post Consorting with Nature appeared first on A\J.

The MaddAddam Trilogy by Margaret Atwood

Reviewed by Mimi Shaftoe

The first time I read Oryx and Crake, it was like putting on a reverse version of rose-coloured glasses; I couldn’t stop drawing dark dystopian comparisons between the world on the page and the real one. I finished the book while on a road trip with my family the summer after grade 10. I remember feeling existential as I stared out the window at the landscape of concrete, billboards, industrial buildings and strip malls, probably muttering something dramatic under my breath like “Look out the window, we are literally living in Oryx and Crake.” The proximity, the almost-real-ness, of the imagined future in which the MaddAddam trilogy is set is what enthralled me and left me aghast when I first read these books as a teenager, and is what I think makes these books so powerful.

The MaddAddam trilogy is set in a future that is way too close for comfort, in which human intervention has irrevocably transformed the natural world, and a man-made catastrophe has wiped out a huge segment of the earth’s population. The series tackles a wide range of interconnected themes, from environmental destruction and the relationship between humans and the natural world, to unrestrained capitalism and consumerism, to patriarchy and sexism. To me, the books embody the idea that “It’s not Climate Change, it’s Everything Change” (which also happens to be the title of an essay Atwood wrote). In other words, the ecological crisis is a result of deeply unjust and destructive systems we’ve built, which affect every part of our daily lives. And getting ourselves out of this mess will require deep societal transformation.

Margaret Atwood famously prefers to refer to her work as ‘speculative fiction’ rather than science fiction, because she looks at issues and problems that already exist in the real world and simply extrapolates them to imagine a possible future. She illuminates the ways in which we are already in crisis and creates an unsettling sense that we could be barreling head on into the dystopian world she writes about… or that we may already be living in it! It really doesn’t seem far-fetched at all to imagine, for example, the Church of PetrOleum, where oil is worshipped and the bible is interpreted to mean that it is our divine right and holy obligation to extract oil.

The world of the MaddAddam trilogy is dark, but it’s also satirical and darkly funny, and it offers glimmers of hope which suggest that no matter how dark things get there is always the possibility of human goodness. The most hopeful element in this series, to me, is what Atwood has to say about the power of stories. If the entire trilogy is an allegory about climate change and humanity’s relationship with nature, then Atwood is suggesting that the stories we tell play an important part of the solution. I love some of the hymns she wrote for her fictional religion the God’s Gardeners, like ‘The Earth Forgives’ (which she actually recorded and released as part of the book promotion!) and the environmentally conscious, hopeful alternative they try to build in the midst of the rest of her dystopian world.

Throughout the books, she explores the stories we tell ourselves to create meaning in our lives, and the way these stories shape the way we relate to the world and the people around us. And while Atwood speculates about a grim future in this series, she also makes it clear that no future is set in stone, everything depends on what we do now.

So, let’s tell ourselves the kinds of stories that repair our relationship with the planet, and help us envision and create a just future.

“We have a choice to make now. We can return to our former path of destruction of the natural world…or we can change direction and build nature-based and community-based recovery strategies.” – Margaret Atwood

“Improvisation on a First Line by Yeats” by Margaret Atwood

Reviewed by Ishani Dasgupta

I sometimes take for granted the love I have received in this world and I most definitely have not considered that those who I love might not know it.

Let me be clear, I consider myself an admirer of Mother Nature and all of the complex, wonderful, and nice aspects of the biosphere. I do, after all, work in the environmental space and at times find myself in a unique position to write about one climate related issue or another. However, I never considered if the planet I am working so hard to protect actually knew that I cared for it, until I read Margaret Atwood’s poem “Improvisation on a First Line by Yeats”.

Rather, I was acutely stunned by the fact that I have loved nature quite selfishly.

In Atwood’s poem, which is inspired (as the name suggests) following a line from W. B. Yeats’ Hound Voice, she details a trip to a barren and mountainous landscape. When arriving near the landscape, the speaker finds herself lost in a serious thought about the history of change that may have occurred due to human activities.

“Because we love bare hills and stunted trees / we head north when we can, / past taiga, tundra, rocky shoreline, ice.” – Margaret Atwood, “Improvisation on a First Line by Yeats”

The speaker laments on whether the earliest human settlers shared a deep connection with the land. Whether they chose to “partner” with the elements and other animals to progress or carved the spirit of the landscape into their hearts. Importantly, the speaker assumes that it was at this point of time, when the first fires were being forged and guarded, that the soul of nature thrived.

