Books, reviews and book chapters by Cindy Hanson
TRANSPORTATION EQUITY THROUGH PUBLIC PARTICIPATION "Consumer voice and citizen voice are not the ... more TRANSPORTATION EQUITY THROUGH PUBLIC PARTICIPATION "Consumer voice and citizen voice are not the same. Market solutions rest on the logic of individual self-interest and this constrains their ability to address the broader collective well-being of the region." 1(p83) The Impacts of Austerity and Privatization Despite being vital public infrastructure, today's transportation systems are shaped by the logics of neoliberal capitalism. Characterized by the diminishing role of the state, the expansion of private ownership, and the promotion of individualism, neoliberalism has today become the dominant ideology underpinning our social structures. 2 This has led to cuts to public transportation, the rising popularity of public-private partnerships, and the proliferation of private services such as Uber and Lyft. 3,4 When public systems are replaced by private ones, "citizens" are replaced by "consumers." 1 The privatization of transport then leads to a loss of citizen voice. Neoliberal restructuring-including government rollbacks and regionalizing service delivery-has increased transportation needs in many rural communities and shifted costs onto users. 5-7 When the private sector steps in to address the failures of underfunded and inadequate public systems, mobility may be improved for some. 8 Ride-hailing services such as Uber and Lyft, for example, are said to be providing a "new automobility," operating in urban, suburban, and even rural areas to provide access to the resources and services that automobility offers. 9 It is also common for voluntary organizations to step in to meet the needs of members of the community-often focusing on a niche group such as elderly or people who need to access health services. 5,6 Too often, however, immobility and inequality are worsened by private transportation models that increasingly benefit the already well-off, while creating gaps in transportation access for others-particularly those in isolated and remote areas. 6-8
Along the Highway of Tears, violence defines boundaries of inclusion and exclusion, personhood an... more Along the Highway of Tears, violence defines boundaries of inclusion and exclusion, personhood and exception, colonizer and colonized." 1(p307) Experiences of vulnerability due to the absence (or presence) of public transportation in rural and remote locations are multifaceted. Many socioeconomic factors intersect with structural and service barriers to affect people unequally. These social factors exacerbate experiences of vulnerability, risk, and violence. Vulnerabilities create risks, which is evident in the examination of interpersonal violence or missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. Historical patterns of racism, colonization, and citizenship-and the systems of power they produce-have led to these conditions. We provide three examples to help introduce the complexity of these issues. Urban and Rural Divide: Experiences of Older Adults in Rural Areas Transportation shapes the lifestyle, physical well-being, and quality of life of older adults in rural areas. Due to a lack of transportation availability, older persons living in rural and remote places have more unmet travel demands and a higher number of trips missed than their urban counterparts. 2-4 Older adults who do not drive also struggle with issues of public transportation's accessibility, affordability, availability, and appropriateness. 2 Those with mobility challenges are further excluded by lack of bus shelters and benches, unwalkable sidewalks, and inaccessible public transit. Reduced mobility corresponds to lower household incomes and inequality as women are less likely to travel for social and daily amenities or services such as grocery shopping. Factors that influence rural older adults' ability to travel to meet their needs are health status, financial status, disability, and non-driving status. 5 Services such as paratransit in urban areas which can accommodate "a wheelchair and other walking aids'' are not commonly available in rural places. 6 Service availability, social requirements, and (dis)abilities are all key considerations for policy makers in bridging the rural-urban divide in transportation.
