Despite plan to cull dozens of coyotes, Vancouver's Stanley Park fully reopens after only 4 killed



Kendra Mangione
CTVNewsVancouver.ca Reporter and Producert
Published Sept. 21, 2021 3:08 p.m. MDT
VANCOUVER -

Officials planned to trap and kill dozens of Stanley Park coyotes during a two-week cull, but with only four of the animals euthanized, the park is still reopening on schedule.

The Vancouver Park Board said in a news release Tuesday that the popular park is once again fully accessible. All trails are open, and the overnight park closure is over.

The board said fencing set up to keep people out at night, and signs reminding them of the closures, will also be removed shortly.

Tuesday marks the end of the two weeks set aside for the province's Ministry of Forests to deal with the coyote problem in the park.

Dozens of people, including children, have been attacked since December 2019 by a population of coyotes thought to be too habituated to human activity to be relocated.

After trying other options, the ministry opted to set up traps through the area, planning to cull the population as a reset for the area.

The hope was once the problem animals had been captured and killed, any coyotes that remained or moved in would be able to co-exist with humans. At the same time, an education program would begin, with a focus on avoiding the behaviour that can lead to these situations.

Many voiced concerns about the plan, which the ministry estimated may result in the deaths of as many as 35 coyotes in the park.

But in the end, only four were killed during the cull. Combined with another seven coyotes killed by the B.C. Conservation Officer Service before the ministry-led cull began, a total of 11 have died.

In its statement Tuesday, the park board said experts think there are more coyotes living in the park, but that any immediate threat to safety has been addressed through the cull.

Visitors are still advised to be cautious, especially around dawn and dusk. Those who see a coyote should try to make themselves as large as possible, and should not run. They're advised to speak loudly and make noise, but not to scream.

Wildlife should not be fed, and any food waste should be taken home or disposed of properly. Wildlife-proof garbage bins have recently been installed in hopes this will also help reduce the number of coyote attacks.

Ministry staff will continue to monitor the situation in the park, the board said, and visitors may notice park rangers watching the behaviour of both humans and animals.

The park board said its staff is also reviewing city bylaws with an eye on enforcement, though feeding dangerous wildlife is already prohibited in B.C. under provincial regulations.

Anyone who witnesses an aggressive coyote, or who sees a person feeding coyotes, is asked to call the B.C. Conservation Officer Service to report it immediately, at 1-877-952-7277.

Mathematician Answers Chess Problem About Attacking Queens

The n-queens problem is about finding how many different ways queens can be placed on a chessboard so that none attack each other. A mathematician has now all but solved it.

Samuel Velasco/Quanta Magazine

Leila Sloman
Contributing Writer
September 21, 2021

If you have a few chess sets at home, try the following exercise: Arrange eight queens on a board so that none of them are attacking each other. If you succeed once, can you find a second arrangement? A third? How many are there?

This challenge is over 150 years old. It is the earliest version of a mathematical question called the n-queens problem whose solution Michael Simkin, a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University’s Center of Mathematical Sciences and Applications, zeroed in on in a paper posted in July. Instead of placing eight queens on a standard 8-by-8 chessboard (where there are 92 different configurations that work), the problem asks how many ways there are to place n queens on an n-by-n board. This could be 23 queens on a 23-by-23 board — or 1,000 on a 1,000-by-1,000 board, or any number of queens on a board of the corresponding size.

“It is very easy to explain to anyone,” said Érika Roldán, a Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellow at the Technical University of Munich and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne.

Simkin proved that for huge chessboards with a large number of queens, there are approximately (0.143n)n configurations. So, on a million-by-million board, the number of ways to arrange 1 million non-threatening queens is around 1 followed by about 5 million zeros.

The original problem on the 8-by-8 chessboard first appeared in a German chess magazine in 1848. By 1869, the n-queens problem had followed. Since then, mathematicians have produced a trickle of results on n-queens. Though previous researchers have used computer simulations to guess at the result Simkin found, he is the first to actually prove it.

“He basically did this much more sharply than anyone has previously done it,” said Sean Eberhard, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Cambridge.

One barrier to solving the n-queens problem is that there are no obvious ways to simplify it. Even on a relatively small board, the number of potential arrangements of queens can be huge. On a larger board, the amount of computation involved is staggering. In this situation, mathematicians often hope to find some underlying pattern, or structure, that lets them break up the calculations into smaller pieces that are easier to handle. But the n-queens problem didn’t seem to have any.

“One of the things that is notable about the problem is that, at least without thinking very hard about it, there doesn’t seem to be any structure,” said Eberhard.

This stems from the fact that not all spaces on the board are created equal.

To see why, again imagine constructing your own eight-queens configuration. If you put your first queen near the center, it will be able to attack any space in its row, in its column, or along two of the board’s longest diagonals. That leaves 27 spaces off-limits for your next queen. But if you place your first queen along the side of the board instead, it threatens only 21 spaces, since the relevant diagonals are shorter. In other words, the center and side squares are distinct — and as a result, the board lacks a symmetric structure that might make the problem simpler.

This lack of structure is why, when Simkin visited the mathematician Zur Luria at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich to collaborate on the problem four years ago, they initially tackled the more symmetric “toroidal” n-queens problem. In this modified version, the chess board “wraps” around itself at the edges like a torus: If you fall off to the right, you reappear on the left.

The toroidal problem seems simpler because of its symmetry. Unlike on the classic board, all the diagonals are the same length, and every queen can attack the same number of spaces: 27.

Simkin and Luria attempted to build configurations on the toroidal board using a two-part recipe. At each step, they placed a queen at random, choosing any space with equal likelihood as long as it was available. They then blocked off all the spaces that it could attack. By keeping track of how many options they had at each step, they hoped to calculate a lower bound — an absolute minimum for the number of configurations. Their strategy is called a random greedy algorithm, and it’s been used to solve many other problems in the area of combinatorics.

The symmetry of the toroidal board gave Simkin and Luria a foothold on the problem. But the toroidal version trades freedom for symmetry, ultimately tripping them up. On the classic board, most queens attack fewer than 27 spaces, which leaves more flexibility for building a configuration.

“The nooks and crannies of a real chessboard turn out to really help,” said Eberhard.

Simkin and Luria’s progress on the toroidal problem eventually stalled when they couldn’t find room for the last few queens in a given configuration. Having hit a wall, they moved on to other projects. But eventually, Simkin recognized that the approach that had failed for the toroidal problem was actually well suited to the normal chessboard.

