Interest in the presence of environmental contaminants in the Canadian arctic and sub-arctic arises in part over concerns that Aboriginal people residing in these regions continue to rely on subsistence harvesting. Organochlorines (OCs) are a type of persistent organic pollutant (POP) that have a unique chlorine-carbon bond; this bond facilitates their unprecedented environmental longevity, lipophilicity and hydrophobic nature. OCs have been found in both the biotic and non-biotic compartments of northern ecosystems. This study examined patterns of differences with respect to body burden of organochlorines (lipid-adjusted) between the residents of the Ontario First Nations of Fort Albany (the site of MCRL Site 050), Kashechewan (no radar site), and Peawanuck (the site of MCRL 500) to assess whether geo-proximity to abandoned radar sites influenced organochlorine body burden with respect to the people of Fort Albany and Peawanuck. Correspondence analysis (CA-1) revealed people from Fort Albany had relatively higher pesticide concentrations (β-HCH and DDT, but not Mirex) and relatively lower CB (156 and 170) body burdens when compared to participants from Kashechewan and Peawanuck. CA- 2 revealed Peawanuck residents had relatively higher concentrations of CB180, DDE and hexachlorobenzene and relatively lower levels of DDT and mirex compared to participants from Kashechewan and Fort Albany. Results are suggestive but not conclusive that MCRL Site 500 may have influenced body burdens of Peawanuck residents.

The installation of solar photovoltaic (solar PV) technology on elementary and secondary schools has been undertaken around the world in an attempt to tie together positive environmental action, innovative environmental education, and potential economic gains. In Ontario, the advent of the Renewable Energy Standard Offer Program and the increased focus on environmental education by the Ontario Ministry of Education has resulted in preliminary interest from some Ontario school boards in installing solar PV technology on schools. However, simply installing the technology on school roof-tops does not guarantee that the potential benefits of a school-based solar PV project will be realized. Drawing from the literatures describing the social acceptance of innovation and technology, the social acceptance of renewable energy innovation and technology, and the social acceptance of educational innovation and technology in schools, this thesis attempts to identify non-technical factors that may impede school-based solar PV project development, and ultimately, attempts to identify factors that help maximize potential benefits. The research was conducted in two distinct phases, with the results from Phase 1 informing the focus and design of Phase 2. Phase 1 consisted of nine key-informant interviews with individuals directly involved in school-based solar PV projects in Canada and the United States, and Phase 2 consisted of a case study in the Halton District School Board (HDSB) and the Halton Catholic District School Board (HCDSB) (Ontario, Canada). Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected in Phase 2 through 30 stakeholder interviews and 50 stakeholder surveys. Respondents in the HDSB and HCDSB generally have a positive perception of solar PV technology, but are concerned to some extent about the cost and economic viability of implementing this kind of project. Five funding models for school-based solar PV projects were evaluated by respondents to determine the effect of project funding models on overall project social acceptance. The results show that the project funding model does affect social acceptance, with 78.1% of respondents reporting that at least one of the five models would cause their support for the project to either increase or decrease. Respondents indicated a strong preference for the government/utility model, while the corporate funding model was shown to be the most controversial. This thesis recommends that a broad-based, inclusive, stakeholder-oriented approach to project development could improve trust and communication between project stakeholders, and thus improve the social acceptance for any of the five funding models. Additionally, with any funding model, teacher and administrative support and social acceptance is particularly important to help maximize the educational component of the project.