TRANSPORTATION AS INFRASTRUCTURE IN RURAL & REMOTE CANADA "One of the worst fears of any communit... more TRANSPORTATION AS INFRASTRUCTURE IN RURAL & REMOTE CANADA "One of the worst fears of any community is the possible loss of transportation links. The loss of transportation services is one of the most pressing issues in rural development." 1(p31) Transportation is critical infrastructure for rural places, the absence of which results in disadvantages and vulnerability for rural places and the people who live there. Transportation has a substantial influence on how and where social and economic activities take place and on the development path of rural places. It plays a crucial role in shaping the relationship between places and determines the flow of people, goods, and services across space. It is easy to ignore the networks and systems that constitute infrastructure because the position they play in enabling activities and public and private goods and services becomes virtually invisible. Of course, governments can and do intervene in the pattern of transportation networks to shape systems that are more reflective of public objectives-e.g., to facilitate access to health care, education, or work. These government-facilitated transportation networks become part of the policy environment and broader social service provision infrastructure, which can be problematic if they suddenly disappear, as was the case for the Saskatchewan Transportation Company in 2017. 2 Transportation plays a key role in defining the character of rural and remote places because of its strong influence on the possibilities of livelihood, availability of amenities, goods and services, and even food security. 3,4 Remoteness is largely a function of transportation, based upon (the regularly accessible) time/distance to urban centres and access to goods and services. Places that are considered "remote" usually have declining population, with few employment opportunities and low incomes, although they may be important as areas of recreation, leisure, and resource extraction. With economic restructuring, remotely located natural resource-based industries, such as some oil and gas, mining, fishing, forestry, and hydroelectricity, now often rely on long-distance commuting for their mostly-rural workforces. 5,6 Different rural and remote areas have different conditions depending on their proximity to cities. While many rural places are "in decline," some rural areas close to cities (the "rurban" phenomenon) or in locations where retired professionals seek lifestyle and leisure amenities are experiencing a turnaround. 1,7
Divided: Populism, polarization & power in the new Saskatchewan, 2021
Not many corporations get a public approval rating consistently above 90%. The publicly owned, Sa... more Not many corporations get a public approval rating consistently above 90%. The publicly owned, Saskatchewan Transportation Company (STC) was one. That is, until the SaskParty government shut it down. The impact of shuttering STC was great, but it was not felt equally. Women and people on low incomes (who made up over 60% and 70% of the ridership of STC, respectively) were left with few options. And while 45% of STC’s rolling stock provided access for persons with disabilities, no such intercity transportation is now available in Saskatchewan. Ironically, even though reducing inequality was an impetus for creating STC in the first place, shuttering the service has intensified Saskatchewan’s inequalities. This is most notable in the rural and remote regions of the province where very few routes were taken over by the private sector.
Adult Education and Lifelong Learning in Canada, 2021
Indigenous adult education is not well documented. Neither are the actions and efforts of adult e... more Indigenous adult education is not well documented. Neither are the actions and efforts of adult educators toward decolonizing adult education. This chapter will highlight some of the ways Indigenous adult learning historically and socially operated in Canada and how it is an emerging area of knowledge in both non-formal and formal learning contexts, including communities, institutions and social movements. This chapter provides examples along with a discussion of pedagogical approaches to teaching and learning that unsettle settler-colonial relationships, honour Indigenous worldviews and build relationship networks. First, however, I situate myself as an adult educator, a settler, ally and/or solidarity activist.
Handbook of Adult and Continuing Education, 2020
In T.S. Rocco, M.C. Smith, R.C Mizzi, L. Merriweather and Josh Hawley (Eds). Handbook of Adult an... more In T.S. Rocco, M.C. Smith, R.C Mizzi, L. Merriweather and Josh Hawley (Eds). Handbook of Adult and Continuing Education. Stylus Pub.
Gender–Diversity–Intersectionality: (New) Perspectives in Adult Education, 2019
Community activism and social justice largely shaped the field of adult education in Canada (Selm... more Community activism and social justice largely shaped the field of adult education in Canada (Selman & Dampier, 1991; Nesbit, Brigham, Taber & Gibb, 2013). Despite this rich history of community work and social justice, adult education in Canada has not adequately dealt with Canada’s colonial history and the push for Indigenous-settler reconciliation and Indigenous adult learning. By presenting a critical perspective on Canada’s Indian Residential School settlement policies, I intend to share how Canada’s colonial history may in fact be analyzed and interrogated using an intersectional lens along with community-led adult and intergenerational learning.
