Episode 52: Hydro-Power and War [51:26] Download Audio What fuels war? The total war of the Second World War placed enormous demands on the resources and environment of Canada. Manufacturing equipment for the war and harvesting natural resources for production were some of the most substantial contributions Canadians made […]
Canadian studies
In March 1950, four Alberta “pipeline walkers” spoke with a reporter from Canadian Press about their tireless work. Each worker walked twelve to fifteen miles per day, checking on pipeline facilities in the Edmonton district and looking for leaks, a consistent problem for Alberta’s booming oil industry in the mid-twentieth […]
Last week, British Columbians once again witnessed the effects of oil on Burrard Inlet. Local authorities cautioned residents to avoid the water along the shores in Vancouver and West Vancouver after a large slick of bunker fuel oil appeared on the surface of Burrard Inlet. Around 5pm Wednesday, April 8, 2015, a boater notified Port […]
I just published a review of Darcy Ingram’s book, Wildlife, Conservation, and Conflict in Quebec, 1840-1914. The review appears in H-Net Reviews here. You can download a PDF version of the review here. Conservation in a Distinct Society Wildlife conservation in Quebec was distinct from the rest of Canada not […]
Episode 45: The St. Lawrence Seaway and Power Project, 29 October 2014 [56:00] Download Audio It cuts through the centre of the continent linking all of the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean. Long the ambition of governments, industry, and continentalist visionaries, the St. Lawrence Seaway fulfilled the mid-century modernist dream of […]
Episode 43: Environmental Scholarship and Environmental Advocacy, 2 July 2014 [47:04] Download Audio Environmental history has been both friend and foe to environmentalism. Historians can provide important context for understanding contemporary environmental issues, but they can also offer a critique of environmentalism that could undermine the political and social goals of activists. […]
I am very happy to share the news that Inventing Stanley Park won the 2014 Canadian Historical Association Clio Prize for outstanding contribution to British Columbia history. Obviously, this is a tremendous honour and I am grateful to the prize committee and the rest of my colleagues in the CHA. This was […]
If you missed last week’s Canadian History and Environment Summer School at York University, you can live the whole thing over again on Twitter. I have compiled an archive of all of the #CHESS2014 Tweets that captures almost every moment of the event. You will find comments, questions, photos, and […]
This week, I am taking advantage of some of the historical research materials available at the National Energy Board library in Calgary, Alberta. As we discussed on a recent episode of Nature’s Past: Canadian Environmental History Podcast, federal department libraries are incredible resources for environmental history. With the closure and consolidation […]
Episode 42: The Right to a Healthy Environment, 17 March 2014Â [34:41] Download Audio Canadians value their natural environment. Nine out of ten worry about the impacts of environmental degradation on their health. Nine out of ten are concerned about climate change. Eight out of ten believe that Canada needs stricter […]
By Andrew Watson, Stacy Nation-Knapper, and Sean Kheraj Last year, Nature’s Past, the Canadian environmental history podcast, published a special series called, “Histories of Canadian Environmental Issues”. Each episode focused on a different contemporary environmental issue and featured interviews and discussions with historians whose research explains the context and background. Following up […]
It’s book launch month in Toronto and I am very excited to announce the launch event for Urban Explorations: Environmental Histories of the Toronto Region. This is an anthology published by the Wilson Institute for Canadian History and NiCHE that focuses on various aspects of Toronto’s environmental history. I wrote a […]