And what a year it’s been. The news cycle never slowed. Your classes have never been more relevant or more important given our ever-changing world. To that end, it’s been an honour keeping you up-to-date on breaking news while helping you understand how it relates to what you’re learning in school.
As you cast an eye towards exams and final projects, the summer and the next school year, here’s a look back at the stories that have defined our time together – and will continue to shape our world in the years ahead.
The Story: Canadian Sovereignty Under Threat
We’ve discussed this story almost every week since December: The election of US President Donald Trump, his trade war with Canada and so many nations around the world, and his threats to annex Canada as America’s 51st state. Without question, this is the story that has defined your school year. Whether you believe Trump’s threats are simply a negotiating tactic or an existential threat to our nation’s future, there is no denying international order, global economics, and even our national discourse has likely changed forever.
Getting ready for what’s next: 4 scenarios for Canada’s future in a Trumpian world
It is a story that will continue to impact every issue we face as a nation and a world. And, yes, that includes nature – it even includes your classroom, Mount Robson.
A Crucial River Treaty Is Tangled in Trump’s Feud With Canada
Socials: National Unity and the Environment
Elbows up? Maybe, but Canadian patriotism, as we keep saying, is a centimetre deep. Old divisions haven’t just disappeared and new ones are threatening the very future of our country. Why? Because once the genie is out of the bottle, it’s incredibly hard to get it – the anger, the resentment – back into the bottle.
André Pratte: Premier Smith’s very risky referendum bet
In other words, national unity is increasingly uncertain. And uncertainty? That’s a problem for everyone and everything, as decision-making can become paralyzed in an atmosphere of fear and division.
We wasted 60 years indulging secessionist fantasies in Quebec. Must we make the same mistake in Alberta?
Where does the environment factor into this story? Well, as you know, regions increasingly clash at the intersection of the environment and the economy. And what Alberta wants? It isn’t necessarily what BC wants. Or Quebec. Or influential stakeholders.
And maybe the needle can be thread carefully. Or maybe that’s just a dirty dangle. Maybe our nation needs a course change. Or not. Maybe our leaders will get on the same page. Or maybe they won’t. And maybe we shouldn’t assume we know where everyone stands on each and every issue.
No matter. This issue? It’s tough and important and it isn’t going away.
Nation-Building will Take More than Talk
What you’ve learned this year will help you better understand the choices – often impossible, contradictory choices – that we face as a nation. More than that though, we hope this class has enabled you to do your part to bring Canada together in new and unexpected ways, healing the divisions we see in our society, while creating better outcomes for both people and nature.
Science: De-Extinction and the Fight Over Fact
Biodiversity continued to decline. The climate isn’t improving. And yet the biggest science story of the year was a couple of wolves created in a lab. But the real story here isn’t about wolves or science, it’s about something much bigger.
Colossal Bioscience’s attempt to de-extinct the dire wolf is a dangerously deceptive publicity stunt
De-extinction is the perfect metaphor for our times: we can do more than ever before, but how and when we choose to believe in science – and how we use science to move society forward – is dubious at best. In other words, de-extinction is underlining that we’re a world at war over fact, and science is ground zero in this fight.
Yellowstone’s Wolves: A Debate Over Their Role in the Park’s Ecosystem
Clouding the forecast: Why so many climate models are wrong about rate of Arctic warming
In both cases, what we need to remember is that science is factual, but it’s also imperfect. Good, full questions are needed to constantly re-examine our science as the world changes and technology advances. After all, we don’t know everything.
Whether you go into science or not, the skills you’ve acquired this year will help you separate fact from opinion – and fiction. They will also help you evolve scientific questions, enabling us to make better decisions in science and with science. For people. For nature.
Snowy owl labelled threatened by expert group — and humans are primarily to blame
English: Endangered Words
Maybe you thought this class was about research or story – and it was. But it was also about words. The importance of words. The value of reading and writing and creativity at a time when they’re under siege: by skill loss, by the culture war, by technology. Against this backdrop, we hope you’ve come to appreciate this class as one of the most consequential in your schooling, and carry forward the lessons you’ve learned. After all, each day, we’re the defenders of words, of language, of research, of story. That matters.
Art: Creativity Matters More Than Ever
By now you know we’re all storytellers, whether we’re talented artists or not. And, sure, we hope you learned new artistic and visual storytelling techniques in this class. But more than anything, we really hope we’ve helped you unlock your creative tool kit, one that you can take forward no matter the path you choose in this life.
