Anne of Green Gables drawn into abortion access battle on P.E.I.
Next Tuesday, Feb. 2, is World Wetlands Day and it is a good time to think about wetlands and their importance to all of us.
Unfortunately wetlands are often looked on as wastelands and they are disappearing at an alarming rate around the world as they are drained or filled in. Few of us think about wetlands when we talk about fish and wildlife. However, there is an important link between the two and without one there would be very little of the other.
Wetlands come in a variety of forms and the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources recognizes eight types of wetlands in their land classification system. They are: bog, shrub swamp, wooded swamp, deep marsh, shallow marsh, meadows, seasonal flooded flats and open waters. While most of us are familiar with swamps and bogs, which tend to remain wet all the time, seasonal wetlands which may only be wet during part of the year are also critical for water storage and wildlife. Swamps, and other forms of wetlands, are an important component of a healthy aquatic ecosystem. These wetlands are especially important habitat for frogs, salamanders and toads, particularly because they do not allow fish, which prey on them, to live there. In some areas half the population of amphibians depends on these seasonal wetlands for breeding sites and for nursery areas for their offspring.
Most of our brooks, rivers and lakes depend on a system of wetlands to provide them with water throughout the year. This is in the form of either surface water or through groundwater. Groundwater is especially important to trout and salmon because it is cooler. Altering wetlands through human activity usually results in negative impacts. Removing vegetation by cutting trees and shrubs, paving the ground and draining wetlands reduces the amount of rainfall, snowmelt and runoff which the earth can absorb. As a result, more water is forced to run off into brooks and rivers. This increased volume damages stream banks, disrupting spawning beds for fish and altering stream flow patterns which promotes more flooding in the future. These altered channels now have increased flows in flood conditions and low flows in the summer. This results in less water downstream for lakes and rivers and reduced water quality.
Wetlands are especially important to fish for their role in water storage and filtration. They act as a sponge, soaking up flood water during the spring, releasing it slowly throughout the summer. They also help purify water by naturally filtering water running off fields, streets and parking lots. By trapping sediments and silt they also protect trout and salmon eggs which hatch in the spring and are susceptible to being smothered by mud and silt. In the past we have not valued wetlands but there is growing awareness of their importance in the water cycle and as habitat for fish, amphibians and insects. All of which combine to create healthy aquatic habitat, and better trout fishing.
CHARLOTTETOWN
P.E.I.’s most celebrated redhead has been dragged into an ongoing dispute over access to abortion in the small province.
Abortion rights activists have enlisted Anne of Green Gables – the freckle-faced fictional character known for her bright red braids – in their campaign to pressure the provincial government to allow abortions to be performed on the Island.
Posters demanding “Access Now” have been plastered on sign posts, mailboxes and telephone poles throughout Charlottetown over the last day, and feature a young woman with orange braids wrapped in green bows with a blue bandana partially obscuring her face.
P.E.I. Right to Life questioned the use of the beloved literary character, suggesting Anne was an unwanted orphan who celebrated life in challenging circumstances. The group also questioned the legality of using a registered trademark.
Nicole Dupuis, the group’s executive director, said she couldn’t understand why the abortion rights activists chose to use a figure who found joy in life after rough beginnings.
“I thought it was kind of ironic that they would use an adopted fictional character who’s dear to all Islanders because she’s the epitome of the unexpected blessings of choosing life even in challenging and non-idyllic circumstances,” she said.
The posters include several hash tags, including #HeyWade for Premier Wade MacLauchlan and #SupportIslandWomen. At the centre is a character named Karats, possibly in reference to Anne’s nickname, “Carrots.”
“I think it’s great,” Josie Baker of the Abortion Rights Network said in an interview, adding she was not involved in designing or distributing the poster.
“The red braids get attention from the rest of Canada, but I don’t think it’s offensive at all. I think it’s just a creative expression that is part of the movement.”
The anonymous group behind the campaign said in a statement that the character Karats had seen how the lack of abortion services on the Island had affected women, particularly those with low incomes who can’t afford to travel to Nova Scotia or New Brunswick to have the procedure.
It also said it wants MacLauchlan to concede to a Charter challenge that argues the lack of abortion services infringes on women’s right to full health-care services.
“She sees the denial of access and upholding of barriers to abortion services by the P.E.I. government as putting the kibosh on an opportunity for gender equality across our province,” it said.
A new group recently launched a challenge of P.E.I.’s abortion policy to provide fully funded and unrestricted access to abortion, arguing that making women travel off the Island to undergo the procedure is discriminatory.