The commission deals with issues affecting the waterways along the Canada–U.S. border
CBC Indigenous: Susan Chiblow, of Garden River First Nation in northern Ontario, is the first Indigenous woman to become a commissioner with the International Joint Commission (IJC).
The IJC deals with issues affecting the waterways along the Canada–U.S. border – particularly the Great Lakes.
“I’m always saying that Indigenous women’s voices need to be at the table, need to be part of water decision-making regimes,” said Chiblow, who is an environmental studies professor at the University of Guelph.
“So here’s this opportunity to do that.”
- Ottawa says it’s making Canada’s largest ever investment in protecting fresh water
- First Nations, environmentalists tired of government stonewalling over selenium probe
Chiblow says she’s felt a close connection to water from a young age, growing up along the shore of the St. Marys River.
“My father worked at the steel plant and he knew it was going into the river,” she said. “And so he wouldn’t let us swim there.”
That early experience taught her about water contamination, and why it’s important to protect rivers and lakes.
“We all need water. It’s not just humans that need water. All life needs water,” she said.
“If we were to take the humans off of the planet, everything would survive. If we were to take the water off of the planet, nothing would survive.”
Sharing Indigenous knowledge
At the University of Guelph Chiblow’s focus is N’bi Kendaaswin, or water knowledge.
She says her goal is to bring Indigenous knowledge to the IJC and make sure Indigenous women, in particular, have a voice at the table when making decisions about protecting and preserving waterways along the border.
Chiblow says she is hopeful about ongoing work to protect the Great Lakes and other waterways along the border.
“There are so many areas in Ontario that are classified as areas of concern because of the contaminants, but these areas of concern are also being remediated,” she said.
“So there’s a hope that this is happening.”
With files from Marichka Melnyk