“Everything once had a soul, / even this clam, this pebble. / Each had a secret name. / Everything listened. / Everything was real” – Margaret Atwood, “Improvisation on a First Line by Yeats”

It is explained that nature at this point did not always love you and therefore human patrons treaded the world with caution and perhaps fear; perhaps worrying if the next great natural disaster would completely wipe their civilization out. Although, with this fear came a connection to the land that we could not dream to recreate in the present.

“Everything once had a soul” and  “everything was real”, which meant that if you caused harm against the land you were on, you were hurting a conscious being. One with feelings and a spirit that could shake the centre that you grounded yourself on. How would it be to live in this time, when the very environment you lived in communicated to you on a daily basis and perhaps carried you through your life, as though it was a parent teaching and protecting its child?

“We long to pay that much attention. / But we’ve lost the knack… / All we hear in the wind’s plainsong / is the wind.” Margaret Atwood, “Improvisation on a First Line by Yeats”

And there it stands, as bleak as it can be stated: the greatest threat we have presented to nature is that “we have lost the knack” to pay it the close attention that we used to in the past.

I have been selfish with my love for nature. I loved it for its beauty, its complexity, and its purpose in my life. But have I truly loved it for its soul, its spirit, or the sacrifices it has made for me to live? Have I ever revered it and cared for it, as my ancestors did long before me?

Now, I can promise that I will try to raise my own attentiveness towards how I care for nature. I will love her as though she is my friend and my mother, as closely as I can to how they did in the past.

Hoping that one day I will finally understand that she has always, from the moment I was born to the and to the day I pass, loved me selflessly.

The Bedside Book of Birds – An Avian Miscellany by Graeme Gibson

Reviewed by Alex Goddard

Graeme Gibson’s The Bedside Book of Birds – An Avian Miscellany is a stunning collection of words and images expertly collected and curated to explore the longstanding relationship we have had with birds. As Gibson says, this book isn’t about birds themselves but about the varied and intimate relationship we have formed with them over the hundreds of millennia we have shared this earth. When reading this book, one of the immediate things that struck me was early in the book wherein Gibson describes that he came to birdwatching late in his life, not understanding it for a whole thirty seven years. I found this of particular interest as Gibson is someone who is synonymous with bird conservation in Canada and I would have assumed it to be a lifelong interest. I especially found this interesting as I myself can relate to these feelings shared by Gibson. Growing up in Barbados, we only have a few common species – blackbirds, doves, and sparrows, and while there are a few migratory birds, our wetlands are hard to reach and diminishing. As such, I had little interest in ornithology until I came to Canada, made friends with an avid birdwatcher, and began to go birdwatching with them. Now I take note of the birds around me much more, and enjoy birdwatching by myself from time to time. This was at the age of twenty three, and knowing that Gibson began his ornithological journey later in his life has been a huge source of inspiration to me, as it acted as a reminder that it really is never too late to pursue what you love, and certainly never too late to be the change you want to see.

The Bedside Book of Birds is a collection of factual accounts, poems, folklore, tales and myths divided into nine distinct sections, described by Gibson as different habitats – a wonderful way to divide the book. The majority of these sections are written by other authors, ranging from real experiences seen through Darwin’s accounts of tame birds in Voyage of the Beagle, to fictional pieces, such as an excerpt from Haurki Murakami’s The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. From ancient text written by the Mayans about the plumed serpent, to Bible excerpts about doves representing holiness, this book contains excerpts dating all the way back to B.C.