“Two, three years after we had given up on it, I realized that for the classical problem, actually this is much easier,” said Simkin.

So Simkin and Luria tried to finish up their configuration on a normal chessboard (of any dimension). They found they could usually succeed by adjusting some of the pieces they’d already placed.

“You can just move a couple of queens around, stick two new queens in and take one old queen out,” explained Nick Wormald of Monash University.

But the lack of symmetry in the classic problem did come back to bite the researchers. The random greedy algorithm treats every space on the board equally and is best suited for highly symmetric problems where every square is the same. When queens are placed at random on a standard board, the algorithm doesn’t distinguish between the center square and a side square.

Due to this limitation, Simkin and Luria only ended up improving the known lower bound for the problem. They posted their results last May.

But Simkin kept thinking about the question, even after he moved from Israel to Boston last fall after completing his doctorate at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Eventually it dawned on him that he could adapt the random greedy algorithm to the asymmetric environment of the standard n-by­-n chessboard. His key realization was that queens in an n-queens configuration were far more likely to occupy certain squares than others — so that it didn’t make sense to use the strategy he and Luria had used in which they chose every space with equal likelihood.

The nooks and crannies of a real chessboard turn out to really help.

Sean Eberhard, the University of Cambridge.

“I realized you can actually use these asymmetries to your advantage,” he said.

Because queens in the middle of the board attack the most spaces, most configurations feature more queens on the side of the board than near the center. Once a board has even 100 or so spaces along each side, Simkin found that these effects started to overwhelm other possibilities. Almost all the configurations have their queens distributed in a particular way, with fewer queens near the middle of the board and more along the sides. Simkin just needed to figure out the exact weights to assign each square when assigning queens at random.

“Let’s say you take all the queen arrays and you put them one on top of the other. Then you ask: How often is this particular position occupied?” said Nati Linial, a professor at the Hebrew University and Simkin’s doctoral adviser.

To understand roughly how the queens would be arranged, Simkin broke the n-by-n chessboard into sections, each made up of thousands of squares. Then, instead of specifying exactly which spaces on the chessboard had queens, he looked at the bigger picture: How many queens are in each section?

Once he figured out how to allocate queens by section, he returned to the techniques he and Luria had used. Only this time he could wield them more precisely: Rather than putting queens down completely randomly, he chose spaces where there were more queens more often. This allowed him to determine a formula for the minimum number of valid configurations.

Finally, Simkin proved that this formula was more than just a minimum — that it was nearly an exact description — by using a strategy known as the entropy method.

Imagine that you have a valid n-queens configuration, and you want to share it with someone. If the other person knows roughly what a configuration looks like, how much more information do you need to share before they can reconstruct it precisely?

Simkin was able to calculate a maximum number of configurations by tracking the number of spaces not under attack after the position of each additional new queen was revealed. This maximum value matched his minimum one almost perfectly, allowing Simkin to conclude that he’d just about pinpointed the actual number of n-queens configurations. His proof brought long-sought clarity to the classic problem.

Mathematicians will probably continue playing with this problem — trying to squeeze these bounds even closer together, though Simkin’s result has now taken most of the mystery out of the problem.

It’s “just about as realistic as you could hope for,” said Eberhard.

But the techniques in Simkin’s paper could prove useful for studying other questions as well. In fact, last week Candida Bowtell and Peter Keevash of the University of Oxford used similar ideas to find an analogous solution for the toroidal n-queens problem. The paper is so new it has not been fully vetted yet. And there are many other open problems in combinatorics that could benefit from the ideas Simkin used.

“The interesting things are the methods,” said Simkin. “We’re constantly looking to make our tools stronger. I hope that I’ve succeeded in doing that here.”

Dinosaurs Lived--and Made Little Dinos--in the Arctic

By Karen Hopkin on September 21, 2021
SCINTIFIC AMERICAN

Artist's interpretation of a feathered Tyrannosaurus rex. Credit: Mark Garlick Science Photo Library via Getty Images

SCARIEST T REX I HAVE SEEN WOULD LOVE TO SEE ONE IN FULL COLOUR IN THE NEXT INSTALLMENT OF JURRASIC WHATEVER


New research shows that the prehistoric giants were even cooler than we thought

Full Transcript

Karen Hopkin: This is Scientific American’s 60-Second Science. I’m Karen Hopkin.

Wintering in the northernmost regions of Alaska is no walk in the park. It’s cold and dark and sometimes snowy. But that didn’t stop dinosaurs from nesting there during the Cretaceous period.

Patrick Druckenmiller: Dinosaurs were not only just living in the Arctic 70 million years ago in what’s now northern Alaska, but they were actually capable of reproducing there as well.

Hopkin: Patrick Druckenmiller of the University of Alaska Fairbanks and director of the University of Alaska Museum of the North.

Druckenmiller: In discovering that they were reproducing there, it has an important implication that strongly suggests that they were actually year-round residents in the Arctic.

Hopkin: Now the Arctic wasn’t as chilly then as it is today. But it was below freezing, with temps dipping down to around 14 degrees Fahrenheit, occasional bouts of snowfall and, of course, four months of winter darkness. If living in those conditions seems daunting, so was obtaining the study samples.

Druckenmiller: In order to get and reach our field sites, we actually have to drive from Fairbanks, about 500 miles north up to Prudhoe Bay and the oil field. From there, we board small planes and helicopters, and we fly out to our field site. And then we put together a couple of boats. And then we use the rivers up there as our highways.

Hopkin: When they spot a rock that looks particularly promising—usually in a bluff or cliff face along the river—they climb up and start collecting sediment, which then gets hauled back to the lab to be processed and examined.

Druckenmiller: We wash it, we screen it, we sieve it, and we collect and save every particle larger than half a millimeter. And what we do then is inspect every grain, grain by grain by grain, under a microscope, looking for these little remains, the bones and the teeth of what we now understand to be baby dinosaurs.

Hopkin: These itty bitty bones are way too tiny to have come from an adult dinosaur…even a wee one…and they lack the features one would expect to see in teeth and bones from an animal that’s developmentally mature.

So far, Druckenmiller and his team have dug up species from seven different dino families: from big duck-billed dinos, ceretopsians, and tyrannosaurs to smaller thescelosaurs, leptoceratops, dromaeosaurs, and troodontids. The findings are described in the journal Current Biology.

