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Canada is ‘weaving’ Indigenous science into environmental policy-making
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Canada is ‘weaving’ Indigenous science into environmental policy-making
Research shows that Indigenous communities in Canada are at higher risk from climate-related disasters such as flooding. Myrle Ballard is setting out to make sure Indigenous people are also part of the solution to climate change.
Ballard is the first director of Environment and Climate Change Canada’s new division of Indigenous Science, a role in which she’s tasked with raising awareness of Indigenous science within the department and helping the government find ways to integrate it into its policies.
“Indigenous science is … a science of the way of knowing the land. It’s a way of knowing the water, the air, everything about the Earth. Their knowledge of the weather patterns, their knowledge of how species migrate,” Ballard said in an interview with What On Earth. “It’s this knowledge that has enabled them to survive.”
Ballard, an assistant professor in the faculty of science at the University of Manitoba, is Anishinaabe from Lake St. Martin First Nation. Some of her own research looks at what Indigenous languages reveal about local ecosystems. She said her own first language, Anishinaabemowin, has a scientific management tool embedded within it.
“We have words for various spaces and places right across the country that are very significant to the natural state of the ecosystem,” she said.
The names of streams, for example, reveal details about the natural way water flows. Other words contain information about when fish start to spawn, said Ballard.
“We have words like that that are very significant as a biological monitor throughout our language,” said Ballard. “They’re the indicators of the state of the ecosystem and the way it was before, to the present.”
Ballard, who was hired in July to lead the new permanent division, is using a process she calls “bridging, braiding and weaving.” Bridging means raising awareness about Indigenous science within the government, while braiding is when Western scientists work together on research with Indigenous peoples on the land.
“The weaving process will be when the government, when the department ECCC, starts weaving Indigenous and Western science for better-informed decision-making,” she said.
This concept is not new for Dominique Henri, a wildlife researcher with the ministry. She’s been collaborating for about 15 years on research with Indigenous partners in the Arctic and subarctic. Most recently, she worked with Inuit partners to study the impact of climate change on polar bears.
“The bear biologists within our team learned tremendously from listening to elders’ stories and narratives,” she said. “It’s just been beautiful to see how it’s just different parts of a puzzle. [Western] science doesn’t know it all; Inuit don’t know it all, either. And by putting those pieces together, then you just have such a more rich, fuller picture of what’s going on.”
Henri said these partnerships aren’t easy to forge. It’s important to use a process that’s reciprocal, mutually beneficial and ethical, she said. And engaging properly with communities takes time. But Henri said having Ballard in this role will help.
“This team has a crucial role to play moving forward. And I hope that we can learn from this, and that other departments can then also create similar structures and that other initiatives can spread across the country,” she said.
“I think this is the future. This approach of mobilizing multiple ways of knowing in environmental conservation is really needed, I would say, to address the ecological crisis we are facing now.”
During her first few weeks in the role, Myrle Ballard has been organizing a speaker series, inviting government scientists to learn from Indigenous scholars and experts on environmental issues. A spokesperson from the department said via email that the series has so far had three speakers and more than 800 participants.
Ballard is confident the work is already making a difference.
“We’re creating change, I know we are, because we’re getting a lot of interest from within the government,” she said. “We’re not quite there yet, there’s a lot of work to be done, [but] we’ll get there eventually. It just takes time.”
— Rachel Sanders
Reader feedback
Our interview with Todd Smith, a former pilot who is warning people to fly less for the sake of the planet, generated a lot of responses.
Jay McKean:
“At last! A former pilot telling us to cut back on our air flights. I think our government must legislate how many flights a year a person can take. What government wants to do that? Such legislation will be like reinstating the temperance movement when alcohol was banned.”
Karen Hertz:
“Stop wasting your time telling regular people who rarely use airplanes for travel. GO TO THE MAIN SOURCE OF AIRPLANE TRAVEL — THAT IS, THE UBER RICH!!!”
