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This thesis investigates the history and proceedings of the high-level diversion scheme at Southern Indian Lake. Though the scheme did not become a reality because the Progressive Conservative majority government who championed it dissolved before development began, its proceedings signified South Indian Lake’s first colonial encounter with regards to the Churchill River Diversion. Through the high-level diversion discourse, I argue that Manitoba’s Churchill River Diversion reproduces a social policy which creates Indigenous peoples as an Other and asserts settler dominance. It reproduces settler ideologies and fantasies of personhood, entitlement, and (dis)possession which are constitutive of colonial powers. Moreover, it reproduces hydropower as a nexus for colonial practices and ideologies which undermine Indigenous peoples and their land. Chapter One argues that the low-level diversion at Southern Indian Lake created profound negative environmental and socio-cultural impacts. It aims to place in sharp relief the arguments posited for the high-level scheme by its proponents. Chapter Two argues that Manitoba Hydro agents produced a government-supported narrative of urgency for the high-level diversion which circumvented social and environmental responsibilities towards Indigenous lands and Indigenous peoples. And Chapter Three argues that the Progressive Conservative majority government, of the time, embraced and reproduced technocratic and colonial ideologies to press for the high-level diversion. The Churchill River Diversion is a complex of colonial ideologies, government agents, engineers, and resisting Indigenous communities into a cemented structure which continues to alter hydrologies and humanities.

Amid trends of privatization, financialization, and decreasing access to agricultural land, there is a call for more sustainable and equitable land tenure and access. In response, I present four cases as interventions into the story of private property in the Canadian prairies, asking how stakeholders negotiate the multiple and sometimes competing functions of agricultural land in economic development, food production, conserving and enhancing ecological resources, recreation, and reconciliation. In qualitative studies of a) persuasive stories used by respondents to government consultations on land ownership to foster change b) public responses to changes in trespassing legislation, c) conflict and collaboration among stakeholders managing land for agri-environmental goals in alternative grazing land tenure models and d) a network of settler landholders sharing land with Indigenous land users, I employ critical realism to analyse interviews and secondary data. I consider questions of rights and responsibilities to land, mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion from land, the public good, and the discourse and actions that challenge or legitimize land access/tenure practices and related policies/legislation. Each case also explores the possibility of different futures for land regimes based on changing social relations as people work to challenge or further entrench private property rights. Alternatives to private land ownership cultivate diverse relationships in relation to, and with, land and people.

Global markets offer development opportunities for rural and Indigenous communities through the commoditization of elements from their cultures and territories. However, when participating in global value chains, they often face challenges linked to their autonomy and territorial management. Using the case of mezcal, an agave based spirit produced in Mexico, this thesis addresses the relationship between Indigenous communities and global markets through the commoditization of artisanal products. My goal is to examine the commoditization process of mezcal, its impacts on the commons of Indigenous producer communities and the community-level responses to these impacts. My objectives are: 1. Examine how Indigenous producers are integrated into the mezcal value construction process and the barriers they face to capture more value and meet their development goals. 2. Analyze how mezcal markets impact LULC (Land Use and Land Cover) dynamics in the producer community’s territory. 3. Examine how mezcal markets impact the commons of the producer community, including institutional responses to change. Data was collected using participant observation; semi-structured interviews; and participatory classification of LULC. Results show the narratives used for mezcal commoditization (craft and small scale production; uniqueness of flavor; Mexican culture; association with landscape and culture of production sites; sustainability and social justice) and the contrasting situation in production sites with a trend towards increased production, standardization of techniques, a disadvantageous position of producers in the value chain and LULC changes (expansion of agave crops) due to the growing demand. Furthermore, rural and Indigenous producers have limited influence in the mezcal commoditization context, and limited opportunities to obtain more benefits from the value chain. In conclusion, participation in global markets is not a straightforward path for producer communities to take

