Exercise 2 Family Environmental History

November 22, 2023 By: Kelsey Kozak

My grandparents immigrated to Canada from Paisley, Scotland in the late 1950’s. In this paper I will focus on my grandparents from my fathers side, my parents and my immediate families environmental history. I will show each generations views and their connections to their environment through work and personal experiences.

My grandparents were born and raised in Scotland, in the town of Paisley. My grandfathers father worked at the local J&P Coats Ltd. Thread Mill, which my grandfather later worked at. In Scotland at the time the main natural resource that was extracted for use was coal, mostly to heat homes. Some natural gas was used at the time but very little, mostly for cooking. The area they lived in was mostly urban surrounded by small farmlands, where people raised livestock and grew a few seldom vegetables. My grandfather noted the air quality in Scotland to be ‘not so great’, especially when comparing it the Canada. After my grandfathers post secondary education in Chemistry was finished he also began working at the local thread mill, as a laboratory Tech. Shortly after my grandparents married in 1960, my grandfather had an opportunity to move to Canada (Montreal) with the company he was working for. From 1960-1962 my grandparents lived in Montreal, my grandfather noted the air quality to be a bit better in Montreal than back in Scotland, attributing it mostly to fewer emissions from industry and transportation. During this time he worked for J&P Coats Ltd and for CN Rail, in the research lab. In 1962, my grandparents moved to Terrace Bay Ontario, for a job opportunity at the Kimberly-Clark Pulp Mill, where my grandfather worked as a Chemist for 5 years. In 1963 my father was born in Terrace Bay. In 1967 my grandfather received another job opportunity in Kamloops at the local pulp mill, Weyerhaeuser, working as a process chemist. My grandfather took the opportunity and moved his family all the way to Kamloops, British Columbia. Ultimately, a pulp and lumber mill (then called Weyerhaeuser) now Kruger, was the natural resource that made our lives in Kamloops possible.

My grandfather worked at Weyerhaeuser from 1967-1999 in many different roles. He admitted the Kamloops climate was quite different than what he was used to in Scotland and in Eastern Canada, specifically the hot, dry, +40 degree summers. The winters were milder that what he experienced in Ontario, which he appreciated of Kamloops. Not soon after he started work in Kamloops at the pulp mill, he heard, from fellow employees working in the lumber division, of lake front property that was available at East Barriere Lake (just north of Kamloops). At the time Weyerhaeuser was logging timber by the lake. My grandfather was able to purchase a piece of lake front property in the 1970’s, which would be our families’ summer home; the reprieve from the Kamloops summer heat. My grandfather had great appreciation for this land, over the first few years he selectively logged the property, milling wood he would use to eventually build our lakefront cabin. He selectively left large fir trees to shade where the cabin would be built, and left the remainder of the land largely natural. This cabin still stands to today and is appreciated by everyone in my family. This piece of land largely shaped my own admiration and respect for the environment. Every summer my family would re locate to our cabin on the lake for our reprieve from Kamloops hot dry summers. Initially our cabin did not have electricity, it was run by propane and gas. I always respected the disconnection from ‘reality’ to escape to the woods and the water and to be one with the environment. With all that being said my ethnicity (white Caucasian) and class (middle/upper class) played a role in the way my family was able to appreciate the land we acquired at the lake.

My father was born in Terrace Bay but lived most of his life in Kamloops. He was a heavy-duty mechanic and worked mostly at mines and shops that serviced mining and logging equipment. From 2000-2010 my father worked at Kemess mine, an open pit copper and gold mine in the Northern Interior of BC. Outside of work my father always had an appreciation for the outdoors, skiing, snowmobling, fishing, canoeing, boating, hunting and many more. My fathers love and appreciation for the outdoors was heavily passed down to myself and my brother. We honour our late father in every outdoor activity he taught us to love.

I myself have lived my whole life in Kamloops. As Kamloops is a semi-arid desert I have always been aware of water being a very valuable resource. More recently the water levels in the river have been extremely low, and last summer Kamloops was in level 5 drought conditions. As a homeowner, I try to use as little water as needed. Last summer in my garden I installed drip irrigation system in all my raised garden beds, this maximizes the water use as there is no wasted over spray from hand watering. Rainfall is uncommon in the summer months in Kamloops but I also have a rain barrel to collect water, for garden use. I am continually striving to learn and educate myself on ways to conserve our natural resources, having a positive effect on our environment.

In conclusion I am grateful for the opportunities in the natural resource industries the lead my grandfather to Canada, I am grateful for the opportunities my father had working in the natural resource industries and I am grateful to have been raised in Kamloops British Columbia with an immense appreciate for the land we live on. These opportunities have allowed myself to learn and gain appreciation for our environment and the environmental history of my family. The fine line between the human needs of extracting natural resources and the needs of the environment for sustainability need to be met for a continual viable future.