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Canadian Environmental Network
Manitoba Eco-Network gratefully acknowledges the support of Manitoba Conservation
Eco-Journal
Volume 14, Number
5
November / December 2004
view PDF version (2.5MB)
UNESCO World Heritage Site Proposed for Manitoba-NW
Ontario: The Boreal Initiative
by Don Sullivan
We Want Your Vision!
Student-Lead Initiative Launched: New Sustainability
Project at U of W
by Vivian Belik
New Developments at the Eco-Centre
by Anne Lindsey
Plan Winnipeg Amendment: End of Oak Point Transit
Corridor
by Elizabeth Fleming
Groups question process: East Side Report Goes
to Minister
by Anne Lindsey
Greening School Ground Design
by Barb Haffner
Communities still affected decades later: Mercury
Poisoning at White Dog
by Julie Fine
October 2004 Conference Reviewed: Youth and
Food Security Project
by Charlene Rowland
UNESCO
World Heritage Site Proposed for Manitoba-N.W. Ontario: The Boreal
Heritage Initiative
By Don Sullivan, Executive Director, Boreal Forest Network
The boreal forest, or taiga, is an almost continuous band of coniferous forests circling the countries of the circumpolar North. The boreal in Canada is also home to almost a million indigenous people, who are among the most dispossessed segments of Canadian society, but, they still retain a strong connection with their cultural traditions and value their traditional ways of life.
 |
| This pristine piece of boreal forest will gain protection if designated as a World Heritage Site. Photo courtesy of BFN. |
The Precambrian Boreal Shield, North America’s largest terrestrial
ecosystem, covers approximately 8 million square kilometers (3,088,872
square miles). It covers northern Quebec; Labrador; much of Ontario,
the Adirondack Mountains of New York; parts of Michigan, Wisconsin,
and Minnesota; the central and northern portions of Manitoba; northern
Saskatchewan; a small portion of north-eastern Alberta; and large
areas of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. According to an
Environment Canada report, only three percent of the Precambrian
Boreal Shield is strictly protected from all forms of large-scale
industrial resource extraction activities.
Large-scale resource development
The negative impacts to this important North American ecosystem
are from large-scale resource development activities, primarily
logging, hydroelectric dams and transmission lines, underground
and open pit mining, and oil and gas exploration. Most of what is
produced from these activities (over 80%) is exported to the United
States for consumption.
The Boreal Forest Network (BFN) has embarked with the Natural Resource
Defense Council (NRDC), Manitoba Wildlands and others on an ambitious
long-term campaign to promote the sustainable use of the last remaining
tracts of boreal forest ecosystem in North America, which we are
calling the “Heart of the Boreal”. A major component
in this ambitious campaign is an initiative begun in 2002 to create
an UNESCO-World Heritage Site along the Manitoba- North West Ontario
border, which we call the “The Boreal Heritage Initiative”.
In late April 2004, Canada’s Minister of the Environment unveiled an updated, tentative list of proposed World Heritage Sites in Canada. The “Atikaki/Woodland Caribou/First Nation Component”, as the Manitoba- northwest Ontario site is called, was included on the list. Canada’s Minister of the Environment stated, “these places are of outstanding universal value to all humankind and reflect our human creative genius. They are of exceptional cultural or natural significance. Safeguarding these natural and cultural treasures is our legacy to future generations and Canada’s gift to the world.”
The proposed Atikaki/Woodland Caribou-First Nation World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of Canada’s Precambrian shield boreal forest, is 4.3 million hectares and includes such spectacular wild rivers as the Bloodvein (a Canadian Heritage River), the Berens, the Gammon, the Pigeon and Poplar. It also encompasses two provincial Wilderness Parks and the traditional territories of five First Nations, who initiated the designation proposal. It is currently the only site proposed for World Heritage Site designation in North America’s Precambrian Shield boreal forest.
Eagles still soar freely
This important North American forest ecosystem is a place where
eagles still soar freely, black bears roam, and the rivers are alive
with the playful bantering of river otters. It is also the summer
residence for millions of migrating songbirds and home to the elusive
gray ghosts of the boreal—the last remaining herds of Woodland
Caribou in Canada.