Why Art Still Matters (Especially Now)
After all, creativity matters more than ever before. In the workforce. To nature. It’s what can allow us to re-examine the problems we face and the choices we must make. And how you carry forward the lessons you’ve learned and the skills you’ve unlocked? That matters most of all.
Careers: The Future of Work Keeps Changing
We started the year discussing the future of work and we’ll end on that note too. After all, our economy is changing, and not only because of technological advancement and disruption.
The Global Economy Enters a New Era
Of course, technology is also re-shaping the future of work and, over the course of this school year, no technology threatened to disrupt all that we know more than AI. And maybe that’s a good thing. Or maybe it isn’t. But if you’ve learned anything in this class, we hope it’s that technology – the future of work – isn’t something that happens to us.
The World Is Being Transformed by AI: We Get to Decide into What
So, remember: you matter. What you do in this world matters. And to succeed? Be creative. Be empathetic and adaptable. Don’t forget the importance of systems thinking, what you learned in this class. Mostly though, whether you’re an entrepreneur or an intrapreneur – whether you dream of pursuing your passion or changing our world – don’t forget to speak up and try for better.
A Few Final News Updates
Every Vote Matters: Multiple seats in our last federal election were decided by just a handful of votes – with some seats changing hands after a judicial recount. In one riding, a single vote was the deciding factor. Given the close results, there will be legal challenges. For those who don’t understand how our system works, some will disbelieve the close results or try to use this misunderstanding for partisan gain. Others will complain that our electoral system isn’t equal. Of course, manipulation and misinformation – by foreign actors or others – likely did impact some races in our last election. But beyond all of that is this reality: our elections are still legitimate, fair, and free – but that might not always be the case. Let these close races always be a reminder that every vote matters and that voting must never be taken for granted.
The King: There has been a lot of talk about King Charles, England, and the role of the monarchy in defending Canada during this time of crisis. Whether you love or hate the monarchy, the King’s visit to our nation at this time matters and goes beyond the usual pomp and circumstance of past Royal visits. Oh! And while we’re on the subject of our constitutional monarchy, the King might want to remind our prime minister that our system functions differently than that of America.
Meet the New Boss(es): Yes, Prime Minister Mark Carney leads our executive branch of government, but don’t forget that there are many other decision makers in our system. We have a new cabinet composed of largely familiar faces, and a few fresh faces. The opposition has a new, very large shadow cabinet – those who will be tasked with holding the government to account in the House of Commons. We have a new Speaker, and that too matters. Soon, we’ll have a new leader of the fourth place NDP – a party that will be focused more on its future than holding the balance of power in Parliament. And The Yukon, PEI, and Newfoundland have or will have new leaders shortly, as the list of provincial premiers continues to change.
The Heroes Amongst Us: Environmental issues might be getting worse, but there are those amongst us who are working to strike a better balance between people and nature. They might be small acts. But they’re acts that matter. Never forget the difference we can each make when we choose to do our part.
Our Final Thought: An Uncertain Future
If there is one story – one through line – that connects everything highlighted here today and everything we’ve discussed in class throughout the year, it’s that our world is at a crossroads and where we go next? It’s very much up to you.
Our economy is changing. Cost-of-living issues are getting worse. The environment is facing compounding threats at every scale. Our society is divided. We can’t agree on fact and we definitely can’t agree on how best to balance the needs of people and nature.
These are all problems, but they’ll become even bigger problems if we lose our most precious gift: democracy.
The freedom to debate and decide on the best path forward? That’s democracy in action. But no matter where we look, democracy is in decline. In fact, during the course of your school year, democracy declined further and faster than at any point in recent history. And, no, Canada isn’t immune.
What does this mean? No matter the course, no matter your passion, no matter where you live or what you believe in, democratic backsliding impacts us all. As always, though, there is a ‘but’.
We are the stewards of our democracy. We decide the future of our society. When we choose to ask the better question and dig deeper for the fuller answer – when we choose to think critically and act creatively – we enhance our democracy and allow for better tomorrows.
We hope Nature Labs has helped you understand this reality – this responsibility – even if it can be overwhelming and exhausting at times. But the weight of this moment doesn’t have to be as heavy as we often assumed. Like our two bears showed us, doing better – demanding better – so often comes down to the simple act of trying.
So, try. Be brave. And see how anything and everything is possible when you do.
- For the final time, over to you. Simon Jackson + Jill Cooper | Nature Labs