YOUTH AMBASSADOR
Cape Bretoner to sail on Canada 3.
A Cape Bretoner has been chosen as a youth ambassador for the seventh leg of the Canada C3 expedition ship that will travel Canada’s entire coastline as part of Canada’s 150th Anniversary.
Jessie Jawanda is currently enrolled at Dalhousie University, studying marine biology. She said she never imagined being one of two Nova Scotians selected as a youth ambassadors for the Canada C3 expedition ship.
“I applied kind of out of a fluke, honestly, my mom saw the opportunity and went a little crazy for it, (and) I said ‘there’s no way I’m going to get it,’” Jawanda said. “I filled the application out, not really thinking at all that I’d be chosen, but here we are.”
Jawanda said her roots in Cape Breton have had a big impact on her decision to be a marine biologist, a career path that goes hand in hand with the Canada C3 expedition.
“I grew up early on in Cheticamp and when I was living there my mom ran a sea kayaking company where we would take tourists from all over the world into the Cape Breton Highlands and kayak with the pilot whales. That was definitely the start of me wanting to be in the ocean and pursue marine-related studies,” said Jawanda.
Canada C3 will be exploring four key themes of Canada 150 throughout its long journey: diversity and inclusion, reconciliation, youth engagement and the environment.
Jawanda said reconciliation and the environment are things that she believes are an important part of the trip.
“With reconciliation the ship is bringing more Canadians across the country who probably would never have a chance to go up North to connect with those indigenous cultures and learning from that,” Jawanda said.
“With climate change happening, the Arctic is quite vulnerable and I think putting a spotlight on those environments will also up the awareness of issues like climate change.”
Canada C3’s 150-day expedition will navigate more than 23,000 kilometres over five months.
The expedition is divided into 15 legs ranging from seven to 12 days, each leg bringing a new group of participants on board to connect with communities and Canadians.
Jawanda will board the ship in Iqaluit, Nunavut, in late July for the seventh leg of the journey that began on June 1 and will end on Oct. 28.