Both the Manitoba and Ontario provincial governments have expressed initial interest and support. However, because it may limit proposed resource development activities in the area, both provinces are hesitant about the inclusion of the First Nations component of this proposed World Heritage Site. These remote First Nations communities see the proposed Site as a means to better manage, plan and protect the natural resources in their traditional territories and find innovative ways of developing an alternative to the current economic model of large-scale industrial extraction.
It is the objective of the “Boreal Heritage Initiative” to promote and garner wide regional, national and international support for the preservation and protection of this large, core intact area located in the heart of North America’s Precambrian Shield boreal forest. We also want to ensure that the indigenous communities continue to be part of the geographic scope of the proposed World Heritage Site, and that they have the resources necessary to fully participate in all phases of the design and planning.
To learn more about the Boreal Heritage Initiative and how you
can be involved in helping us to make this World Heritage site a
reality visit the following websites:www.borealnet.org, www.manitobawildlands.org,
www.savebiogems.org/boreal,
www.nrdc.org, or contact me
at don.sullivan@shawbiz.ca.
-------------------------------------
Update (as Eco-Journal goes to press)
The Provincial Government announced its support for the proposed
World Heritage Site in the Throne Speech, November 22. The Boreal
Forest Network is recommending that citizens encourage Conservation
Minister Stan Struthers to institute immediate interim protection,
under the Manitoba Parks Act, for the entire geographic scope for
the proposed site, as a demonstration of the Government’s
commitment. The Minister can be reached at mincon@leg.gov.mb.ca
or by fax: 945-3586.
Are you part of an environmental non-government organization that
is just kind of fed up with the status quo? Disappointed over and
over again by decisions and policies that seem to fly in the face
of what you are trying to accomplish? Feel like you’re always
fighting brush fires instead of getting down to the business of
building a sustainable society?
Take heart. Now is your opportunity to tell the world about your
vision—and get support for it from like-minded citizens.
Eco-Journal is planning to offer the centre pages of the next several
issues (February 1, April 1 and June 1) to groups who want to articulate
their goals and aspirations in the areas they work on. Whether this
be about food, transportation systems, waste reduction, wilderness,
children’s health, we want you to describe—as concretely
as possible—what the ideal situation will look like in Manitoba
in the future, and how we achieve it.
What’s in it for you?
Your group will have a clearly-stated vision and a “road map” of how to get there, ready for distribution to any and all who are interested—especially decision-makers who often need a gentle (or not-so-gentle) nudge in the right direction. You’ll have a ready-made guide (nicely laid-out and suitable for reproduction) for members of the public who want to support your cause, complete with “talking points”, important contacts, and ways they can contribute. You’ll be ready with the sustainable alternative when less-than-progressive ideas are floated at City Hall or the Legislature.
As environmental groups, we can’t stop reacting to the bad stuff, but its time to get serious about putting forward a positive agenda for discussion.
Be prepared to submit at minimum: text (straightforward and layperson’s language is best), pictures or other graphic elements which help illustrate your points, contacts for more information, suggestions on who to lobby, and ways that folks can contribute.
If you are interested, contact Heather Laird, Eco-Journal editor, for guidance about deadlines, word counts and content.
Note: While individual visions are important, this opportunity is currently for environmental non-governmental groups only.
Student-Lead Initiative
Launched: New Sustainability Project at U of W
By Vivian Belik
“No institutions in modern society are better equipped to catalyze the necessary transition to a sustainable world than universities. They have access to the leaders of tomorrow and the leaders of today. They have buying and investment power. They are widely respected. Consequentially, what they do matters to the wider public.”—Environmentalist, David Orr
Last winter, when Erica Young came up with an idea for a group project in her environmental sustainability class, little did she know that one year later her vision would materialize into a long-term goal for campus sustainability at the University of Winnipeg.
Young, who heads the University of Winnipeg’s EcoMAFIA group (Ecological Males and Females In Action), was inspired to address the issue of sustainability at her own university because of a campus sustainability conference that she attended in the fall of 2003 at Concordia University.
