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Climate Strike
Marches to support the Global Climate Strike on September 27th, 2019 represent a powerful mobilization to draw attention to pressing environmental and climate issues.
Members of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation community are among the participants who hope the marches will help make a difference in public policies to preserve the environment and fight climate change.
Stéphanie Roy, 2017 Scholar, researches law with a focus on governments’ environmental obligations.
“Taking to the streets on September 27 is asking our governments to do more to protect youth, our collective future and that of future generations. It is to show them that they must have the political courage to adopt the necessary measures to fight climate change when we are behind them.”
Pierre Cloutier de Repentigny, also a 2017 Scholar, conducts his doctoral research in environmental law with a focus on biodiversity.
“In my field of research, marine environmental law, climate change is already causing havoc. Marine biodiversity—already under considerable stress from overexploitation, marine pollution and loss of habitats—will be particularly impacted by the effects of climate change. Warming waters can significantly disturb marine ecosystems by affecting spawning, distribution, and abundance of species. […] This global climate strike is a momentous opportunity, and we must seize it. It is time to make our voice heard. It is time to demand change.”
The Global Climate Strike initiative is taking place in more than 150 countries and demonstrates a new approach focused on human rights and social justice to fight against climate change.
Members of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation community are among the participants who hope the marches will help make a difference in public policies to preserve the environment and fight climate change.
Stéphanie Roy, 2017 Scholar, researches law with a focus on governments’ environmental obligations.
“Taking to the streets on September 27 is asking our governments to do more to protect youth, our collective future and that of future generations. It is to show them that they must have the political courage to adopt the necessary measures to fight climate change when we are behind them.”
Pierre Cloutier de Repentigny, also a 2017 Scholar, conducts his doctoral research in environmental law with a focus on biodiversity.
“In my field of research, marine environmental law, climate change is already causing havoc. Marine biodiversity—already under considerable stress from overexploitation, marine pollution and loss of habitats—will be particularly impacted by the effects of climate change. Warming waters can significantly disturb marine ecosystems by affecting spawning, distribution, and abundance of species. […] This global climate strike is a momentous opportunity, and we must seize it. It is time to make our voice heard. It is time to demand change.”
The Global Climate Strike initiative is taking place in more than 150 countries and demonstrates a new approach focused on human rights and social justice to fight against climate change.
Cindy Blackstock: Kids before anything
As part of Women’s History Month, the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation is presenting snapshots of women in our community and the significant impact they have had in their fields.
“If you tried to take away her dignity, it was impossible. If you tried to ridicule her, it was impossible. I’ve never met anyone like that. ”
—Alanis Obomsawin, 2009 Mentor
A tireless advocate for the rights of Indigenous children and their families, Cindy Blackstock has shown relentless commitment to her cause.
Dr. Cindy Blackstock grew up in northern British Columbia surrounded by huckleberry fields. As a member of the Gitxsan First Nation, she experienced the consequences of racism against Indigenous peoples throughout her childhood. “You were expected to grow up and become drunk and lazy,”she says about the prejudice she witnessed. She became determined to study at the University of British Columbia, where she graduated and became a social worker in the Vancouver area at the age of 21.
In her work, Blackstock noted a disproportionate number of Indigenous families in need of child welfare services. “On the reserves, even the most fundamental things just were not there” she recounted in an interview on CBC in September 2019. Faced with the urgency of the situation, she hoped that someone would take charge of the situation. “I was convinced I was unqualified to do something.” Eventually, the problem was too big to ignore, and she had to make a difference for the next generation of children.
In 1999, Cindy Blackstock helped found the First Nations Caring Society, an organization that ensures Indigenous children and families receive the services they need to grow up safely. In 2007, with the assistance of the Assembly of First Nations, she filed a complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal against the government regarding the application of Jordan’s Principle.
“If you tried to take away her dignity, it was impossible. If you tried to ridicule her, it was impossible. I’ve never met anyone like that. ”
—Alanis Obomsawin, 2009 Mentor
A tireless advocate for the rights of Indigenous children and their families, Cindy Blackstock has shown relentless commitment to her cause.
Dr. Cindy Blackstock grew up in northern British Columbia surrounded by huckleberry fields. As a member of the Gitxsan First Nation, she experienced the consequences of racism against Indigenous peoples throughout her childhood. “You were expected to grow up and become drunk and lazy,”she says about the prejudice she witnessed. She became determined to study at the University of British Columbia, where she graduated and became a social worker in the Vancouver area at the age of 21.
