This Space is Ours

Ever since all of us "scholars" arrived at the Sauve house, Ion has encouraged us to take advantage of the beautiful house and host our own events - "this space is yours". So, I did. Enviro-Jam was a party with a purpose; to have people engaged in environmental justice and climate change in the polar regions.

Remy Rodden, a biologist and educator who happens to sing and write songs, mostly inspired by environmental issues and Northern life was invited to bring himself, his pictures and his guitar to Sauve House by myself and Jana Luker. Recently, Remy had the opportunity to travel to the Arctic and Antarctic with Students on Ice. He showed his pictures, sang songs like "What's that? Habitat!" and "Biodiversity" and "Woman With a Chainsaw." I myself gave a brief presentation on climate change in the Arctic. I talked about the melting permafrost, the link between climate change and Aboriginal rights, Grolar bears, increased health issues because of fossil fuels, the looming Mackenzie Gas Project and the importance of water to everyone and it's meaning to indigenous communities.

This was a nice time for scholars to invite their friends, host families and mentors to the Sauve House for a relaxed and non-formal event. Everyone had a pleasant time participating in Remy's songs (according to him, singing is NOT a spectator sport), learning about climate change and jamming with Remy's family.

Masi cho everyone who came and participated. And Remy, we are still singing your songs!
Jessica

Quebec City

On February 5^th, 9 of the scholars headed up to Quebec City for the notorious Winter Carnival. At 7:30am sharp, we were packed and ready to go. Two cars full, ipods charged, and several Tim Horton’s breakfast bagels and we were on our way.

The drive was beautiful. Blindingly white fields, slightly antiquated houses reminiscent of a slower, quieter time. Rows and rows of greenhouses begged the question, “what does grow in Quebec during this time of year?” From personal experience, I can tell you: close. to. nothing.

We arrived at Auberge Michel Doyon around 11:30pm. After attempting for what felt like an hour to communicate in French (darn I need to learn this language!), we were able to check in to our rooms and head downtown. As we descended from the 7min bus ride into the heart of Quebec City, we stood in awe at the spectacular architecture of the city.

The old part of the city or Vieux Quebec – as the Quebecois call it – borders the Saint Laurent river and is surrounded by massive walls giving it a fort-esque feel to it. Inside the walls, street performers and activities flooded the terrain. To our left: a children’s hockey game, to our right: a down-hill race car tournament, on top of the hill: the Carnival.

Ice sculptures adorned the landscape. The parliament stood as a magnificent Second Empire monument to Quebec’s rich political history. The Bonhomme, with his weirdly creepy smile, greeted us at the entrance. The rest of the day can only be described as a blur of uncontrollable laughter, extreme downhill madness, and finger-licking goodness.

On Sunday we drove out to the legendary Ice Hotel where beautiful, intricate decorations laid softly upon the icy walls. Inside: hotel suites with fur-covered beds, a chapel lined with carefully designed benches, and gaudy chandeliers hung drastically from the ceiling - all made of ice. Tourists paced to and fro, joyfully snapping future memories of ephemeral spaces bound to disappear.

After lunch, we took the ferry from Quebec City to Levis across the river. Shattered ice coated the river, drifting leisurely towards unknown destinations. The ferry gradually slicing the ice’s tough exterior as it cruised northward to Levis. From a distance, you could see the city lights, glimmering peacefully against the night sky like jewels waiting to be discovered and their stories to be explored.

Tea Talk on Genocide by Éloge Butera

Tuesday, February 1st, we had yet another opportunity to share our evening with a unique guest for a tea talk. Éloge Butera, a survivor of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsis in Rwanda shared his experiences during the genocide in a captivating 2 hour conversation over tea. Éloge who is also a human rights activist was chosen by the Quebec Government as "young volunteer of the year" in recognition of his activities organizing and speaking at conferences and commemorative days about genocide and human rights to raise public awareness, as well as fundraising for Rwandan charity organizations. 