Much like the students at Concordia, Young felt that assessing the level of sustainability at the University of Winnipeg “was a good way to start asking questions about the way we do things [here on campus]”. Rather than idly preaching the virtues of sustainability in classrooms and lecture halls, Young and her classmates felt that the only way their school would ever become more socially, economically, and environmentally responsible was is if students and faculty were made aware of the factors that impeded their university from being as sustainable as possible.
Ecologically and socially responsible era
Young and her classmates labeled their project S.U.N.S.E.T. (Sustainable
University Now Sustainable Earth Tomorrow), a name that hopes to
close the door on unsustainable practices at the U of W and signal
the dawning of a more ecologically and socially responsible era
for the university.
Following guidelines laid out by the Sierra Youth Coalition, Young and the members in her group created a business proposal for the implementation of a student-led sustainability project at the University of Winnipeg much like the one that is ongoing at Concordia University. They decided to take their term project one step further, however, by actually presenting the finished product to the administration of their school in the summer of 2004.
Upon viewing the proposal, the administration eagerly committed itself to S.U.N.S.E.T., viewing the project as a complementary initiative to the university’s future plans of revitalizing Spence Street. The project, which fell under the jurisdiction of EcoMAFIA during the summer, has slowly been gaining momentum and just this past month, two UofW students, Andrew Basham and Dini Silveira, were hired to act as co-coordinators for the S.U.N.S.E.T. project. In order to establish S.U.N.S.E.T.’s reputation on campus and in the Winnipeg community, the university officially launched the project on November 16th to more than sixty students, staff, and members of the media.
Getting Started
In the first phase of the project which will likely last about a
year, students will be collecting data that will be later compiled
and analyzed in order to properly assess the level of sustainability
at the University of Winnipeg. The foundation of the S.U.N.S.E.T.
project is the Campus Sustainability Assessment Framework (CSAF),
a tool provided by the Sierra Youth Coalition that guides staff
and students in recognizing indicators of environmental and social
well-being at their respective university. The CSAF allows for an
in-depth analysis of campus sustainability because it assumes that
there is a dynamic interplay among social, economic, and environmental
factors at the university.
This interconnectedness among people and their surrounding ecosystem can manifest itself in different areas, namely, water and energy management, materials, land usage, student health and well-being, school governance, economy and wealth, community involvement, and the environmental knowledge base of students.
Putting Principles into Action
The CSAF is an extremely comprehensive overview that takes into
account almost all aspects of campus life. The framework outlines
about 170 different indicators that a university may find useful
in assessing the health of their campus. Examples of these include
whether or not there is pay equity among staff, vegetarian and vegan
options at the cafeteria, and good quality air flowing through hallways
and classrooms.
S.U.N.S.E.T. hopes to create an exciting opportunity for students
in various faculties to collect data for these indicators as part
of classroom projects.
S.U.N.S.E.T. will increase the number of ‘hands-on’
learning experiences for students, which project coordinator Dini
Silveira believes will act as a medium “for students and faculty
to work together”.
 |
| The official launch of the SUNSET project with (left to right) Dini Silviera, Sarah Amyot, Lloyd Axworthy, Alan Diduk, Barbara Rapsome, and Andrew Basham. |
Jenn Logan, a member of EcoMAFIA, is the first student at the University
of Winnipeg to research a S.U.N.S.E.T. indicator for course credit.
Rather than completing an assignment for her recreational geography
class that was displaced from her everyday reality, Logan opted
to research the number of staff and students who are physically
active at her own university.
“What I found quite shocking is how high our participation
levels are” says Logan in reference to her discovery that
24.7 % of all UofW staff and students are active, a number which
exceeds both Concordia’s average (5%) and the Canadian national
average for males (24%) and females (18%).
Although the members of S.U.N.S.E.T. realize that they may have a hard road ahead of them and that the benefits of the project will likely materialize only after they have graduated, there is a sense of pride and excitement among these students. They understand that in planting the seeds of sustainability today they are acting to reverse the social and ecological damages of tomorrow.