In her work, Blackstock noted a disproportionate number of Indigenous families in need of child welfare services. “On the reserves, even the most fundamental things just were not there” she recounted in an interview on CBC in September 2019. Faced with the urgency of the situation, she hoped that someone would take charge of the situation. “I was convinced I was unqualified to do something.” Eventually, the problem was too big to ignore, and she had to make a difference for the next generation of children.
In 1999, Cindy Blackstock helped found the First Nations Caring Society, an organization that ensures Indigenous children and families receive the services they need to grow up safely. In 2007, with the assistance of the Assembly of First Nations, she filed a complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal against the government regarding the application of Jordan’s Principle.
World Habitat Day
The first Monday of October marks World Habitat Day. The focus this year is about promoting the contribution of innovative frontier technologies to sustainable waste management in order to achieve more inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable cities.
Steven Vanloffeld is a 2019 Pierre Elliott Trudeau Scholar from Saugeen First Nation in Ontario. His research focuses on consent and development in Indigenous territories as it relates to nuclear waste disposal.
Having served on the Saugeen First Nation council, he has seen first-hand the pattern of development and understands the importance of meeting the needs of the community.
Canada adopted the United Nations’ Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2015, which includes the principle of free, prior and informed consent in regard to territory.
The Chippewas of Saugeen (Steven’s home community) and the Chippewas of Nawash are two First Nation communities in Canada which have secured the right to give or withhold consent.
With over a decade of experience in Indigenous, government, and community relations, Vanloffeld understands the importance of sustainability and long-term effects.
"Government and industry are watching to see how this is operationalized, which will help inform a framework moving forward." - via Western University
Cynthia Morinville is a 2016 Scholar who is exploring the lived experiences of informal workers in the global South who extract rare metals from discarded electronic waste. Her research uses documentary filmmaking and photography to tell the e-waste story in a new way.
Morinville engages notions of agency, representation, and justice to offer alternative narratives around the global e-waste crisis. By providing overlooked local perspectives on dismantling and resource recovery activities, her research aims to contribute to current reform efforts.
"Whenever you ask questions about environmental sustainability, you have to start with social justice and equality. Access to land and resources is at the base of all radical politics." - via University of Toronto
Steven Vanloffeld is a 2019 Pierre Elliott Trudeau Scholar from Saugeen First Nation in Ontario. His research focuses on consent and development in Indigenous territories as it relates to nuclear waste disposal.
Having served on the Saugeen First Nation council, he has seen first-hand the pattern of development and understands the importance of meeting the needs of the community.
Canada adopted the United Nations’ Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2015, which includes the principle of free, prior and informed consent in regard to territory.
The Chippewas of Saugeen (Steven’s home community) and the Chippewas of Nawash are two First Nation communities in Canada which have secured the right to give or withhold consent.
With over a decade of experience in Indigenous, government, and community relations, Vanloffeld understands the importance of sustainability and long-term effects.
"Government and industry are watching to see how this is operationalized, which will help inform a framework moving forward." - via Western University
Cynthia Morinville is a 2016 Scholar who is exploring the lived experiences of informal workers in the global South who extract rare metals from discarded electronic waste. Her research uses documentary filmmaking and photography to tell the e-waste story in a new way.
Morinville engages notions of agency, representation, and justice to offer alternative narratives around the global e-waste crisis. By providing overlooked local perspectives on dismantling and resource recovery activities, her research aims to contribute to current reform efforts.
"Whenever you ask questions about environmental sustainability, you have to start with social justice and equality. Access to land and resources is at the base of all radical politics." - via University of Toronto
Pauline D’Amboise: The Power of Ambition
As part of Women’s History Month, the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation is presenting snapshots of women in our community and the significant impact they have had in their fields.
The Power of Ambition
Sustainable development and ambition are two themes that guide Pauline D’Amboise’s career and commitment. As a businesswoman, she holds a senior management position in one of Canada’s largest financial institutions.
Pauline D’Amboise grew up in Quebec far from big cities. After college studies, she began her career with the Desjardins Group. First a paralegal, she became head of the corporate secretariat in the 1990s. It was at this time that she began contributing to the Desjardins Magazine on Sustainable Development, Governance and Ethics. Pauline D’Amboise became General Secretary of the Desjardins Group in 2000.