Gendered Militarism in Canada Learning Conformity and Resistance, Nov 2015
Chapter in book Gendered Militarism in Canada:
Learning Conformity and Resistance
Ed. Nancy Taber
When the study Intergenerational Learning in Indigenous Communities of Practice, was started, the... more When the study Intergenerational Learning in Indigenous Communities of Practice, was started, there was a promise that the researcher would ask the women who participated what they wanted to do with the knowledge they created. So, when the Mapuche women from four communities in Southern Chile met in Temuco in 2014, they were asked how they wanted to share the knowledge of the study. They asked for a book to be produced.
Review of Bagele Chilisa. Published by SAGE Publications: Los Angeles, 2012, paperback 343 pages,
Articles by Cindy Hanson
Journal of Canadian Studies, 2020
This article presents findings from a critical discourse analysis of House of Commons debates abo... more This article presents findings from a critical discourse analysis of House of Commons debates about the Independent Assessment Process (IAP), an out-of-court compensatory adjudication process intended to resolve claims of sexual and physical abuse that occurred at Indian Residential Schools and one of five key elements of the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement. Our analysis is guided by the question: What do elected officials' discussions about the IAP reveal about the implementation of compensatory transitional justice mechanisms in settler colonial states, and about colonial relations (specifically attempts at reconciliation) more generally? Our study focuses on debates that took place between 2004 and 2019. We explored elected officials' framing of both Survivors and the Canadian State in their discussions about the IAP. Our analysis reveals the limited reach of dialogue based in a partisan and antagonistic context and supports those scholars who assert that transitional justice is incompatible with reconciliation and decolonization. By way of contributing to the larger interdisciplinary study entitled Reconciling Perspectives and Building Public Memory: Learning from the Independent Assessment Process, of which this article is part, we reflect on what our findings mean not only for public memory but also for studying the IAP moving forward.
Research exploring the gendered dimensions of adult learning has blossomed in the past two decade... more Research exploring the gendered dimensions of adult learning has blossomed in the past two decades. Despite this trend, intersectional approaches in adult learning, research, and teaching remain limited primarily to the intersection of gender, race, and class. Meanwhile, intersectionality theories are more diverse, and include discussions of social structures, geographies, and histories that serve to build richer, nuanced descriptions of how privilege and oppression are experienced. Because the purpose of intersectionality is to understand how social identities and positions are constructed and to challenge the structures of power that oppress particular social groups, this approach is important for feminist and social justice educators. We, the Canadian authors of this manuscript, posit that adult education should move beyond intersectionality that focuses only on the trinity of gender + race + class to consider the other inequalities and the true complexities of representation and collective identities. By exploring literature in feminism, adult education, and intersectionality, we illustrate a gap at the core of adult education for social justice. We draw upon two examples of national research with and by the Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women to illustrate how intersectionality is understood and works in practice.
European Journal for Research on the Education and Learning of Adults, 2021
Research exploring the gendered dimensions of adult learning has blossomed in the past two decade... more Research exploring the gendered dimensions of adult learning has blossomed in the past two decades. Despite this trend, intersectional approaches in adult learning, research, and teaching remain limited primarily to the intersection of gender, race, and class. Meanwhile, intersectionality theories are more diverse, and include discussions of social structures, geographies, and histories that serve to build richer, nuanced descriptions of how privilege and oppression are experienced. Because the purpose of intersectionality is to understand how social identities and positions are constructed and to challenge the structures of power that oppress particular social groups, this approach is important for feminist and social justice educators. We, the Canadian authors of this manuscript, posit that adult education should move beyond intersectionality that focuses only on the trinity of gender + race + class to consider the other inequalities and the true complexities of representation and collective identities. By exploring literature in feminism, adult education, and intersectionality, we illustrate a gap at the core of adult education for social justice. We draw upon two examples of national research with and by the Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women to illustrate how intersectionality is understood and works in practice.
