This thesis presents an account of water policies in Alberta's South Saskatchewan River Basin in reference to the historical factors influencing past decisions, the claims supporting present reforms and implications for future policy directions. I begin by investigating the historical factors surrounding early water policies and consider their influence on water development in the 20th century. Next I critically examine the policy reforms from 1996-2006 and consider both how early policy decisions influence contemporary plans and the claims offered in support of current management decisions. I then look to the future of water policy in southern Alberta and the planned implementation of adaptive management systems. I analyze adaptive management theory in the policy context of Alberta and find the normative claims of adaptive management insufficient. I then suggest a more robust normative framework to supplement adaptive management theory.

The term intimacy brings to mind a type of familiarity between people that surpasses mere affection. Intimacy suggests a deeply personal relationship based on shared experiences, love, and the pursuit of common goals. The intimate lives of families, shared in the domestic sphere, are often thought to be beyond the reach of the state. By contrast, this dissertation demonstrates that intimacy has been the focus of the state through Indian Act legislation and child welfare programs that have uniquely intersected through the lives of First Nations and Métis women and children. Aboriginal transracial adoption provides a particularly vivid example of state sanctioned intimacy. Programs such as the Adopt Indian and Métis program, later known as AIM, REACH and the American version, the Indian Adoption Program, (IAP), created intimate bonds between white families and Aboriginal children. Transracial adoption represents a revolution in integration. The period of integration that took shape after the Second World War manifested in increased interventions of social welfare workers who encountered Aboriginal women and children in various domains. Race, gender, and space are interrogated through exploring Aboriginal women’s responses to the opportunities provided by increased access to child welfare programs, as well the limitations and serious handicaps that came as a consequence of their particular gendered and racialized location. In Saskatchewan, the CCF government under the direction of Tommy Douglas sought to utilize “technologies of helping”, a secular therapeutic social welfare approach to the problem of Métis marginalization and poverty through the Department of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation to effect Métis integration. Initially envisioned as series of government supported colonies to which Métis were relocated, the Métis policy eventually evolved to focus primarily on Métis children, and tangentially on Métis women. The Adopt Indian and Métis program, coming on the heels of failed relocation policies, increasing urban migration, and the compulsory enfranchisement of Indian women who married non-Indian partners, sought to present transracial adoption of Aboriginal children into non-Aboriginal homes as a potential solution to the breakdown of Indian and Métis families. The television advertisements and newspaper articles alerted the Saskatchewan public to the need for their assistance to love and care for needy children. This dissertation foregrounds concepts of Aboriginal kinship to illuminate the responses of First Nations and Métis leaders and activists to transracial adoption. Often characterized as “cultural genocide”, statistics reveal that there were in fact fewer adoptions than other forms of state based child caring provided to Aboriginal children. These concepts of kinship have been useful to provide a connection between calls for Aboriginal control of child welfare, sovereignty, and transracial adoption that emerged in the US and Canada in the latter half of the twentieth century. The tensions between conceptual and political goals and gendered manifestations of colonization have yet to be reconciled. Utilizing feminist ethnohistorical methodology along with oral histories from activists and Aboriginal peoples, this study proposes that the child welfare system provided both opportunities and oppression. Following the 1951 Indian Act revisions provincial law became applicable on reserve, and child welfare services were provided to Indian people who moved to urban areas. The Adoption Act supplanted former departmentally sanctioned Indian custom adoptions. Indigenous political leaders and activists have sought different methods to restore colonized kinship systems. These legal kinship systems express not only a uniquely Aboriginal identity, but serve to embed Indigenous children into their respective Indigenous political entities, simultaneously reaching backwards and forwards through time.

Research has shown links between high levels of teacher self-efficacy and increased student achievement. Theorists and educational researchers have identified conditions and resources that increase teacher self-efficacy. Building on existing research, this quantitative study used data from 46 teacher respondents in one Saskatchewan school division. The purpose of the study was to examine teacher self-efficacy and its relationship to teachers’ perceptions of their working conditions. An online questionnaire, based on the Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES) and the Teaching, Empowering, Leading and Learning (TELL) Survey, was used to collect the data. The mode of data analysis consisted of frequency counts (means and standard deviations) for the descriptive items relating to levels of self-efficacy and perceptions of working conditions. Non-parametric methods were used to measure significance and level of differences among variables, and Spearman’s rho correlations were employed to identify the level of significance of relationships between and among the dimensions and items of teacher self-efficacy and teacher working conditions. A significant correlation was found between the two major constructs of teacher self-efficacy and teachers’ perceptions of their working conditions, and strong correlations were also found between specific dimensions of teacher self-efficacy and dimensions of working conditions. Teacher levels of self-efficacy were predominantly in the moderate and high levels, and teacher leadership was rated highest among working conditions variables. Time availability was rated the lowest of all working conditions, and was found to be significantly related to the teacher self-efficacy dimensions of classroom management and instructional strategies. Further research, using student achievement data and a greater number of participants, may clarify how teacher self-efficacy and working conditions affect student achievement.