New developments
at Eco-Centre
By Anne Lindsey
Eco-Network projects and staff have seen some changes over the past couple of months. We’re pleased to welcome Tara Kenny as the new Resource Assistant in the Alice Chambers Memorial Library. Tara, with a background in both environmental and library technology, will be working on reorganizing and updating library holdings in preparation for our move to the MEC building. She’ll also be available Tuesday and Thursday afternoons to assist folks with their on-line research inquiries, and use of the public registry and other library materials. Tara can be contacted at library.mbeconet@mts.net
Climate Change Connection
Susan Block has joined us in the position of Public Education and
Outreach Co-ordinator for Climate Change Connection, and has settled
into the office generously provided for this project by the University
of Winnipeg. (You can visit Susan in the C-FIR office of the Geography
Department). Rachel van Caeseele, formerly the PEO Co-ordinator,
became Manager of the project and moved into the office here at
the Eco-Centre when Jen Duggan relocated out of province.
Susan and Rachel have just completed the latest in a series of rural
climate change workshops, with great turnouts in the Pas and Swan
River. Rachel reports that the Swan River youth contingent was particularly
impressive—strongly urging other community members to get
a climate change action plan underway. This brings to 11 the number
of rural and northern workshops held by Climate Change Connection.
They’ve engaged community members from across the spectrum
of interests and roles, and catalysed a number of climate change
related activities around Manitoba.
A new publication coming soon from Climate Change Connection: a guide to climate friendly businesses in Manitoba. This guide will be a practical tool for small and medium size enterprises in the province, seeking to operate more sustainably and more economically too! We’re pleased that the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce is participating in developing the Guide, and plans to distribute it to their members.
Water Caucus
Glen Koroluk has officially taken up the position of Water Caucus
Co-ordinator, in which he’ll be working together with the
many environmental groups with water concerns in the province to
provide feedback and advice to the Minister of Water Stewardship.
Glen will also be providing support to groups in their water conservation
and stewardship efforts, and facilitating communications between
the groups.
A very successful first meeting attracted some 20 representatives
of groups from around the southern portion of the province, who
briefly shared information about their work. In addition, Bill Barlow,
the Chair of the Lake Winnipeg Stewardship Board made a presentation
about the Board’s mandate and heard a variety of concerns
from the group, and Sam Stephenson provided an overview of the new
Species At Risk Act as it pertains especially to aquatic species.
We are grateful to the Department of Water Stewardship for providing
financial support to the Water Caucus project. Glen can be reached
at 947-3082.
GIS Project
Our new on-line watershed atlas has just been launched with the
first maps illustrating the “human footprint”, and other
features in the Nelson River watershed. The atlas will attempt to
remedy the dearth of spatial information on water issues in Manitoba
(as information proliferates, it is most often in text format).
The initial maps are being constructed using the various data sets
housed here at the Eco-Network. Environmental and community groups
will be able to arrange to have their own data of interest added
to the maps to support their conservation work. We welcome Kevin
Gaylord, a recent graduate of the GIS program at Red River College,
as a dedicated volunteer on the watershed atlas project.
Plan Winnipeg Amendment:
End of Oak Point Transit Corridor
By Elizabeth Fleming
The Oak Point Transit Corridor is drawn in the city’s long-term transportation plans as a short line along the old, disused CN Rail right-of-way from Academy Road, over the railway bridge across the Assiniboine River, to Portage Avenue. On November 25, Winnipeg city council’s executive policy committee held a statutory public hearing on a Plan Winnipeg amendment to delete this corridor. They passed the ammendment.
Why? A developer is seeking the city’s approval to develop
condominiums on the disused railway bridge. Before the necessary
re-zoning and variance for the condos can proceed, the land designation
must conform to Plan Winnipeg, the city’s blueprint for future
development.
City Council approved Plan Winnipeg in December 2001 after considerable
public consultation, council debate, and the blessing of the Province
of Manitoba. The policies read well. The overall strategy is to
put downtown first, ensure compact urban form, and maintain existing
neighbourhoods and infrastructure. There are policies which commit
the City to integrate land use, urban design and transportation
planning; to improve Transit and to direct Transit investment by
rapid transit corridor development. There are laudable policies
to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and promote noise reduction
measures.
Progress and quality of life reports?
On paper, the Plan holds out the promise of a brave new city through
civic engagement and political will. There is an encouraging “Monitoring
Progress” section. Winnipeg City Council commits to monitor
activities in annual Plan Winnipeg Progress Reports. The effectiveness
of the Plan will be measured against quality of life indicators
and made public in an annual Quality of Life Report.