Now, why does the presence of baby bones suggest that the dinosaurs weren’t just passing through?

Druckenmiller: The reason we think they were year-round residents is because if you reproduce in the arctic, you have really a very limited time of year to do your business.

Hopkin: Egg-laying animals don’t usually engage in reproductive activities in the winter.

Druckenmiller: So if you laid an egg in the spring, and that egg took five to six months to hatch, which is what we understand the incubation period to be for some dinosaurs, such as duck-billed dinosaurs, then that means that your eggs are hatching out at the end of the summer.

Hopkin: Which doesn’t really leave enough time to head south for the winter with the family. And that raises probably the most important question.

Druckenmiller: So, if you’re overwintering there, how do you deal with the cold?

Hopkin: Some of the smaller species, like thescelosaurs and leptoceratops, could have burrowed underground and hibernated. And other researchers have unearthed evidence that some larger dino species actually sported feathers, including young T. rexes and their shaggy coated cousin, Yutyrannus huali.

Druckenmiller: We’re pretty certain that most of these meat-eating dinosaurs might have had their own down parka, as it were, to deal with the harsh winter conditions.

Hopkin: Even more intriguing, the evidence suggests that these Arctic dinos were likely warm-blooded.

Druckenmiller: We don’t actually find fossils of cold-blooded land-living animals alongside our dinosaurs. We’ve never found turtles. We’ve never found crocs or lizards. The only thing we find besides dinosaurs up there are birds and mammals, which are also warm-blooded.

Hopkin: To date, Druckenmiller and his colleagues have spent decades braving the elements to figure out what made this remote polar location an attractive place to raise a family…at least for dinos who didn’t mind the cold.

Druckenmiller: It’s definitely a labor of love.

Hopkin: And a product of stick-to-it-iveness…particularly when it comes to clinging to an arctic cliff face to collect a bunch of baby teeth.

For Scientific American’s 60-Second Science, I’m Karen Hopkin.

[The above text is a transcript of this podcast.]

TWEEDLE DEE & TWEEDLE DUM CHANGE PLACES

Shandro shuffled out as Alberta's health minister, takes on labour portfolio in swap with Copping

Former health minister faced heavy criticism throughout the pandemic

Author of the article:Ashley Joannou
Publishing date:Sep 21, 2021 • 3 hours ago • 2 minute read • 29 Comments

Tyler Shandro was shuffled off the health portfolio Tuesday afternoon. 

PHOTO BY AZIN GHAFFARI /Postmedia, file



Tyler Shandro is no longer Alberta’s health minister after more than a year of heavy criticism over his handling of the portfolio.

Shandro was shuffled out at a short ceremony Tuesday afternoon, swapping roles with former labour and immigration minister Jason Copping who now takes over the health ministry.

Media was not invited to the ceremony, which was broadcast online. Premier Jason Kenney did not give a statement explaining his decision to swap the portfolios.

Amid the turmoil of the COVID-19 pandemic, and a protracted dispute between the government and doctors, the NDP Opposition had repeatedly called for Shandro’s resignation as health minister.

In March, 2020, after Shandro took fire for confronting a Calgary doctor in his driveway, Kenney rejected calls for his removal, saying it was understandable Shandro became “passionate” in defending his spouse.

After doctors voted down a contract offer from the province in April 2021, Kenney again rejected calls to fire Shandro, saying he had his “full, 100 per cent confidence.”

In a written statement Tuesday, NDP Leader Rachel Notley called news of Shandro’s shuffle “welcome” but said it is not a solution to the crisis going on in Alberta hospitals.

“It is clear that the responsibility for Alberta’s pandemic mismanagement rests on the shoulders of every UCP member and therefore it is incumbent on them all to take responsibility and chart a more effective path on behalf of Albertans,” Notley said.

“A cabinet shuffle will not ease the immense pressure on our hospitals from this severe fourth wave. It won’t reschedule the life-saving surgeries of thousands of Albertans. It won’t recover our economy. And it won’t help everyday families looking for leadership. Albertans deserve better.”

Tuesday’s move comes as the province is dealing with a fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Alberta currently has the highest rate of new COVID-19 cases in the country. The latest wave has put heavy pressure on the health-care system, particularly in intensive care units, leading to the cancellation of all surgeries that are considered non-essential.

Officials with Alberta Health Services announced last week that they were reaching out to other Canadian provinces asking for ICU spaces and skilled labour.

With files from Lisa Johnson

Alberta's new health minister brings questions and concerns from opponents to portfolio

Duane Bratt, a political scientist at MRU, said there are many questions around how Copping, a relatively unknown member of the legislature, ended up in the position and what he will do now that he has the role

Author of the article:Dylan Short
Publishing date:Sep 21, 2021

Minsiter of Health Jason Copping seen during his time as Minister of Labour and Immigration 

PHOTO BY LARRY WONG/POSTMEDIA


The appointment of a Calgary MLA into the role of health minister has left question marks, doubt and worry amid political commentators and opponents.

Jason Copping, MLA for Calgary Varsity and former minister of Labour and Immigration, took the reins as health minister Tuesday afternoon. Tyler Shandro has taken over Copping’s former portfolio.

Duane Bratt, a political scientist at Mount Royal University, wished Copping good luck as he steps into his new role, a position that has been under increasing scrutiny. Alberta is currently grappling with the highest COVID-19 case numbers in Canada and a health-care system that is struggling to maintain capacity.

Bratt said there are many questions around how Copping, a relatively unknown member of the legislature, ended up in the position and what he will do now that he has the role.

“How did he end up (there), was he the last guy in the room?” said Bratt. “I don’t know how he ended up in that job.”

Before entering provincial politics, Copping spent two decades working in management in the labour relations and human resources fields. His official UCP bio states he has previously worked on collective bargaining agreements and represented management in arbitration cases.

Copping was first elected into the legislature in 2019 and named to Premier Jason Kenney’s cabinet later that year. He has spent the past two years as the minister of Labour and Immigration, sponsoring five bills. Those bills mostly amended legislation around business and workplaces.

One of his recent bills, Bill 47: Ensuring Safety and Cutting Red Tape, 2020, changed a number of legal protections and compensation measures introduced by the previous NDP government. Those changes included the removal of presumptive psychological coverage for many health-care workers, including nurses and doctors.

