An environmental movement is stirring in indigenous communities across North America. The moniker ‘water protector’ came from the protests of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), and the DAPL story is a powerful example of activism in the face of environmental racism. But environmental activism is often much more subtle than the headlines let on. In Canada’s North, indigenous youth are stepping…
Malartic, Que., is a small town of 3,300 people which is home to the largest open pit gold mine in Canada. The mine originally operated from the 1920s to the 1950s, when it shut down. Then, in 2008, the mine was reopened by Osisko Mining Corporation. Because the ore deposits lie beneath the southern part of the town (rumour has it that…
Michael Ilgert doesn’t look like a criminal. With his rubber boots and boisterous laugh he is, in many ways, the quintessential small-time dairy farmer. He is selling an illegal product however. The local health unit has taken him to court over concerns about the safety of the milk he sells from his small farm in Renfrew, Ont. The milk is…
On a cloudy November day the smoke generated from the stacks along the harbour is the same shade of gray as the sky that looms heavy above. Distinguishing the broad clouds from the billows of smoke quickly becomes impossible. From the elevated portion of Burlington Street one is provided with an unobstructed view of blast furnaces, abandoned picket lines and…
“Hillary sucks but not like Monica,” shouts a vendor holding a T-shirt with the same slogan. Men and women alike turn his way. They look at the shirt, laugh, and carry on with their conversations. At the same rally while waiting for Trump to come on stage, a woman tells her teenage daughter, “I brought you here to show you…
True North Photo Journal: Can you tell me about your photos? Charles-Frédérick Ouellet: Over the past few years, I have been investigating the particular energy that surrounds communities that have settled along the sea. I examine the sea as an active element, with the view that its constant motion and dazzling power leaves marks on people and places alike. In Le…
Today marks 3 years since the city of Flint, Michigan began using the Flint River as a source of drinking water. The water from the Flint River began corroding the city’s water pipes in April 2014, resulting in lead and other contaminants to leach into the tap water of over 100,000 residents of Vehicle City. Three years later the resulting contamination…
Clayton Bearard takes a sip from a dark brown bottle before passing it around a circle of people across from Yellowknife’s downtown liquor store. It’s not even three o’clock in the afternoon but with a stretch of warm weather following a frigid spring blizzard, the growing huddle of street people seem happy to soak up the sun as they polish…
Toronto is considered one of the world’s most diverse cities, attracting migrants from distant corners of the globe, as well as those from closer by – rural, suburban and interurban migrants seeking changes to their economic or social circumstances. People who identify as LGBTQ often flock to urban centres like Toronto in search of belonging or acceptance not found in…