Canadian Journal for the Study of Adult Education, 2018
Community based research and learning can never be prescribed. The SSHRC funded study entitled, I... more Community based research and learning can never be prescribed. The SSHRC funded study entitled, Intergenerational Learning in Indigenous Textile Communities of Practice, illustrated this point in many ways. Although it was conceived as community-based research it was not initially regarded as arts-based, this is what it became. Both the data gathering and research mobilization methods were arts-based. The study provided meaningful lessons in informal Indigenous, and intergenerational, learning within textile communities of practice of Indigenous beaders and weavers from Canada and Chile.
Engaged Scholar Journal, 2016
Intergenerational Learning in Indigenous Textile Communities of Practice was an interdisciplinary... more Intergenerational Learning in Indigenous Textile Communities of Practice was an interdisciplinary arts-and community-based study that inquired into the intergenerational practices of beading and weaving in two Indigenous contexts – one in Southern Chile and the other in Northern Saskatchewan, Canada. The research process involved building relational networks, developing decolonizing methodologies, and working with collaborators, elders, community coordinators, and members of Indigenous textile communities of practice. The research methods, which are a focus of this article, included the use of artifacts to draw out memories and stories of intergenerational learning and to engage the communities in deciding how to share the knowledge generated. Both the data gathering methods and the knowledge mobilization led to arts-based outcomes. The study specifically inquired into how learning is structured and passed on to subsequent generations within communities of practice and the findings provide insights into the way this knowledge is transferred and/or disrupted. Critical reflection on the process highlighted some of the challenges that arose – both with the academic researcher and the community and inside the community.
Gateways: International Journal of Community Research and Engagement, 2016
This article outlines the debate around the emancipatory claims of community-based research (CBR)... more This article outlines the debate around the emancipatory claims of community-based research (CBR) and identifies discursive frictions as a pivotal point upon which much of CBR practice revolves. Using a Foucauldian theoretical lens, we suggest that CBR is neither inherently emancipatory nor repressive, but that research outcomes are more often a product of power asymmetries in CBR relationships. To illustrate how power asymmetries in research relationships produce discursive frictions, several studies from our work and the literature are presented. The article provides examples of CBR relationships between the researcher and community members and relationships within the community to illustrate how power asymmetries and discursive frictions in these relationships dynamically influence research outcomes and thus alert researchers to the need to address power asymmetries not just before initiating CBR projects, but during CBR projects as well. We interrogate how power asymmetries and discursive frictions operate and are constructed in CBR in an attempt to highlight how research might be conducted more effectively and ethically. Finally, we indicate that some of the tensions and challenges associated with CBR might be ameliorated by the use of participatory facilitation methodologies, such as photo-voice and story circle discussion groups, that draw attention to power asymmetries and purposefully use more creative participatory tools to restructure power relationships and ultimately address the inequities that exist in the research process. Because CBR is continually caught up in power dynamics, we hope that highlighting some examples might offer an opportunity for increased dialogue and critical reflection on its claims of empowerment and emancipation.
International Indigenous Policy Journal, Jan 2016
Survivors of Indian Residential Schools in Canada are involved in one of the largest compensation... more Survivors of Indian Residential Schools in Canada are involved in one of the largest compensation processes in the world. A significant component in the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement (IRSSA) is the Independent Assessment Process (IAP), an out-of-court process aimed at resolving claims related to serious physical and sexual abuse suffered at residential schools. This article discusses a community–university research collaboration, which set out to explore how women involved in the IAP, including Survivors, support workers, lawyers, and adjudicators, understood the capacity of the model to facilitate healing. The results suggest attention to several aspects of policy development including representations of the body and sexuality, impacts of child abuse and trauma, and colonial histories of power and control, in addition to healing and training strategies.
