Baxter Conservation Reflection

On our trip to the Baxter conservation area we discussed and learned a lot of new things. One of the most interesting thing we did was the pink cards. These are wooden cards that were thrown into the water and acted as oil (in the event of an oil leak) and floated down the river showing where it would go and collect. I found this part of the trip extremely fascinating because it was a very cheap and effective way to see where the oil would go. They also had a very easy way to collect the pink cards by sending volunteers down the river to pick them up from their location. This has a lot to do with the tar sands and transporting oil on the keystone pipeline which we talked about in geography. I also found all of the speeches interesting, they explained in more depth what the situation with the pipeline was and how it is going to affect our community specifically. This also related back to geography talking about the tar sands and oil again and resource management, and making sure we have liveable communities without oil polluted waters. I also found the water testing very interesting to see what makes water clean and how clean the water was at that given point compared to others even if they were on the same river only a few meters away. This has to do with livable communities because we need to make sure our water is clean so animals can drink from it and our ecosystem can stay healthy.   

Sustainable City

Lilly                                                         Sustainable City                                           May 30, 2017

Ottawa is not a very sustainable city, there is constant traffic, garbage in the streets and ditches and there is little if no forms of renewable energy used. By just looking at places like Amsterdam or Sweden it's very clear that Ottawa is not up to par.

For starters Ottawa can focus on putting into place laws/regulations that force people in the city to recycle or compost their waste. As for other waste that doesn’t fall into those categories, similar to Sweden, Ottawa can send that other waste to a plant that helps clean out the gas being put off and sent into the atmosphere.

Ottawa could make the switch to using bikes as their main source of transportation, but because winters bring lots of snow, having bikes is not the most practical thing. Many people who work in Ottawa don’t actually live in Ottawa as well so having bikes as the main form of transportation would not be very practical for them as well. Ottawa, instead, could introduce busses run off of bio fuel, a gas made from old garbage, or electric vehicles, and this would still allow people not in the city to get into work.

Charging stations (for electric cars) may pose as a bit of an issue to implement but I believe that if Ottawa wants to become a more sustainable city they would need to convert to electric cars.

To reduce the use of harmful forms of energy, such as petrol, Ottawa can use more renewable resources such as solar energy to help reduce the levels of emission being let out.

I believe that these sustainable practices will be fairly easy to implement, and although some of them may cost a high amount of money in the long run they will definitely be worth it.

3 National parks Canada Reviews

Lilly Maher Parks Canada Review May 26, 2017

Name: Cape Breton Highlands National Park

Park Location: Nova Scotia

Coordinates: 46.7383° N, 60.6510° W

Description: Cape Breton Highland National Park is a beautiful place, with giant, sheer cliff, mountains and long sandy beaches.There are amazing views everywhere you look; land, sea and sky. There is a large variety of animals including bears, moose, whales, cormorants, seals and much more. You will never be bored with all of the things to do there such as fishing, swimming, camping and golfing. You can’t forget enjoying the delicious and fresh seafood or going on a hike on 1 of the 26 hiking trails along mountain tops, forests and coastlines.

Parks Canada link: here

Name: Kluane National Park

Park Location: Yukon Territory

Coordinates: 60.7500° N, 139.5000°W

Description: This beautiful national park is located around Saint Elias Mountain and includes 17 out of 20 of Canada’s largest mountains. Other than mountains there are also many giant ice fields/glaciers which decorate the land. Animals are extremely common in this wild environment, some include grizzly bears, moose, wolves, foxes, different mountain sheep/goats and many more. Activities here are both for the extremist and the not so adventurous, with backcountry and front country hiking, river rafting, camping and even getting to see the northern lights. This park has many things to offer that will always keep you entertained winter, spring, summer or fall.

Parks Canada link: here   

Name: Jasper National Park

Park Location: Alberta

Coordinates: 52.8734°N, 117.9543°W

Description: Jasper National Park is one of the Rocky Mountain parks, well known for being the biggest and wildest. This park has giant, glacier-topped, mountains and many lakes. Broad trail choices through forests, rivers and lakes will allow you to see grizzly and black bears, mountain goats, deer and so much more. Canoeing, hiking, camping, swimming in hot springs and star gazing or seeing the northern lights are just some of the wonderful and thrilling activities you can do at this park. Jasper National Park will take your breath away and fill your lungs with fresh alpine air and the smell of wildflowers.