Rodney Harle:
“Todd Smith, the retired pilot, is wrong. Flying is not the problem. The problem is the fuel that is used, not only for flying, but also for all forms of transportation. The whole world must cease using ALL fossil fuels within the next 10 years. If we do not intend to do it, and do not do it, then the climate will continue to get hotter and wetter and stormier.”
Jeff Hawker:
“The recent article on the need for us to jet less mirrored what I have been thinking for some time. We humans are great at rationalizing things to suit our wants. Three per cent of CO2 from flying gets rationalized as it’s only a small part of the problem, and MY flight is only a piece of that, so it’s OK for me to jet around. Sadly, the CUMULATIVE EFFECT of everyone doing that is why we’re in so much trouble.”
Old issues of What on Earth? are right here.
The Big Picture: The nature of climate protest
One of the most heated debates on the environmental beat in recent weeks concerns “the soup action” — namely, the incident at the National Gallery in London last Friday in which two demonstrators tossed tomato soup at the Vincent van Gogh painting Sunflowers to protest Big Oil’s patronage of the arts. The immediate response from most observers was alarm and disgust — they saw it as a pointless act of resistance that unnecessarily targeted a prized work of art and would likely sour people on climate action.
After the initial shock of the stunt wore off, the conversation around it began to evolve, with commentators providing more context. One of them was NASA climate scientist Peter Kalmus, who launched a Twitter thread by calling it “a visionary and inspired action.” As Kalmus pointed out, many people — especially young people — are frustrated by the relative inaction on reducing carbon emissions, and, in some cases, the expansion of fossil fuel projects. The two protesters from the group Just Stop Oil decided to do something that would command the world’s attention, which they did. The twist is that van Gogh’s work is behind glass and was thus unaffected. “The painting is *perfectly fine,*” Kalmus wrote. “What they DID damage? Crazy social norms that hold an object of art to be worth more than billions of people’s lives and life on Earth. Their action holds a mirror to a sick society.”
Scottish eco activist Craig Murray was one of many whose minds were changed. After originally calling the stunt “stupid vandalism, and counterproductive,” Murray later said, “I was wrong about this. The painting is behind glass and unharmed. In which case, this is a very effective bit of campaigning for publicity.”
A few days later, one of the young women who took part in the stunt explained her rationale in clear terms: “I recognize that it looks like a slightly ridiculous action…. What we’re doing is getting the conversation going so we can ask the questions that matter: Is it OK that [now-former U.K. prime minister] Liz Truss is licensing over 100 new fossil fuel [projects]? Is it OK that fossil fuels are subsidized 30 times more than renewables, when currently offshore wind [power] is nine times cheaper?… This is the conversation we need to be having now, because we don’t have time to waste.”
Hot and bothered: Provocative ideas from around the web
Canada still hasn’t met its 2020 biodiversity targets. Here are 3 possible solutions
In less than two months, Canada will host delegates from around the world for a United Nations summit on biodiversity. But as a host country, it is struggling to solve its own biodiversity problem.
The 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the Convention on Biological Diversity will meet in Montreal to address accelerating species decline globally and negotiate a new framework for protecting nature, with a key commitment of conserving at least 30 per cent of land and oceans by 2030.
Canada, a member of the High Ambition Coalition, has already committed to the 30 by 30 pledge. Yet the federal government has failed to meet its biodiversity commitments for 2020, casting doubt on how likely it is to achieve those 2030 goals.
The most recent data shows land and freshwater conservation in Canada is falling short of the 17 per cent target for 2020, with 13.5 per cent of terrestrial area currently protected. In terms of protecting marine life, the country has made more progress — 13.9 per cent of marine and coastal areas is conserved, surpassing the 2020 goal of 10 per cent.
As COP15 in Montreal draws near, here are some solutions that could change the status quo.
Grassroots stewardship
A Canadian initiative launched in October hopes to help spur grassroots action by making it easier for the public at large to understand where crucial habitats are located.