In fact, Council has yet to produce a single Plan Winnipeg progress or quality of life report. The City of Winnipeg, like any of the other 200 municipalities in Manitoba, is a creature of the Province. The City of Winnipeg Charter explicitly says that council is not required to do anything Plan Winnipeg says but that development must be consistent with Plan Winnipeg.
Deleting the Oak Point Transit Corridor from the transportation maps is premature for several reasons. Funding for a bus rapid transit system along the southwest transit corridor (further east of the Oak Point corridor) was part of a memorandum of understanding signed by Mayor Glen Murray and the other two levels of government in March 2004. Since then, newly elected Mayor Sam Katz has reassigned $43-million of the earmarked $50-million to community centre improvements. There is still a possibility that the federal government will help fund transit. Mayor Katz is reportedly interested in exploring the feasibility of a light rail transit system. There is still room to the south of the corridor for a dedicated transit route and this could be designated in the next Plan so that the land remains available—if and when the money is found.
There could also be potential major changes along Kenaston Boulevard:
South of the Kenaston / Wilkes underpass, another Plan Winnipeg
amendment (By-law No. 50/2004), Waverley West, is pending. The would-be
developers envision 40,000 new residents on the 3,000-acre Waverley
West property in southwest Winnipeg. The projected increases in
average daily traffic volume for the proposed new Kenaston underpass
do not include the impact of Waverley West, should it proceed.
North of the underpass, Kenaston Boulevard is currently two lanes
in each direction. The City has advised the prospective owners of
the Kapyong Barracks property to allow for the widening of Kenaston
Boulevard. The re-development of Kapyong Barracks, which does not
require a Plan amendment, will add more residents, businesses and
traffic to the area.
Continuing north on Kenaston Boulevard, vehicular traffic reaches the St. James Bridge which at this point is two lanes only in each direction. Motorists already cut through River Heights residential streets to get to and from the southwest quadrant of the city. Residents have valid concerns about safety and air quality.
Residents have valid concerns
Reviewing the Oak Point Transit corridor as part of the next review
of Plan Winnipeg and in the context of integrated land use, urban
design and transportation planning could lead to improved air quality
and reduced greenhouse gases, improved public transit and reduced
traffic congestion.
The groundwork for the next review has already begun. Frankly, though, it is only worth citizens’ time to get involved if Council and the Province of Manitoba follow Plan Winnipeg more closely, amend it less readily, and report regularly to the public on its progress.
A Guide to Getting Involved in Civic Issues
There is no citizen’s handbook for people who are new to City
Hall and want to get involved. Here are some tips:
• Watch the news.
• Watch for notices which may appear on small yellow placards
near a potential development site.
• Watch the newspaper notices of city council meetings.
• Call the City Clerk’s office at 986-2171 for independent
and knowledgeable assistance and information.
• The Plan Winnipeg planner can be reached at 986-3101.
• Ask to speak to your City Councillor about issues in your
district.
The agendas, minutes and disposition of council committee meetings
can be found on the City of Winnipeg’s web-site: www.winnipeg.ca.
Click on the City Clerk’s department and then go to “decision
making information systems”.
Groups question process:
East-Side Report Goes to Minister
By Anne Lindsey
A number of environmental groups are expressing dismay about the way the final report of the East Side Planning Initiative has been managed. The report went to the Minister on November 16, without being vetted by members of the East Side Round Table, the group of Manitobans charged with advising the Minister on the subject of Broad Area Planning in this vast area. Don Sullivan of the Boreal Forest Network, a member of the Round Table, was outraged at what he felt was an insult to the Round Table. Portions of drafts had been circulated to various individuals, but Sullivan complained that there was never a full draft of the report, placing recommendations in context, available for the Table’s review.
Difficulties from the start
The East Side initiative was to be based on the principles developed
in the Consultion on Sustainable Development Implementation (COSDI),
which were adopted by the Government in October, 2000. However,
the Initiative was fraught with difficulties from the start—there
was confusion early on about how the process would be managed, and
when an ambitious plan was eventually developed, a lack of resources
prevented its full implementation. The process called for a structure
consisting of the Round Table, a First Nations’ Council (with
representatives from all 17 East Side First Nations), and an Advisory
Committee of stakeholders. It also called for multiple visits to
the communities of the East Side, only the first component of which
was accomplished.
