Canada: Colonial Context

Sep 22, 2017 by Badr

How does your footprint reflect the economy of your country, including its colonial relations?

My personal footprint actually helps my government in Alberta due to the fact that it is heavily reliant on fossil fuels and since a lot of us, including me, use these resources frequently in our daily lives. On the other hand my footprint is actually impacting our colonial relation with First Nation people. Because my government is so heavily dependent on fossil fuels it is constantly exploiting land in find for these resources and since some of that land is occupied by First Nation groups, they are forced out of their lands so that our government can obtain goods. Or they would set up facilities beside these reserved lands and residents living there will end up getting sick. But although I am currently helping my government I am ultimately affecting it in the long run. I say this because soon there will becomes a time that our government cannot depend on fossil fuels anymore and our economy will collapse. If we do not adapt to new sustainable energy resources I have very little hope that our economy will be doing as well as it is currently.

How are the effects of climate change related with power imbalances among countries or within countries?

One of the reason why Canada plays a role in climate is because of the power imbalance among the government and Indigenous people. First nation cultures believe in respecting mother nature and giving back to all it has provided for us. And Indigenous communities don't have the power to enforce action that promotes the wellbeing of mother nature. This power imbalance caused our government to overlook Indigenous values which resulted in our influence on climate change.

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