Those workers can still receive compensation for issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder, but the Workers Compensation Board (WCB) won’t automatically assume those injuries come from the workplace.

Official Opposition Leader Rachel Notley reacted to Tuesday’s cabinet shuffle in a series of tweets, saying Copping has a legacy of revoking WCB protections and failing to protect workers at Alberta meat plants during COVID-19 outbreaks in the workplace.

The Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) issued a similar statement, saying Copping has “blemishes” on his record, pointing to changes in workers legislation.

Bratt said the new role would be difficult for anyone to take on as relations have been frayed through past and present labour negotiations with health-care workers.

The province is currently negotiating a new bargaining agreement with the United Nurses of Alberta.

“What is his standing? What are the policy changes? Those are all very good questions and there is, I mean, there is no trust that the health-care workers have with the government over labour negotiations,” said Bratt.

Copping said Tuesday afternoon that he is honoured to be asked to serve as health minister. He said he has three pillars he plans to work on: increasing health-care capacity permanently, getting vaccine-hesitant Albertans to receive their shots and prepping the health-care system to adequately respond to potential future waves of COVID-19.

“We obviously have immediate and significant pressures on our health-care system right now and I step into this role resolutely committed to building immediate capacity,” said Copping.

Conservatives largest decline occurred in Calgary, political scientist attributes drop to Kenney's pandemic response

02:32
Liberal candidate elected in Calgary

Stephanie Thomas
CTV News Calgary Video Journalist
Updated Sept. 21, 2021 8:13 a.m. MDT
CALGARY -

A Calgary political science professor says Conservatives are losing their grip on Alberta and Premier Jason Kenney's scant leadership amid the pandemic was reflected in the federal election results.

Although Alberta voted largely to maintain the status quo, two or possibly three seats will have flipped by the time mail-in ballots are counted on Tuesday, in addition to the one previous NDP holdout in Edmonton.

The Liberals were victorious in Calgary Skyview as former Ward 5 city councillor George Chahal was elected to represent the riding.

Lori Williams, a political science professor at Mount Royal University, believes Chahal is in line for another promotion with "almost a guaranteed cabinet post."

"(He) has political experience, he's well respected in Calgary," said Williams in an interview with CTV Morning Live, before mentioning Chahal's campaign focused on challenges Calgary and Alberta currently face that the federal government has promised to assist with funding, including transit.

She says the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) is facing a reckoning in Alberta, losing the most votes across the country compared to the other parties and the biggest decline was in Calgary.

"I don't think there's any question that Jason Kenney's management of the pandemic played into this election," said Williams.

Kenney has kept a low profile during the federal election campaign and Alberta's mounting fourth wave, only to emerge last week to announce more restrictions and what would eventually come to be called a vaccine passport system. The move was regarded by many as too little, too late.

There are calls for his resignation, and speculation that the inner circles of the United Conservative Party are strategizing Kenney's departure.

Williams says the election night results also puts Erin O'Toole's leadership of the CPC into question.

She adds that minority governments typically force collaboration, and expects that we will see the federal, provincial and municipal governments working together going forward, and expects Chahal to be a part of that.

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney battles COVID-19 hospital crisis, internal party revolt

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney answers questions at a news conference where the provincial government announced new restrictions because of the surging COVID cases in the province, in Calgary, Alta., Friday, Sept. 3, 2021.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Todd Korol

Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press
Published Tuesday, September 21, 2021 5:40PM EDT

EDMONTON - Alberta Premier Jason Kenney fought Tuesday to contain a rapidly expanding COVID-19 crisis that has overrun hospitals and ignited a party revolt against his leadership.

Kenney was expected to replace Health Minister Tyler Shandro with Labour Minister Jason Copping in a cabinet shuffle mid-afternoon.

Kenney's government also reached out to the federal government for emergency help with COVID-19 hospitalizations that may soon force doctors to ration life-saving resources

Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver asked the government for air transportation to move patients to care facilities outside Alberta and for more intensive care nurses and respiratory therapists.

“Federal assistance in these two areas has the potential to create significant relief to the health-care system,” McIver wrote in a letter to Bill Blair, federal minister of public safety and emergency preparedness.

Blair responded on social media: “Federal officials have been engaging their counterparts in Alberta for the past week to offer help. I have made it clear that when a request is received, it will be approved. We will work together to provide for the people across Alberta.”

Last week, Alberta asked other provinces for help when it declared a state of public health emergency. At that time, Kenney reintroduced gathering restrictions and announced a form of vaccine passport.

Alberta has more than 20,000 active cases. On Monday, there were 954 COVID-19 patients in hospital and 216 of them were in intensive care, well over normal ICU capacity.

Many surgeries have been cancelled and Kenney estimated last week that hospitals could be overwhelmed by the end of the month without direct action.

The premier is facing not only public but internal backlash from the United Conservative rank and file as well as from caucus members over his handling of the pandemic.

Joel Mullan, the party's vice president of policy, said Kenney needs to step down or face a fast-tracked review of his leadership.

“(A resignation) is necessary because both party members and the public have lost faith in Jason Kenney's leadership,” said Mullan.

He said Kenney has failed by constantly making extreme, inflexible policy decisions on COVID-19, only to retreat when the shifting, mutable crisis has forced his hand.

In the latest retreat, Kenney introduced proof of vaccination requirements after proclaiming for weeks he would never do so.

“We paint ourselves into a corner where there's no other option but to turn yourself into a liar to get out of it,” said Mullan. “This is a highly fluid situation with a virus we don't have a firm understanding of yet.

“There's no management of public expectations. Instead it's just telling people, `Nope, this is how it's going to be' until it isn't. It's no wonder that people don't trust him anymore.”

Kenney is not facing a party leadership review until late next year, unless at least 22 United Conservative constituencies vote to hold one earlier.

Mullan said more than 30 constituency associations have said they intend to call for a review but most have yet to formally ratify their decisions.

“I don't know exactly when it will be done, but it seems to be moving quite quickly.”

Mullan said if a leadership review were to be called, it would take place within two to three months. Kenny would need a simple majority of votes by the membership to keep his job.

“If he gets less than 50 (per cent), he's fired.”

Last week, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta's chief medical officer of health, admitted the fuse on the explosive fourth wave was lit on July 1, when Kenney lifted almost all health restrictions, faster than any other province. He said it was safe to do so, because 70 per cent of eligible Albertans had received at least one dose of vaccine.