Traditional food knowledge (TFK) refers to a cultural tradition of sharing food, recipes and cooking skills and techniques and passing down that collective wisdom through generations. The value of this knowledge is hidden in a global food system offering an abundance of commercial convenience foods. This study defines TFK and explores its value to assert space for its recovery and renewal. Using Trevor Hancock’s research on healthy communities and models, such as the Mandala of Health (1985), traditional food knowledge will be analyzed for its potential to contribute to individual and community ecosystem health. The role of traditional food knowledge is examined with respect to promoting biocultural diversity and improving the capacity for food production among citizens. Food diversity is an important component of human nutrition and can be an indicator for a bioculturally diverse region. Studies on biocultural diversity recognize the close connection between cultural and biological diversity. Only recently have the losses in cultural heritage, such as traditional food knowledge garnered academic and policy attention. Traditional food knowledge can be one means of asserting cultural identity and can be a way to connect people to the natural world. Transmitting this knowledge is one important means of fostering sustainable livelihoods, ecosystem health and enhanced individual and community capacity. Traditional food knowledge can provide an individual with the capacity to prepare meals that are nutritious, safe and culturally relevant. This skill can support adaptation to altered food environments, such as is the case for immigrants and indigenous populations. The food system itself has rapidly changed with global industrialization, urbanization and cultural homogenization; and traditional food knowledge is no exception. The distinct expressions of taste and place are facing a continuity gap when traditional food knowledge is not passed forward, but rather sidelined as an abstract, historical concept. This study takes a qualitative case study approach exploring the concept of traditional food knowledge. The existing literature is compared to the lived experience of immigrants and their families in the Canadian suburban context, specifically in Mississauga, Ontario. This study explores the relevance and value of traditional food knowledge to Indonesian-Chinese New Canadians, their families and the wider community. Despite the colossal challenges posed by a global food industry, there are personal and community benefits to gaining or relearning traditional food knowledge. The community capacity increases with a greater number of skilled practitioners and educated consumers. Informal sharing of the cultural life skills engages people from various walks of life as they learn about, and from, each other. Governance that enables and sustains this type of community exchange will require changes to ensure equitable support for the opportunity for such informal learning and capacity building to occur among all citizens.

Abstract Managing protected areas requires consideration of broad scale social, ecological and in some cases, political factors. Additionally, the impacts of hyperabundant species is often a concern in protected areas as increases in breeding and foraging pressures can alter habitats dramatically. The influences of hyberabundant nesting colonies of waterbird species are well documented. Many studies indicate that waterbird species can influence canopy species as especially on the shoreline of islands, where the most abundant nesting pressures occur. On Lake Erie, Phalacrocorax auritus populations have increased dramatically from a low of 87 nests in 1979 to 16,050 nests in 2007. However, most studies have failed to address the influences that mature tree death may have on the ground layer ecosystem, including increased litter depth, herbaceous species composition and abundance and seed bank composition and viability. Consequently this study sought to quantify the nesting colonies’ influence on coarse woody litter and how nest densities and litter depth influence the herbaceous layer, the seed bank composition and viability across the extent of three Lake Erie islands. My study was designed to quantify the nesting colonies’ influence on these variables across the extent of each island, rather than just the perimeters where the majority of cormorant nests and visible damage exists. I collected my data in the summer of 2008 on East Sister Island, Middle Island and West Sister Island, using plotless-point quarter method, herbaceous layer surveys (incorporating data collected by Parks Canada and Ontario Parks in 2004 and 2007), cormorant nest counts, soil seed bank cores, and litter depth measurements. To test whether there are specific impacts of cormorant nests relegated to the island perimeters versus the rest of the island, an available subset of data on East Sister Island and Middle Island were used. These were expressed as vegetation ‘damage indices’ as classified by Parks Canada and Ontario Parks staff. Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to determine if the different damage indices reveal any influence of cormorant nest density in smaller localized areas as opposed to testing the entirety of the islands. Kruskal-Wallis tests indicated that, island-wide, none of the herbaceous species abundance, diversity (total, native or exotic), seed bank composition, or seed viability has been affected significantly (P > 0.05) by either cormorant nest numbers or large-diameter litter-fall from cormorant nesting activities. However, damage indices (calculated using aerial photography) did indicate that, P .auritus nest density does influence litter depth, herbaceous species abundance and diversity in the island perimeter. Nest density has not significantly affected seed bank abundance or seed viability. My conclusion is that cormorants do not uniformly affect the islands as there is localized damage to the herbaceous layer, restricted primarily to the perimeters of the islands. However, there remains a risk to the interior herbaceous layer of the island if the effects of nesting pressures at the edges advance inward from this perimeter.