Members of the Advisory Council (which included the Manitoba Eco-Network) were also excluded from reviewing the final report and were frustrated throughout the process by inadequate or untimely information. Transparency and the need for relevant information to be available on a timely basis is a cornerstone of COSDI.
Conservation Minister Stan Struthers has said that the government will respond to the East Side report in 10 to 14 days. The Eco-Network is calling on the Minister to immediately table the report for public review and comment.
Greening School Ground
Design
By Barb Haffner
Educators have long recognized the positive impact that the physical arrangement of an indoor classroom can have on children. But in more recent years, there has been increased attention paid to the positive impact that the physical arrangement of the outdoor school grounds can have on children and on our environment.
Today’s play spaces are changing because our life styles are changing. Today, up to 85% of our population lives in cities. Some inner city schools have 95% of student populations living in apartment style housing. Children have far less daily access to natural areas than in the past. Arguably, part of having less access to green space is because there is less natural play space now than when we were children. However, it’s also because we’ve created fewer opportunities both in the way we design our communities and how we structure our lives.
Studies show that a child’s “free time” (time outside classes) is decreasing because children are spending more time in daycare and before/ after school programs. As well, we structure and program our children’s lives to a greater degree than we used to. Fifteen years ago our kids had 40% more free time than they do today.
What do children need on a school ground? Typically, traditional playgrounds are designed to address only physical play. Anyone who has had children in their presence knows that children engage in other types of play such as creative play, quiet play and social play. A well designed school grounds should include opportunities for all types of play.
Interest in nature can be developed
Developmental stages of children are another need not typically
met by most school grounds. David Sobel, a teacher, author and leading
thinker in environmental, place-based education criticizes the educational
system for not recognising the stage most often missed, which are
the middle years. Sobel states that during this period a keen interest
in nature can be developed and states that these nature values generally
stay with a person for a life time. (Sobel, 1993)
Designing healthier green spaces on school grounds provides a wide range of benefits to students, teachers and community at large, as well as to the environment. Some examples include providing more meaningful play and learning, and increased opportunities for experiential learning. Teacher benefits include reduced discipline and classroom management problems. In fact, a study by Lieberman and Hoody revealed that students who study in the natural environment academically out-perform those who do not. An increased sense of community pride and sense or ownership is often noted by participants of school ground greening projects. (see Cheskey, in Nature Nutures) One of the greatest community benefits is that these types of projects help to create active citizens.
Looking just at the benefit of simply allowing for appropriately placed trees on school grounds we see that they shade our children, reduce cooling costs for our buildings and can reduce air temperatures. Children spend about 25% of their school day on the school yard where the danger of UV is a real issue (Cheskey in Nature Nurtures). Research shows that 1 in 7 children will develop skin cancer in their lifetime and approximately 80% of lifetime exposure to sun occurs before the age of 18. (Toronto Public Health). It is also a potential for shade trees to reduce building costs by 15-20%. (Konopaki, 2001 in Bell)
Cities have been referred to as urban heat islands for sometime now as they are generally warmer than the surrounding areas. School yards have been identified as a heat island within a heat island. A recent studied showed that the air temperature of un-shaded surface temperatures on school grounds were about 20 degrees hotter than the air temperatures. (Moogk-Soulis, 2002). On a typical spring day of 25 degrees, we’re sending our children out to play in the searing conditions of 45 degrees.
How do you go about making some changes to the school in your neighborhood? Evergreen can help. Evergreen is a national non-profit environmental organization with a mandate to bring nature to our cities through naturalization projects. Evergreen motivates people to create and sustain healthy, natural outdoor spaces and gives them the practical tools to be successful through its three core programs: Learning Grounds—transforming school grounds; Common Grounds—conserving publicly accessible land; and Home Grounds—for the home landscape.
