By Action Canada Fellow Gideon Mordecai’24
Quebec is known as a region of Canada with a rich cultural heritage. Where else could you experience ‘le Skouick,’ the squeaky sensation poutine curds make in your mouth? Yet, the theme for this year’s Action Canada cohort is the future of Canada’s resource sector, so aside from hearing of Quebec’s hydroelectricity production, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect.
What I came to understand through the immersive program offered by Action Canada was that the Mauricie region of Quebec embodies transition and a living lesson in the resilience of communities.
Mauricie once thrived on heavy industry, particularly logging and paper mills. The advent of digital media in the 90s meant the mills closed and jobs vanished, along with the financial security and pensions of many families. Until recently, Mauricie was the poorest region in Quebec—a story that’s all too familiar to industrial towns across Canada, where once-thriving economies have crumbled in the wake of technological shifts and global economic changes.
Through a visit to the ‘Musée des Abénakis’ and the opportunity to spend time with an Abenaki councillor and elder, we learnt how the struggle of this industrial transition was overshadowed by that of the Abenaki First Nation, who’ve endured centuries of colonialism, cultural erasure, and ongoing challenges in negotiations with Quebec and Canada over land rights and self-determination. What’s striking, in both instances, is the overarching narrative of resilience that’s emerged despite the heavy toll of colonial history. The Abenaki have held firm, fighting to maintain connection to their land and language. And while much of our time was spent discussing history, we also learnt how the Nation is investing in services and infrastructure to ensure the wellbeing of future generations.
This commitment to renewal and progress is a reminder that, with determination, communities can meet the demands of transition. As much as the industrial history of Mauricie is about loss, the conversation today focuses on reinvention. A more diversified economy (including electronics, IT, green tech, food processing, tourism) has resulted in Mauricie trending upwards economically. This is a region where the painful struggles of a demand-sensitive industry necessitated diversification, and achieved it.
While much of the resource economy in Canada operates in this boom-and-bust model, spending time at a sugar shack with a fifth generation maple syrup producer gave me a chance to reflect how, in contrast to so many other industries, this one might just come close to embodying all three pillars of the commonly used ‘three-pillar’ definition of sustainability (economic, social, and environmental). Not to say the producers don’t face their own struggles, but the intergenerational nature of the operation mandates sustainability as a primary focus.
Overall, the visit to Quebec made me reflect on conversations we had as a group on our first study tour to Alberta earlier this year. Much like the shift from heavy industry in Mauricie, Canada’s largest natural resource sector (oil and gas) must reckon with the impending reality of external global changes—be it climate commitments, market demands, or technological advancements. Transition is never easy; and at times such a shift seems impossible and unprecedented. One of the fellows shared their own family’s history in relation to the slave trade, which at its peak was one of the world’s largest economic sectors. The point being that some shifts can seem impossible at the time, but history teaches us that these large-scale shifts can and do occur. Shifts can leave communities feeling vulnerable and uncertain about the future. Yet, Maurice’s story reminds us that it is the responsibility of policymakers to look after impacted communities, and that with deliberate efforts, it’s possible to chart an alternative path forward.
Featured Fellow
Gideon Mordecai is a Research Associate, based at the University of British Columbia’s Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries. Gideon’s research considers the ecology of viruses, i.e. their interactions with each other, their hosts, and the environment.
Despite his prior training as a marine biologist, Gideon investigated the diversity of viruses associated with population declines of honey bees and other pollinators for his PhD. Gideon moved to Canada for a post-doctoral position at the University of British Columbia in 2016, where he discovered 15 new viruses in salmon. He went on to receive a Liber Ero Fellowship, which supports emerging conservation leaders in Canada. His most recent research applies viral genome sequencing to assess the transmission risk posed to wild Pacific salmon by Atlantic salmon aquaculture in BC. He has authored over 30 publications as well as served as an expert witness for two Federal Court cases in Canada.
For his Research Associate position within the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, Gideon is partnered with the Pacific Salmon Foundation, and is part of a collaboration which is applying innovative molecular technologies to determine the cumulative factors that influence the survival of Pacific salmon.