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| Mr. Ingram's photo |
D/C Blocks Social and Environmental Sciences - Today we are off for a field study of the beach at Point Holmes (Georgia Strait Alliance site code XPH). You will be doing a beach quadrat to look for biodiversity indicators through gathering quantitative information from the intertidal zone. Quadrat studies are a method of looking at what kinds of animals, seaweeds and plants live in the intertidal zone, and how abundant they are relative to each other. A primary quadrat analysis is a survey of what is living above the substrate level (the beach has cobbles and boulders that come from the Vashon Till plain which makes up Cape Lazo - it is exposed to the southeast winter winds and is a high energy shoreline which causes erosion of the bluffs to the beach). It does not include unattached (washed up) plants or dead animals. It gives us information about what kinds of species are living on the beach, how many of them are present and how much of the beach they occupy.
We'll start with the high tide line/drift line (supralittoral), work through the inter tidal zone (mesolittoral), and finish with the swash zone (infralittoral). Often the wrack line (last high tide line) is covered in seaweed and other material (i.e. plastic pollution and beach litter). If there are multiple wrack lines, all details describing which wrack line was evaluated should be included in your notes. Identification should be to the species level if possible. Use magnifiers, identification sheets, and field identification books to help you identify organisms. If unsure note it with a question mark and take a picture of it. For algae, identifying to genus is often all that is practical in the field. There are two types of data being collected in the primary survey – percent cover and species presence/abundance. Percent cover takes into account both living and dead material – species presence/abundance only records living organisms.
Our low tide at Point Holmes will be 1.32m (4.3ft) at 11:25 am.
B Block Human Geography - Today we'll look at the Key Question: Where Is the World’s Population Distributed? Human beings are not distributed uniformly across Earth’s surface. We can understand how population is distributed by examining two basic properties - concentration and density. Today we'll examine where populations are concentrated looking at the concept of ecumene. Lastly we'll look at density in terms of arithmetic, physiological and agricultural forms. You've got three questions to answer for me today:
- Why isn’t North America one of the four major population clusters?
- On the map in the week 2 package...use the maps on page 47 to prepare a sketch map that shows non-ecumene and very sparsely inhabited lands (remember map basics!)
- In terms of food supply, which combination of measures of density is most important when considering whether a country’s population is too large? Why?
BTW...B.C.'s population has surpassed five million people for the first time in its history, growing at a rate of 7.6 per cent between 2016 (population: 4.6 million) and 2021 (population: 5 million), the latest census data from Statistics Canada shows. We have four of Canada's five fastest-growing metropolitan areas — all of which are outside the Metro Vancouver region and the Kelowna, Chilliwack, Kamloops and Nanaimo census metropolitan areas all saw growth of 10 per cent or more in between 2016 and 2021. Here, Courtenay’s census agglomeration reported almost 63,300 in 2021, a 9.2% increase from 2016.
A Block Legal Studies - Today we'll start with a look at Aboriginal Rights in the Charter (Section 25). It's important to note that section 25 does not create any new rights but rather protects against the abrogation or derogation of existing aboriginal, treaty or other rights or freedoms
We'll talk about the significance of the Calder v. Attorney-General of British Columbia, 1973 decision. From the Agreements, Treaties and Negotiated Settlements Project:
The decision in Calder v Attorney-General of British Columbia was handed down by the Supreme Court of Canada on 31 January 1973. It is often credited with having provided the impetus for the overhauling of the land claims negotiation process in Canada. The case was initiated in 1968 by the Nisga'a Tribal Council against the Government of British Columbia. It failed both at trial and in the Court of Appeal. The Supreme Court overturned the Court of Appeal's finding in recognising the possible existence of Aboriginal rights to land and resources, but was equally divided on the issue of whether the Nisga'a retained title. The decision prompted the federal government to develop new policy to address Aboriginal land claims. In 1976 Canada commenced negotiations with the Nisga'a Tribal Council. British Columbia did not join the negotiations until 1990. The Nisga'a Final Agreement was concluded in 1999 and implemented by legislation in 2000.
We'll also talk about the landmark Delgamuukw-Gisday'way Aboriginal title case. This case is very important in the RCMP’s enforcement of the Coastal GasLink injunction against the Wet’suwet’en Unis’tot’en camp last year. APTN Wet’suwet’en Conflict site
In the Delgamuukw case, Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs established that the Indigenous nation has a system of law that predates the days of elected band councils enacted under Canada's Indian Act. Under traditional Wet'suwet'en law, hereditary chiefs are responsible for decisions regarding ancestral lands. In the current dispute, some hereditary chiefs say the decision to approve a pipeline in their ancestral lands without consent is an infringement of their Aboriginal title and rights.
