The Role of Indigenous Knowledge Practices Within Transformative Reconciliation

This métissage explores scholarly relations among local Indigenous communities, school districts, teacher-learners and Simon Fraser University’s graduate diploma program titled Indigenous Education: Education for Reconciliation. Through our collective attending to the role of Indigenous knowledge practices and making within transformative reconciliation, a powerful resurgence of Indigenous ways of knowing and being emerged. This resurgence came about through participatory pedagogies of making and through the sharing of Indigenous knowledges, cultural practices, ceremony and language revitalization. The focus on Indigenous knowledge practices, circle processes and artmaking, as well as Indigenous worldviews, knowledges and perspectives, provided an enactment of rigorous resurgence and transformative reconciliation (Ash et al., 2018). Opportunities to be involved in Indigenous making and land practice with Indigenous Knowledge Holders provided occasions for teacher-learners to embody and embed Indigenous pedagogies and “two-eyed seeing” (Bartlett et al., 2012) within their educational practice. Throughout the program, teacher-learners were invited into Indigenous making, creative and critical conversations, exploring circle pedagogies, participatory processes, place-based explorations and intercultural dialogues with Indigenous Knowledge Holders and Elders. The teachers acknowledged and experienced Indigenous protocols and ceremonies, and they actively explored Indigenous teachings through Indigenous participatory pedagogies. An emphasis was placed on creating authentic Indigenous-learning pathways and to do so in relation to knowledge practices within a particular place, peoples and their unique cultural ecology. This Indigenous Métissage (Donald, 2012) weaves together narrative threads into a story of collaboration between teacher-learners and Knowledge Holders. They stand as a family stands, together to share and give witness to the profound learnings that have emerged from the journey

Energy Efficiency: Finding Leadership Opportunities

Between 1995 and 2011, the population of Alberta increased by roughly 40 per cent, but energy use in the province grew much faster, with a 62 per cent increase over the same period. In the industrial sector, the province’s largest energy consumer, demands grew 110 per cent. In mining and oil-and-gas extraction specifically, energy use over that period soared, growing by 355 per cent. That remarkable growth in energy consumption creates a particular challenge for Alberta Premier Alison Redford, who in 2011 ordered her ministers to develop a plan that “would make Alberta the national leader in energy efficiency and sustainability.” The province is still waiting. The incentives to become more energy efficient are not particularly strong in Alberta. The province’s terrain and size favour larger and less-efficient vehicles. Energy in the province is abundant, so there is little cause for concern over energy security. And energy is relatively affordable, particularly for a population that is more affluent than the Canadian average. There is little pressure on Albertans to radically alter their energy consumption behaviour. Yet, improved energy efficiency could position businesses in Alberta to become even more globally competitive, in addition to leading to improved air quality and public health. And for a province racing to keep up with growing energy demand, effective measures that promote conservation will prove much cheaper than adding yet more expensive infrastructure to the energy network. Many other jurisdictions have already provided examples of methods Alberta could employ to effectively promote energy conservation. First, Alberta must set hard targets for its goals to save energy, and then monitor that progress through transparent accounting, measuring and reporting. The provincial government can also nurture a culture of energy conservation, by formally and publicly recognizing leadership in efficiency improvements in industry and buildings, and by issuing an annual “premier’s report card,” making public the progress on province-wide efficiency efforts. For a province that continues to enjoy growth in business and population, updated guidelines around new building codes have been proven to improve energy efficiency. And there remains a significant opportunity for Alberta to improve efficiency in its commercial and industrial sectors, the largest users of energy, by providing government incentives to replace ageing equipment with more efficient technology. Alberta is also well suited for a shift toward more combined heat and power generation plants, which can repurpose generated heat that is otherwise wasted, significantly reducing energy demand and costs. And in a province awash in natural gas, incentives to encourage travel using compressed or liquefied natural gas vehicles could serve to boost energy efficiency in the transportation sector as well. Alberta is fortunate in that it has abundant energy and prosperity, making improved energy efficiency a matter of choice, rather than — as in some jurisdictions — one of urgent necessity. It is, however, a choice that Alberta has enough reasons, and resources, to make. All it requires is the will

Universities, Politics and Development in Northern Ontario and Northern Sweden: A Comparative Analysis