In 2005, the Recycling Council of Ontario published a report that identified the construction industry as one sector that did not manage its waste in an environmentally appropriate manner. In this report, Let’s Climb Another Molehill, 15 case studies were executed to understand why this industry was neither handling nor disposing its waste properly in Southern Ontario. A set of generic recommendations was generated to help improve the management of this industry’s waste. Unfortunately the scope of the report was too broad to support conclusions about the management of specific types of problematic construction waste. The aim of this thesis is to narrow what was done in Let’s Climb Another Molehill to focus only on gypsum wallboard. The purpose of this research is to determine what options are the most desirable and feasible to deal sustainably with gypsum wallboard waste in Southern Ontario, both now and in the future. All recommendations offered are case specific. A number of methods have been utilized to obtain the information needed to formulate appropriate recommendations to deal with wallboard. Information learned through the literature, witnessed through the observation sessions, and acquired through the interviews led to two unique option categories: 1) alternative materials and 2) change in practices. To evaluate these options, a set of criteria was created based on the concepts of sustainability and integrated waste management (IWM). This sustainable IWM criteria set allowed for consistent evaluation of the options. To improve the recommendations, the sustainable IWM criteria were refined to better deal with each of the two categories of options. When the sustainable IWM criteria for evaluating alternative materials were applied, gypsum wallboard was found still to be the best interior wall material to use today. However, applying the sustainable IWM criteria for evaluating change in practices showed that the problem with using this product lies with its management and, therefore, the remaining recommendations focus on improving the creation, use and disposal of wallboard. Many of these recommendations can easily be adopted to help eliminate inappropriate wallboard management practices. This research was able to identify areas where problems arose and to offer feasible options to improve environmentally inappropriate behaviors associated with wallboard management. Although numerous recommendations are offered, the three fundamental recommendations that will lead to the biggest change include: 1) greater number of educational programs devoted to the construction industry; 2) stricter regulations and better enforcement; and 3) a dramatic increase in landfill tipping fees. If these three recommendations were implemented, it is believed that they will play a positive role in managing gypsum wallboard waste in a more sustainable manner.

This study develops an interdisciplinary theoretical framework for understanding institutional change and resistance to change towards sustainability. The research rests on two leading theories of change within the social and ecological sciences: the New Institutionalism and Panarchy theory. A theoretical framework integrating insights from the two theories is applied in an analysis of the development of the Town of Caledon’s mineral resources policies. The research suggests that institutional change and inertia are interconnected and interdependent and, depending on the case and context, they may interact with each other across spatial and temporal scales. There may be overlap in the emergence of pressures for institutional inertia and change across temporal and spatial scales, and both institutional change and inertia may be present when opportunities arise for renegotiation of the “rules of the game”. Results show that the two theories share many concepts (e.g., thresholds or tipping points, fast and slow moving variables, etc.) to aid in understanding the dynamics of institutional and ecological realms. Moreover, the integrated theoretical framework can help to explain the dynamics of institutional systems in a way that overcomes the limitations in Panarchy and the New Institutionalism theories by themselves. Key concepts within Panarchy theory (e.g., regime shifts, etc.) complement the New Institutionalism’s ability to capture important contextual factors influencing institutional change and inertia, and help to overcome the current limitation in its capacity to explain the nonlinear, multi-scalar dynamics of institutional systems. In turn, key concepts within the New Institutionalism (e.g., uncertainty, etc.) complement and enrich Panarchy theory’s capacity to illustrate the social and economic dimensions of institutional dynamics. Results of the case analysis demonstrate that a range of overlapping, historic and immediate, local-to-provincial factors (e.g., socioeconomic costs, uncertainty, path dependent effects, etc.) and institutional elements (e.g., interests and values, power and resources, issues of fit, etc.) drove institutional change and inertia in the development of Caledon’s mineral resources policies. The slow moving institutional variables in Caledon’s case (core Town, industry and provincial government values and interests) were perhaps the greatest determinants of institutional change and resistance to change towards sustainability. The story of the development of Caledon’s mineral resources policies, then, is about the resilience and resistance efforts of a small Town committed to maintaining core community values under the constraints of a resilient and resistant, ecologically destructive and inequitable institutional system.

