Water Policy Fellowships
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Briefing
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Bryony holds a Masters of Arts Degree in Public Policy and Administration from Ryerson University and Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Degree in Political Science from Concordia University. She has conducted research for the non-profit sectors in New York, Badwani in India, and Toronto. Bryony is a sessional instructor at Ryerson.
Bryony's work is centered on environmental policy, mainly water policy and its relationship to Indigenous rights. Her current work is looking at the integration of Indigenous Knowledge in source water protection in Ontario. She plans to begin her PhD in the fall of 2009.
Fellowship Project Description
Under the Clean Water Act (CWA), the province of Ontario has begun the task of implementing the source water protection regime as one component of the multi-barrier approach. This includes the creation of 19 Source Protection Committees (SPCs) for the watersheds in the province. Each committee, although they vary in size, is meant to be comprised of members from municipalities, industry, agriculture, "others" (community members including ENGO's) and First Nations representatives. SPCs are designed to engage multiple stakeholders and create action plans, and act as forums in which the community can work together to protect and govern drinking water sources. However, the full participation of First Nations and their Indigenous Knowledge in the source protection process will be crucial to ensuring sources of drinking water in the province are protected, including those on First Nation land.
In partnership with the Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA), the fellowship project is aimed at examining First Nations' participation in this new policy regime, potential barriers to participation, and the degree to which Indigenous Knowledge is being integrated into source protection in a meaningful way. A literature review and an analysis of the 19 Terms of Reference (ToR) that have been generated by each committee have been conducted in Phase One of the project which was nearing completion. Coupled with currently low participation rates (6 of 19 SPCs have First Nation representatives) there is little to mention of Indigenous Knowledge in the ToR's.
Moving from this initial literature review, Phase Two of the project will be a series of interviews conducted with all members of First Nation communities who sit on an SPC. Interviews will also be done with members of communities who have a seat but have not filled it. This phase will attempt to tease out some of the barriers to participation and gain greater insight into the use (or lack thereof) of Indigenous Knowledge at this planning stage of source water protection. A qualitative analysis of the responses will be done.