The beginning of each new ‘habitat’ starts with a piece written by Gibson himself. These passages often offer a glimpse into Gibson’s life, experiences and thoughts as an ornithologist, and the ways birdwatching has evolved over the years. In these excerpts Gibson allows us to feel the same thrill he did when seeing some amazing birds, with accounts of the Gundlach Hawk in Cuba which only a handful have seen in the wild, to unknowingly profound discoveries, such as his encounter with the Black-backed Woodpecker. In these passages we also are offered a glimpse into Gibson’s thoughts on birdwatching, ones I found very interesting. Throughout these passages Gibson often speaks of why we birdwatch, and the ways that humans imbue their own traits into birds, allowing for us to feel connected with nature. In one excerpt, Gibson explains that birdwatching can encourage a state similar to that of rapture – causing the forgetfulness that allows individual consciousness to blend with something other than itself. It is excerpts like this that really convey the passion that Gibson felt about birds and birdwatching, and it is hard not to feel the same passion he does when reading such vividly written passages accompanied by the stunning imagery throughout the book. Gibson, of course, was a champion of bird conservation, and themes surrounding this are found within these introductory passages. These are explored through a guilt that Gibson seems to feel about birdwatching, touching on the ‘possessive’ nature of humans to feel as though they own these birds by naming and seeing them, as well as touching on old birding techniques of killing the bird prior to identification. Themes of extinction and conservation are also found within many of the other passages included, however I found it pertinent that the only work Gibson included that was of his own was an excerpt from his novel Perpetual Motion where Gibson describes the way the passenger pigeon was hunted to its extinction as it was just assumed that the millions of birds would return each year, and were an endless supply.

So little does Gibson crave the spotlight for himself that the editorial section of the book ends with a poem by Siegfried Sassoon, rather than choosing to end the book with a few of his own words. It is this desire to let other authors speak for the birds in the best way possible that truly shows Gibson’s love for the avian species and made it an exceptional read by allowing us to be struck by the same wonder and awe that he and the medley of authors were. The different habitats make the book easy to pick up and put down at any point, or to peck at – like a bird if you will. As a testament to his conservation efforts, the last pages of the book direct readers to different conservation organisations in their respective countries, as well as pointing out half of the after-tax royalties of sales are donated to the Pelee Island Bird Observatory. This book has something for anyone even remotely interested in our relationship with the avian species as it is hard not to find yourself feeling the same enthusiasm Gibson does as you flip through the beautifully written and illustrated tales throughout.

***

“It’s we who have made the cages. It’s we who must open them” – Graeme Gibson

Stay tuned for next week’s FOR THE LOVE OF NATURE piece.

And don’t forget to register for Nature Canada’s Pimlott Award Celebration happening on March 2, 2022, where Margaret Atwood and the late Graeme Gibson will be honoured and recognized as champions for birds and nature. Check it out here!

The post ReViewed appeared first on A\J.

A few years later, I was taking a walk with my friend through Victoria Park in Kitchener, Ontario, admiring a couple of swans floating down the river next to the path. ‘It’s the swans!’ my friend exclaimed. I had no idea what swans she was referring to, so she explained to me that there was a famous swan couple – Otis and Ophelia – that lived in both Stratford and Kitchener. They spend their winter “vacations” at a compound in Stratford and live in Victoria Park in Kitchener for the rest of the year. These swans have been a popular source of entertainment for locals and have several news articles written about them in the regional newspapers. Perhaps people are drawn to them because they are a symbol of love and mark the beginning of spring when they return to Victoria Park: two unproblematic swans floating side-by-side, choosing each other to spend their lives with.

Source: The Waterloo Record

Long-lasting, monogamous partnerships are actually common for many bird species. Many species are known to “mate for life”. For example, black vulture (Coragyps atratus) couples have a strong connection and they just enjoy hanging out together, even in non-breeding seasons. Several other species, like the Laysan Albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis) and the endangered Whooping Crane (Grus americana), are known to spend their lives together and if one of the pair dies, the other will spend a period of time mourning before moving on. So, what is the secret to these birds’ sustained, monogamous love?

It seems Margaret Atwood and Graeme Gibson knew the secret. Atwood and Gibson shared a partnership that lasted through five decades of life. Can you imagine being with and loving a person for that long? Perhaps it just baffles me because I’m a young woman in my early twenties and it’s hard enough imagining myself being 50, let alone a relationship of mine. Atwood and Gibson seemed to have a way of love that lasted through the ups and downs of work, fame, aging, having a family – all in a changing world.

Both Atwood and Gibson were esteemed Canadian writers, but Atwood’s name seems to have been more frequently in the spotlight of Canadian literary news as her books reach a wide audience of readers. I am a late 90s baby and I grew up reading Atwood. I read her book Alias Grace in high school, and I remember finding her novels popping up in popular book lists or on the featured shelves at bookstores. I only started seeing Gibson’s works appearing in my world once I got a bit older, became an environmentalist, and began studying ecology. It was then that I realized the wisdom and great impact that his work gave this field.

