Climate Change, Health, and Vulnerability in Canadian Northern Aboriginal Communities

BACKGROUND: Canada has recognized that Aboriginal and northern communities in the country face unique challenges and that there is a need to expand the assessment of vulnerabilities to climate change to include these communities. Evidence suggests that Canada’s North is already experiencing significant changes in its climate—changes that are having negative impacts on the lives of Aboriginal people living in these regions. Research on climate change and health impacts in northern Canada thus far has brought together Aboriginal community members, government representatives, and researchers and is charting new territory. METHODS AND RESULTS: In this article we review experiences from two projects that have taken a community-based dialogue approach to identifying and assessing the effects of and vulnerability to climate change and the impact on the health in two Inuit regions of the Canadian Arctic. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the two case projects that we present argue for a multi-stakeholder, participatory framework for assessment that supports the necessary analysis, understanding, and enhancement of capabilities of local areas to respond and adapt to the health impacts at the local level

Gender and place influences on health risk perspectives in northern Canadian Aboriginal communities

Developing a better understanding of the factors underlying health and environmental risk perspectives has been the focus of significant research in recent years. Although many previous studies have shown that perspectives of risk are often associated with gender, sociocultural variables and place, our understanding of the relationship between these factors and risk remains equivocal. A research study was undertaken to develop better insights into the understanding and perspectives of various types of health risks in two sets of northern Canadian Aboriginal communities – the Yellowknives Dene First Nation communities of N’Dilo and Dettah in the Northwest Territories and the Inuit communities of Nain and Hopedale in Nunatsiavut. Gender was found to have a limited overall effect on risk perspectives, consistent with other studies that found no gender differences in communities stressed by multiple and concurrent risks. Nonetheless, subtle gender differences were seen in the qualitative responses, with women focusing more on community impacts and mitigating actions. Threats to ‘place-identity’ associated with changes in traditional lifestyle and connection to the land were strongly associated with risk perspectives. These results reinforce the need to be cautious in making assumptions about the complex effects of community and personal attributes, such as gender and gender relations, in assessing the factors underlying risk views and concerns. They also suggest the importance of gathering multiple types of data (both quantitative and qualitative) in order to fully assess the effects of both gender and place. Ultimately, understanding risk in a northern context requires recognizing the unique circumstances and identities of northern Aboriginal peoples

Climate Change in Northern Quebec: Adaptation Strategies from Community-Based Research

Arctic communities are recently reporting warmer and shorter winters, which have implications for the ice season and, consequently, on the access to local territories and resources by members of these communities. These climatic shifts are resulting in increased risks for travel during the winter season associated with less stable and thinner ice. An integrated community-based monitoring (ICBM) program was developed in Nunavik to generate adaptation tools to support safe access to land and resources and to enhance local adaptive capacity through participation in community-based monitoring activities. The Nunavik ICBM approach brings together partners (northern communities, Canadian universities, and various organizations) that have different perspectives on the issues surrounding land and resources in Nunavik. The ICBM project also brings together traditional knowledge and scientific knowledge, linking data collected through semi-structured interviews, local ethnocartographic interviews, and ice-monitoring activities with data gathered at weather stations. The partnership-based Nunavik ICBM program dealing with territory and resource access is an example of communities and scientists working together to improve our understanding of climate change impacts in the North, their importance for aboriginal people, and the ways in which an integrated, cooperative research process can develop local adaptive capacity.Les communautés arctiques rapportent depuis quelques années des hivers plus chauds et plus courts qui ont des implications sur la saison de glace et par conséquent sur l’accès au territoire et aux ressources locales par les membres de ces communautés. Ces conditions climatiques ont comme conséquence d’augmenter les risques lors des voyages hivernaux en raison de glaces instables et plus minces. Un programme intégré de surveillance des glaces (PISG) a été développé au Nunavik pour produire des outils d’adaptation visant à soutenir l’accès sécuritaire au territoire et aux ressources et pour augmenter la capacité d’adaptation locale par la participation communautaire aux activités de surveillance. L’approche du PISG rassemble plusieurs partenaires (les communautés nordiques, universités canadiennes et différents organismes) qui s’intéressent particulièrement aux questions d’accès au territoire et aux ressources au Nunavik et y apportent des perspectives variées. Le projet du PISG intègre le savoir traditionnel et le savoir scientifique utilisant plusieurs sources de données (provenant des entrevues semi-structurées, des entrevues ethno-cartographiques locales, de la surveillance de glace et des données météorologiques). Le PISG est un exemple de partenariat entre les communautés nordiques et les scientifiques qui permet de mieux comprendre les impacts des changements climatiques en cours dans le nord, leur importance sur les peuples autochtones et la façon dont la capacité d’adaptation locale peut être développée par une recherche intégrée et coopérative