Éloge started his talk by taking us through a short journey into his childhood days. The set of photographs from his life that he had brought with him made the narrative all the more touching & personal. The richness of the narrative also came from the amorphous style which Éloge chose to tell his story – a style that seamlessly integrated the socio-political developments that took place in Rwanda prior to the genocide with the changes in everyday life that Éloge & his family went through. 

We learnt of his early childhood & the discrimination that the Tutsi kids faced in their school because of the propaganda against the Tutsis that had started to play a dominant role in the Rwandan society during the 1980s. We learnt of his parents & how they fought through their lives constantly facing the agony & tension that the social divide had stirred up. The silence in the room was ear-shattering to say the least when Éloge was reliving the moments where he & his family witnessed first-hand the desperate conditions that thousands of Rwandans went through during the genocide which wiped out nearly 20% of the country’s population. Éloge also talked about the origin of the Tutsi – Hutu divide & how a short-sighted classification of Rwandan population based on their facial features eventually led to a deep divide & enmity between the two groups. 

Éloge’s father who was a doctor had previously treated & cured several people with injuries whom the rest of the medical community had forsaken. On several occasions during the genocide, Éloge’s family was saved only because the person standing in front of them to take their lives happened to be someone who was previously saved by Éloge’s father. While the sense of gratitude displayed by such men who were otherwise comfortable taking human lives around them was somewhat a symbol of hope, Éloge’s loss of his father during the genocide brought us face-to-face with the hopelessness that such times can cast upon the world. 

After the genocide, Éloge’s family sent him to Canada. Éloge shared during his talk the early experiences that he had in Manitoba, Winnipeg & how he eventually came to Montreal where he is now finishing his law degree. Incidentally, Éloge was also a Sauvé Scholar during 2009-10 which made the connection that he shared with us much stronger.

Sauve in Pictures

Awesome Xmas dinner with the Snidermans

..........And we became Hockeys fans

What we always love to do ...dining together

Montreal Skyline at Night...what a beautiful city.

Putting a human face on climate change: Reflections of a Sauvé Scholar

Since August 2010 when I arrived at the gigantic Sauvé Mansion, I have been working on a project which examines the human right consequences of global climate change on the Inuit communities in Canada. This project attempts to move beyond mere rhetoric of climate change to demonstrate how climate change is already posing direct and indirect effects on life and lifestyles in the Inuit communities. Extreme weather events such sea level rise, melting of ice, thawing of permafrost, increased precipitation, and fatal heat waves have already been documented. It is however the non-physical impacts of climate change on these communities that are more worrying and the most difficult to measure. These include the potential displacements of people from their homes, loss of traditional lifestyles, increased health problems, and the loss of the benefit of culture amongst others.

Considering the irreversible damage of the foregoing, the time has come for us to begin to think of climate change in a new way. There is a need to move beyond statistics, grandstanding and promises to taking concrete actions which are human centered. My project calls for a human rights based approach to addressing climate change. This approach is a move from market based approaches to an approach which recognizes that changes caused by global warming is already interfering with the realization of several human rights, such as the right of indigenous peoples to continue to use and enjoy their traditional lands, right to health, right to life, and right to the benefit of culture.

To put a human face on climate change would mean coming up with policy frameworks which draw on international human rights standards and best practices to provide protection for the Inuit community. These well established standards include access to information, public participation, accountability, equality and non-discrimination, and access to justice. Access to information for example would include letting people know through increased public awareness programmes how climate change would affect their lives and lifestyles. Participation would entail the involvement of the Inuit people in designing responses to the effects of climate change on their lives. Similarly, there would be a need for remedies like compensations and resettlements for victims of these climate induced stress.

The serenity of the Sauvé house has afforded me some time to continue to reflect and work on this project. New ideas keep flowing in by the day either when I do a eat and think on the very comfy leather sofas at the kitchen, or when I go all the way for some time alone at the library or reading area. Needless to talk of the high productivity rate my deluxe room offers me, especially on the extremely cold winter days.