The Social Networks of Rural Business Owners in East Central Alberta

Community/Rural/Urban Development,

Diasporic tourism in Western Ukraine. Perspectives and challenges

This study analyses the perspectives of roots tourism through the experiences of Western Ukrainian diaspora members visiting their places of origin and the views by tour operators specialised in roots tourism and public authorities dealing with tourism in the region, evaluating the actual or potential impact in terms of tourism development opportunities. The peculiar history of this territory makes it a distinct research target, with dynamics that are different from the rest of the country. The desire to turn Western Ukraine into a solid tourist destination and the aim of stimulating economic development in a region that is still struggling to re-emerge from its marginality are widespread and form a fertile basis for the growth of diaspora tourism as a solid asset. The case of the Ukrainian diaspora and its relations with roots tourism is important because it holds partial yet significant similarities with many other diaspora histories and groups. The emotional links with the homeland are strong among the first generation migrants, while second and further generations of Ukrainian migrants show weaker personal connections with Ukraine, yet still show widespread interest in visiting the country of their ancestors. Lights and shadows emerge from the diaspora tourists' experiences and perceptions. Specialised tour operators clearly see the enhancement of this form of tourism as an important business opportunity, while public authorities are not currently focusing on this segment, preferring general tourism promotion. Key words: Diaspora, roots tourism, Western Ukraine, identity, development

Long-distance attachments and implications for tourism development: the case of the Western Ukrainian diaspora

This study analyzes the perspectives of roots tourism through the experiences of Western Ukrainian diaspora members. Their sense of attachment to the ancestral homeland and their visits to the places of origin are investigated, together with the views by tour operators specialized in roots tourism and public authorities dealing with tourism in the region, evaluating the actual or potential impact in terms of tourism development opportunities. The peculiar history of this territory makes it a distinct research target, with dynamics that are different from the rest of the country. The desire to turn Western Ukraine into a solid tourist destination and the aim of stimulating economic development in a region that is still struggling to re-emerge from its marginality are widespread and form a fertile basis for the growth of diaspora tourism as a solid asset. Lights and shadows emerge from the diaspora tourists’ experiences and perceptions. Specialized tour operators clearly see the enhancement of this form of tourism as an important business opportunity, while public authorities are not currently focusing on this segment, preferring general tourism promotion

A Pictoral History of Alberta Agriculture

Booklet - A Pictoral History of Alberta Agriculture. A collection of photographsAlberta Women's Institute

Détermination de l'importance des cavités en période hivernale et utilisation de l'habitat par le Grand Polatouche (Glaucomys sabrinus) en forêt boréale mixte de l'Est du Canada

Depuis l'adoption en 2001 d'une nouvelle loi sur les forêts souscrivant aux principes de développement durable, le maintien de la biodiversité est devenu un enjeu de poids pour l'aménagement forestier au Québec. Pour atteindre cet objectif, certains auteurs suggèrent de conserver les cavités qui constituent une ressource faunique importante autour de laquelle interagissent les pics, certains oiseaux forestiers et d'autres petits mammifères tels que le Grand Polatouche (Glaucomys sabrinus). Ce dernier est un rongeur arboricole nocturne qui utilise les cavités comme refuge diurne et site de mise bas, et pour lequel l'utilisation de l'habitat est peu connue en forêt boréale de l'est du Canada. Puisque les cavités sont souvent peu disponibles en forêt boréale et qu'elles pourraient offrir une isolation thermique supérieure à celle d'autres types de nids, les cavités ont le potentiel de limiter la présence du Grand Polatouche dans un climat rigoureux. L'objectif de cette étude était de déterminer si les cavités affectent l'utilisation de l'habitat par le Grand Polatouche et de décrire les caractéristiques des nids utilisés en période hivernale. En forêt boréale, puisque la majorité des cavités sont excavées dans le Peuplier faux-tremble (Populus tremuloides), nos hypothèses étaient que le Grand Polatouche utiliserait les forêts matures de feuillus et qu'il éviterait les milieux ouverts qui nuisent à sa dispersion. Aussi, le Grand Polatouche occuperait les sites avec une plus grande disponibilité de cavités et il préfèrerait les cavités comme refuge en période froide. Nous avons déterminé les facteurs d'habitat qui influençaient l'occupation de site et les facteurs climatiques qui affectaient la probabilité de détection de l'espèce à différentes échelles spatiales. D'abord, nous avons visité 149 paires de nichoirs à l'hiver 2008 et utilisé un SIG pour extraire des variables de composition du paysage à partir des cartes écoforestières. Ensuite, nous avons piégé 59 sites feuillus représentant un gradient de disponibilité de cavités à l'automne 2008 et échantillonné ces peuplements pour quantifier les variables d'habitat susceptibles d'influencer l'occupation de site par le Grand Polatouche. Finalement, 46 individus parmi les 85 individus capturés ont été suivis par télémétrie entre septembre 2008 et juin 2009 afin d'identifier leurs refuges diurnes, et de tester l'effet de la température sur leur sélection. Les résultats supportent partiellement nos hypothèses. À l'échelle du paysage, le Grand Polatouche évite les forêts de conifères et ne semble pas être influencé par la proportion de forêt mature ou de milieux ouverts. De plus, à l'échelle du peuplement, il a été détecté dans 58% des sites échantillonnés dominés par le Peuplier faux-tremble. Par contre, la disponibilité de cavités n'influence pas l'occupation de sites par le Grand Polatouche. À l'échelle du nid, les localisations télémétriques montrent qu'en période hivernale les femelles utilisent principalement les nids au sol (44%) alors que les mâles semblent sélectionner surtout les nids externes (57%). Lorsque la température diminue, les femelles comme les mâles évitent les cavités, leur préférant respectivement les nids au sol et les nids externes. Les résultats confirment que les forêts de feuillus sont importantes pour le Grand Polatouche en forêt boréale de l'est du Canada. De plus, bien que les cavités soient utilisées par le Grand Polatouche, celles-ci ne semblent pas représenter un facteur limitant l'espèce en période froide. \ud ______________________________________________________________________________ \ud MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : Glaucomys sabrinus, nid, climat froid, télémétrie et occupation de site