Journal of Transformative Education, 2013
This article explores how 14 diverse, Canadian activist–facilitators working in inter-national de... more This article explores how 14 diverse, Canadian activist–facilitators working in inter-national development experience and understand critical reflection as a component
of participatory methodologies in facilitation practices. The findings, based on my doctoral study, demonstrate that although critical reflection is often discussed as
integral to participatory approaches of facilitation using critical pedagogies, understandings and experiences of what that means in practice vary. For example, study
participants often expressed practicing critical reflection through technical-rational approaches and seldom distinguished between critical reflection, reflexivity, and
reflection. The findings illustrate three main challenges to applying critical reflection in practice: (1) time and value given to critical reflection; (2) institutional requirements;
and (3) personal vulnerability. The results have implications for critical feminist pedagogies, including the development of critically reflective practices that challenge
dominant ideologies and hierarchical power structures. The study demonstrates lessons for deepening pedagogical practices around critical reflection and reflexivity.
For almost two decades, the Prairie School for Union Women (PSUW) has operated
in Saskatchewan, ... more For almost two decades, the Prairie School for Union Women (PSUW) has operated
in Saskatchewan, Canada. Its use of feminist popular education, adult learning
principles in facilitation, and mentoring and support for activist practices make
it unique from other labour schools in many respects. This paper focuses on a
community-based participatory action research study that explored how well the
PSUW is meeting its goals to “develop women’s personal and leadership skills, to
build solidarity among women workers, and to increase knowledge about the labour
movement.” The article documents how the school achieves its goals and how it offers
lessons in labour education, activism, non-formal adult learning, intersectional
approaches, feminist popular education, university–community relationships, and
transformative education.
Résumé
Depuis près de deux décennies, l’École des femmes syndiquées des provinces des Prairies
(Prairie School for Union Women/PSUW) fonctionne en Saskatchewan au Canada.
L’utilisation de l’éducation populaire féministe, des principes de l’apprentissage des
adultes dans la facilitation et le mentorat ainsi que la mise en œuvre du soutien aux
pratiques militantes la différencient des autres écoles du travail à beaucoup d’égards.
Centré sur une étude de recherche-action participative communautaire, cette article
explore comment l’École des femmes syndiquées des provinces des Prairies (PSUW)
atteint ses objectifs pour « développer les compétences personnelles et les qualités de
leader des femmes, pour créer des liens de solidarité entre les travailleuses, et pour
répandre les connaissances sur le mouvement travailliste ». L’article décrit comment
cette école atteint ses objectifs et comment elle offre des leçons dans l’éducation
du travail, dans l’activisme, dans l’apprentissage non-formel des adultes, dans les
approches intersectionnelles, dans l’éducation populaire féministe, dans les rapports
entre l’université et la communauté ainsi que dans l’éducation transformatrice.
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Books, reviews and book chapters by Cindy Hanson
Articles by Cindy Hanson
of participatory methodologies in facilitation practices. The findings, based on my doctoral study, demonstrate that although critical reflection is often discussed as
integral to participatory approaches of facilitation using critical pedagogies, understandings and experiences of what that means in practice vary. For example, study
participants often expressed practicing critical reflection through technical-rational approaches and seldom distinguished between critical reflection, reflexivity, and
reflection. The findings illustrate three main challenges to applying critical reflection in practice: (1) time and value given to critical reflection; (2) institutional requirements;
and (3) personal vulnerability. The results have implications for critical feminist pedagogies, including the development of critically reflective practices that challenge
dominant ideologies and hierarchical power structures. The study demonstrates lessons for deepening pedagogical practices around critical reflection and reflexivity.
in Saskatchewan, Canada. Its use of feminist popular education, adult learning
principles in facilitation, and mentoring and support for activist practices make
it unique from other labour schools in many respects. This paper focuses on a
community-based participatory action research study that explored how well the
PSUW is meeting its goals to “develop women’s personal and leadership skills, to
build solidarity among women workers, and to increase knowledge about the labour
movement.” The article documents how the school achieves its goals and how it offers
lessons in labour education, activism, non-formal adult learning, intersectional
approaches, feminist popular education, university–community relationships, and
transformative education.
Résumé
Depuis près de deux décennies, l’École des femmes syndiquées des provinces des Prairies
(Prairie School for Union Women/PSUW) fonctionne en Saskatchewan au Canada.
L’utilisation de l’éducation populaire féministe, des principes de l’apprentissage des
adultes dans la facilitation et le mentorat ainsi que la mise en œuvre du soutien aux
pratiques militantes la différencient des autres écoles du travail à beaucoup d’égards.