Parks Canada link: here

  

The pollution problem in Sarnia, On

In this video Vice News examine the 'chemical valley' in Sarnia, Ontario.

The chemical valley is basically a whole bunch of factories and plants that disperse chemicals into the air.

One of the main issues with this plant is that it shares a fence line with the Aamjiwnaang reserve. The chemical valley puts out a lot of chemicals in the air and water which raises the chances of cancer, disease and death.

The people there are suffering, yet nothing is being done to help them, even though they have protested and tried to fight for their rights.

But investors and business people couldn't disagree more, they continue to build more factories and pollute the air. There is really no solution to this problem that will make everyone happy, but there are compromises. The people living in the reserve can be moved to another location in the same general area, but far enough away that they aren't being effected by the factories.

 The the chemical valley can also have a restriction on how much pollution they can put into the environment. Overall aboriginals in the reserve still have to deal with the negative effects from the chemical valley, making their lives extremely difficult.

Geography Speaker

Carolyn Callaghan is a senior conservation Biologist who has her Ph.D in wolf ecology and scatology. She came in to speak to us about caribou in Canada nad how their numbers are declining due to wolfs, and how humans are promoting it. I learn't a few new things for example how the reproduction rate of caribou is slow, or how because of human developments, such as mining, forestry, and skido trails we are making it easier for wolfs to get to the caribou. Another thing I learn't is that the action that is being taken is not effective, and could potentially cause more problems than its fixing. Mrs. Callaghan did an amazing job and I found the presentation very informative but I do have a few questions.  Firstly, What can the average person do to help save the caribou? (besides writing a letter that isn't always effective) Secondly, Why are we sacrificing one species for another?  One of Alberta's plan to help save Caribous is to kill off wolfs, and although the Caribou population is declining why do they have seniority over wolfs? Thirdly (this one is more broad) how can we change the world's outlook on climate change which is also causing negative effects on the Caribou and the world in general? But overall I learn't a lot of new things and I'm really glad we got to learn about this.

Geography Reflection

War is a really horrible thing that affects everyone not just the people in those war-torn countries. One thing I didn’t realize is how much people will have to move around. My Grandfather was apart of the war training troops over here in Canada, he had his wife and children with him and he might be in Moosejaw, SA for a month and then Kingston, ON for a year and then another town for 6 months. Having to pick up your family and move them around a lot can really put a toll on your family. It actually is amazing to think that even though families managed to stay together while never having a permanent home.

Post- Secondary Education was also something I didn't realize was so difficult to complete. It is hard to stick to your studies when there are so many factors stopping you from completing your degree and graduating. My Dad first attended a college in Boston but he got sick so he had to return home, he then went to three other Universities and Colleges to try and complete his degrees and he eventually did so but it was a long and tiring process. It can take a very long time to complete your degree a lot longer than I realized.

Seeing my families journey on the map showed me how much distance, work and money they had to put in just so they could get to where they are today. Even though my families journey may not be as difficult and drastic as other families, such as Syrian refugees. My family still had to work hard to come to Canada and learn a new language, find work, and establish something for their families and later generations.

There are many reasons why people would settle in Canada. It has a big ecosystem and vast landscapes. But it also provides a new start for people coming over from other countries. Canada being the world's 2nd largest country can accommodate for all the people coming over and has a surplus of job opportunities. Its economy is also one of the best in the world and has a stable government compared to third world countries where the economy and government are suffering. Canada also has a huge diversity of people from different ethnic backgrounds, which attracts other people from those backgrounds.

Although there are plenty of reasons to come to Canada there are obstacles for the immigrants coming. Language barriers are often a big obstacle that immigrants have to deal with. Altho English is a common language it can be difficult to pick up. Education is another obstacle. In different countries, the education in general, may not be up to par with places like Canada. Work can also be difficult to deal with because if you already have your degree in something but then immigrate to Canada you have to re-educate yourself based on the standards there. In some cases, such as with refugees, it can be hard to get to Canada and then when you get here you have nothing, and you could be seriously injured along the way and then you also have to go out and find work, food and a place to stay.      

Geography day 1

I enjoyed drawing the map of Canada. It helped to really think about what it looks like based off of memory and I discovered that I probably need to look at a map more often. I also found it very interesting that most of the people in Canada live in Ontario I thought it would have been Quebec because of the size.