Despite differences in their published works and recognition in different reading circles, Gibson was committed to his partner’s work. In an interview with The Telegraph, Atwood said the following: “He’s pretty good – he mostly just keeps out of the way. And I don’t show him my books before they’re in print. I recommend it. Supposing your spouse doesn’t like your work – then you’re in trouble.” Gibson’s support for her was always there, even if it was unseen by the public. As a young woman growing up in this world, it is refreshing to see this kind of balanced relationship, where the woman and man (at least, in heterosexual relationships) take on roles in their partnership that complement one another and do not put one behind the other. They are beside each other.

Atwood and Gibson also fought for a better world alongside one another. They both loved nature, and used their writing, actions, and voices to protect it. Gibson was a well-known conservationist and birder, and Atwood incorporated topics of environmental degradation, conservation, and climate change into her novels and poetry. Amidst the sometimes strange and undesirable dystopian worlds painted in Atwood’s books, there is always a seed of hope found in the stories. Kayleigh Dray, digital editor of Stylist magazine, writes that many of Atwood’s fans believe this hope to stem from her love with Gibson. Perhaps Atwood’s hope for the future began in her partnership with Gibson. Perhaps his commitment to birds and nature in his work sparked that hope in her stories, and together they believed in a future worth fighting for. Perhaps that shared hope, that shared vision of a better world, strengthened their love even more.

Source: Alchetron

Atwood’s poetry book, Dearly, contains several poems about nature, climate change, and futurism, but also about aging, reminiscing, memories, loss, and change. One of these poems is titled “Dearly” in which the process of “fading” is discussed – presumably, a fading feeling she experienced in herself and her partner.

“Dearly beloved, gathered here together / in this closed drawer, / fading now, I miss you.” – Margaret Atwood, “Dearly”

The poem discusses the fading of several parts of life: the word “dearly” is old and fading; the black and white Polaroids in forgotten photo albums are fading; old memories and ways of life are fading; flowers are fading as summer turns to fall. It sounds sad in a way, but when I read this poem, it doesn’t feel like the sad musings of an aging, nostalgic woman to me. It feels full and warm – like a photo album bursting at the seams, full of memories of a life lived. Or a big, old tree slowly shedding its colourful leaves after a fruitful year of growth. The fading feels peaceful, as if the speaker in the poem is gracefully moving forward and embracing a new stage of life. But she is not fading alone, she fades alongside the person she loves.

“It’s an old word, fading now. / Dearly did I wish. / Dearly did I long for. / I loved him dearly.” – Margaret Atwood, “Dearly”

How lucky we would all be to fade with someone whom we’ve grown with, shared life with, and loved dearly through it all.

As a young woman with the majority of my love life ahead of me, the lesson that I take away from seeing glimpses of Atwood and Gibson’s love is that it takes more than love and happiness to be together for life (although those two elements are still important to have). Having a sustained connection with another person seems to take devotion, finding ways to put shared values into action, having interest and support for one another’s work and hobbies, and simply being there for one another. Being beside each other, like the cardinals at the bird feeder, like the ducks in the puddles in my friend’s backyard, like the swans in the pond at the park. Finding love in the person who is and has been right there next to you. The love that is vibrant, bright, colourful; rich, warm, soft; and seasoned, harmonious, and fading through time. In my life, that’s the love I’m going to learn from and that I hope to experience in this crazy, changing world. The love from the person I draw hope from, who sustains me, and who is right there, always, beside me.

***

“In my life, I’ve loved you more” -The Beatles, “In My Life”

Stay tuned for next week’s FOR THE LOVE OF NATURE piece – a collection of reviews of Atwood and Gibson’s works related to birds and environmental conservation.

And don’t forget to register for Nature Canada’s Pimlott Award Celebration happening on March 2, 2022, where Margaret Atwood and the late Graeme Gibson will be honoured and recognized as champions for birds and nature. Check it out here!

The post In My Life appeared first on A\J.

Above is an excerpt from an article called “A Being in Nature” that I wrote for A\J about a year ago when I was working as a full-time co-op student. I so clearly remember the day I wrote it. It was a busy work day, online and remote, and I was feeling overwhelmed with stress, screen-fatigue, winter blues, and eco-anxiety. When I ventured outside and heard the call of the mourning dove in my backyard, all the negatives of the day melted away, and it was just me and the bird. 

Birds have a special relationship with us. Graeme Gibson knew that and taught many of us about this bond through his life’s work of writing about birds and dedicating his time to bird conservation. Margaret Atwood, partner to Graeme, has, of course, been very active in both circles of Canadian literature and bird conservation as well. Together, they are the perfect, poetic pair of bird-loving writers and conservationists. 