Ties undone : a gendered and racial analysis of the impact of the 1885 Northwest Rebellion in the Saskatchewan district

The Northwest Rebellion, in comparison to other North American civil wars, was short-lived and geographically contained, but for the people who lived through it, the residents of the Saskatchewan district, 1885 was a real and a frightening ordeal. By exploring micro-relations at the individual, family and community levels, and focusing on the connections between residents and ways that they related to each other, a portrait of the region emerges that reveals that Euro-Canadians and Aboriginals were linked to each other in many, and often subtle ways before the uprising. Drawing on personal papers, government and Hudson's Bay Company records, and oral histories, this study shows that race and gender were determining factors in how white, First Nations, Metis and mixed-blood men and women experienced both the conflict itself and its aftennath. Furthermore, its impact on residents' lives and society in the Saskatchewan territory was considerable and the effects long-lasting. Barriers, both physical and social, were created and solidified, and, although groups were still linked by the same family ties that bound them before the spring of 1885, the ways that they viewed each other changed after the rebellion. Mistrust and hostility that had not existed before, or that had been repressed, broke the bonds that connected racial groups, and sometimes families. The new order in Saskatchewan was one in which Euro-Canadians held power, and Aboriginals were second-class citizens barred from mainstream society. The rebellion accelerated white domination of the region, and acted as a catalyst for the racial divisions evident in Saskatchewan in the twentieth century

