Room 611: Tuesday, September 26. 2023

Today's schedule is CDAB

C/D Blocks Social and Environmental Sciences - From the EPA in the United States...What is an Estuary?

An estuary is a partially enclosed, coastal water body where freshwater from rivers and streams mixes with salt water from the ocean. Estuaries, and their surrounding lands, are places of transition from land to sea. Although influenced by the tides, they are protected from the full force of ocean waves, winds and storms by land forms such as barrier islands or peninsulas.
Estuarine environments are among the most productive on earth, creating more organic matter each year than comparably-sized areas of forest, grassland or agricultural land. The sheltered waters of estuaries also support unique communities of plants and animals specially adapted for life at the margin of the sea.
Estuaries provide us with a suite of resources, benefits and services. Some of these can be measured in dollars and cents, while others cannot. Estuaries provide places for recreational activities, scientific study and aesthetic enjoyment. Estuaries are an irreplaceable natural resource that must be managed carefully for the mutual benefit of all who enjoy and depend on them

Why is this relevant? Because today we are off to the Courtenay River Estuary to look for evidence of thousands of years of fishing by the indigenous people who inhabited the lands you live on and in today. We will take you to the estuary and there are a few things...First,

Gila’kasla

We respectfully acknowledge that the land we gather on is on the unceded traditional territory of the Pentlatch, E'iksan, and K’ómoks First Nation, the traditional keepers of this land. We would like to thank them for the privilege of living on the land and the gift of working with their children.

Gila’kasla

Remember tread lightly on the shoreline, leave everything in its place, especially the small crabs (leave them on ground, do not step on them or poke them with sticks). We will look for evidence of Traditional Ecological Knowledge at the low tide line today.

Defining traditional ecological knowledge (often referred to as TEK) in the context of Indigenous worldview is not a simple task, TEK is a western concept. A commonly referenced definition of TEK is “a cumulative body of knowledge, practice and belief, evolving by adaptive processes and handed down through generations by cultural transmission, about the relationship of living beings (including humans) with one another and with their environment” From an Indigenous perspective, TEK is not a pool of data or discipline of study. Instead, it is a way of life, a way of being and doing, a connection to the land, laws, roles and responsibilities that are embedded in stories.

Results of highly detailed mapping and radiocarbon dating at a vast and largely unknown intertidal fish trap complex indicate a large-scale, technologically sophisticated Aboriginal trap fishery operated at Comox Harbour, Vancouver Island, British Columbia between about 1,300 and 100 years ago. From Hakai Magazine:

The Ingenious Ancient Technology Concealed in the Shallows: Fish traps have a long history around the world, and a vast network in a Vancouver Island estuary reveals generations of ecological wisdom.

So, meet at Young's room and then we'll head to the bus loop for our very quick trip to the estuary.

Some questions to consider:

What are the issues that you have to consider when planning for a responsible fishery?
Who is responsible for our ocean and fresh water fisheries?
What are key factors that have led to overfishing?
What are our present day responsibilities?

We'll have an activity on this for you to work on in Friday's classes. Take pictures and nothing else, okay? To help with that:

A Block Legal Studies - Today we'll talk about equality and look at section 15 of the Charter. We'll look at the difference between prejudice and discrimination. Equality is understood to have four meanings:

1. Equal before the law
2. Equal under the law
3. Equal benefit
4. Equal protection

It may be surprising to note that this clause was one of the more controversial issues of the constitutional debate. Some provinces did not see the need for equality rights to be written into the Charter since provincially human rights codes were seen as protection enough.

The phrase "before and under the law" is significant because it means that not only do people have equal access to the courts and to equal administration of justice (the "before" part) but that the laws that are discriminatory will be struck down by the courts (the "under" part). So in Andrews v. Law Society of British Columbia, [1989] 1 S.C.R. 143 Mark Andrews met all the requirements to become a lawyer in British Columbia, but he did not have Canadian citizenship. Because he did not meet the citizenship requirement, he was not accepted. Andrews challenged the provincial law, which prevented him from being a lawyer, arguing that it was discriminatory since it treated non-citizens and Canadian citizens differently. The majority of the Supreme Court decided that the provincial law infringed equality rights, because it did not let otherwise qualified people practice law solely because of their citizenship.

This case was the Court’s first decision on equality rights. It has influenced the development of equality law well beyond the specific facts of Mr. Andrew’s case, because Justice McIntyre emphasized that section 15 of the Charter protects and promotes substantive equality of opportunity for all. The court has added the following grounds (analogous to those enumerated) in section 15 (1):

Non-citizenship (Andrews, supra; Lavoie v. Canada, [2002] 1 S.C.R. 769);
Marital status (Miron v. Trudel, [1995] 2 S.C.R. 418; Nova Scotia (Attorney General) v. Walsh, [2002] 4 S.C.R. 325; Quebec v. A., supra);
Sexual orientation (Egan v. Canada, [1995] 2 S.C.R. 513; Vriend, supra; M. v. H., [1999] 2 S.C.R. 3: Little Sisters, supra); and
Aboriginality-residence as it pertains to a member of an Indian Band living off the reserve (Corbiere v. Canada (Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs), [1999] 2 S.C.R. 203).

I'll have you work through a Charter scavenger hunt worksheet and on Thursday/Friday we'll look at Aboriginal Rights and the Charter.

B Block Human Geography - Few ecosystems have been as thoroughly modified by humans as the Netherlands and Florida's Everglades. Because more than half of the Netherlands lies below sea level, most of the country today would be under water if it were not for massive projects to modify the environment by holding back the sea. Meanwhile, the fragile landscape of south Florida has been altered in insensitive ways. So I'd like you to identify in point form the problems in both these locations and explain what have humans done (Describe the human modifications and adaptations to these two environments). Then I'd like you to answer the following question at the end of your week 1 package?:

Both the Netherlands and the Florida Everglades face threats to sustainability. Which is better positioned to face future challenges? Explain your answer.

To help check out the videos on yesterday's blog and the following:

Everglades in crisis: can this Florida treasure avert an environmental tragedy?
Why is it Important to Restore the Everglades?
The Everglades Threats to the Ecosystem

Humans and the Everglades

7 Threats and 7 Solutions in Southern Florida’s Fight Against Climate Change

Florida's Sea Level Is Rising

Will Florida be lost forever to the climate crisis?