The Key Biodiversity Areas program has an interactive map that visualizes biodiversity hotspots in Canada, where rare species and ecosystems are concentrated.
Areas identified on the map aren’t guaranteed to be protected or conserved. Instead, the idea is that by sharing the information publicly, the program can be used as a springboard for conservation efforts by citizens, community organizations and Indigenous-led stewardship.
“We’ve already had people in all sorts of sectors saying, ‘OK, if this is identified as a key biodiversity area, we might be able to get more funding for this, to be able to steward it better,'” said Ciara Raudsepp-Hearne, director of Key Biodiversity Areas at Wildlife Conservation Society Canada.
Until now, Raudsepp-Hearne said that information didn’t exist in a standardized, national format.
Accounting for forests and wetlands — literally
Another idea being pitched is adding biodiversity to the balance sheet, so to speak, to ensure natural assets are factored into government decision-making.
A recent paper, from the University of Waterloo’s Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation, calls for the establishment of national guidelines to value green infrastructure (wetlands, forests and lakes) in the same way that is standard practice for “grey” infrastructure (roads, dams and water treatment plants).
“Every day, people benefit from services that nature provides, be that flood protection or protection from extreme heat or purifying our water or air. But we take those services for granted,” said Joanna Eyquem, managing director of climate resilient infrastructure at the Centre on Climate Adaptation.
While some have pushed back against this approach, arguing nature can’t be limited to a financial value, Eyquem said it’s not about slapping a price tag on nature as a whole, but on the services it provides.
“If we say nature is worth so much that we’re not going to put a price tag on it, we’re actually putting a price tag of zero [on it],” she said.
A stronger federal biodiversity law
Some activists say what’s needed is a federal law to guarantee the protection of flora and fauna in the country.
Salomé Sané, a Greenpeace Canada climate campaigner who worked on a paper calling for biodiversity legislation, said a law would hold Ottawa accountable on translating biodiversity promises into concrete action.
“We want an act that sets clear biodiversity targets, clear implementation mechanisms and clear legal recourses in the case of a failed target.”
While Canada does have some biodiversity protections in place, such as the Species At Risk Act (SARA), the government has long been criticized for its reticence in using the powers enshrined in the act.
Sané is hopeful the COP15 summit will be a turning point.
“We really want it to be like the Paris [agreement] moment — if not more — for biodiversity,” she said. “It’s that once in a decade opportunity for governments around the world.”
— Jaela Bernstien
The federal government is looking at making Islamic home financing increasingly accessible to help more Canadians break into the housing market.
As part of the 2024 federal budget that was released last week, Ottawa said it is “exploring new measures to expand access to alternative financing products, like halal mortgages.”
Last month, the federal government started consulting financial services providers and communities to understand how policies can better support the needs of all Canadians seeking home ownership, according to the budget.
“Canada is home to a vibrant and growing market of alternative financing products, including halal mortgages, that enable Muslim Canadians, and other diverse communities, to further participate in the housing market,” the budget states.
Currently, none of Canada’s big six banks offer halal mortgages, which are an interest-free payment structure that follows Islamic principles.
However, some lenders in Canada have been offering halal mortgages for several years now.
“Halal mortgages are already offered to all Canadians by financial institutions,” Caroline Thériault, a spokesperson for the Department of Finance, said in an emailed statement to Global News Tuesday.
Thériault said halal mortgages are not government of Canada products.
“The government is simply looking at ways to help more Canadians become homeowners, while ensuring adequate consumer protections are in place.”
What is a halal mortgage?
A halal mortgage is a real estate financing method that complies with Islamic principles and teachings.
Under Sharia law, it is forbidden for Muslims to receive and pay interest, so a halal mortgage essentially takes interest out of the equation.
Instead, the mortgage is based on the principle of profit, said Mohamad Sawwaf, founder and CEO of Manzil, a Canadian financial institution that offers Sharia-compliant services.
Manzil has been offering halal mortgages that are both partnership- and profit-based since 2020.