Kenney declared COVID-19 was effectively defeated and that a future rise in cases could be accommodated in the health system. He said he didn't envision needing a fallback.

After that, vaccination numbers effectively stalled and fell behind other provinces. That prompted Kenney to recently offer $100 to anyone getting a first or second shot.

His government failed to act during July and August as case numbers spiralled and Kenney went on vacation.

Last week, he said he didn't act earlier because he didn't believe Albertans would have followed renewed health restrictions.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 21, 2021.

'Kenney effect' hurt federal Conservatives on Alberta election night, experts say

Conservative support fell by nearly 14 per cent in province

CBC News · Posted: Sep 21, 2021

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney announced new public health measures last week — political scientists say that may have played a part in Monday's election results.

 (The Canadian Press)

Political scientists say the Tories' commanding grip on Alberta was weakened on election night by Premier Jason Kenney's controversial response to the devastating fourth wave of COVID-19.

The "Kenney effect" was in full force at the polls, said Lisa Young, a political scientist with the University of Calgary.

Conservative support in Alberta fell by nearly 14 per cent in Monday's federal election, allowing the NDP and the Liberals to gain a foothold in some ridings.

Many Albertans voted in protest against COVID-19 restrictions or a lack thereof, Young said Tuesday.

"I think we saw a few things that sort of speak to the Kenney effect," she said.

"The fact that the Conservatives didn't do as well in terms of the popular vote as they have in the last couple of elections is probably a case of the traditional Conservative supporters not going up to vote, or voting for another party as a protest."

As Canadians elected a Liberal minority government for the second time since 2019, Alberta remained a largely uninterrupted sea of blue.

The Conservative Party of Canada dominated in Alberta, especially in rural ridings, but there were notable exceptions in ridings that instead went orange or red.

The NDP held on to Edmonton Strathcona, and by early Tuesday, NDP candidate Blake Desjarlais was declared the winner over Conservative incumbent Kerry Diotte in Edmonton Griesbach.

George Chahal won for the Liberals in Calgary Skyview. In Edmonton Centre as of Tuesday afternoon, Conservative incumbent James Cumming remained locked in a see-saw battle against Liberal Randy Boissonnault in a still undeclared race.

The Tories were left with 55.4 per cent of the vote in Alberta. In 2019, the party garnered 69 per cent.

Public health divide

Young said Kenney's divisive approach to the pandemic has Tory voters breaking off on both of the left and right side of the conservative camp.

Increasing support for the People's Party, particularly in Alberta's rural ridings, points to a splinter on the far right, one borne out of frustration and distrust over a recent COVID clampdown in Alberta.

"That speaks to a different kind of Kenney effect from people who object to what the provincial government is doing in terms of COVID," she said, adding it is a reminder that there are people disaffeced with the Alberta political system.

Calgary pollster Janet Brown said Albertan unhappiness with Kenney's handling of the pandemic surged in the final weeks of the campaign.

Erin O’Toole's federal Conservative party lost support in Alberta in comparison to previous elections. (Evan Mitsui/CBC)

Many Tories will now blame the premier for Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole's losses on the Alberta campaign trail, she said.

"When you look at the overall national popular support for the Conservatives, it's not far off the last election, but there's been this big drop in Alberta," Brown said.

"O'Toole was able to make some good progress outside of Alberta but troubles in Alberta sort of undermined him.

"There's going to be a lot of conservatives who are angry about how the last week of the campaign played out. And we'll be looking for Jason Kenney's role in that."

Brown said Alberta remains a conservative heartland but the Kenney government's handling of the pandemic influenced perceptions of the federal Conservative party.

O'Toole had previously praised the Alberta government's pandemic response. But as election day approached, the province was in the grips of a surging fourth wave that threatened to push the health-care system to its breaking point.

"The Conservatives got 14 per cent lower in this election than they did just two years ago ... That's a huge shift," Brown said.

"There's no key beneficiary of that drop, which again, makes you wonder what was going on in the minds of voters."

The biggest loser in Monday's federal election might just be Jason Kenney

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The election is bad news for the federal Conservatives but it is a disaster for Kenney, writes Graham Thomson

Graham Thomson · For CBC Opinion · Posted: Sep 21, 2021 6:00 AM MT 

Conservative leader Erin O'Toole really had only himself to blame for praising Premier Jason Kenney while COVID-19 began battering Alberta's health care system, writes Graham Thomson. (Todd Korol/The Canadian Press)

This column is an opinion from Graham Thomson, an award-winning journalist who has covered Alberta politics for more than 30 years. For more information about CBC's Opinion section, please see the FAQ.

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As federal Conservatives cut through the clutter of the election to figure out why they lost, they'll be pointing their knives in the direction of embattled Alberta Premier Jason Kenney.

They are upset, to say the least, with Kenney for so mishandling the fourth wave of the pandemic that he became an issue in the final week of the election campaign as he chaotically tried to prevent Alberta's health care system from collapsing under the weight of COVID-19 cases.

By declaring yet another province-wide public health emergency and by finally being forced to introduce a vaccine passport (that he disguised as a "restrictions exemption program"), Kenney allowed Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau to attack him and by extension Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole, who had applauded the Alberta premier's pandemic response just days prior.

Of course, O'Toole really had only himself to blame for praising Kenney while COVID-19 began battering Alberta's health care system. In the end, O'Toole clumsily did his best to avoid journalists' questions on the issue, going so far as not even mentioning Kenney by name.

• Alberta Premier Jason Kenney's wounds may be self-inflicted but are they politically fatal?

• 'I wish we didn't have to do this': Alberta to offer $100 incentive to get vaccinated against COVID-19

The campaign might have had a litany of issues, including Afghanistan, gun control and daycare, but the pandemic trumped them all, and Kenney became the poster boy of how to let COVID-19 overwhelm your health care system.

It's not fair to blame Kenney for O'Toole's loss, but federal Conservatives who are eager to save O'Toole's hide post-election aren't going to go easy on the Alberta premier.

Even though the national seat results for the Liberals and Conservatives pretty much echo those of the 2019 election, the Alberta results are an ominous sign for the provincial Conservatives.

The NDP held on to Edmonton Strathcona and, in one of the upsets of the night, NDP candidate Blake Desjarlais defeated Conservative incumbent Kerry Diotte in Edmonton Griesbach.