15. L’évaluation de la fidélité d’implantation

En 2011, la Régie régionale de la santé et des services sociaux du Nunavik a commencé à appuyer financièrement le Projet de Distribution d’Omble chevalier (Arctic Char Distribution Project ou AC/DP dans son acronyme en anglais) pour les femmes enceintes. Cette initiative favorisait la consommation d’une nourriture traditionnelle invite – le poisson « Omble chevalier » – pour les femmes enceintes vivant dans les villages du Nunavik, une région du nord du Québec peuplée majoritairement de personnes d’origine inuite. Cette intervention visait à réduire l’exposition aux contaminants environnementaux et à améliorer l’état nutritionnel et la sécurité alimentaire. La mise en œuvre du projet a été évaluée sur la base des données collectées à partir de documents du projet, de notes de terrain et d’entretiens qualitatifs avec les bénéficiaires et les exécutants du projet. Les thèmes émergeant des données ont été discutés à la lumière du cadre de fidélité à la mise en œuvre développé par Carroll et coll. (2007). Les femmes enceintes ont pleinement adopté l’initiative pour sa pertinence culturelle. Toutefois, la mise en œuvre du projet était incomplète : elle ne couvrait pas toutes les zones géographiques prévues, et il y avait une incohérence récurrente dans l’approvisionnement et la distribution du poisson. En outre, l’initiative n’était pas financée de façon stable. Ce travail montre que la complexité du projet est susceptible d’entraver la réussite de la mise en œuvre, en particulier en termes de communication et de coordination.In 2011, the Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services began supporting the Arctic Char Distribution Project (AC/DP) for pregnant women. This initiative promoted consumption of a traditional Inuit food – the fish Arctic char – for pregnant women living in villages of Nunavik, an area in northern Quebec (Canada) inhabited predominantly by people of Inuit ethnicity. This intervention was intended to reduce exposure to environmental contaminants and improve nutriritional status and food security. The project’s implementation was assessed based on data collected from background documentation, field notes and qualitative interviews with project recipients and implementers. Themes emerging from the data were discussed in the light of the framework for implementation fidelity developed by Carroll et al in 2007. Pregnant women fully embraced the initiative for its cultural appropriateness. However, project implementation was incomplete because it did not cover all intended geographic areas, and there was a recurring inconsistency in the supply and distribution of the fish. In addition, the initiative has been inconsistently funded. This work highlights the extent to which project complexity can impede successful implementation, particularly in terms of communication and coordination.En 2011, la Junta Regional de Salud y Servicios Sociales de Nunavik comenzó a proporcionar apoyo financiero al Arctic Char Distribution Project (AC/DP) para mujeres embarazadas. Esta iniciativa promovió el consumo de alimentes tradicionales de los inuit, el salmôn del ârtico, para las mujeres embarazadas que viven en las aldeas de Nunavik, una régión del norte de Quebec poblada principalmente por personas de origen inuit. Esta intervención tenía por objeto reducir la exposición a los contaminantes ambientales y mejorar el estado nutricional y la seguridad alimentaria. La ejecución del proyecto se evaluó sobre la base de los datos recogidos de los documentas del proyecto, las notas sobre el terreno y las entrevistas cualitativas con los beneficiarios y ejecutores del proyecto. Los temas que surgieron de los datos fueron discutidos a la luz del marco de fidelidad de implementación desarrollado por Carroll et al. (2007). Las mujeres embarazadas han adoptado plenamente la iniciativa por su relevancia cultural. Sin embargo, la ejecución del proyecto fue incompleta: no abarcó todas las zonas geográficas previstas y había una incoherencia récurrente en el suministro y la distribución de pescado. Además, la iniciativa no se financió sobre una base estable. Este trabajo muestra que la complejidad del proyecto puede dificultar una ejecución exitosa, especialmente en términos de comunicación y coordinación

Inuit Knowledge of Beluga Whale (Delphinapterus leucas) Foraging Ecology in Nunavik (Arctic Quebec), Canada

The beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas (Pallas, 1776)) is expected to be influenced by changes in the environment. In Nunavik, the Arctic region of Quebec, Nunavimmiut (Inuit of Nunavik) have depended on beluga for centuries developing an extensive understanding of the species and its ecology. Forty semi-directive interviews were conducted with Inuit hunters and Elders from four Nunavik communities, who had a range of 28 to 47 years of beluga hunting experience. Interviews followed an ethnocartographic format and were analyzed using a mixed methods approach. Hunters most commonly reported prey species from the sculpin, cod, salmon, and crustacean families; regional variations in prey as well as foraging habitat were found. Hunters identified significant changes in body condition (i.e. blubber thickness), which were associated with observations about the seasonality of feeding. The timing of fat accumulation in the late fall and winter coupled with the understanding that Hudson Bay is not known as a productive area suggest alternate hypotheses to feeding for the seasonal movements exhibited by these whales. Inuit Knowledge of beluga foraging ecology presented here provides information on diet composition and seasonality of energy intake of the beluga and can be an important component of monitoring diet composition for this species into the future.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author

Expanding the Alternating Propagation–Chain Transfer-Based Polymerization Toolkit: The Iodo–Ene Reaction

Analogous to the thiol–ene and phosphane–ene polymerizations, radical-mediated iodo–ene reactions are described here that proceed via alternating propagation and chain transfer (i.e., APT) reactions between perfluoroiodide- and vinyl-bearing monomers. The thermal polymerization of a diiodo/tetraene formulation yielded a cross-linked, homogeneous polymer that was approximately seven times as radiopaque as aluminum owing to its high iodine content. Visible-light photopolymerizations of model iodo–ene monomers were monitored using mid-IR spectroscopy, revealing that the perfluoroiodide functional group consumption exceeded that of the vinyl, a discrepancy that decreased with increasing irradiation intensities and hence polymerization rates. The functional group conversions in resin formulations with a large initial perfluoroiodide excess exacerbated secondary side reactions that led to off-stoichiometric functional group consumption; nevertheless, photopolymerization of resin formulations with excess vinyl stoichiometry proceeded according to the ideal APT mechanism