As Grant Munroe wrote for The Walrus, “Other famous literary couples have shared pastimes—Vladimir Nabokov collected butterflies to the delight of his wife, Vera; Sylvia Plath took up beekeeping with Ted Hughes—but few have been as well-paired for the activism that often attends birdwatching: Atwood’s interest, which seems cooler and slightly ironic, tempers Gibson’s gregarious fanaticism. Rather than rail against cat owners, as some do, they have adopted a balanced collaborative angle: driven yet compassionate, cut with humour, grounded in science, effected through appeals to emotion and intellect.” 

Atwood and Gibson achieved huge bird conservation wins in their life together. The pair played an important role in founding the Pelee Island Bird Observatory in 2003, and consistently worked to support and bring attention to the organization whenever possible. In 2005, Gibson released his now most famous novel, The Bedside Book of Birds: An Avian Miscellany, all about bird life and behaviour, history and mythology, photographs, art, and stories. Graeme and Margaret were also co-presidents of BirdLife International’s Rare Bird Club.

As you may have already guessed, Graeme’s impact was far-reaching as he was known as a champion of birds across several environmental organizations. It seems as though wherever there were bird conservation campaigns happening in Ontario, the names Gibson and Atwood were involved. Nature Canada is one such organization that has put forward several bird conservation campaigns, including the Save Bird Lives campaign, which Graeme and Margaret were driving forces behind and that helped to inspire Atwood’s graphic novel series Angel Catbird. 

Another Nature Canada bird campaign that has gained a lot of support and traction is the Bird Friendly City Certification Program. This program gives municipalities the opportunity to reduce bird threats in their cities, restore and enhance bird habitats, and provide public outreach and education through citizen engagement. In 2021, Nature Canada certified the following 4 Canadian cities in Ontario: London, ON; Toronto, ON; Vancouver, BC; and Calgary, AB. The vision of this program is that certified “bird-friendly” areas will grow and the Canada’s cities and towns will provide the necessary habitats for birds to not only find refuge during migration periods but also thrive.

“In the last 50 years, we’ve lost three billion birds in North America — 25% of the population — gone. Beloved species that live in or pass through our towns and cities, our fields and forests, have been pushed to the brink. At Nature Canada, we’re organising the effort to bring them back with organised, science-backed action.” – Ted Cheskey, Naturalist Director of Nature Canada

To learn more about this program and the work Nature Canada is doing to protect bird species in urban and suburban spaces, explore here.

Graeme and Margaret were supportive and involved in the work Nature Canada has done over the past several decades, and now, in 2022, Nature Canada’s highest honour – the Douglas H. Pimlott Award – is being awarded to both Margaret Atwood and Graeme Gibson.

Douglas H. Pimlott, sometimes known as the founder of the Canadian environmental movement, was a key environmental leader in conservation, wildlife biology, and ecology work. He paved the way for Canadian environmental protection and made huge contributions to environmentalism in his lifetime. His award suitably honours individuals who have made similarly outstanding achievements and contributions to conservation in Canada. 

On March 2, 2022, at Nature Canada’s Pimlott Award Celebration Margaret Atwood and the late Graeme Gibson will be honoured and recognized as champions for birds and nature. The event will feature Graeme and Margaret’s literary and bird conservation achievements, and their legacy that will live on to inspire the next generations to follow in their footsteps. There will be featured guests and speakers, and registration is free of charge, although there are limited spots. Will you choose to be a part of this story? A story of hope – for the world that future generations are inheriting, for the natural world, for the birds.

Graeme had a compassionate soul, showing kindness to the people he worked with and the birds he worked for. He will be missed and remembered by many. Now, it’s our job to take his wisdom, inspiration, and passion for birds, nature conservation, and literature and move forward into 2022 and beyond. It’s our job to listen for our mourning dove call and let it move us.

***

“By stepping outside, not only are you getting a good dose of fresh oxygen, serotonin, vitamin D, and maybe a pretty sunset out of it – you’re reconnecting with the earth. The ground you’re walking on. The plants and animals that you coexist with. The little delights that live and thrive and breathe and walk and live all around you. And if we keep connecting with these things, I hope we will feel a little bit more grounded in our own backyards, realizing that we’re part of nature and we can take care of it in the footsteps of people who have done so for many generations. We can get to know the names of the species around us, the bird calls, the texture of the grass outside, the smell of the soil in our gardens. These details are important – they are vital to upholding the connection we have to the Earth. And we will be able to fight for this planet and remedy our eco-anxiety if we keep tending to the relationship we have with nature.”