The purpose of this dissertation research is to advance critical place inquiry (CPI) as a methodological lens within the field of natural resources and environmental management (NREM) by critically examining how the practices of oil and gas extraction happen and continue to operate in Manitoba through the lived realities of oil extraction. I analyze Manitoba’s oil and gas extraction using a critical place inquiry approach articulated by Tuck and McKenzie (2015). I use qualitative methods of discourse analysis, semi-structured interviews, participant observation and feedback surveys to collect data, and draw on feminist material-semiotic methods for analysis. Using this approach revealed the practices and components that create an ongoing place of oil in Manitoba, particularly the way settler colonialism conditions the relationships to land in the south-western corner of Manitoba, facilitating the extraction of oil and making it difficult to question or change these practices. My findings indicate that this occurs in several ways; the production of information by and for industry, information precarity displayed in lack of access to information and lack of capacity at the government level to keep up with or produce analysis of information when concerns arise. There is also the ongoing naturalization of oil extraction as a “matter of fact,” and a study of two advocacy organizations that work (and worked) to change legislation regarding oil and gas practices but ultimately are unable to create significant change to the practices of oil in Manitoba. The conclusions I draw relate to the practices that create and condition spatial-temporal relationships to land, bringing into being the ongoing place of oil, a contingent place that is both maintained but also resisted. These conclusions also point to how our methodological understandings about spacetime in NREM limit our conceptualization of place, which in turn limit our ability to think broadly (across spacetime) about w

This report is the result of an interdisciplinary, international effort to examine the socio-environmental consequences of large-scale infrastructure projects that have been planned but not built—and reasons why projects have been cancelled or stalled. Collectively, our team examined eight cases of cancelled or stalled infrastructure projects in the Americas, drawing from our experiences in academic research and professional practice. Across cases, we found that projects were cancelled or stalled for interrelated reasons including environmental impact assessments, litigation and legislation, strong opposition and media attention, and/or increasing costs and faltering justifications. Our work further shows that cancelled or stalled development projects can create socio-environmental consequences that persist and cascade over time. The consequences of unbuilt infrastructure projects include the following: the development of new research networks; the establishment of precedents for socio-environmental assessment; the strengthening of social movements, often against the proposed development; changes in land use and land tenure; the exposure of environmental racism and injustice; and shifted development interventions. In sum, paying attention to cancelled and stalled projects provides a transdisciplinary lens for understanding broader processes of development, knowledge, power, science, and socio-environmental change. We conclude that when proposed large infrastructure projects are assessed, additional attention needs to be given to how they may shape landscapes and societies even if they are never built.

On the Canadian prairies, farmland is more than just an investment or a resource; access and control over farmland is deeply embedded in the history, culture, and identity of Canadian farmers. Land grabbing, the large-scale purchase of farmland by domestic or foreign investors, is a phenomenon on the rise worldwide and is best understood within the framework of financialization. Despite a lack of quantitative research on the topic, some of the effects of financialization in the agri-food sector are visible in Manitoba, including rising farmland prices and increasing farmland concentration, resulting in fewer and larger farms. My research investigates the dynamics of farmland ownership in four rural municipalities with high valued farmland in Manitoba. Although reliable information about farmland investment in Manitoba is limited, 39 semi-structured interviews with farmers, rural municipal officials and staff, and others involved in the agriculture industry, provide a baseline understanding of the current dimensions of farmland sales, farmer-landlord relationships, and the social and environmental implications of increasing farmland concentration. I draw on participants’ perceptions of investors to better understand how these kinds of purchases might impact rural landscapes. Furthermore, I find that farmers themselves have adopted financial logics as they make land purchases that are less rooted in the productive value of the land and increasingly motivated by the speculative value of the land. Thus, my research reveals the ways that the ‘good farmer’ framework is at work in Manitoba and is pushing farmers to make “non-economically rational” (as cited in Burton et al., 2020, p.2) decisions that are ultimately contributing to the deterioration of rural communities and environments. The thesis concludes by discussing two pathways for the future of agriculture in Manitoba: the first is that these trends will deepen and access to land and control over food production wil