Inuit exercise a significant degree of self-determination in Nunavut through the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement, particularly in the area of non-renewable resource development. Self-determination is linked to both Inuit and Canadian identity and conceptualized in its democratic form as relationships of autonomy and interdependence mediated by resource management institutions. This thesis argues that democratic self-determination depends on local experiences of reciprocity and legitimate institutional representation. Nunavut’s institutional actors have the potential to establish locally acceptable norms of reciprocity and representation through (quasi-) constitutionally mandated Inuit Associations, an Inuit public government at the municipal and territorial levels, and resource co-management boards. Using a qualitative research methodology involving document analysis, semi-structured interviews and participant observation, this thesis explores how residents of Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, are experiencing democratic self-determination from the perspectives of representation and reciprocity. Results indicate that conflict between municipalities and Inuit Associations over the distribution of resource benefits can overshadow attitudes of reciprocity between public and Inuit spheres. Although both Inuit Associations and public governments are seen as legitimately representing local interests in resource development, each have distinct roles: Inuit Associations negotiate Impact and Benefit Agreements with industry as a matter of right, while public government’s role is the responsible delivery of social services. The legitimacy of Inuit Associations as representatives of Inuit interests was challenged by a minority of research participants who expressed concerns about elitism and unaccountability of Inuit officials, and educational barriers to non-elite participation in decision-making. Meanwhile the criticisms registered against the public governments illustrated contemporary attitudes of resentment based on a history of colonialism and distance from centre to periphery. The Nunavut Impact Review Board was found to be a valuable mechanism for managing Inuit-state relations in its ability to foster trust, though its ability to determine the just distribution of resource benefits is circumscribed. Ultimately, this research suggests that from the perspective of reciprocity and legitimate representation, the birth of Nunavut should not be considered an end to the struggle for greater local democratic control over economic and political destinies.

The drinking water contamination tragedy in Walkerton, Ontario during the spring of 2000 led to many changes in water management for the province. Among these changes has been the increased use of the multiple barrier approach (MBA) to safe drinking water as the basis of water management for communities throughout Ontario. The MBA is also used in the management of water for First Nations communities throughout Ontario and Canada. Literature on water quality management for First Nations suggests that despite these changes, many communities continue to face challenges for ensuring the safety and quality of their drinking water supplies. Fort William First Nation, Gull Bay First Nation, and Mattagami First Nation, were selected for this study in order to investigate the use of the MBA in these communities. Data was collected using key informant interviews with representatives of institutions that affect water management for the case study communities, direct observations during visits to two of the communities and attendance at a First Nations water policy forum, and through a review of recent reports and publications on safe drinking water for First Nations. The research has provided insight into the challenges that the case study communities face for ensuring safe drinking water under the MBA, as well as opportunities that exist to address those challenges. The findings suggest that the MBA currently does not meet the unique needs of some First Nations communities. They also suggest that specific adaptations of existing water management strategies to the MBA framework may lead to a more effective approach to ensure safe drinking water for First Nations communities. This thesis focuses on several key ways to make these changes: Strengthen public involvement and awareness; Introduce effective legislative and policy frameworks; Encourage research, science and technology for First Nations’ water management; Allocate sufficient financial resources to First Nations to recruit, train and retain qualified water managers and maintain drinking water infrastructure, and; Increase efforts to ensure that water management goals are supported by local and indigenous traditional knowledge, beliefs and perspectives.