The Power of Ambition
Sustainable development and ambition are two themes that guide Pauline D’Amboise’s career and commitment. As a businesswoman, she holds a senior management position in one of Canada’s largest financial institutions.
Pauline D’Amboise grew up in Quebec far from big cities. After college studies, she began her career with the Desjardins Group. First a paralegal, she became head of the corporate secretariat in the 1990s. It was at this time that she began contributing to the Desjardins Magazine on Sustainable Development, Governance and Ethics. Pauline D’Amboise became General Secretary of the Desjardins Group in 2000.
International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
According to Statistics Canada, more than 3.4 million Canadians were living below the poverty line in 2016. To mark the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, Jayne Malenfant had an important message for the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation community at the May 2019 retreat.
Children at the heart of our Foundation
Our May Community Retreat in Orford, Quebec was a first opportunity for our new 2019 Scholars, Mentors, and Fellows to meet the rest of the Foundation community which is made up of an outstanding network of researchers, academics, and decision-makers.
A number of our Scholars took this opportunity to share this new experience with their children. The Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation is proud to provide, once again, childcare services to those who wish to bring children to our Institutes of Engaged Leadership, the first which is in Yellowknife, NWT from October 27th to November 1st, 2019.
2019 Scholar Caroline Leblanc, appreciates the opportunity to involve her daughter in Foundation events.
“As a single mother, I’m privileged to have access to childcare during the Institutes of Engaged Leadership. This opportunity allows me to be present without stress and to really invest myself in the workshops while allowing my child to engage with people who are also focused on social change. It’s a great opportunity to open her up to the world and learn more about our society.”
We recently launched the final report on the Future Forums, our pan-Canadian listening and learning tour which explored the concepts of Inclusive Excellence and Engaged Leadership.
A number of our Scholars took this opportunity to share this new experience with their children. The Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation is proud to provide, once again, childcare services to those who wish to bring children to our Institutes of Engaged Leadership, the first which is in Yellowknife, NWT from October 27th to November 1st, 2019.
2019 Scholar Caroline Leblanc, appreciates the opportunity to involve her daughter in Foundation events.
“As a single mother, I’m privileged to have access to childcare during the Institutes of Engaged Leadership. This opportunity allows me to be present without stress and to really invest myself in the workshops while allowing my child to engage with people who are also focused on social change. It’s a great opportunity to open her up to the world and learn more about our society.”
We recently launched the final report on the Future Forums, our pan-Canadian listening and learning tour which explored the concepts of Inclusive Excellence and Engaged Leadership.
Lisa Helps: Connecting neighborhoods
As part of Women’s History Month, the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation is presenting snapshots of women in our community and the significant impact they have in their communities and institutions.
Connecting neighborhoods
Inspired by the local community in Victoria, Lisa Helps has worked with others to create a non-profit organization that empowers small businesses and individuals. She is the mayor of Victoria, British Columbia, and co-president of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Alumni Network Executive Committee.
Born in London, Ontario, Lisa Helps dedicated much of her time as a community activist committed to place-based solutions to global and national challenges, and to increasing citizen engagement. After a year spent in Japan, she settled in Victoria, BC to pursue her graduate studies. In 2005, she began doctoral work at the University of Toronto and was awarded a Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Scholarship. She co-founded Community Micro-Lending, an organization that works to provide loans for small business ventures for people who cannot obtain credit from banks and other traditional lenders.
In 2011, while she was Executive Director of Community Micro-Lending, she ran for City Council in Victoria. Her dedication to her community led to a bid for mayor in 2014. “I could do more as mayor than councillor to help Victoria unleash its potential,” she said in an interview with Focus Online. Since becoming mayor, Lisa Helps has focused on revitalizing and renewing the city and making City Hall more accessible by fostering a culture of openness. In 2018, she ran for a second term and was re-elected.
“I’m done with the left and right, it’s not a useful way of organizing politics; it's not a useful way of organizing the world”—Lisa Helps, to Focus Online in 2014.
Helps has taken innovative approaches, notably on climate change and reconciliation, pledging to plant more than 5000 trees by 2020. Aside from her busy life as mayor, Lisa Helps also sits on the Program Committee of Leadership Victoria, a local organization that runs a multi-sector community leadership program. She was Chair of the Board of Directors of Fernwood NRG, a neighbourhood organization, and served as chair of the Bread and Roses Collective.
“I’m just the conduit, or the representative of this grander vision of the community that really wants me there.”