Across the province of Saskatchewan, where more than 40% of Canada’s agricultural land is located, patterns of farmland tenure are shifting and farmers claim that much is at stake. Based on both qualitative and quantitative research, this thesis analyzes two processes taking place in Saskatchewan: the ongoing consolidation of farmland and increasing financially-motivated farmland ownership. In addition to discussing the ways in which these shifts are transforming agriculture, the environment, and rural societies, this work provides insights into the locally-specific nature of these trends, the frameworks in which they are understood, and the grounds on which they are being accepted and facilitated by farmers. Situated within discussions of land and its meanings, I argue that as farmland is further consolidated and owned in greater proportions by absentee landowners and non-farmers, land is increasingly being oriented towards its productive and financial value, thereby displacing many of its social, cultural, and ecological meanings—what is commonly referred to as deterritorialization. Although treating land this way has allowed some Saskatchewan farmers to continue farming, farmland consolidation and increasing investor land ownership are pursued at the expense of the livelihoods of many farmers, the erosion of rural communities, and ecological degradation.

Community forestry emerged in response to criticism of the industry-dominated governance of forests. Community forest were viewed as a vehicle for greater local participation in forestry. The purpose of this research was to investigate how participation and social learning influence community forest governance in British Columbia, Canada. This study used an environmentality lens to describe community forest governance and investigate how participation and learning influenced the emergent community forest governance. Data was collected through a qualitative case study focused on the Kaslo and District Community Forest Society and involved semi-structured interviews with board and society members, document review, and participant observation. Disciplinary and neoliberal environmentalities were identified as influential to community forest governance at Kaslo and the participation and social learning that occurred. Findings indicated that participation and learning outcomes have resulted in community forest governance that replicates disciplinary and neoliberal environmentalities, characterized by the professionalization of community forestry management and community acceptance of increasing timber harvesting rates.

Across the Prairie Provinces, concern is growing as investor actors of various stripes continue to show interest in purchasing farmland, in addition to the broader trends of increased rates of tenant farming, and farmland concentration. These tenure changes are not being closely monitored at the provincial level. Due to the inaccessibility of the land titles data in Alberta, it is not yet possible to do a quantitative analysis of tenure changes, as has been done in Saskatchewan. This study instead hones in at the community level in three regions of Alberta through 40 interviews, primarily with grain and oilseed farmers. The interviews reveal that financial players -- investor actors, as well as banks -- are pushing up the price of farmland, creating a widening gap between its market value and productive value. I argue that irrespective of the landlord, tenant farming arrangements will not allow the kinds of transformations to alternatives that are necessary in the face of the farm income crisis as well as the climate crisis. I also analyze the unravelling of rural community structures under neoliberalism, and consider how these changes impede the collective action needed to push for transformation.

Indigenous communities face on-going disruptions from colonization and global environmental change, including disruptions to their traditional food systems. Despite this, they continue to find ways both new and old to harvest, share, prepare, and consume traditional foods. This study focused on understanding the role traditional foods play in community members’ lives in Wabaseemoong Independent Nation in northwestern Ontario. I used an ethnographic approach that included participant observation, unstructured interviews (n=26), and focus groups (n=2) to explore what traditional food practices looked like within living memory, what they look like today, and the meanings they hold. I found that in Wabaseemoong, traditional food activities are shaped by a value for passing things down, which centers on practicing relationships with parents, ancestors, and land. It is through the practice of these relationships that skills, knowledge, and values are shared throughout the community and passed on to the next generation. Community members continue to pass things down and practice these important relationships despite colonial disruption and social, economic, and ecological change. They are continually finding new and creative ways to practice relationships in ways that maintain the value of reciprocity. The role of traditional foods for Indigenous communities today is often framed as nutritional or as strengthening cultural identity. This study suggests that the practice of relationship should be explored further as a framework for projects and programmes aimed at strengthening Indigenous traditional food systems.

This thesis examines the histories of two proposed natural gas transportation projects from the Canadian Arctic Islands in the 1970s and 1980s: the Polar Gas Project and Arctic Pilot Project. Specifically, it analyzes scientific inquiries into the issue of ice by the consortiums, which posed a major obstacle to successfully establishing commodity circulation. In total, more than 80 scientific and technical reports produced by the consortiums and contracted firms about the various challenges of ice facing the two projects were examined for this thesis. These scientific investigations covered an enormous range of focuses about the mechanics and behaviour of ice, including its thickness, coverage, patterns of formation and break-up, and strength. Three categories of theoretical approaches were used to analyze this scientific work: 1) production of cryo-nature; 2) scientific knowledge production; and 3) political ecology of failure. This thesis draws attention to the diverse and often ad-hoc scientific labour that produced Arctic natures as abstracted and exploitable spaces for capital accumulation. It also considers the alternative production of natures by Inuit societies, rooted in relations of kinship and reciprocity. The two case studies demonstrate that scientific inquiries were highly productive despite the eventual failure of the projects, with many of the same issues now resurfacing with the melting of Arctic ice and capitalist ambitions to maximize “accumulation by disappearance.”