Workshops to support school ground greening
The Learning Grounds Program provides funding, expert advice, resources,
workshops, curriculum connections and more. Starting this fall Evergreen
will be offering a series of interactive workshops in Winnipeg designed
to support and enhance school ground greening projects. The series
is appropriate for schools planning new projects or adding a phase
to an existing project. For more details see www.evergreen.ca and
follow the links to Learning Grounds, or contact the writer at bhaffner@evergreen.ca
for more information or to obtain a complete list of references
for this article.
Communities still
affected decades later: Mercury Poisoning at White Dog
By Julie Fine
In August 2004, a team of Japanese doctors, a nurse, professors, students, Canadian interpreters and a documentary filmmaker set out to visit two reserves in North-western Ontario. Twenty-nine years after an initial study in the 1960s, world-renowned neurologists Dr. Harada and Dr. Fujino returned to Grassy Narrows and White Dog to conduct a follow up study to their original study on mercury poisoning in these communities. During her two-day visit to White Dog, the author of this article interpreted Japanese and English for the patients and doctors alike and gathered patient medical histories.
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| Dr. Harada administers a blood test on a patient, while an aid takes a hair sample for analysis. |
Historical Background
Between 1962 and 1970, the Dryden pulp & paper mill legally
dumped 9,000 kilograms of mercury into the Wabigoon-English river
system that runs along the Manitoba- Ontario border. Both White
Dog and Grassy Narrows reserves are situated along this 480-kilometre
river system.
By 1970, several species of fish contained high methyl mercury levels; and 21 aboriginals in Kenora and Dryden showed very high levels of mercury in their hair. This same year, the Ontario government officially banned commercial fishing along this river system, but allowed sports fishing to continue. The provincial government advised the people of Grassy Narrows and White Dog not to eat fish from these waters; however, it took an additional five years for the government to bring in uncontaminated fish to this area. The Ontario government ordered the Dryden mill to stop dumping mercury waste in 1970 and then in 1974 provided financial subsidies to assist with this process. In 1975 the Dryden mill fully converted to using a non-mercury process.
In 1975 when Dr. Harada and Dr. Fujino first visited Grassy Narrows and White Dog, about 50% of the people they sampled had blood mercury levels five times higher than levels considered to be safe. In 1985 some people of Grassy Narrows and White Dog received financial compensation and in 1986, the Ontario government and the bands created the Mercury Disability Board to administer, assess and provide compensation (a total of $17 million) to those with mercury poisoning. In 2004, it is still not advised to eat fish from the Wabigoon- English river system. In September 2004, Treaty 3 Organization called for a public inquiry into the effects of mercury poisoning to these two communities.
Medical Observations
Over the course of two days at White Dog, the author of this paper
assisted Dr. Tsuruta with language interpretation and interviewed
about 20 patients regarding their medical history. Some of the typical
symptoms of mercury poisoning that the doctors were looking for
included: impairment of the senses (blurred vision, poor hearing,
slurred speech and poor taste); twitching and shaking; numbness
in the hands and legs; pain in the joints, neck and shoulders; loss
of sensation in the skin; poor muscle coordination; impaired balance;
poor reflexes; partial paralysis; memory loss and dementia.
A number of the patients that we examined over the course of the visit exhibited some of these symptoms. Most prominent were the symptoms of numbness in the hands, upper body and legs; pain in the joints; loss of skin sensation; impaired balance; and poor muscle coordination. One woman in her 70’s was unable to mimic Dr. Tsuruta’s simple rotating wrist movements and a young teen had difficulty walking a straight line and had little sensitivity to pin pricks on her skin.
Observations made by four doctors
Two of the four doctors concurred that residents of White Dog exhibited
more severe symptoms of mercury poisoning than those at Grassy Narrows.
70% to 80% of the patients that Dr. Harada tested at both Grassy
Narrows and White Dog had some level of mercury poisoning. Mercury
poisoning can lead to a weakening of the immune system and therefore
high levels of other illnesses in these communities may be related
to mercury.