Herbicide dynamics in prairie wetlands

Prairie wetlands are affected by agricultural activities, in particular herbicide contamination of wetland ecosystems. The environmental fate of herbicides in wetlands is determined by their persistence and transport. Currently, little is known about the persistence of commonly used herbicides in wetland water and sediment. The objective of this dissertation was to determine the importance of wetland sediments in influencing the fate of commonly used herbicides in prairie wetlands. Sediment sorption is an important dissipation pathway for herbicides. The effects of land use on physicochemical properties of wetland sediment, and the associations between these properties and herbicide sorption characteristics for four herbicides (trifluralin, atrazine, 2,4-D and glyphosate), were examined for 17 wetlands. The sorption of herbicides in sediment increased in the order of 2,4-D < atrazine < glyphosate < trifluralin. Overall, sediments from wetlands that were recently cultivated had lower total organic carbon (TOC), total inorganic carbon (TIC), electrical conductivity (EC), exchangeable cation (EXCAT), cation excheageable capacity (CEC), and sorption coefficient (Kd) values (2,4-D, trifluralin, and atrazine) than sediments from semi-permanent and riparian ephemeral wetlands. Although TOC content was correlated to the sorption of 2,4-D, trifluralin and atrazine, riparian wetland sediments despite having a lower TOC content than semi-permanent wetland sediments, had the highest herbicide sorption capacity for 2,4-D, trifluralin and atrazine. To further examine the link between land use and herbicide sorption by sediment, a multi-residue analytical method was developed to quantify seven sulfonylurea herbicides commonly used in crop production (thifensulfuron-methyl, tribenuron-methyl, ethametsulfuron-methyl, metsulfuron-methyl, rimsulfuron, nicosulfuron and sulfosulfuron) in sediment from 17 wetlands. Sediment was extracted with deionized water using pressurized liquid extraction and the resultant extracts were cleaned-up using Oasis HLB solid-phase extraction cartridges. Quantification and confirmation were performed using liquid chromatography interfaced with positive ion electrospray tandem mass spectrometry, and multiple reaction monitoring. Calibration curves were linear with correlation coefficients greater than 0.994 and limits of quantification ranged from 1.0 to 2.0 µg kg-1. Ethametsulfuron-methyl, sulfosulfuron and metsulfuron-methyl, the three most environmentally persistent of the seven sulfonylurea herbicides monitored in this study, were most frequently detected in wetland sediment. The concentrations of sulfonylurea herbicides were higher in sediments from the semi-permanent wetland, which received surface runoff from a larger catchment. To assess the relationship between herbicide dissipation and sorption to sediment, seven commonly used herbicides (glyphosate, dicamba, bromoxynil, 2,4-D, MCPA, mecoprop-P and dichlorprop) were applied to one half of an ephemeral (E) and a semi-permanent (SP) prairie wetland to mimic a direct overspray event, a worst-case scenario for wetland contamination. Water and sediment samples collected over a 77-d study period (early June to late August) were analyzed for herbicide concentration; aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA), the degradation product of glyphosate, was also monitored. Glyphosate dissipated rapidly in the water column of each wetland with DT50 values of 3.7 d for wetland E and 6.9 d for wetland SP. The mass of AMPA in each wetland increased with a concomitant decrease in the mass of glyphosate, suggesting that glyphosate degradation was occurring in the water column. In addition, glyphosate was also lost from the water column via sorption to bottom sediment, as evidenced by its detection in sediment samples up to 42-d post-treatment (39.0 – 224.5 µg kg-1). The DT50 of the other six acid herbicides ranged from 2.3 d (bromoxynil) to 31 d (dichlorprop). The two chiral herbicides, mecoprop-P and dichlorprop, were the most persistent acid herbicides in the water column. Sorption to sediment was also an important dissipation route for these six herbicides in water, especially in wetland E. After 77 d in the semi-permanent wetland and 56 d in the ephemeral wetland, the concentrations of bromoxynil, dicamba and 2,4-D were below the Canadian Water Quality Guidelines for the Protection of Aquatic Life. Concentrations of the more persistent herbicides (mecoprop-P and dichlorprop) remained at levels above the guidelines. Use of bromide ion as a conservative tracer indicated that some of the water loss from both wetlands was via infiltration. Because there was a strong correlation between the decrease in bromide ion and herbicide mass in the water column, it is possible some herbicides were lost from the water column along with the infiltrating water. Infiltration to wetland margins during this part of the growing season would have been largely driven by the riparian vegetation surrounding both wetlands. Overall, this thesis demonstrated the importance of sediment in the dissipation of currently used herbicides in wetland ecosystems. Both laboratory sorption studies and whole-wetland experiments provided insights on the sorptivity of herbicides in sediment as well as their persistence in water and sediment

Vulnerability and Adaptation to Drought

Although there is considerable historical literature describing the social and economic impact of drought on the prairies in the 1930s, little has been written about the challenges presented by drought in more contemporary times. The drought of 2001-02 was, for example, the most recent large-area, intense, and prolonged drought in Canada and one of Canada's most costly natural disasters in a century. Vulnerability and Adaptation to Drought describes the impacts of droughts and the adaptations made in prairie agriculture over recent decades. These adaptations have enhanced the capacity of rural communities to withstand drought. However, despite the high levels of technical adaptation that have occurred, and the existing human capital and vibrant social and information networks, agricultural producers in the prairie region remain vulnerable to severe droughts that last more than a couple of years. Research findings and projections suggest that droughts could become more frequent, more severe, and of longer duration in the region over the course of the 21st century. This book provides insights into the conditions generating these challenges and the measures required to reduce vulnerability of prairie communities to them. Developing greater understanding of the social forces and conditions that have contributed to enhanced resilience, as well as those which detract from successful adaptation, is a principal theme of the book. To that end, the book examines drought through an interdisciplinary lens encompassing climate science and the social sciences. Two of the chapters are based on the drought experiences of other countries in order to provide a comparative assessment