Diotte may have been the victim of a perfect storm where, compared to 2019, the progressive vote surged while thousands of Conservative voters stayed home or switched to the People's Party of Canada that saw its share of the vote double in the riding.

George Chahal won for the Liberals in Calgary Skyview, while in Edmonton Centre, Conservative incumbent James Cumming was in a see-saw battle against Liberal Randy Boissonnault.

This is bad news for the federal Conservatives but it is a disaster for Kenney. It would seem the public's anger at the Alberta premier has bled into the federal arena.

Normally, federal Liberal candidates in Alberta only have a chance to win a seat when their party is clearly headed toward a majority government — as it was in 2015 when Liberals won four seats.

• Alberta's proof-of-vaccination program begins today. Here's what you need to know

• Alberta Premier Jason Kenney condemns hospital protests

When their party is headed to defeat or a minority status, they lose those seats, as they did in 2019.

Now, here they are on the cusp of winning two Alberta seats while their party only managed to eke out another minority government.

And the NDP, always ecstatic to win even one seat in Alberta, now has two.

You could call that the Rachel Notley effect, where the public's approval of the provincial NDP leader's behaviour during the pandemic has spilled over into the federal scene.

If Kenney was treading water yesterday, he is a drowning man today.

Not only is he the least popular premier in the country, with a fractious caucus on the edge of revolt and a party that is falling behind the NDP in fundraising, he will be the target of federal Conservatives looking for somewhere to point fingers.

This has happened before in Alberta politics.

During the federal election in June 2004, Premier Ralph Klein's very vocal plans to shake up Alberta's health care system created a massive headache for Stephen Harper's Conservatives.

Klein had boasted of "bold and courageous" reforms that would challenge – if not outright break – the Canada Health Act.

Liberal leader Paul Martin seized on Klein's rhetoric to attack Harper and it worked. Conservatives blamed Klein for allowing the Liberals to hang on to power with a minority government.

Klein's popularity, already beginning to weaken, began a free fall. He managed to win the Alberta election in November 2004 but lost 11 seats and 200,000 votes compared to the 2001 election.

Klein's days were numbered and, after receiving a humiliating 55 per cent support in a leadership review in March of 2006, he had no choice but to retire earlier than planned.

Kenney, on the other hand, is not supposed to face a leadership review until late next year.

However, there is now a move afoot by some UCP constituency associations to force a review early next year to give the party time to choose a new leader before the next election scheduled for the spring of 2023.

The knives are out for Kenney and they're coming from all directions.

 UCP VP calls for Kenney to resign ahead of equalization referendum

Author of the article: Lisa Johnson, Ashley Joannou
Publishing date: Sep 21, 2021 • 

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney is facing mounting pressure over his move to impose new COVID-19 restrictions and a vaccine passport last week. 

PHOTO BY CHRIS SCHWARZ/GOVERNMENT OF ALBERTA

The vice-president of policy for the United Conservative Party is calling for Alberta Premier Jason Kenney to resign, saying he has become a threat to the party.

In a commentary published by the Western Standard Tuesday, Joel Mullan said the public has lost confidence in Kenney over his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Until last week, I was one of Jason Kenney’s most vocal supporters. I campaigned for him in both leadership races and the Wildrose-PC unity vote. In light of the choices he has made last week I can no longer support him, and indeed believe he must resign,” he wrote, referring to the premier’s implementation of COVID-19 measures and a vaccine passport.

Mullan also wrote that Kenney remaining premier could have a negative effect on the equalization referendum in October because of his growing unpopularity.

In an interview with Postmedia Tuesday, Mullan said he did not make the decision to publicly call for the Kenney’s resignation, but felt he had a responsibility to put the party before the premier.

“I do admire Jason Kenney – I think he’s brilliant. I just don’t think this is the job for him anymore,” said Mullan.

Mullan criticized Kenney’s recent handling of COVID-19 policy as being “impossible to excuse,” including the government’s plan to rely on vaccinations and declare the province “open for summer” in July.

“Yes, you might make a mistake here and there and go a little too hard on something, but it’s been consistent — speaking in absolutes, and ending up painted into a corner, and the only way out is you turn yourself into a liar,” he said.

The premier’s office has not responded to requests for comment from Postmedia.

A UCP caucus meeting is scheduled for Wednesday. Kenney has been criticized by his own MLAs throughout the pandemic over his handling of the crisis, most recently since he announced sweeping new restrictions and a vaccine passport last Wednesday — two things the premier previously said he wouldn’t do.

On Friday, Mullan wrote an email to the UCP board calling for an early leadership review of Kenney’s performance as premier.

Last Wednesday, Richard Gotfried, UCP MLA for Calgary-Fish Creek, said he was “deeply apologetic” that he failed to convince the government to announce stronger public health restrictions sooner.

In May, MLAs Todd Loewen and Drew Barnes, a long-time critic of the government’s COVID-19 policy, were booted from UCP caucus after Loewen challenged Kenney’s leadership. Both now sit as Independent MLAs.

Currently, a leadership review for Kenney is scheduled to occur at the party’s annual general meeting in 2022.

However, if 22 ridings pass the same resolution calling for a leadership review before March 1, the party must hold a review.


Meanwhile, Mullan claimed Kenney played a role in the results of Monday’s federal election — in which the Conservative Party of Canada lost about 14 per cent of its popular support in Alberta.

“You really have to wonder, and certainly hearing from folks who were on the doorsteps it seems to bear out, that this is in part because of the provincial leadership we have right now,” he told Postmedia, adding that the federal election didn’t precipitate unrest in the party, but delayed Mullan’s public call until Tuesday.

“I didn’t want to be kicking up dirt that could cloud the issues in the federal election. Also, I didn’t want to get lost in the noise of the federal election,” he said.

Canada has three new Indigenous MPs in NDP and Conservative ridings

|
Sep 21 2021

Lori Idlout and Adam Chambers


There are likely to be three new Indigenous members of Parliament in the House of Commons following a federal election that had a record number of First Nations, Metis and Inuit candidates.

Blake Desjarlais, who is Metis, was leading in Edmonton Griesbach, which has been held by Conservative MP Kerry Diotte since the riding was created in 2015. Mail-in ballots were still being tallied on Tuesday, however.

Adam Chambers, also Metis, took the seat of Simcoe-North in Ontario for the Conservatives.

Lori Idlout kept Nunavut orange and will replace NDP MP Mumilaaq Qaqqaq, who decided not to run again.