This dissertation argues that Darko Suvin’s proposed literary device unique to science fiction, “the novum”, is entangled with national state policy and environmental politics, and that up to now this has not been studied with sustained focus. I propose that the emergent sub-genre cli-fi is really just the distillation of ongoing concerns about the compounding problems of life in the Anthropocene that have long been present in much science fiction. By exploring the relationship between the novums of science fiction novels and national state policies the project reveals the unique perspectives the science fiction genre offers for addressing the Anthropocene. I put forward the notion of the “national political imaginary” as a concept useful in understanding temporary landscapes of thought that include political discourse and artistic production alike. I argue that the novum helps reveal how the subtext and themes within the fiction and the social forces driving the policy are connected through an axis of environmental concern. The case studies span three distinct time periods in the UK, Canada, and China connecting geo-political, bio-cultural, and socio-political policies to novels by John Wyndham, Margaret Atwood, and Cixin Liu respectively. Adopting a New Historicist approach, the chapters first explain the historical conditions and particular cultural and national elements that give rise to each policy, before undertaking close readings of the novels. The close readings explore the environmental subtext in the novels that is revealed through each novum’s function as a conduit to each respective national state policy. Ultimately finding the novum to have more significant political dimensions than previously theorized, and that it is resonant with Fredric Jameson’s theory of the political unconscious, the project serves as a bridge between policy studies and literary studies, potentially opening new dialogical possibilities for future scholars.

In Canada and abroad, polar bears have historically been framed as imperiled beasts requiring protection from myriad anthropogenic threats. Wildlife conservation professionals, agents of the colonial state and, more recently, the popular media have advanced this discursive framing of the polar bear. However, increasingly Inuit and polar bear hunters are contesting this understanding of the bear. In this thesis, I argue that conservation practices and technologies have played a crucial role in conditioning the way that the polar bear is seen as an object that is best managed by state technocrats. I examine three technologies of polar bear management to advance this argument. These include the polar bear hunting quotas, the conservation reserve, and polar bear monitoring and deterrence programs. Through these examples, I show that the polar bear is remade through management as either a risk to be managed or a resource to be optimized. Under both of these outcomes, the polar bear management entrenches settler colonial power structures and produces arctic geographies that fulfill technocratic management schemes.

In December 1974, the Manitoba Museum celebrated the grand opening of a new gallery. It was a highly anticipated event in Winnipeg, advertised for years leading up to it by the Winnipeg Free Press. The gallery, housing a full-sized replica of a 17th century ship, was one of the first of its kind in Canada: a diorama gallery that immersed the visitor in the sights, sounds, and smells of another place, and transported them across time and space to Deptford, England in 1668. The replica, called Nonsuch, was a period-accurate recreation of a ship that had sailed three centuries earlier into Hudson Bay, on an expedition for the English crown to determine the viability of a northern fur trade that would bypass the existing system of taxation in New France and open the area north of the Great Lakes to an English trade monopoly. This successful voyage resulted in the creation of the Hudson’s Bay Company with the granting of a royal charter for a parcel of land that encompassed 40% of what is now Canada. The reconstruction of the Nonsuch in the 1960s was part of the Company’s 300th anniversary celebrations, and was used in the hopes of strengthening the emotional connection between the Company and Canadian citizens. The Nonsuch replica has since been used by the Company and the Manitoba Museum to continue this project of commemoration and collective identity, situating the Company as an important character in the origin story of the country. This thesis traces the journey of the Nonsuch, from the 17th century to the present, and examines the critical roles the replica and Gallery have played in the construction and maintenance of local heritage and identity in Manitoba.

