Politics, Power, and Environmental Governance: a Comparative Case Study of Three Métis Communities in Northwest Saskatchewan
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University of Alberta Politics, Power, and Environmental Governance: A Comparative Case Study of Three Métis Communities in Northwest Saskatchewan by Bryn Alan Politylo A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Rural Sociology Department of Resource Economics and Environmental Sociology ©Bryn Alan Politylo Fall 2011 Edmonton, Alberta Permission is hereby granted to the University of Alberta Libraries to reproduce single copies of this thesis and to lend or sell such copies for private, scholarly or scientific research purposes only. Where the thesis is converted to, or otherwise made available in digital form, the University of Alberta will advise potential users of the thesis of these terms. The author reserves all other publication and other rights in association with the copyright in the thesis and, except as herein before provided, neither the thesis nor any substantial portion thereof may be printed or otherwise reproduced in any material form whatsoever without the author's prior written permission. Abstract Recently northwest Saskatchewan has seen a rapid push towards large-scale development corresponding with a shifting political economy in the province. For the rights- bearing Métis people of northwest Saskatchewan this shift significantly influences provincial environmental governance, which affects the agency of Métis people to participate in natural resource management and decision-making in the region. To examine the agency and power of Métis communities in provincial natural resource management and decision-making, qualitative methods and a comparative case study of three Métis communities were used to analyze and interpret the social spaces that Métis people occupy in provincial environmental governance. The major finding of this study was that Métis people continue to feel powerless in terms of how natural resources are managed and also in terms of land use planning and future development of natural resources in the region. This finding corresponded with evidence from this study that the structure of provincial resource management in northwest Saskatchewan involves a „double diversion‟, in which industry players such as large-scale corporations enjoy privileged access to resources in the traditional territory of the rights-bearing Métis. Acknowledgement I would like to thank Dr. Frank Tough and Dr. Naomi Krogman for giving me the wonderful opportunity to be a part of the Otipimsuak Project. More thanks goes to my supervisor, Dr. Naomi Krogman, for sticking it out with me and who continued to encourage me all the way to the end. Even more thanks goes to my parents and family for their love and support. And even more thanks goes to my wife, Cayla, and my son, Zevkiah, who now get to have their husband and father back. Lastly, I would like to thank all of the people I met in Pinehouse, Buffalo Narrows, and La Loche. Contents Chapter 1 ............................................................................................................................................... 1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 1 Background of Study ....................................................................................................................... 1 Theoretical Framework ................................................................................................................... 5 Research Purpose and Objectives ................................................................................................. 5 Significance and Contributions ...................................................................................................... 6 Limitations ...................................................................................................................................... 10 Organization of Thesis.................................................................................................................. 11 Chapter 2: Background ...................................................................................................................... 12 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 12 A Brief Introduction to the Study Site(s) ................................................................................... 12 The Métis and the Political Economy of Northwest Saskatchewan ...................................... 13 Natural Resource Development in the Northern Saskatchewan: Then and Now ............... 19 Forestry ....................................................................................................................................... 20 Mining ......................................................................................................................................... 23 Oil Sands Exploration in Northwest Saskatchewan ............................................................ 26 Taking Stock ................................................................................................................................... 27 The Comparative Cases: Pinehouse, Buffalo Narrows, La Loche ......................................... 27 Pinehouse ................................................................................................................................... 27 Buffalo Narrows ........................................................................................................................ 28 La Loche ..................................................................................................................................... 29 Chapter 3: Literature Review ............................................................................................................ 31 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 31 Environmental Governance, Structure and Agency, and Power ............................................ 31 The Métis of Northwest Saskatchewan and Regional Environmental Governance ........... 38 Pierre Bourdieu, Social Space and Environmental Governance ............................................ 50 Thinking Relationally About Power ............................................................................................ 54 The „Realist‟ Approach ............................................................................................................. 54 Power/Effects and the Materiality of Power ........................................................................ 58 Bourdieu and Power: Capital, Fields, and Legitimation ...................................................... 61 A Closer Look at the Structure of the Field of Environmental Governance ....................... 69 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................... 70 Chapter 4: Methods Chapter ............................................................................................................ 72 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 72 Research Approach ....................................................................................................................... 73 Research Design ............................................................................................................................. 74 Objectives ................................................................................................................................... 74 Methodological Considerations .............................................................................................. 77 Data Collection: Improvised Learning in the Field .................................................................. 78 Sample ......................................................................................................................................... 79 Description of Respondents .................................................................................................... 81 Procedure: Becoming the Local Outsider ............................................................................. 82 The Interviews ........................................................................................................................... 83 Data Analysis .................................................................................................................................. 84 Limitations of Methods and Study .............................................................................................. 86 Biases and Assumptions ............................................................................................................... 87 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................... 88 Chapter 5: Findings ............................................................................................................................ 89 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 89 Environmental Concerns .............................................................................................................