Recognition, compensation for mercury poisoning
To their credit, Canada and Japan are the only two countries in
the world that recognize and compensate for mercury poisoning. Regardless
of mercury contamination sites across Canada, our government recognizes
and compensates only poisoning that occurred at Grassy Narrows and
White Dog. Canadian doctors and government do not recognize mercury
poisoning as existing concurrently with other diseases. Where compensation
is granted, there is little accompanying investigation or assessment
of the impact of the poisoning. The diagnostic tools most often
utilised in Canada are readings from hair and blood samples. Unfortunately,
these tend to underestimate the impact of mercury poisoning. Over
long periods these readings decrease, suggesting that the problem
has rectified itself, while in actuality, the symptoms tend to increase
with age, particularly for those who are elderly.
The author wishes to advance this issue further through an educational
forum or workshop dedicated to mercury poisoning and environmental
contamination. Anyone interested in supporting this initiative through
contributions of time, expertise, or financial support, please contact
Julie Fine at jlfine19@yahoo.ca.
October 2004 Conference
Reviewed: Youth and Food Security Project
By Charlene Rowland
Many Canadians have no relationship with where their food comes from. The average distance food travels in Canada from farm to plate is over 2000 kms. It is of vital importance that teenagers and youth, the next generation of food consumers, begin to take a more active role in designing and maintaining an ecological food system. By empowering youth through education, both in schools and on actual farms, we encourage them to make sustainable choices in what kind of food they eat and which products they purchase. During November 2003 I was approached by the local organizing committee for the National Food Security Assembly to assist in the development of a Youth and Food Security Outreach Project.
The United Nations defines Food Security as:
Food Security exists when all people, at all times, have physical
and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet
their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy
life.
Local, national, and global Food Security is greatly affected by the commoditization of food, the impact of genetically engineered plants on the environment and international trade policies promoted by the World Trade Organization.
Effects of globalization and poverty
This project was proposed as a method of directly educating high
school students in Winnipeg about various Food Security issues.
Topics included the effects of globalization and poverty, as well
as the leading causes of chronic hunger which affect millions of
people worldwide. An emphasis was placed on positive examples of
how students can support a more sustainable food system.
The local organizing committee planned a National Food Security Assembly in Winnipeg which included presentations and workshops by many outstanding authors and Food Security advocates. The committee graciously offered 20 student bursaries to allow high school delegates to attend the Assembly and interact directly with these notable speakers. In addition, we organized a ‘farm tour’ which took place during the Assembly at the Wiens Family Shared Farm. This was the first time many of the teens had ever seen an actual organic farm!
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| Student delegates, Assembly participants and farm educators at Wiens Family Shared Farm tour. Photo by Ken Corley. |
Organic and Fair Trade products
As the Youth and Food Security Project facilitator, I developed
a one hour presentation with the help of Dan Wiens, Canadian FoodGrains
Bank, and Anne Lindsey, Manitoba Eco-Network. This informative presentation
includes a thorough resource list of where students can find organic
and Fair Trade products as well as various additional reading materials
about other Food Security topics.
Teachers Chris Bandfield (from Sisler High School), Ken Corley and Neil Taylor (from Vincent Massey Collegiate) invited me to speak to their World Issues and Social Studies classes and invite them to participate in the National Assembly. I was amazed by the response I received from the students! As the October 2004 National Food Security Assembly drew nearer, I visited both schools and, with the help of the teachers involved, determined which group from each class would be able to attend the Assembly.
During the weekend event I was completely honored to attend workshops with these outstanding students. Their energy and excitement was evident to everyone at the Assembly and quite infectious! As the student delegates attended numerous workshops throughout the event they admitted to me that their eyes had been really opened to several new issues. They also became determined to create actions at their own schools that will help to educate fellow students and teachers about Food Security in their community.
At the end of the Assembly there was a lovely evening banquet which all of the participants and speakers attended. During the banquet the student delegates were given a chance to make their own presentation about what new concepts and ideas they had just learned.
I realized at that moment that this ‘next generation’ of activists, organizers, and policy makers really does give me hope. They are learning from our guidance as we should be learning from their eagerness to create change through immediate action. It is our responsibility to offer young people many creative opportunities to get involved in this challenging movement toward a sustainable economy and more holistic environmental interaction.
The Youth and Food Security Project was created as part of the National Food Security Assembly and we are dedicated to continuing our work after the Assembly. For more information, please contact the author by emailing farmlink@animail.net.