“We look at this product as an innovation within the Canadian mortgage marketplace to allow for a segment of the population and the broader ethical community that may want to participate,” Sawwaf said in an interview with Global News Monday.
The end result of homeownership is the same, but the process and documentation are different compared with a regular mortgage, he said.
“Within the Islamic finance principles, you’re acquiring a real asset, it’s commodity-based, and then you are reselling it or partnering in that asset long-term, so that is the key difference here.”
Victor Tran, a mortgage and real estate expert at Ratesdot.ca and broker with True North Mortgage, said a halal mortgage is almost like a traditional mortgage where the lender and the homeowner have shared ownership of the property, but there are extra steps involved.
He said the difference is that “instead of charging interest to the homeowner, the contract is structured in a way where there’s a fee charged.”
Even though halal mortgages are interest-free, it doesn’t mean the lending happens at a zero per cent charge, Sawwaf said.
“It just means that you’re not part of a transaction where money is being lent and you have to pay more money back,” Sawwaf said.
“That is the principle of usury within Islam and other Abrahamic faiths that we’re trying to avoid.”
Usury, which is the lending of money at exorbitant interest rates, is also prohibited in Judaism and Christianity.
Types of halal mortgages
Halal mortgages in Canada fall under three different types of agreements, called Ijara, Murabaha and Musharaka, according to Rates.ca.
Ijara is like a rent-to-own agreement in which the inhabitant of the home starts as a renter and becomes the owner upon final loan payment, Tran said.
Under this type of financing, the home is purchased by a trust, which then leases it to the customer.
The Murabaha is a cost-plus financing structure in which an Islamic financial company becomes the owner of a home and sells it to their client for a price that includes a profit rate, which is benchmarked against the Bank of Canada’s overnight lending rate, Tran explained.
The client enters into a purchase agreement that specifies fixed monthly payments for the duration of the contract, which is usually up to 15 years.
Under the Musharaka arrangement, an Islamic financial company and its client become co-owners of a home, Tran said.
Throughout the mortgage term, which will follow the traditional mortgage term of up to 25 to 30 years, the financial company’s equity position decreases and the customer’s equity position increases proportionately as they pay out the owned balance.
At the end of the contract, the client will have 100 per cent home ownership and the company will have zero per cent, Sawwaf said.
Financial pros and cons of halal mortgages
From the financial standpoint, one of the main benefits of halal mortgages is that it introduces a long-term fixed mortgage rate, Sawwaf said.
For instance, under the Murabaha agreement, which follows the buy-and-sell structure, the mortgage can run up to 10 to 25 years.
Sawwaf said because the lender is sharing in the long-term risk, halal mortgages are “much more ethical and valuable at the end of the day” as opposed to having a debt-based system that is “not really good for society and its long-term social impact.”
However, the downside is that the costs of halal mortgages are higher because the lenders are not able to access low-cost capital, Sawwaf said.
“We’re hoping that the government signalling that they’re in support of halal mortgages with respect to potential legislation or policy changes, this could allow us to tap into institutional capital at the banks or other institutions,” he said.
Tran said because the costs and fees are a little bit higher for a halal mortgage than a traditional mortgage, it may not be a financially feasible option for many.
Among the measures that Ottawa is exploring are changes in the tax treatment of halal mortgages or a new regulatory sandbox for financial service providers.
Who can apply for a halal mortgage?
Anyone in Canada, Muslim or non-Muslim, can apply for a halal mortgage, which is currently offered by a few financial institutions.
“Everyone is allowed to have a halal mortgage no different than you can go to any restaurant and eat a shawarma with halal chicken in it,” Sawwaf said.
“We don’t care what your background is, your religion, your creed, even if you’re non-religious or an atheist.”
As for the down payment, most lenders in Canada require clients of halal financing to pay a minimum of 20 per cent of the market value, or purchase price, of the house.
Customers should also have a good credit history and sufficient income to meet the monthly payment obligation, the Canadian Halal Financial Corporation says.