From this case, the Supreme Court of Canada declared that for aboriginal title to be present it must satisfy the following criteria:
- the land must have been occupied before sovereignty,
- there must be a continuity between pre-sovereignty and modern times (but not an unbroken chain)
- at the time of sovereignty, the occupancy must have been exclusive (but it could have been jointly exclusive by more than one party or tribe).
The Wet’suwet’en, like many Indigenous groups in Canada, are governed by both a traditional governance system and elected Chiefs and Councils. The Chief and Council system exists under the Indian Act, a piece of federal legislation. It was introduced by the federal government in the 19th century as part of Canada’s attempts to systematically oppress and displace Indigenous law and governance. The Wet’suwet’en hereditary governance system predates colonization and continues to exist today. Unless otherwise authorized by the Indigenous Nation members, the authority of elected Chiefs and Councils is limited to the powers set out under the Indian Act. The Indian Act does not provide authority for a Chief and Council to make decisions about lands beyond the boundaries of the First Nation’s reserves. By contrast, the Hereditary Chiefs are responsible under Wet’suwet’en law and governance for making decisions relating to their ancestral lands. It is these lands that the Hereditary Chiefs are seeking to protect from the impacts of the pipeline project, not Indian Act reserve lands.
After a discussion on the current conflict in northern BC (as a microcosm for Canada wide issues) I'll have you discuss the Guerin v. The Queen, 1984 case in partners and then, I'd like you to look at the issue section "Should Aboriginal Peoples have their own system of Justice" on pages 106-07 in AAL and I'd like you to partner up with another student in the class. Your pairing should discuss questions 1-4 on page 107 and then be prepared to share with the class. We'll then do the same for questions 5 & 6 from the unit review on pages 108-09 of AAL
At a basic level of understanding, the concept of justice is understood differently by Indigenous peoples. For most Indigenous peoples, the traditional method of addressing wrongs committed against community members involved restoring or healing relationships rather than punishing the offender. The offender and victim(s) would discuss the harm caused by the offense. The offender would be expected to understand the consequences and take responsibility for the harm, and together, they would discuss appropriate ways to make amends.
Justice is not seen as a separate domain from community life that needs to be overseen and administered by experts (such as police, lawyers, judges. etc.), rather it must be integrated into daily living. Most disputes should be resolved in the community, among the families of those affected, and guided by elders.
The roots of restorative justice models stem from traditional Indigenous methods of conflict resolution which rely on community involvement and the implementation of holistic solutions Restorative justice focuses on holding the offender accountable in a meaningful way, rather than simply imposing punishment.
From Bringing Balance to the Scales of Justice
Websites to help your discussion:
Healing the Canadian justice systemWhy does the Canadian justice system treat aboriginal people as if they’re all the same?
UBC Indigenous Foundations Aboriginal Rights
Overrepresentation of Indigenous Peoples in B.C. corrections system rising, says Statistics Canada report
Indigenous Justice Strategy Programs Province of BC
The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Girls and Women Final Report reveals that persistent and deliberate human and Indigenous rights violations and abuses are the root cause behind Canada’s staggering rates of violence against Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA people.
Right to Culture - The history of colonization has altered Inuit, First Nations, and Métis Peoples’ relationships to their culture and identity through targeted policies designed to sever their cultural and kin connections. These attacks on culture, which include residential schools, the Sixties Scoop and other assimilatory policies, are the starting points for other forms of violence Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people experience today.
Right to Health - Colonial violence directed toward cultural practice, family, and community creates conditions that increase the likelihood of other forms of violence, including interpersonal violence, through its distinct impacts on the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health of Inuit, First Nations, and Métis Peoples. In sharing stories about the health issues they or their missing or murdered loved ones faced and the experiences they had in seeking health services, family members and survivors illustrated how addressing violence against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people must also address their right to health.
Right to Security - First Nations, Inuit, and Métis women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people live with an almost constant threat to their physical, emotional, economic, social, and cultural security. As families, survivors, and others shared their truths with the National Inquiry, it became clear that, for the majority of Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people living in all settings and regions, security is a key area where violence against Indigenous women and girls can and should be addressed.
Right to Justice - While there are many facets to understanding the experiences of Métis, First Nations, and Inuit women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people and the justice system, this chapter focuses most closely on the experiences of the families of missing and murdered loved ones. We also look at what survivors of violence told us about their experiences with police, the court system, and the correctional system. These encounters highlight crucial disconnections between Indigenous people and justice systems that compromise their basic right to justice.
Today's Fit...
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