As water infrastructure in urban Ontario strains to meet the demands of a growing population, alternatives to the conventional water supply approach that complement demand management strategies are important to enable more sustainable water use at the household level. The adoption of rainwater harvesting (RWH), for indoor and outdoor uses by single-family households can reduce a households withdrawals on municipal water by 30% if rainwater is used for toilet flushing, laundry and outdoor uses (Despins 2009). The amount of potable water savings because of RWH is influenced by the rate of adoption and the allowed uses of rainwater at the individual household scale. The adoption of RWH systems would lead to reductions in potable water demand, which, in turn would lead to reduced demands on municipal water sources (e.g., groundwater or surface water), and storm water infrastructure resulting in overall reduced ecosystem stress and increased resiliency for climate change adaptation. Greater onsite storm water retention would mimic natural processes and would help reduce excess overland runoff that can result in water contamination. Presently, RWH systems tend to be more accepted and utilized in rural areas. However, there is a history of cistern use in rural and non-rural Waterloo. This history and capacity seems to be largely forgotten or unknown by urban citizens and local government officials. Century houses’ cisterns are often removed or filled in due to: a perceived lack of need, safety concerns and disrepair because of disuse. The increasing popularity of “green” building features and certifications have added some RWH systems for indoor and outdoor use to the urban environment, however, these remain limited instances. Moving RWH forward requires commitment from the Provincial and municipal government. Municipalities’ actions must support the sustainability objectives often referenced in their legislation and policy. This study establishes the drivers of RWH and examines the barriers to practice in the urban environment by examining existing examples and academic literature RWH systems within Canada and internationally. Results from a survey conducted in the City of Waterloo are used to reflect the systems user’s perspective. Interviews with municipal officials and RWH experts further highlight the drivers and barriers to RWH in urban Ontario. Based on the surveys, participants were generally willing to consider adopting RWH systems and a greater use of rainwater in the house, although a lack of information acts as significant barrier. However, Waterloo municipal officials who participated in the interviews described a much less enthusiastic attitude towards RWH. Although barriers identified in this research, including: legislative barriers, risk tolerance, perceptions of water abundance and economic realities shape the willingness to adopt RWH, this study indicates the barriers are surmountable through education and economic signaling.

Abstract This study used an exploratory research focus to investigate if making electricity consumption public and subject to social norms and networks resulted in consumption decreases for households in Milton, Ontario. In the first phase, Milton Hydro identified customers who fell within an average annual electricity consumption category and these customers were invited to participate by mail. Due to lack of participant uptake, cold-calling, targeting of service and faith groups and commuters, and snowball sampling were employed to obtain a total participant size of 17. The second phase saw participants grouped according to social network type (occupational, faith group, etc) and exposed to approval or disapproval indicators within their group about their daily electricity consumption rates via an on-line ‘energy pool’. There were five main groups: one of neighbours, one of members of a faith group, one of members of a company, one of strangers and one of a control group. Group members saw other members’ indicators with the exception of the control group, whose indicators were privately delivered. All group’s electricity consumption was tracked through daily smart meter readings. Participants also had the option of commenting on each other’s electricity use via an online ‘comment box’. In the third phase participants were asked to participate in a questionnaire to assess: 1) the perceived efficacy of the intervention; 2) perceptions of electricity consumption; and 3) the influence of the group on these perceptions. This sequential methodology was chosen for its ability to “...explain significant (or non-significant) results, outlier results, or surprising results” (Cresswell, 2006, p. 72). The findings of this exploratory research seem to suggest the following: 1) that publicity or group type does not seem to affect electricity consumption in comparative electricity consumption feedback for this study; 2) that participants used injunctive norms to comment on their electricity consumption but directed these comments solely at themselves; and 3) that the stronger the relationships in the group, the more likely participants were to engage with the website through checking it and commenting on it. This study may be useful to those in the fields of: 1) electricity conservation who wish to leverage feedback technologies; 2) social networks who wish to better understand how tie strength interacts with social norms and; 3) those in social marketing who wish to develop norm-based campaigns.