More on Money
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Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change – CTV News
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada’s highest earners.
In respective press conferences on Tuesday, both Trudeau and his finance minister defended their proposal to rake in $19.3 billion over the next five years by increasing the capital gains inclusion rate — the portion of capital gains on which tax is paid – for individuals with more than $250,000 in capital gains in a year.
This new revenue stream comes as the federal government plans to spend billions of dollars to increase Canada’s housing supply and enhance social programs, with the Liberals framing the new revenue as helping to offset those investments in a way that’s fair and doesn’t offload a larger deficit on younger generations.
“At a time when young people have started to give up on the dream of eventually ever being able to own a home, it was really important to rebalance the situation,” Trudeau said, speaking to reporters in Saskatchewan.
“I understand for some people this may cost more if they sell a cottage or a secondary residence. But, young people can’t buy their primary residences yet.”
What is the capital gains tax change?
As revealed in last week’s federal budget, the capital gains inclusion rate will increase from 50 per cent to 67 per cent, and will also apply to all capital gains realized by corporations and trusts.
That means that as of June 25, people with more than $250,000 in profit made on the sale of assets in a year will have to pay taxes on a larger portion of that money.
This incoming amendment to the Income Tax Act is expected to affect the wealthiest 0.13 per cent, and approximately 12 per cent of Canada’s corporations and Canadians with an average income of $1.42 million.
The inclusion rate for capital gains realized annually up to $250,000 is not changing, the existing capital gains exemption on primary residences will remain, and the lifetime exemption limit for small business shares, as well as farming and fishing properties is increasing.
What is the criticism?
While not the direct wealth tax or excess profit taxes some had anticipated – given Freeland’s dodging of questions about whether those were revenue routes the government was considering – since the budget was tabled, many Canadian business owners and entrepreneurs have raised concerns that the move could stunt innovation.
“At a time when our country is facing critically low productivity and business investment our political leaders are failing our country’s entrepreneurs,” wrote Shopify president Harley Finkelstein in a post on “X” last week.
On Tuesday, the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) also came out against the move, asking the Liberals to reconsider as the change will impact doctors’ retirement savings as most incorporate and operate their practice as a small business.
“It is completely unfair, late in the game taxation for those physicians who did follow the rules of the day and save for their retirement inside of our professional corporations,” CMA president Dr. Kathleen Ross said Tuesday.
PBO cautions ‘collateral damage’
It’s this kind of potential for “collateral damage” that Canada’s Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux voiced caution about in an interview on CTV News Channel’s Power Play on Friday, with host Mike Le Couteur.
Citing the sale of secondary residences such as cottages, or rental properties in the current housing market as examples of how Canadians could feel the impact of this tax change, Giroux said it’s not unusual for capital gains to be realized “well in excess of $250,000.”
“The moment you have a capital gain that’s higher than a quarter million, then you’re captured by that higher capital gains inclusion rate,” he said.
The PBO also cautioned that it’s difficult to determine based on the government’s current numbers, whether they will actually be able to generate the amount of revenue expected, but his office plans to assess that over the next couple of weeks.
What is the Liberals’ rationale?
In defending the capital gains reforms, both Trudeau and Freeland said the way the tax system currently works means a nurse, student, or carpenter could be paying income tax at a higher marginal rate than a multimillionaire who can use accountants to pay a lower tax rate.
“That’s not fair,” Freeland said, speaking in Toronto on Tuesday. “It is fair to ask those who are doing really well to contribute a little bit more.”
In the budget, the Liberals made a point of noting that this change will not impact 99.87 per cent of Canadians. Further, the 416-page document notes that in 2021, only around five per cent of Canadians under 30 had any capital gains at all.
And, next year, 28.5 million Canadians are not expected to have any capital gains income, while three million are expected to earn capital gains below the $250,000 annual threshold.
In an interview on CTV’s Question Period with Vassy Kapelos that aired Sunday, Conservative deputy leader Melissa Lantsman would not say whether her party would reverse the increase in the capital gains inclusion rate.
