Author: CEDAR

The CEDAR project and the Passamaquoddy Recognition Group Inc. (PRGI) published a report and video that were launched at St. Thomas University on November 29, 2024. The info page with the report and video is HERE. At the end of the page is the video record of the launch (courtesy CEDAR partner, the NB Media Co-op), photos from Emma Fackenthall (CEDAR) and Kim Reeder (PRGI) and articles published about the report and video.

The videos of the two webinars held on October 10, 2024 featuring CEDAR team members are now available.

The info page about the webinars is HERE.

1) Nuclear is Not the Solution:The Folly of Atomic Power in the Age of Climate Change
Discussion of the new book by CEDAR co-investigator M.V. Ramana (UBC) with CEDAR student research assistants from St. Thomas University: Kate Haché, Erin Hurley and Emma Fackenthall.

2) More Nuclear in Canada’s Energy Future?
Panel: M.V. Ramana (UBC), Susan O’Donnell & Emma Fackenthall (STU), Laura Tanguay (York U), Mark Winfield (York U), chair Janice Harvey (STU)

The NB Media Coop is one of the Collaborators on the CEDAR project and I am a representative of this news organization.

The NB Media Co-op was formed in 2009 following a successful New Brunswick Social Forum in 2008 in Fredericton, where 200 people rooted in a variety of social movements gathered under the hopeful banner “Another New Brunswick and World are Possible.”

The people who came together at this forum — workers, students, anti-capitalists, anti-imperialists, peace activists, Indigenous rights activists, feminists, gay rights activists, labour unionists, environmentalists, social workers and artists — recognized they had one common problem: the media in New Brunswick. Following the adage, “Don’t Hate the Media, Be the Media,” a group of activists did just that, and the NB Media Co-op was born months later and officially incorporated shortly after.

As an independent media outlet, the NB Media Co-op publishes stories not covered in the mainstream commercial media. Our stories take a social justice lens and include the perspectives of workers, students, Indigenous and racialized peoples, and other groups marginalized by society. We are mostly volunteers. Our editorial board members have journalism training and experience and all of us are committed to social justice.

In the past, NB Media Co-op has also been involved as a Collaborator in the SSHRC-funded RAVEN (Rural Action and Voices for the Environment) research project that was conducted from 2018 to 2023. I was also the NB Media Co-op representative on that project.

I moved to Fredericton in 2008 and, although I didn’t attend the New Brunswick Social Forum, I’ve been a member of the editorial board of the NB Media Co-op since 2012. I also write and edit stories on arts and culture, have supervised interns for the Co-op, among other duties. You can read my news pieces here.

Fun fact: I had my first paying gig as a freelance journalist for Le Courrier de la Nouvelle Écosse in 1993. I am also a professor of Spanish and Latin American Studies at the University of New Brunswick (Fredericton), a literary translator with various books published, and a member of the editorial board for the Canadian Journal of Hispanic Studies.

We’ve been busy raising awareness and deconstructing the promotional material of the nuclear establishment, in particular the false idea that more nuclear energy should be central to climate action plans. Sharing facts and exposing industry spin about nuclear energy is important work. False nuclear ‘solutions’ to the climate crisis are intended to delay climate action and shift our focus away from the real transition work that we all need to be doing. Check out all our new articles on the publications page.

We’re now preparing to present our research at academic conferences at the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Conference at McGill University in Montreal in June. More on this soon!

St. Thomas University student and CEDAR research assistant Erin Hurley created this short video about our project for the SSHRC storyteller challenge. Watch it here:

We’ve created a resource page with recordings and other materials from our main events in October. You’re welcome to use and share them, HERE.

CEDAR officially launched on Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023 at 10am at St. Thomas University. The media release is below. The launch archive page with a photo, short video and news article is HERE.