Connecting neighborhoods
Inspired by the local community in Victoria, Lisa Helps has worked with others to create a non-profit organization that empowers small businesses and individuals. She is the mayor of Victoria, British Columbia, and co-president of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Alumni Network Executive Committee.
Born in London, Ontario, Lisa Helps dedicated much of her time as a community activist committed to place-based solutions to global and national challenges, and to increasing citizen engagement. After a year spent in Japan, she settled in Victoria, BC to pursue her graduate studies. In 2005, she began doctoral work at the University of Toronto and was awarded a Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Scholarship. She co-founded Community Micro-Lending, an organization that works to provide loans for small business ventures for people who cannot obtain credit from banks and other traditional lenders.
In 2011, while she was Executive Director of Community Micro-Lending, she ran for City Council in Victoria. Her dedication to her community led to a bid for mayor in 2014. “I could do more as mayor than councillor to help Victoria unleash its potential,” she said in an interview with Focus Online. Since becoming mayor, Lisa Helps has focused on revitalizing and renewing the city and making City Hall more accessible by fostering a culture of openness. In 2018, she ran for a second term and was re-elected.
“I’m done with the left and right, it’s not a useful way of organizing politics; it's not a useful way of organizing the world”—Lisa Helps, to Focus Online in 2014.
Helps has taken innovative approaches, notably on climate change and reconciliation, pledging to plant more than 5000 trees by 2020. Aside from her busy life as mayor, Lisa Helps also sits on the Program Committee of Leadership Victoria, a local organization that runs a multi-sector community leadership program. She was Chair of the Board of Directors of Fernwood NRG, a neighbourhood organization, and served as chair of the Bread and Roses Collective.
“I’m just the conduit, or the representative of this grander vision of the community that really wants me there.”
Tammara Soma: Ending waste
As part of Women’s History Month, the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation is presenting snapshots of women in our community and the significant impact they have had in their fields.
Ending waste
Food waste and food security have always been at the center of Tammara Soma’s life. Her inspiring projects have led to innovative ways of changing food systems in Canada and Indonesia.
Tammara Soma grew up in West Java, Indonesia. Wasting food was inconceivable during her childhood, as her parents would firmly scold her, she recalls in an interview with the Globe and Mail in 2018. “The rice is crying,” her parents would tell her, in reference to a local fable. These words stuck with her, and her interest in food waste was partly renewed when she first moved to Canada for her undergraduate studies. “Coming to Canada, I just kind of expected that with such a prosperous country and such an abundance of food, it didn’t make sense to have this huge amount of hunger”, she tells about food wasting practices in Canada.
Pursuing her doctoral studies in planning at the University of Toronto starting in 2014, she investigated the issue of urban food waste in Indonesia. The same year, she became a Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Scholar. Tammara Soma rose as an expert in food systems planning, an approach that prioritizes food in city planning, to ensure that issues like food security are taken into consideration when making decisions. Her dissertation received numerous awards such as the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Joseph Armand Bombardier Scholarship and the Dr. David Chu Asia Pacific Studies Award.
“Food is critical for survival, and yet, in a world of 24/7 food availability and abundance […] close to 1 billion people are still malnourished”
—Tammara Soma, in a Globe and Mail interview in 2018.
During her time at the University of Toronto, she co-founded the Food Systems Lab exploring food systems that are more equitable and less wasteful. Working on the Social Innovation hub, she was able to bring together groups from vastly different backgrounds. Her leadership led to innovative experiments and solutions.
“In that lab space she’s created, we can actually plan and resolve issues, as opposed slinging arrows at each other” -- Glen Murray, Ontario’s environment minister from 2014 to 2017.
Soma’s research concluded in 2018. Fighting the misconception that people in developing countries are too poor to waste, she made several recommendations to help fix this issue during her time at the Social Innovation Lab. “It’s ingrained in me”, she said. “That idea of respecting food, valuing it—that rice—it’s part of my identity.”
Ending waste
Food waste and food security have always been at the center of Tammara Soma’s life. Her inspiring projects have led to innovative ways of changing food systems in Canada and Indonesia.
Tammara Soma grew up in West Java, Indonesia. Wasting food was inconceivable during her childhood, as her parents would firmly scold her, she recalls in an interview with the Globe and Mail in 2018. “The rice is crying,” her parents would tell her, in reference to a local fable. These words stuck with her, and her interest in food waste was partly renewed when she first moved to Canada for her undergraduate studies. “Coming to Canada, I just kind of expected that with such a prosperous country and such an abundance of food, it didn’t make sense to have this huge amount of hunger”, she tells about food wasting practices in Canada.