Eight of at least 77 candidates were incumbents and all successfully held on to their seats, so if Desjarlais wins, there will be 11 Indigenous MPs in the 338-seat Parliament – up by one
from the 2019 election.

A PhD candidate in political science said Monday’s results can be seen as a win for Indigenous people, but there is still a gap between the number of candidates running compared with how many get into office.

“I worry if there is continuing to be no (better) results, that (enthusiasm) will fizzle out,” said Philip Charbonneau of Western University in London, Ontario.

Charbonneau said he was surprised Saskatchewan didn’t elect a single Indigenous MP when about a dozen were running.

The northern riding of Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River has one of the highest numbers of First Nations electors, says the Assembly of First Nations.

There were three Indigenous candidates in the riding, including heavily favoured Buckley Belanger who left his position as an NDP member of the Saskatchewan legislature to run for the Liberals, but the seat ultimately stayed with Conservative incumbent Gary Vidal.

Charbonneau said voter apathy and historically low voter turnout on reserves could have played a role.

“Maybe because nobody really seemed to want (this election), that also played out in Indigenous communities and they also decided not to show up at the polls again.”

36-day federal election does little to change makeup of Parliament

A number of Indigenous MPs were elected

 in country’s 44th general election


A sign points voters to a returning office on Monday. Photo: APTN

Kathleen Martens

APTN
Sep 21, 2021

Jaime Battiste was among the first Indigenous candidates elected in Monday’s federal vote – adding to a list of firsts he’s chalked up in his short political career so far.

The incumbent for Sydney-Victoria (LIB) in Nova Scotia made history in 2019 as the first Mi’kmaw MP ever to sit in the House of Commons.

Now, in another first, he faced a Mi’kmaw challenger in the 2021 campaign – Jeff Ward of the NDP – who finished third. It was the first time two Mi’kmaw candidates ran in the same riding.

A record number of Indigenous candidates put their names forward in an election many felt was unnecessary.

Prime Minister-elect Justin Trudeau took a gamble – and considerable heat – sending Canadians to the polls during the fourth wave of the deadly COVID-19 pandemic.First Nations activist Michael Champagne of Winnipeg was a pundit on APTN’s election broadcast Monday. Photo: Facebook

In the end, he matched his party’s minority at 157 seats (the unofficial tally at the time this story was published) – 13 short of what he needed for a majority.

He did acknowledge Indigenous Peoples in his acceptance speech, saying Canadians voted to come together “for our shared journey on our path to reconciliation.”

Late Monday, Erin O’Toole’s Conservatives were leading or elected in 121 seats, the same as in 2019. Jagmeet Singh’s NDP were leading or elected in 29, a gain of five seats, while Yves-François Blanchet’s Bloc Québécois was down three at 29.

The Greens, which elected three MPs in 2019, were down to two.

“I’m glad we spent $600 million for such a drastically different outcome,” quipped Michael Champagne, a First Nations activist in Winnipeg who was part of APTN News’ election show

.

Inuk candidate Yvonne Jones won her Labrador riding for the fourth time. 

Photo: APTN file

Of 77 candidates who identified as First Nation, Inuit or Métis, it was a nail-biter to see if they would best the record of 10 Indigenous candidates elected in 2019.

Inuk Yvonne Jones (LIB) kicked things off with a win in Labrador, claiming her riding for the fourth time.

From east to west, Jones was followed by Battiste, then Liberal incumbents Marc Serré in Ontario and Dan Vandal (LIB) and Leah Gazan (NDP) in Manitoba.

Rookie candidate Lori Idlout, one of two Inuk women running, held on to Nunavut for the NDP.

“Congratulations to our new Member of Parliament Lori Idlout. I know you will make Nunavut proud,” said Nunavut MLA Adam Arreak Lightstone on Idlout’s Facebook page.

“I hope I will have an opportunity to work with you over the coming years.”

Jaime Battiste won his Cape Breton riding of Sydney-Victoria for the second time. Photo: APTN file

Early Tuesday, Vance Badaway (CON) hung on in Ontario to retain his seat. And newcomer Blake Desjarlais (NDP) defeated Tory incumbent Kerry Diotte in Alberta.

Michael McLeod (LIB) was relected in Northwest Territories. And so was other incumbent Marc Dalton in B.C. (CON).

That makes 10 Indigenous candidates elected. The same as in 2019.

Wayne Garnons-Williams, a First Nations lawyer and political pundit from Saskatchewan, said it was important for Indigenous voters to next keep an eye on the Liberal Throne Speech, budget and contents of ministerial mandate letters Trudeau bequeaths new cabinet members.

“Hopefully we’ll still see the same priorities that the previous Trudeau governments have had with Indigenous Peoples and priorities,” he told APTN’s election broadcast.

Meanwhile, mail-in ballots wouldn’t be counted in the 44th general election until Tuesday.

Elections Canada said 1,267,014 ballots were mailed out and 951,039 returned as of Sept. 20

Elections Canada also reported in-person voting increased significantly from 2019, with approximately 5,780,000 votes cast between Sept. 10 and 13.

Editor’s note: This story was updated Tuesday after all ridings with Indigenous candidates had final (yet unofficial) results.

FROM THE ARCHIVES 

THE NEW NDP MP FOR EDMONTON GRIESBACH

BLAKE DEJARLAIS

Métis, non-status Indians call for action following historic Daniels ruling

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2-day symposium to discuss impact of Daniels decision on Métis and non-status Indians

Waubgeshig Rice · CBC News · Posted: Mar 22, 2017 

Métis and non-status Indigenous people from across Canada are in Ottawa this week for the Daniels Symposium, a two-day gathering to discuss last year's landmark Supreme Court of Canada decision that ruled the federal government has the same responsibility to them as it does to status Indians and Inuit.

Little has developed in nearly a year since that ruling, so those gathered in Ottawa hope to come to a consensus on an action plan to present to the federal government on how they'd like it to proceed.

We caught up with some of the symposium's attendees from across Canada to ask them what the ruling means to them as Métis, non-status, and off-reserve Indigenous people and what they want to see happen in its aftermath.

Scott Clark, Vancouver, B.C.

"I'm a status Indian — treaty status Indian from B.C. with three sons who are non-status off-reserve. It's extremely important that we get some action from the Supreme Court decision about the responsibility of the federal government to work with all Indigenous peoples. 

