In keeping with the strong GEM tradition of focusing on resource management across a range of subject areas, GEOG456/694 has, for eight years now, centred around the history of biodiversity conservation in Canada and the need to build a “new map” for halting and reversing biodiversity decline in the future.
Taught by our Practitioner-In-Residence, Trevor Swerdfager, the course delves into Indigenous stewardship of fish, forests and wildlife, market based mechanisms for the use of biodiversity “resources” such as the fur trade or commercial forestry and protective programs for biodiversity conservation such as parks or species at risk. But to bring a practical and pragmatic focus to the discussion, the course also features a two-day field trip to Ottawa to meet with parliamentarians and the leaders of major industry and conservation organizations to learn firsthand, how decisions are made “in real life” affecting all these areas and more.
This year, our host on Parliament Hill was the Honourable Gudie Hutchings, Minister of Rural Economic Development. She kicked off our day in the parliamentary committee room bright and early at 8am and was followed by Members of Parliament Elizabeth May and Mike Maurice of the Green Party, Mel Arnold of the Conservative Party, Richard Cannings from the NDP, the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources and then our own Waterloo MP, the Honourable Bardish Chagger. And in an impromptu surprise meeting, on our way back from Question Period in the House of Commons, we were also invited into the Reading Room of the Speaker of the House of Commons, the Honourable Craig Fergus (pictured with the group below.)
Day two featured meetings with the head of the Mining Association of Canada, the Fisheries Council of Canada, a full-time professional lobbyist and the head of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society.
All in all, it was a pretty sweet trip! Anyone interested biodiversity conservation and government decision-making might want to consider this course in the future!
