B.C. and Territories

Much to the dismay of U.S. officials fighting drugs, Vancouver, having one of the worst drug problems in North America, has adopted a few new methods of treating drugs. Modeled after certain clinics in Europe, Vancouver has initiated supervised injection sites, also known as safe injection sites. These are the first of such clinics in North America. Although these methods have had mixed results, Canada has granted permission for such sites as trial runs.

The clinics were established almost from a "lesser of two evils" idealogy. The reasoning behind the safe injeciton sites is that even though it's not cracking down as hard as some people would like, it's addressing the issue of the spread of HIV and hepatitis C through the use of used needles and inpromper usage. Roughly 71% of the people residing in Vancouver are for such treatment but others worry about the potential worsening of the situation and increased addiction.

Basically the sites provider supervision and aid for drug addicts, along with clean needles and supplies and a safe place to administer the drugs. The idea was proposed in 2000 and the first safe clinic, the Dr. Peter Centre, was opened in 2002.

In class we read an excerpt in From Ink Lake by Ethel Wilson entitled “Swamp Angel”, and I found the entry very amusing. Since the basis of the novel could not be determined by the entry, I decided to do a bit of research regarding Wilson and her novel.

Ethel Wilson was born in 1888 in South Africa. She moved to England after her mother passed away, and then to Vancouver to live with her grandmother after the death of her father in 1898. She became an elementary school teacher before she began writing stories; her first published novel was called Hetty Dorval.

Wilson is known as “…one of the first Canadian writers to capture truly the rugged and unsurpassed beauty of the BC landscape.” She depicted particular places that she cherished like the English Bay area. She won a multitude of honors because of her contributions to Canadian literature. The Canada Council Medal, the Lorne Pierce Medal of the Royal Society of Canada, and the Order of Canada Medal. There is even an award named the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize; this is given annually to the best piece of fiction written in British Columbia.

Today, Ethel Wilson is considered one of the most prominent Canadian feminist writers; the social responsibility of men and women is a theme woven throughout her works. This theme is evident in Swamp Angel, published in 1954, which is deemed one of her finest pieces of literature.

Swamp Angel centers around a woman named Maggie Lloyd, who, as we concluded in class, is struggling with a demoralizing marriage with a domineering husband (Edward Vardoe) and the search for her own identity. The excerpt we read is at the beginning of the novel. Maggie leaves her home in Vancouver for the interior of BC, where she finds work at a fishing lodge. Unfortunately, the lodge-keeper’s wife becomes sickly jealous of Maggie, so she must not only repair her own broken spirit, but help heal others’ as well. Maggie’s friend, Nell Severance is her aide throughout the novel, although the women only meet once in person (they communicate through letters).

The title “Swamp Angel” refers to Nell’s pearl-handled revolver; the gun becomes Maggie’s after Nell’s death and is a symbolic talisman in the novel because it evokes fear and represents power. The novel brings about complexities and relationship issues and, by its end, Maggie learns of independence, but also realizes that everyone must rely on each other in order to live successfully and happily.

The few pages of Swamp Angel that we did discuss is just a small portion of the story, and I think it would be a beneficial novel to read because Wilson is a prominent Canadian novelist and the themes in her work reflect her own life and experiences.

Citations:

http://www.bcbookprizes.ca/wilson.htm
http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=4750
http://www.abcbookworld.com/?state=view_author&author_id=3051

Canada may be on it way to becoming one of the most important countries involved in the trade industry as the northwest passage began to open during this past summer. The northwest passage acts as a big shortcut between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and it would save a lot of time and fuel for ships to travel through Canada 's arctic then to use the alternative routes that connect the two oceans. The opening up of this passage has also spurred an international competition for who should claim ownership and control over the shipping lane and newly accessible natural resources. Canada claims that that they have full rights over the parts of the passage that passes there territory, while the European Union and US state that it is international waters. Also Russia dropped a titanium capsule containing the the russian flag on to the arctic sea floor at the North Pole in hopes of securing the Arctic's natural resources. Canadian scientist, Andre Rochon, is worried that if there were more shipping happening in the area it would lead to and increased risk of accident and pollution, and Canada does not have the infrastructure to support this. Thats why Rochon states along with other scientists that Canada must quickly learn as much as they can in order to prepare for the upcoming changes.

Map of First Nations in B.C

The First Nations of BC refer to those people that can trace their ancestry to the aboriginal people that inhabited the land that is now British Columbia prior to the arrival of Europeans and Americans in the late 18th century.

British Columbia’s population of First Nations peoples, those that inhabited the land prior to the invasion of the Europeans and Americans. The First Nations of BC account for one third of all of the First Nations in Canada; there 198 different tribes, each with its own beliefs, stories, and practices.

There are more than thirty languages spoken by the First Nations of British Columbia. Some include the dialect of the Haisla, Heiltsuk, Kwakiutl, and Nootka sects. Each language has its own origin, depending on the location of a specific tribe. “Beaver” is spoken in the Northeast of British Columbia; it falls under the Athabaskan category.

Unfortunately, all of the native languages are endangered, while a handful has already vanished. Pentlatch, which was spoken in the central east region of Vancouver, for example, became extinct in 1940. Not very many First Nations children learn the language of their ancestors, so there is a small population of youth speakers.