With files from CTV News’ Spencer Van Dyk
U.K. tabloids and Loch Ness monster believers are abuzz after an expat Canadian couple photographed what some say could be the legendary water creature.
Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman aren’t fully convinced themselves, but say they are coming around to the idea — particularly if it keeps their kids happy.
The family, which currently lives in the English city of Wimbledon, spent Easter vacation sightseeing in Scotland. To prepare for the trip, they loaded up on books about the Loch Ness monster.
While staying in a nearby cabin on a cold, blustery day in early April, the couple decided to visit a body of water where the sea creature is rumoured to live.
And that’s when they saw something moving through the waves.
“Its head was craning up above the water and it was slowly but gradually moving toward us,” Malm, who is originally from Coquitlam, B.C., said, quipping that it was “bigger than a Sasquatch but smaller than Ogopogo.”
A Canadian expat couple took a photo of something in the water of Loch Ness while on vacation in Scotland recently. They thought it might be a seal or an otter but their kids believed it could be the Loch Ness Monster, a claim that was picked up by U.K. tabloids. Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman speak about the attention they’re receiving.
“So we obviously play it up. We have two little kids who are almost three and almost five,” he continued.
Wiseman, originally from Calgary, asked her sons, “Do you think it’s Nessie?” while taking a picture of the blurry object.
Little did they know that the image, and their names, would soon be plastered in U.K. tabloids as the first sighting of the Loch Ness monster of 2024.
Hundreds of years of history, but no official proof
Sightings of some sort of unexplained creature in Loch Ness date back to around 500 A.D., though modern sightings re generally traced to 1933, when a local newspaper reported a couple’s claims of seeing “an enormous animal rolling and plunging on the surface.”
Some have argued it’s a freshwater plesiosaur, though studies have found the creature went extinct before Loch Ness was formed. A DNA study of hundreds of water samples from Loch Ness found that if anything, sightings of the creature were most likely a giant eel.
Even a massive hunt in 2023 using state-of-the-art technology failed to turn up anything definitive.
Hundreds of ‘monster hunters’ are headed to the Scottish Highlands to take part in the biggest Loch Ness monster search in half a century. Andrew Chang explores why the event is a win for Scotland’s tourism industry in a post-pandemic world.
But the allure remains, with hundreds of tourists visiting the water every year in the hopes of seeing the creature — or at least coming away with a story to tell.
Among the believers is Gary Campbell and his daughter Page Daley, who have maintained a website since 1996 titled “The Official Loch Ness Monsters Sightings Register,” which aims to document all potential sightings of the creature, filtering out photos they are able to identify as waves, logs or other animals — as detailed on their page, “What’s not a sighting.”
Malm submitted their photo “just for a bit of a laugh” and, the next day, he says he got a reply telling him he had taken “the first confirmed sighting this year.”
The photo was posted to the website and picked up by U.K. tabloids including the Scottish Sun, Irish Star and the Daily Mirror.
‘We’re not tinfoil-hat-wearing people’
The couple is enjoying the attention and say their boys are fully on board with the notion they saw the Loch Ness monster, even if the adults aren’t quite convinced.
“My instinct says it might have been a seal but I am told that seals do not go in that lake,” Wiseman said.
“I mean, we’re not tinfoil-hat-wearing people,” Malm added. “There’s probably a perfectly logical explanation for what it was. Maybe species X lost its way home or something like that.”
But he says he’s not completely closed to the idea.
“There’s every possibility that there’s some sort of unexplained species that, from time to time, makes an appearance.”
For Wiseman, the fun comes in sharing an extraordinary memory with her kids.
“I want their childhood to be filled with the magic of the unbelievable,” she said. “And this is just one of those things: It is unbelievable, and they believe it so I believe it — and I am all in on that.”
Malm agrees: “What it sort of reaffirmed for me is there’s still things in the world that can surprise and delight you,” he said.
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