Over the past decade, a number of high profile incidents affecting small scale farmers in Manitoba have given rise to vibrant communities of resistance. These communities are developing alternative ways of thinking about and engaging with food and agriculture in the province for food systems transformation. Based on empirical research involving 18 interviews with urban-based activists and farmers, and one focus group, this study examines these catalytic moments and the conditions under which they form to better understand whether and how they contribute to the creation of an emerging food sovereignty movement in Manitoba. I argue that although not all initiatives were successful in achieving stated goals, they did have positive political and social impacts, mainly through the building of community and development of collective voice. Despite the diversity found within the local food movement, and a tense relationship between decision-makers and small scale farmers, these communities of resistance leveraged opportunities for change and captured the attention of regulators to advance the local food community in Manitoba. In doing so, they are creating the conditions within which the radical discourse and practice of food sovereignty is beginning to emerge.

This thesis presents a review of two prescribed burns undertaken in northwestern Ontario. The purpose of this research was to explore the design elements that influenced the prescribed burns utilizing a biocultural design. Biocultural design is a framework for exploring and designing cultural landscapes by considering descriptive and evaluative design elements. Design elements were used to guide the semi-structured interviews and organize the data. Interviews were conducted with community members and fire personnel. The key findings of this research are that there are cultural areas and practices that should be included in future prescribed burn designs. However, there are operational limitations and biological and cultural factors that limit the feasibility of the prescribed burn’s outcomes. The conclusion of this research is that future prescribed burns will benefit from a more intentional designing process that includes cultural elements from the community along with biological and operational factors.

In Landscapes of Memory: Heritage Place and Historic Sites in Prairie Canada I explore concepts of heritage, place, and memory in the prairie west, examining how heritage value is established, how commemoration reflects social and cultural perspectives and how and why interpretation can change over time. I illustrate the process by which the social construction of heritage value can be part of an “authorized” identity that conforms to acceptable, authoritative, and official perceptions of historical significance. My major argument is that “official” historic sites in prairie Canada – and most importantly their interpretation – are examples of authorized spaces that relate to national and nation-building goals. They are frequently examples of an imagined past, or a heritage defined by modern perceptions often with landscapes that become fashioned as aestheticized space or pleasing landscapes that have become idealized to fit with visitor expectations. I also argue that local political and cultural forces have come to influence the way historic place is understood. I suggest that it is the tension between federal goals and the aims of the local that have resulted in changing and evolving interpretations. This study looks at how our view of the past constructs the heritage of place and community that relate the past to the present. I focus upon how the significance of place is often contested and how, for instance, Indigenous perceptions often challenge conventional views of the past. I discuss the process of commemoration of some critical twentieth century themes in prairie history while referencing examples of recognized heritage places in Western Canada, including cultural topographies, Indigenous landscapes, community-recognized built heritage, and national historic sites in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. More broadly, I look at questions such as who decides what is heritage, who claims authority and why, and how are perceptions of place memory effectively re

Two body condition indicators, blubber thickness and maximal half-girth measurements, were evaluated for use to monitor the health of Eastern Beaufort Sea beluga (Delphinapterus leucas) in the Tarium Niryutait Marine Protected Area (TN MPA). Beluga body condition metrics collected from the community-based beluga monitoring program in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region from 2000-2015 were assessed. Body condition indicators based on the predicted values and residuals of fitted linear models for blubber thickness and girth were developed to account for variation in age, size, location, and timing of harvest. Statistically significant differences in condition were detected between regions of the TN MPA for three of the condition indices. The male blubber thickness indicator was found to increase during the summer harvest season. Long-term temporal analyses found that both girth indicators led the trends in both blubber thickness indicators. Lastly, two large-scale climatic variability metrics, Pacific Decadal Oscillation and sea ice minimum, were significantly negatively correlated to body condition trends. This research provides key recommendations for the TN MPA co-management agencies on the use of body condition indicators.