The CEDAR project, St. Thomas University, Fredericton

Media Advisory: Researchers, educators, Indigenous and community leaders and activists will launch and comment on new research into contrasting energy transition pathways for New Brunswick

WHEN: 10 to 11am, Thursday, October 12, 2023

WHO:

·      Miigam’agan, Elder-in-Residence, St. Thomas University

·      Dr. Nauman Farooqi, President, St. Thomas University

·      Jenica Atwin, Member of Parliament for Fredericton

·      David Coon, Member of the Legislative Assembly for Fredericton South

·      Gretchen Fitzgerald, National Programs Coordinator, Sierra Club Canada

·      Dr. Gordon Edwards, President, Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility

·      Dr. M.V. Ramana, Professor, University of British Columbia

·      Dr. Susan O’Donnell, Lead Investigator, CEDAR project, St. Thomas University

WHERE: St. Thomas University, Sir James Dunn student lounge (Dawn Russell Lounge), Sir James Dunn Hall, 67 Dineen Drive, Fredericton.

WHAT: Contesting Energy Discourses through Action Research (CEDAR) is a new five-year project funded by a $376,000 grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).

WHY: Most people agree we need to transition how we use energy if we are to mitigate climate change. There is, however, a big debate over what to transition to.

The media in New Brunswick often promote voices and institutions wanting continued use of fossil fuels combined with a switch to biomass and speculative small modular nuclear reactors in the somewhat distant future.

The alternative is to focus on energy conservation, reductions in energy use, decentralized renewable energy generation, and ending social and environmental injustices related to energy production and consumption.

CEDAR is studying the organizations promoting the dominant discourses and the alternative pathways, and how action research can contribute to a more democratic media environment.

On October 13, A Day of Dialogue about Decolonization, Degrowth and Energy Transitions will open up discussions about alternative paths: energy conservation, reductions in aggregate energy use, and ending social and environmental injustices related to colonization. More information HERE.

The evening of October 12, Professor M.V. Ramana will deliver a public talk: “Nuclear Energy and the Bomb.” When thinking about energy transitions, the issue of nuclear weapons rarely comes to mind. Yet the connections between generating nuclear energy and the ability to make nuclear weapons have been evident since Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombed. More information HERE.

The CEDAR Team: Investigators are Dr. Susan O’Donnell (lead), Dr. Janice Harvey, Dr. Andrew Secord, and Dr. Clive Baldwin at St. Thomas University; Dr. J.P. Sapinski at the Université de Moncton; and Professor M.V. Ramana at the University of British Columbia. Research assistants include students at all three universities. Research partners are: Chief Ron Tremblay, Wolastoq Grand Council; Chief Hugh Akagi, Peskotomukati Nation at Skutik; Gretchen Fitzgerald, Sierra Club Canada; Dr. Sophie Lavoie, NB Media Co-op; Dr. Gordon Edwards, Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility; and Sabrina Bowman, Toronto Metropolitan University.

We’re very pleased to welcome four research assistants to work on the CEDAR project for the 2023-2024 academic year. Welcome to Erin Hurley and Emma Fackenthall at St. Thomas University, Cecilia Pérez Plancarte at Université de Moncton, and Sophie Groll at the University of British Columbia. The four students will be part of the CEDAR team meeting together for the first time in person in a few weeks in Fredericton at our team meeting and public events on October 12 and 13.

Canadians are experiencing a climate crisis: more high temperatures, wildfires, droughts, flooding and other extreme weather events. Climate scientists are urging us to stop building new fossil fuel infrastructure and rapidly reduce our fossil fuel use. How will we make these transitions? Let’s talk about it.

The CEDAR project and the Environment & Society program at St. Thomas University invite you to join us in Fredericton on October 13 for this free public event. Info HERE.

When thinking about energy transitions, the issue of nuclear weapons rarely comes to mind. Yet the connections between generating nuclear energy and the ability to make nuclear weapons have been evident since Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombed. One connection is separating plutonium from used nuclear fuel, the technology proposed for Point Lepreau in New Brunswick. Other connections include the overlap in technical expertise and institutions. 

M.V. Ramana is the Simons Chair in Disarmament, Global and Human Security and Professor at the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. 7pm • Kinsella Auditorium • 9 Duffie Drive • Fredericton • More info HERE.