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  • OPEN ACCESS
    Investigating the impacts of plausible Canadian policies and their supporting mechanisms on export-based regional air pollution in China: A cement manufacturing case study
    FACETS • Vol. 3 • No. 1 • pp. 920 - 933
    The Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) enables the Minister of Environment and Climate Change to develop policy to curtail international air pollution. However, regional air pollution generated during the manufacturing of products outside of Canada is not addressed in CEPA. Using cement manufacturing in China as a case study, three policy options were devised to manage export-based regional air pollution. The options investigated included Policy 1—an open border with direct support for domestic cement manufacturers, Policy 2—a restricted border with no support for domestic cement manufacturers, and Policy 3—a selective border with partial support for domestic cement manufacturers. An analytic hierarchy process, in conjunction with the three actionable solidarities of cultural theory, was applied to the policy options and their supporting mechanisms. Results indicated that Policy 3 was strongly favoured (52.5%), followed by Policy 2 (33.4%), with Policy 1 being the least favoured (14.2%). Regarding policy mechanisms, a verification process was preferred by all three solidarities. From the standpoint of a universal approach to trade it is recommended that an air quality agreement between China and Canada under CEPA be established with a framework to eventually incorporate environmental production declarations. With respect to cement exports, it is recommended that manufacturers in China provide emissions intensities and winter smog assessments.
  • OPEN ACCESS
    Measuring statistical evidence and multiple testing
    FACETS • Vol. 3 • No. 1 • pp. 563 - 583
    The measurement of statistical evidence is of considerable current interest in fields where statistical criteria are used to determine knowledge. The most commonly used approach to measuring such evidence is through the use of p-values, even though these are known to possess a number of properties that lead to doubts concerning their validity as measures of evidence. It is less well known that there are alternatives with the desired properties of a measure of statistical evidence. The measure of evidence given by the relative belief ratio is employed in this paper. A relative belief multiple testing algorithm was developed to control for false positives and false negatives through bounds on the evidence determined by measures of bias. The relative belief multiple testing algorithm was shown to be consistent and to possess an optimal property when considering the testing of a hypothesis randomly chosen from the collection of considered hypotheses. The relative belief multiple testing algorithm was applied to the problem of inducing sparsity. Priors were chosen via elicitation, and sparsity was induced only when justified by the evidence and there was no dependence on any particular form of a prior for this purpose.
  • OPEN ACCESS
    Co-design of water services and infrastructure for Indigenous Canada: A scoping review
    FACETS • Vol. 3 • No. 1 • pp. 487 - 511
    There is movement in engineering fields and in Indigenous communities for enhancement of local participation in the design of community infrastructure. Inclusion of community priorities and unique cultural, spiritual, and traditional values harmonize the appearance, location, and functionality of developments with the social and cultural context in which they are built and contribute to holistic wellness. However, co-design processes that align community values and the technical needs of water facilities are difficult to find. A scoping review was conducted to explore the state of knowledge on co-design of water infrastructure in Indigenous Canada to build a knowledge base from which practices and processes could emerge. The scoping results revealed that articles and reports emerged only in recent years, contained case studies and meta-reviews with primary (qualitative) data, and involved community members in various capacities. Overall, 13 articles were reviewed that contributed to understanding co-design for water infrastructure in Indigenous Canada. Barriers to co-design included funding models for Indigenous community infrastructure, difficulties in engineers and designers understanding Indigenous worldviews and paradigms, and a lack of cooperation among stakeholders that contribute to ongoing design failures. A working definition of co-design for Indigenous water infrastructure is presented.
  • OPEN ACCESS
    How might climate change impact water safety and boil water advisories in Canada?
    FACETS • Vol. 8 • pp. 1 - 21
    A boil water advisory (BWA) informs the public that there is an increased level of risk associated with their water and that they should boil it before consuming. Studies show that small communities in Canada are particularly likely to experience repeat and long-term BWAs. Climate change has led to changes in precipitation and temperature patterns, leading to region-specific impacts such as increased frequency, severity, or variance in floods, forest fires, droughts, freezing rain, and sea water intrusion. Academic and non-academic “grey” literature was reviewed to establish the most likely impacts of climate change on water treatment and infrastructure. Anonymized data from public drinking water systems in Canada was analyzed to determine the most common causes of BWAs between 2005 and 2020. Most BWAs reported were related to breakdowns/malfunctions along the distribution, though inadequate disinfection residual and turbidity or coliforms in the treated water were also common. Furthermore, statistical analysis of the data showed seasonal trends in some of these parameters. The results of this study suggest that increased precipitation, flooding, permafrost degradation, and forest fires are likely to have significant impacts on water safety in Canada.Highlights:Climate change effects are expected to worsen many current water challenges.Climate change will disproportionately impact small, rural, and remote water utilities.Water distribution systems are the main source of water safety risk in Canada.Groundwater-supplied systems experience a disproportionate number of BWAs.Seasonal trends in BWA reasons provide opportunities for targeted mitigation.
  • OPEN ACCESS
    Development of an age-adjusted, activity-based contact probability model for infectious diseases
    FACETS • Vol. 9 • pp. 1 - 11
    The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of gathering restrictions in slowing the spread of communicable disease. Many restrictions on activities were applied without identifying how effective the restrictions might be in curtailing disease spread. We present a model that estimates the probability of contacting an infected individual as a function of prevalence and self-reported or hypothesized activities. The model incorporates an age adjustment factor to account for differences between the age demographics of infected versus activity participants. The age adjustment factor was important to include when the difference in prevalence between age groups was sufficiently large, and prevalence and activity group sizes were moderate. We applied our contact probability model to two scenarios to demonstrate how the model may inform the development of public health measures. Our model presents a method for estimating contact probability that could be adopted by jurisdictions considering facility closures or group size limits, or for individuals evaluating their own behaviours in future outbreaks or pandemics.
  • OPEN ACCESS
    The Atlantic First Nations Water Authority: an Indigenous water utility guided by Etuaptmumk or Two-Eyed Seeing
    FACETS • Vol. 9 • pp. 1 - 10
    The Atlantic First Nations Water Authority (AFNWA) is the first Indigenous-owned and operated water and wastewater utility in Canada, providing service to 12 First Nations (at the time of this publication), with a Board of Directors composed of Chiefs and technical and legal experts guided by an Elders Advisory Lodge. The AFNWA is forging a path of self-determination in water service provision through honouring First Nations knowledge and culture and implementing leading-edge western engineering practices through Two-Eyed Seeing. The story of the formation and development of the AFNWA offers examples and experiences that may be useful for engineering and industry specialists working to build relationships and offer services to First Nations and First Nations organizations. Through this article, Elders, AFNWA staff, and engineers and researchers from the Centre for Water Resources studies share their narratives of how Two-Eyed Seeing has manifested in the formation of the first Indigenous water utility in Canada.