This thesis examines the creation of the Witchekan Lake Reserve in Saskatchewan, the resulting treaty land entitlement (TLE) for Witchekan Lake First Nation, and the 1992 Framework Agreement for Saskatchewan Treaty Land Entitlement (TLEFA). The history of the Witchekan Lake Reserve between 1913 and 1919 is reconstructed and reveals a unique situation within TLE. The creation of a Reserve some thirty seven years prior to adherence to Treaty Six presents a challenge to the interpretation of TLE. It also points to the importance of the historical context of Reserve creation within TLE A study of land use and occupancy of Witchekan Lake First Nation and the area occupied by Settlers was facilitated by the use of Department of Indian Affairs files, map biographies, oral interviews, transcripts of earlier interviews with deceased elders, records and correspondence from Saskatchewan Environment and Resource Mangement (SERM) and the Department of the Interior Homestead Files. The analysis employs a non-traditional definition of the ethnicity of Settlers. That definition is based on their birthplace, their land use and their life experiences before arriving at Witchekan Lake. Employing theoretical concepts of colonization and underlying ideologies of racial inferiority, the work proposes that the existence of two opposing types of land use and occupancy and their respective value systems led to a TLE for Witchekan Lake First Nation. It is argued here that these ideologies were present in the homestead period and have persisted into the present due to the late timing of settlement and the pluralistic composition of Settlers. A review of the events around the acquisition of the Bapaume Community Pasture by Witchekan Lake First Nation demonstrates the continuance of conflict with Settlers. This conflict first arose in the homestead era. A critique of the TLEFA, specific to the case of Witchekan Lake First Nation, proposes that lack of attention to their unique circumstances has left the community with unresolved claims. The community hoped that these unresolved claims would be settled in the TLEFA.

In current literature of child public health, a growing number of studies has been dedicated to early childhood development with a focus on child developmental health measured via the teacher completed Early Development Instrument (EDI). Using multilevel modeling as the optimal statistical method to analyze hierarchical EDI data, this study determines the strength of the effect and significance of predictors of children’s 5 EDI outcomes, vulnerability, and the multiple vulnerability by taking into account the hierarchy present in its design. In addition, this study conducts an extensive epidemiological review of the risk factors associated with a child’s developmental health at each level of the hierarchy, at cross-levels of the hierarchy and their variations across different levels of the hierarchy. This cross-sectional study considered 9045 Saskatchewan children who were ages 4-8 years in the 2008-2009 school years. Individual child characteristics, EDI domains, and vulnerability data were collected by the Ministry of Education teachers in the provincial 2008 EDI project; neighborhood contextual Census data were compiled by SPHERU staff at the University of Saskatchewan. Multilevel linear and logistic models were used to analyze the data. According to the results, individual characteristics, such as being Aboriginal, an ESL learner, male, and being absent from school; neighborhood characteristics such as income inequality; and geographical characteristics such as living in a large city have negative effects on EDI scores and exacerbating the odds of vulnerability. Compounding effects of Aboriginal-special skills, large city-Aboriginal, and large city-neighborhood median income were positive on the above outcomes with considerable either significance or strength, while those of neighborhood income inequality-Aboriginal, and large city-neighborhood income inequality were negative with notable significance and strength. Furthermore, neighborhood contextual variables contribute to a considerable proportion of health outcome variations and the results associated with neighborhood income inequality give further evidence of the income inequality hypothesis. The findings of this study recommend provincial child public health policy makers’ extended attention to Aboriginal children, children with ESL status, those children living in neighborhoods with high income inequality and children from Regina.