Centré sur une étude de recherche-action participative communautaire, cette article
explore comment l’École des femmes syndiquées des provinces des Prairies (PSUW)
atteint ses objectifs pour « développer les compétences personnelles et les qualités de
leader des femmes, pour créer des liens de solidarité entre les travailleuses, et pour
répandre les connaissances sur le mouvement travailliste ». L’article décrit comment
cette école atteint ses objectifs et comment elle offre des leçons dans l’éducation
du travail, dans l’activisme, dans l’apprentissage non-formel des adultes, dans les
approches intersectionnelles, dans l’éducation populaire féministe, dans les rapports
entre l’université et la communauté ainsi que dans l’éducation transformatrice.
of participatory methodologies in facilitation practices. The findings, based on my doctoral study, demonstrate that although critical reflection is often discussed as
integral to participatory approaches of facilitation using critical pedagogies, understandings and experiences of what that means in practice vary. For example, study
participants often expressed practicing critical reflection through technical-rational approaches and seldom distinguished between critical reflection, reflexivity, and
reflection. The findings illustrate three main challenges to applying critical reflection in practice: (1) time and value given to critical reflection; (2) institutional requirements;
and (3) personal vulnerability. The results have implications for critical feminist pedagogies, including the development of critically reflective practices that challenge
dominant ideologies and hierarchical power structures. The study demonstrates lessons for deepening pedagogical practices around critical reflection and reflexivity.
in Saskatchewan, Canada. Its use of feminist popular education, adult learning
principles in facilitation, and mentoring and support for activist practices make
it unique from other labour schools in many respects. This paper focuses on a
community-based participatory action research study that explored how well the
PSUW is meeting its goals to “develop women’s personal and leadership skills, to
build solidarity among women workers, and to increase knowledge about the labour
movement.” The article documents how the school achieves its goals and how it offers
lessons in labour education, activism, non-formal adult learning, intersectional
approaches, feminist popular education, university–community relationships, and
transformative education.
Résumé
Depuis près de deux décennies, l’École des femmes syndiquées des provinces des Prairies
(Prairie School for Union Women/PSUW) fonctionne en Saskatchewan au Canada.
L’utilisation de l’éducation populaire féministe, des principes de l’apprentissage des
adultes dans la facilitation et le mentorat ainsi que la mise en œuvre du soutien aux
pratiques militantes la différencient des autres écoles du travail à beaucoup d’égards.
Centré sur une étude de recherche-action participative communautaire, cette article
explore comment l’École des femmes syndiquées des provinces des Prairies (PSUW)
atteint ses objectifs pour « développer les compétences personnelles et les qualités de
leader des femmes, pour créer des liens de solidarité entre les travailleuses, et pour
répandre les connaissances sur le mouvement travailliste ». L’article décrit comment
cette école atteint ses objectifs et comment elle offre des leçons dans l’éducation
du travail, dans l’activisme, dans l’apprentissage non-formel des adultes, dans les
approches intersectionnelles, dans l’éducation populaire féministe, dans les rapports
entre l’université et la communauté ainsi que dans l’éducation transformatrice.
and the Office of the Status of Women in South Africa. Using a retrospective lens, I explore how my experience of delivering and evaluating such gender-based analysis
training in South Africa holds moments of hope and solidarity yet, is also restricted by issues of power, representation and agency. Throughout this lived experience, the multi-faceted issues surrounding privilege and power as they are situated within race, gender, identity, place and location are explored. I question the state practices
of gender mainstreaming, and whether or not transnational feminism can challenge and create changes within such a practice. The article includes data from a gender-
based analysis training session and its subsequent evaluation, along with anecdotes, suggestions and a critique. With the push by national and international machineries
to mainstream gender, this article offers a timely and critical perspective on the implementation and facilitation of such practices.
defined and understood unpaid caregiving work with small children; and the impact of social welfare policy guidelines that pushed SA recipients to find paid employment.