Stay tuned for next week’s FOR THE LOVE OF NATURE article on Gibson and Atwood’s love – for birds, for nature, and for each other.

For a more comprehensive list of Graeme’s achievements and Margaret’s tribute to him, follow the links below:

• The Pelee Island Bird Observatory – In Memoriam
• Remembering Graeme

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What changed 

Everything about our world has changed since the 1970s. First off, the world’s population has basically doubled from 3.7 billion in 1970 to well over 7 billion today. More people are consuming resources, but more resources are also being consumed per person. On average, wealthier, developed countries in the Global North are each burning more fossil fuels than we were in 1970, eating more meat, and traveling more than ever before. All that consumption adds up to a 90% increase in CO2 emissions since 1970, which after being trapped in the atmosphere, has contributed to ocean waters warming 0.6 °C and sea levels rising more than 5-6 inches. And if that’s not enough, average global temperatures have risen more quickly since the late 1970s (0.29 to 0.46°F per decade since 1979).

What now 

“Earth Day today is about more than just saving our planet – it’s about saving humanity.”

Throughout the decades, Earth Day has been about saving species, ecosystems, and natural habitats from threats like air and water pollution. While these aspects are still focused on, Earth Day today is about more than just saving our planet – it’s about saving humanity. This generation of climate activists has grown up thinking of themselves as truly global citizens. We are more aware of the immediate threat that is facing us, and we’ve made it clear that there is no planet B. The first Earth Day may have started as protest, but it sparked a global movement that is now the vehicle for taking urgent and immediate climate action. 

Earth Day 1970 March // Source: Earth Institute, Columbia University 

With the COVID-19 pandemic causing public health lockdowns around the world, Earth Day 2020 went entirely digital for the first time in its history. Billions of people took part, allowing technology to connect us from all corners of the planet. While the coronavirus forced us to keep our distance, it couldn’t quiet our voices. Over the 24 hours, the 50th anniversary of Earth Day filled the digital landscape with global conversations, calls to action, performances, video teach-ins and webinars, workshops and more. This year, Earth Day remains largely digital. No matter where you are, you can still make a difference. 

Earth Day 2020 Flyer // Source: EarthShare

April 22nd, 2021

The theme of 2021’s Earth Day Canada celebration is Take Care of the Planet. Earth Day Canada is looking to raise awareness among Canadians about the urgency of taking action for the environment and to encourage us to continue taking concrete actions to take care of the planet on a daily basis.

The Media Campaign 

This year’s campaign plays on the irony that animals have to clean up their polluted environments themselves. That may sound funny, but looking at these animals should spark a thought in each and every one of us. They shouldn’t be dealing with this, we should. There are many simple things you can do every day to take care of the planet. It can be as small as picking up one piece of trash every day or as large as participating or organizing a beach cleanup (health measures permitted). 

The Earth Day Canada 2021 campaign invites Canadians to share the actions they are completing to take care of the planet through video testimonials on social networks. You can post to Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and more, using the hashtags #TakeCareOfThePlanet #EarthDay2021. 

Since Earth Day 2021 will be virtual for most parts of the world, Earth Day Canada has developed an amazing list of suggestions for what you can do at home and in your community. At home, there are ideas on food, energy, waste, sustainable mobility, and nature. In your community, there are ideas for whether you are acting on behalf of a school, municipality, organization or just yourself. Earth Day Canada has an online calendar where you can register your activities and find out about virtual or local events. 

For the second year in a row, Earth Day Canada is calling on municipalities to play a role in the ecological transition. Cities and towns across Canada are mobilizing to take action towards creating healthier environments, using April 22nd in particular to make a positive impact. These municipalities are also contributing to the ecological transition by organizing and supporting actions in celebration of Earth Day in an effort to encourage everyone in their communities to join the movement. 

Download Earth Day Canada’s 2021 Media Campaign and get started, because the world won’t wait for you – it can’t. 

Source: Earth Day Canada

This article is part of a 3-part editorial series, in collaboration with Earth Day Canada, titled ‘The Past, Present, and Future of Earth Day’. Check out the full series here!

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