"We see the crisis situations for Indigenous peoples, particularly in the off-reserve context. We have child welfare issues, we have housing, homelessness, education, employment training — and this is something that Canada's been ignoring since its inception. And it's critically important that we start to address these issues so we get in front of it so that we can build healthy citizens and healthy nations."

Tianna Fisher, Dryden, Ont.

"Indigenous people are often pinned against each other. But with the Daniels decision, we are all Indians under the law. So there needed to be a discussion. Someone needs to stand up to say that we all need to be included. And that's really important to me. 

"Growing up in northwestern Ontario, I'm surrounded by thousands of lakes and lots of trees. I would like to see anyone like me who's an Aboriginal person who doesn't have treaty rights — I want to be able to see more people being allowed to go out and fish or hunt or support their families in a way that I guess isn't conventional in today's society. I want us to be able to include ourselves in national discussions and be represented."

Blake Desjarlais, Fishing Lake Métis Settlement, Alta.

"What I hope to do is really raise awareness that we're all — in a lot of ways — in this together. We're all trying to figure out and navigate ways in which we can achieve the best for our own peoples ... Achieve actual parity with other Canadians and other Indigenous groups. We have done remarkable work the last 80 to 100 years, the Métis settlements, and we're not done. We're not near parity. We're not near any of those places where we ought to be. Our health and our education are still below par, still below the standard of some of our Indigenous peers.

"It's a long and hard struggle, but it's one that I think with the Daniels decision - it moved us a little further and closer to achieving a betterment for the next generation."

Lisa Cooper, Native Council of Prince Edward Island

"For me it's about bringing the issues forward from my community, from the grassroots. Daniels has come out — it's been a year now. The government doesn't seem to have done much about it. And I think it's time for us and our communities to be heard and to give direction to the government on who we are, who we represent, and what needs to be done, and how do we close the gaps that exist between our communities."

Gerald Cunningham, Métis Settlements General Council, Alta.

"One thing we've always wanted to do was establish a relationship with the federal government as well. And the Daniels case basically opens the door for us to be able to look at tripartite agreements between the federal government, and the provincial government, and our Métis settlements government on a nation-to-nation, government-to-government basis.

"I'm hoping that everybody has a better understanding of what the Daniels case is really all about. We talked a lot today about people working together, organizations working together for the benefit of the people that we represent. Basically that we will have the relationship built with the federal government, and that we'll be able to access programs and services on a same level playing field as other Aboriginal groups — something that we've been deprived of for years."

Carrying the torch: A chat with NSU Firekeeper Blake Desjarlais

Campus News
March 17, 2016
 Myles Sauer

THE MARTLET
The University of Victoria's independent newspaper

Blake Desjarlais says “the greatest piece of mind I have is that there’s gonna be a group of students like the NSU who are involved . . . who always fight for [First Nations] to be heard.” Photo by Myles Sauer

“It gives me great pride and honour to be able to serve indigenous students, because they’re way more powerful than you’d imagine . . . They can stare down the barrel of a gun and still have hope.”

So says Blake Desjarlais, Native Students Union (NSU) Firekeeper and fifth-year Political Science and Indigenous Studies student. And it’s an honour he does not take lightly, as became evident while speaking with the Martlet.

Hailing from the Fishing Lake Métis Settlement in Alberta, located on Treaty 6 land, Desjarlais studied for two years at MacEwan University in Edmonton. But the lack of support for indigenous students made it “hard to survive as an indigenous person,” so he moved to Victoria in January 2014.

Desjarlais was initially drawn to UVic by the First Peoples House. “I heard about it, and I said ‘I want to go to UVic. It sounds like being an Indian’s okay.’” Upon arriving, he quickly became involved with the indigenous community, and was elected to the NSU’s administrative council in the fall of 2015. One year later, the NSU elected him as firekeeper.

As he describes it, Desjarlais’ role is not only to be someone that indigenous students look up to, but also to be “somebody that serves.”

“[Being firekeeper means] to be community-oriented, to be in that mindset that you’re a servant. And I like that,” he says.

The position is not without its challenges, though. “There’s a lot of hard parts,” Desjarlais says. “No matter where you go, there are people who have a really loud voice for the amount of information they don’t know.”

Desjarlais cites an oped by a UVic student published in the National Post, titled “I am too privileged to be liberal,” as an example. “I could never get into that or [get] something on their website or anywhere close,” Desjarlais says. “And it takes one person and his friends to get a message [that’s] so violent to so many people so easily in this country.”

While admitting there have been other challenges, including last semester’s Undergraduates of Political Science misunderstanding, Desjarlais says the NSU and UVSS have “also done a lot of good work together.”

The key to good work, he says, is making sure everyone comes to the table with honour. “Anytime we make an agreement with someone, [we] must come into them as honourable people . . . And it’s always a question of are we thinking the same thing? Are they on the same side as that?”

“I really do think there’s more good settlers than bad settlers,” Desjarlais says. “We’re never gonna say something unless [settlers] do something bad, and a lot of things they do are good for the community, whether it’s for themselves, their friends, or their family.” Desjarlais mentions folks asking for permission to host bake sales on campus as an example of people going too far in being considerate to indigenous students, though he laughs at the idea of him shutting a sale down.

“I think we can all agree bake sales are pretty awesome,” he says. “I would never say no.”

The NSU has also been in consultation with the university around the Indigenous Academic Plan. From that consultation, Desjarlais says, there’ve been two main requests: that indigenous students have an active role in governance, and that Elders be stakeholders in that governance.

“It’s trying to dismantle the administration’s desire to have VPs, directors, [and so on], and make it a table, a roundtable, where we’re all respected as stakeholders in this higher learning,” he says.

Desjarlais also wishes UVic could formalize its relationship with the NSU. “They seem to see us as this group that bubbles up when things go bad, and pops and goes back into the water. But we want a seat at the table.”

“We want [to] have [President] Jamie Cassels sit down with us, have some coffee, and talk about the issues pertaining to indigenous students,” Desjarlais says. “[The NSU] forming its own relationship with the university is integral in how to better support indigenous students learning.”

In the meantime, Desjarlais will continue to build relationships in the community that’ll last for years to come.

“I have a great reassurance that no matter who comes into the position of firekeeper,” he says, “[they] understand that to be a firekeeper, symbolically, is to keep the fire going, and that fire is shared with all of us.”