Using action research and original, creative methods to gather data, the research simultaneously created a non-threatening environment for discussion, information-sharing, support and knowledge creation among participants. Overall, findings in the study resonate with other published studies on low-income women and unpaid work. Unique to this study particularly, were the action research process and outcomes
which provided ways to address the needs of the study participants and to catalyze participant-led actions. The study assisted the 28 participants in linking their unpaid
work with social policy and finally, in taking socio-political action. Actions included meetings with government, press conferences, and an uptake of recommendations by
advisory group organizations. Independent of the research, the participants continued to meet after the study concluded.
two-day workshop in Ottawa in January 2008, to examine the state of gender training in the
context of security and fragile states. The participants represented staff from national and
international machineries and non-governmental organizations, as well as consultants. The
interactive workshop sessions identified a number of key priorities for taking the field
forward. In light of the United Nations Security Resolution 1325 on women, peace and
security, these priorities provide direction for policy, guidelines, methodology and materials
in this area.
Reconciliation means Canadians have a duty to remember the injustice of residential schools
Records and data matter. Data disaggregated by race, ethnicity, national origin, gender and many other social categories are critical for understanding how people are inequitably affected by public policies and public institutions. These data help reveal injustices in society today, and in the past.
And yet, in January, the Ontario Superior Court blocked the creation of static reports, or a set of final outcome statistical reports that would “give details about the impact of the IRSSA [Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement] on Indigenous communities”. They would provide important data about abuses at residential schools, one of the worst manifestations of colonialism and racism ever committed under the guise of education. Approximately 150,000 Indigenous children were taken into the schools; the last, in Saskatchewan, closed in 1996. The court’s ruling also affects the storage of records by the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation. In short, details about what is possibly the largest collection of documents about the institutionalization of Indigenous children in the world is at risk.
Static reports about the Independent Assessment Process (IAP) – the claims process where Indian residential school survivors testified about serious physical and sexual abuses they suffered – were to be created using cross-tabulated data, gathered during the IAP, about variables like children’s age and sex, particularities of residential schools, types of abuses, and impacts on communities. Ottawa objected to their creation, despite the critical information that they could provide.
Participation levels in the IAP were astounding. More than half of all living survivors claimed serious abuses. More than 38,000 people applied, and 26,000 gave testimonies. The 14-year process is nearly complete, and it has produced 800,000 documents and cost more than $3-billion. It represents the largest class action in Canadian history.
Why would Canada push to have vital records created through this process hidden or eliminated? Their argument includes concerns about protecting survivor privacy, which is important, but social scientists are able to protect that. Furthermore, the effort to block production of the reports abrogates Canada’s responsibility in the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement, which included promises to promote healing, education, commemoration, truth and reconciliation, and the “duty to remember”. The reports would also respond to international protocols to preserve records of systemic human rights abuses – information that could be useful to historians, Indigenous people who participated in the Settlement Agreement, and those involved in the protection of children around the world.
Static reports could provide insights into the IAP itself, and into the impacts of the abuse on the children, communities and survivors. They may also shed light on the registered deaths of more than 3,000 Indigenous children who died while attending the schools – children who are gone but must not be forgotten.
The Ontario Superior Court’s ruling on static reports, which fall into the category of non-claimant information – and is being appealed by the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation – is connected to a broader issue around Indigenous people’s agency and input in decision-making around the IAP. In 2017, the Supreme Court decided that testimonies given by survivors (which constitute claimant information) would be destroyed by 2027 unless individual survivors asked to have their records retained. The response to this ruling was mixed: Many survivors would not have told their stories if it weren’t for adjudicators’ promises around confidentiality, while others wanted the records preserved for their intergenerational and historical value.
The preliminary results of our national study, Reconciling Perspectives and Building Public Memory: Learning from the IAP, demonstrate that over 10 years, the IAP has only been discussed 28 times in the House of Commons, mostly in the context of discussing abuses at St. Anne’s residential school, and without meaningfully acknowledging the role of Indigenous organizations in its development. Our media-discourse analysis over the same 10 years demonstrates Indigenous people are portrayed primarily as victims. Justice Paul Perell’s ruling shows a continued failure to recognize Indigenous agency.