Both Ontario and Sweden established universities in their northern regions in the nineteen sixties. This article begins by noting that the two regions are similar in very many ways and that the pressures exerted in both for the establishment of postsecondary educational institutions were much the same. The article continues by comparing the rationales and principles upon which the two sets of universities were founded. It is indicated that while the principle of regional access dominated in northern Ontario the principle of regional service dominated in northern Sweden. Thus the northern Ontario universities began as small, basically undergraduate Arts and Science institutions while the universities in northern Sweden began as specialized professional institutes intended to solve specific regional problems and disparities. The article goes on to analyse the academic, financial and geographic problems faced by the two sets of northern universities since they were founded and the developments that have taken place. An assessment is then made of the successes andfailures of the two systems and it is argued that although some convergence has taken place the Swedish approach has been the more successful of the two.L'Ontario et la Suède ont, parallèlement, créé des universités dans leurs régions du nord au cours des années soixante. Le présent article commence en mentionnant la similitude des deux régions, sous bien des aspects, tout comme celle des pressions exercées dans les deux cas, au sujet de la création d'instituts universitaires. Cet article se poursuit avec une comparaison entre les raisonne-ments et les principes sur lesquels les deux établissements universitaires furent fondés. Il est précisé que dans le nord de l'Ontario le principe prédominant était la difficulté d'accès au point de vue régional, alors que dans le nord de la Suède c'était le principe du service régional qui prédominait. C'est pourquoi les universités du nord de l'Ontario furent au début de petites institutions, préparant principalement à la licence d'arts et de sciences, alors que les universités du nord de la Suède furent dès le départ des établissements professionnels spécialisés, dont le but était de résoudre les problèmes et les disparités régionales spécifiques. L'article aborde ensuite l'analyse des problèmes académiques, financiers et géographiques que rencontrent les deux établissements universitaires depuis leur création, ainsi que les aménagements qui y ont été entrepris. Il fait ensuite état d'une évaluation des succès et des échecs concernant les deux systèmes et affirme que, malgré une certaine convergence, l'approche suédoise a été la plus fructueuse des deux

Transmission Policy in Alberta and Bill 50

We would like to express our appreciation to participants at the “Electricity Transmission Policies: Issues and Alternatives” workshop sponsored by the School of Public Policy for comments and suggestions and, in particular, Marcy Cochlan, Randy Stubbings, Joseph Doucet, Larry Ruff, Richard Tabors, Steven Stoft, Dan Levson, Bob Baer, Aidan Hollis, Carl Fuchshuber, Tom Cottrell, Cory Temple and Evan Bahry. The graciousness and spirit with which they provided comments does not of course imply endorsement of our approach or conclusions. In addition, we benefited from the comments of an anonymous referee.The views expressed in these publications are those of the authors' alone and should not be interpreted as the views of the School of Public Policy or of its supporters, staff or boards

Environmental Benefits of Using Wind Generation to Power Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles

As alternatives to conventional vehicles, Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) running off electricity stored in batteries could decrease oil consumption and reduce carbon emissions. By using electricity derived from clean energy sources, even greater environmental benefits are obtainable. This study examines the potential benefits arising from the widespread adoption of PHEVs in light of Alberta’s growing interest in wind power. It also investigates PHEVs’ capacity to mitigate natural fluctuations in wind power generation

Predicting health care utilization using CIHI's Population Grouping Methodology

Introduction CIHI’s Population Grouping Methodology uses data from multiple sectors to create clinical profiles and to predict the entire population’s current and future morbidity burden and healthcare utilization. Outputs from the grouper can be applied to healthcare decision making and planning processes. Objectives and Approach The population grouping methodology starts with everyone who is eligible for healthcare, including those who haven’t interacted with the healthcare system, providing a true picture of the entire population. The grouper uses diagnosis information over a 2-year period to create health profiles and predict individuals’ future morbidity and expected use of primary care, emergency department and long-term care services. Predictive models were developed using age, sex, health conditions and the most influential health condition interactions as the predictors. These models produce predictive indicators for the concurrent period as well as one year into the future. Results The power of the model lies in the user’s ability to aggregate the data by population segments and compare healthcare resource utilization by different geographic regions, health sectors and health status. The presentation will focus on how CIHI’s population grouping methodology helps client’s monitor population health and conduct disease surveillance. It assists clients with population segmentation, health profiling, predicting health care utilization patterns and explaining variation in health care resource use. It can be used for risk adjustment of populations for inter-jurisdictional analysis, for capacity planning and it can also be used as a component in funding models. Conclusion/Implications CIHI’s population grouping methodology is a useful tool for profiling and predicting healthcare utilization, with key applications for health policy makers, planners and funders. The presentation will focus on how stakeholders can apply the outputs to aid in their decision-making and planning processes