Oil development has recently increased in the southwestern corner of Manitoba due to a combination of technological adaptation and lower oil prices. This oil production increase has produced an additional impact to an already imperiled landscape, bringing invasive species, contamination and further fragmentation to the southwestern corner of Manitoba. Using a qualitative case study strategy, I found several gaps at the intersection of Manitoba’s habitat protection and oil and gas law and policy. While the province has many habitat conservation policies, there are several issues with the placement of oil and gas activity within the framework, government oversight, private governance, government resources, lack of regional land use planning and cumulative impacts assessment. I ultimately conclude that these gaps stemmed from an overall neoliberal environmental governance model that has predictably, as neoliberal governance does, facilitated short-term economic gains over long-term environmental concerns like species at risk, water quality/quantity and surface habitat protection.

Hydraulic fracturing (fracking) has arrived in southwestern Manitoba enabling oil companies to drill in formally inaccessible and uneconomic areas on the fringes of the Bakken Shale. My study analyzes the regulatory framework, assessment regime, and potential political-ecological and socioeconomic effects of new fracking technologies in Manitoba. I look beyond fracking as a technical exercise, engaging with it as a situated lived experience. Through purposive qualitative interviews with those affected by the industry, immersion in the field and an evaluation of grey literature studies, I describe the attitudes and realities of people living amidst the fracking boom. I ultimately unfold the narrative of fracking in the province to reveal a neoliberal program that I argue puts economic and technical desires above public health and environmental concerns.

Despite widespread reports of the benefits of Community-Based Forest Management, there is little empirical evidence regarding socioeconomic outcomes for local communities. The purpose of my research was to consider the extent of innovation and sustainability in Community Forestry approaches in British Columbia, Canada. Data was collected through a qualitative case study focusing on the Lower North Thompson Community Forest Society and the Wells Gray Community Forest Corporation, and involved document review, participant observation and interviews with community members. Key socioeconomic benefits identified were additional silviculture, local employment, local participation, grant distribution, and strategic partnerships. Although increased local control through grants increases quality of life, innovative practices and diversification opportunities are underdeveloped and require greater policy support to ensure continued success. Findings point to community forests as holding potential to increase the socioeconomic sustainability of local communities, which could make them key players in support for rural areas beyond forestry.

This thesis presents the results of a two year Feminist Participatory Action Research study conducted with a small group of Indigenous women in Treaty 1 Territory, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. In partnership with the Indigenous led, community non-profit organization, Ka Ni Kanichihk, I collaborated with Indigenous single mother client’s (n=8) to document their perspectives on, experiences of, and resistance to food insecurity, poverty, and racism in the city. Drawing on the concept of foodscapes- that is the sociospatial processes and outcomes related to food acquisition- we documented women co-researcher’s food journeys through qualitative methods including go-along interviews, individual interviews, food journals, and focus groups. Invoking recent conceptual progress on ‘the right to the city’, our results show that these women’s geographies are laden with highly gendered and racialized discriminatory processes and outcomes, which place single mothers and their children in Winnipeg at significant risk of persistent poverty and food insecurity.

This research examines the obstacles and opportunities experienced by new alternative and agroecological farmers as they seek out farming knowledge in Canada and how this contributes to the shaping of farmer subjectivities. Canada is facing a looming farm and food crisis; the barriers of accessing land and capital are becoming more significant for new entrants as well as disrupting the tradition of intergenerational knowledge transfer. Canada needs food and farming systems that not only tackle environmental problems, but which also address systemic oppressions and inequalities, while emphasizing local, grassroots knowledge and community-based economies. The goal of this research is to understand how knowledge and power determine farmer subjectivities, particularly for the new generation of alternative farmers in Canada. This research considers how new alternative farmers are shaping their own narratives, attitudes, and behaviours by cultivating their own subjectivities through collaborative learning initiatives. This process and its implications for the Canadian food system build on the theories of governmentality and environmentality, power/knowledge, learning communities, and social networks and assemblages. Primary data was collected through a national online survey of new and aspiring farmers and interviews conducted with new farmers and mentors in Manitoba and Ontario. This research explored the findings from multiple theoretical and methodological angles and includes an examination of the influence of the state in the historic formation of settler-farmer identities on the Canadian Prairies, the interactions between capitalist state and civil society actors in the establishment of food safety regulations in Canada and the US, and new farmer knowledge and learning in Canada. The findings indicate a tension between the ‘common sense’ definitions of farming as productivist or agroecological, and neoliberal or non-capitalist. New alternative farmers in this researc