That most Canadians will never know about the IAP is a travesty. Without abundant data – to add a quantifiable dimension to the horrors of residential schools and remind us of the consequences of racist public policy – we fear that more tragedies are inevitable. According to The Globe and Mail, a United Nations report, supported by the New Democratic Party, advocated for Canada to collect and disaggregate data to counter anti-Black racism. We emphatically agree, and further assert, that erasing data about Indigenous peoples’ experiences undermines both broader anti-racism goals, and reconciliation. collecting and sharing data can advance anti-racism efforts, help address ongoing injustices, and ensure the past is never repeated.
This knowledge synthesis (KS) project explored how remote and rural (RR) places face a complex array of social, political and economic obstacles in their access to sustainable, accessible, and appropriate transportation, and in exercising mobility rights. Growing vulnerability and inequality between these places contribute to growing vulnerabilities and inequalities among RR residents and the rest of Canada. The pattern of, and access to, public transportation in Canada, reflects the history of natural resource development and seldom considers the effects of the lack of transportation on health and welfare, human capabilities, education, climate change, and sustainable development. Mobility, however, shapes the conditions and lived experiences of gender, poverty, disabilities, and older-age; it either restricts or enables citizen participation.
We take seriously the ways that vulnerability and transportation disadvantage are products of the structuring impacts of unequal mobility. For instance, insufficient or absent access to mobility–especially affordable public transportation–determines the ability of individuals and communities to achieve a sustainable livelihood, societal participation, personal and collective safety, and access to essential and non-essential services, resources, opportunities, and rights. Mobility- and transportation-linked possibilities and vulnerabilities are not experienced equally. These realities led us to adopt an intersectional approach that recognizes how individuals’ circumstances are shaped, constructed, and constrained by systems and structures over which they have little control. Given neoliberal restructuring, we paid close attention to how the systematic removal of public transportation alongside increasing, near-exclusive emphasis on automobility, is implicated in the production and exacerbation of vulnerability for RR persons, communities, and regions of Canada.
This original collection contains vibrant example of labour education events and the women involved who develop, implement, research, evaluate and facilitate at them. All the contributors speak from first-hand experience with women-only programs in unions across Canada, the United States and the world. They identify the methods used in pursuit of learner empowerment and transformation, and frankly discuss the outcomes. These real-life examples offer practical guidance and inspiration for all who create and support activist learning within unions and other social-justice organizations.
The study used qualitative methods informed by feminist perspectives. The study participants were a diverse group of fourteen Canadian women, including myself, who have varied experiences as facilitators of women’s rights and gender equality workshops in transnational locations. Through unstructured interviews and focus groups, the participants were questioned about pedagogical and political aspects of their work as Minority World activists.
Four key themes in activist-facilitation experience were identified. They are: understandings and misunderstandings of critical reflection as a pedagogical practice; the often paradoxical ways that activist play out positions of power; how activists identify possibilities and paradoxes in working in dominant and participatory development paradigms; and opportunities for personal or social transformation. Working in teams and with allies, nurturing connections with others, dismantling hierarchies and encouraging collaborative models of learning were all recognized as important ways to build upon a key learning in the study – facilitation as a sustained practice. A lack of conceptual clarity around critical reflection as a pedagogical practice however, demonstrated the need for additional efforts toward achieving a co-intentional practice between learners and facilitators.
The political/transformative components of this research are noteworthy because they seek to validate the work of activists, to share strategies that resist hegemonic practices, and to enhance the development of transnational feminist pedagogies. In this way critical reflection was envisioned as part of praxis and transforming life-long learning.
All are available on the website of CRIAW-ICREF https://www.criaw-icref.ca/publications/here-today-gone-tomorrow-public-transportation-and-vulnerabilities-in-rural-and-remote-canada/
Study was supported by funds from SSHRC & Infrastructure Canada