Pursuing her doctoral studies in planning at the University of Toronto starting in 2014, she investigated the issue of urban food waste in Indonesia. The same year, she became a Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Scholar. Tammara Soma rose as an expert in food systems planning, an approach that prioritizes food in city planning, to ensure that issues like food security are taken into consideration when making decisions. Her dissertation received numerous awards such as the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Joseph Armand Bombardier Scholarship and the Dr. David Chu Asia Pacific Studies Award.
“Food is critical for survival, and yet, in a world of 24/7 food availability and abundance […] close to 1 billion people are still malnourished”
—Tammara Soma, in a Globe and Mail interview in 2018.
During her time at the University of Toronto, she co-founded the Food Systems Lab exploring food systems that are more equitable and less wasteful. Working on the Social Innovation hub, she was able to bring together groups from vastly different backgrounds. Her leadership led to innovative experiments and solutions.
“In that lab space she’s created, we can actually plan and resolve issues, as opposed slinging arrows at each other” -- Glen Murray, Ontario’s environment minister from 2014 to 2017.
Soma’s research concluded in 2018. Fighting the misconception that people in developing countries are too poor to waste, she made several recommendations to help fix this issue during her time at the Social Innovation Lab. “It’s ingrained in me”, she said. “That idea of respecting food, valuing it—that rice—it’s part of my identity.”
President's Message
President's Message
On September 23, 2019, I was delighted to deliver the opening presentation of the Canada Seminar, a series of talks in which prominent and influential Canadians discuss issues of significance for the nation, hosted by the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University.
As we learned from the Future Forums, great research must not only serve a purpose, but it must also respond to new realities— whether intellectual, social, cultural, technological, environmental and economic—in communities across Canada and around the world. To target these needs, researchers need to take the time to connect and build relationships with community members, listen and observe as an anthropologist would, and above all, involve the community in the research process. Great researchers are also expected to exhibit certain human qualities such as active listening, humility, self-awareness, courage and inclusiveness. It is their emotional intelligence and lived experiences that give meaning and depth to their research.
Great research recognizes and values different knowledge sources such as oral traditions, hands-on knowledge and experiential learning approaches because it understands that in order to solve real-world problems, it is important to resort to other ways of thinking and doing.
Cross-sector cooperation is also another important aspect of research in the Social Sciences and Humanities because it allows the enhancement of its scale, scope and impact. Finally, great research also seeks to incorporate creative elements such as artwork in the sharing of its findings because it supports the belief that finding innovative and original ways of producing research is beneficial to the production of knowledge and its democratization.
These are all lessons that we can take away from this Future Forums listening and learning experience which will inspire the future direction of the Foundation and the development of its next Strategic Plan which aims to better serve its community of Scholars, Fellows, and Mentors, and the broader community.
Read the report here
On September 23, 2019, I was delighted to deliver the opening presentation of the Canada Seminar, a series of talks in which prominent and influential Canadians discuss issues of significance for the nation, hosted by the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University.
As we learned from the Future Forums, great research must not only serve a purpose, but it must also respond to new realities— whether intellectual, social, cultural, technological, environmental and economic—in communities across Canada and around the world. To target these needs, researchers need to take the time to connect and build relationships with community members, listen and observe as an anthropologist would, and above all, involve the community in the research process. Great researchers are also expected to exhibit certain human qualities such as active listening, humility, self-awareness, courage and inclusiveness. It is their emotional intelligence and lived experiences that give meaning and depth to their research.
Great research recognizes and values different knowledge sources such as oral traditions, hands-on knowledge and experiential learning approaches because it understands that in order to solve real-world problems, it is important to resort to other ways of thinking and doing.
Cross-sector cooperation is also another important aspect of research in the Social Sciences and Humanities because it allows the enhancement of its scale, scope and impact. Finally, great research also seeks to incorporate creative elements such as artwork in the sharing of its findings because it supports the belief that finding innovative and original ways of producing research is beneficial to the production of knowledge and its democratization.
These are all lessons that we can take away from this Future Forums listening and learning experience which will inspire the future direction of the Foundation and the development of its next Strategic Plan which aims to better serve its community of Scholars, Fellows, and Mentors, and the broader community.
Read the report here