Lime kiln use in Saskatchewan from the earliest days of European settlement was researched and documented. Remaining features were relocated and oral or documentary history was gathered. This information was put in context on the prairies in regard to early cooperative industries and employment, architectural traditions, commodities in demand, the generation of supporting industries and spatial patterning. These resulting data were then used to explore several research questions. Lime kilns were associated with early trail systems upon which the earliest European settlements were established due to projected railway routes and areas suitable for wheat agriculture. Most of the earliest architectural traditions in Saskatchewan required the use of lime because homesteaders - predominantly those from northern Europe and specifically the British Isles - were building with log, stone and gravel or rammed earth and needed and to have access to a lime kiln in the area. The skill and knowledge to build and burn successful kilns was transmitted either through those bringing the technological know-how with them from their country of origin or was adopted by new settlers arriving from the east or the south. These skills were also taught by Indian Agents to native people on reserves as a way to generate income. The construction and use of lime kilns is indicative of one of the earliest settlement industries in Saskatchewan and was usually a necessity for the establishment of built heritage.

The dairy industry has undergone a dynamic phase during the past two decades. Innovations in terms of technologies, processes, and products have changed the way the production of milk is done. This research takes an exploratory approach to look at the process of opportunity discovery within farm businesses and what firms in the dairy industry are doing to become more innovative. In addition, this research looks at the strategies farmers are using to successfully implement those innovations. An important factor that could affect the performance of a firm is the degree of which the firm is able to become aware of and exploit innovations that help bridge productivity and opportunity gaps. Data is collected through qualitative tools, including in-depth interviews of dairy producers from Saskatchewan, Canada and Aguascalientes, Mexico. Such data collection provides this research with specific insights into the process of opportunity discovery. It also indicates which managerial practices moderate the successful discovery and exploitation of business opportunities in the dairy industry. A theoretical framework was developed around four managerial factors; networking, human capital, market orientation and entrepreneurial orientation. Several propositions were built to identify the impact of these factors on the discovery and exploitation of opportunities in the dairy industry in both Canada and Mexico. This research shed more light on why some producers are more productive than others and how this is allowing some dairy producers to be more profitable. In addition, findings compare both industries and the differences and similarities are shown in terms of operations, managerial styles and processes in which the discovery and exploitation of opportunities take place.

This creative thesis is a work of fiction exploring the family dynamics of the Van Der Weerd family, told from the point of view of three main characters: Katie (age 30) and her parents, Donna and Harold. Donna and Harold are about to divorce and their son, Brett is estranged from the entire family, including the young daughter he’s never known. The novel spans a year’s time, with the final chapter moving forward another year. Estrangement, addiction, death, and the custody of a four-year old niece and granddaughter are part of this story. (Preliminary pages only)

Water resources in Canada are of major environmental, social and economic value. It is expected that climate change will be accompanied by more intense competition for water supply in water-stressed agricultural areas such as the southern Prairies. Beyond physical impacts, drought can be seen as a socio-economic and political problem which ultimately has implications for community-level vulnerability to climate change. This thesis presents empirical vulnerability case studies focused on the exposure-sensitivity and adaptive capacity of Coronach and Gravelbourg in southern Saskatchewan. The results illustrate the fact that farmers or ranchers are not merely passive victims of drought. They also take an active role in shaping the environment around them, thus affecting their own vulnerability to drought. Therefore, by understanding the causal linkages of the coupled social-environment system, a more comprehensive understanding of community vulnerability is achievable and informed decisions can be made based on this thorough understanding of local conditions. In the second part of this thesis, the potential of soft water path is evaluated as a possible adaptation strategy. Based on the results gathered in the first part of this thesis, adaptation measures are tailored to address specific needs of different sectors in the Town of Coronach and the Town of Gravelbourg while ensuring ecological sustainability. Examples of possible paths (adaptation measures) are suggested in order to increase community adaptive capacity to water shortages in light of future climate changes.

Cougars (Puma concolor) have recently begun to reclaim former range and also are expanding into new territory. The Cypress Hills of southeast Alberta and southwest Saskatchewan now hosts the most eastern confirmed breeding population of cougars in Canada. However, with the return of cougars come new issues about human safety and risk of livestock depredation. Using GPS radiocollars, scat analysis, snowtracking and wildlife cameras, I found that the Cypress Hills boasts one of the highest densities of cougars ever reported, yet the large cats avoid human-use areas and have not been documented to prey on livestock. Using aerial ungulate survey data, I also show that the increase in cougar abundance is associated with a shift in distribution of nave ungulate prey to areas outside the park. Provided that cougars continue to avoid humans and cattle, this island habitat could prove to be an important stepping stone to further expansion eastward. / Ecology