Exercise #3: Connecting Past and Present
Instructions
For Exercise #3, you will make connections between what you have learned in the course about the past and what is happening today through contemporary media.
- Find two recent media items thematically connected in some way to two of the three topics covered in Unit 3: conservation, parks, and urbanization. For each of these, post a paragraph of three to five sentences, connecting the media story to what you learned, or were challenged to consider, from the resources in Unit 3. Provide the web link to the article in each post.
- These postings may be informal but should be grammatically correct. You should be respectful of other students’ opinions, but that does not mean you must agree with their ideas.
- Post your response by clicking ‘Add Submission’ below.
- Then post two separate comments responding to any other student’s posts.
- Please note, you should write and edit your submission in a separate file then copy and paste it into the submission box. Once submitted to the HIST 3991 trubox site, you will not be able to edit your post.
Are you a student of HIST 3991? Click here to add a submission to this assignment.
Submissions
Connecting Past and Present – Two
October 24, 2026 By: Morgan Turland
Trail is considering changing its bylaws to allow residents to keep backyard chickens, which reminded me of Sean Kheraj’s reading about livestock in nineteenth-century Canadian cities. Kheraj explained how livestock were once a normal part of urban life, but as cities grew, concerns about public health, sanitation, and property damage led to increasingly restrictive bylaws. Interestingly, chickens remained common even as larger animals became less practical to keep in cities. I find it interesting that municipalities are still having these discussions today, and it shows how our ideas about what belongs in an urban environment continue to change. News article:…
Connecting Past and Present – One
October 24, 2026 By: Morgan Turland
The changes to BC Parks’ reservation system show how hard it can be to balance public access while also protecting our natural spaces. In Nature’s Playgrounds, John Sandlos talks about how Canada’s national parks were actively promoted as tourist destinations in the early 1900s, with roads and recreational facilities developed to encourage more visitors. It’s interesting that while attracting tourists was once such a major priority, we now have parks that are so popular we need reservation systems to help manage access. It makes me wonder how we can balance encouraging people to enjoy our parks with protecting these spaces…
Exercise 3
October 3, 2026 By: Matthew L
This article is related to the topic of conservation, and also of parks. It is about the Government of Canada’s initiative to preserve biodiversity, as well as to restore the natural habitats. It discusses restoration projects in Rouge National Urban Park. In addition, it also discusses the link between helping ecosystems and helping nearby communities. This is something that both challenged and surprised me. The article also discusses the impact of urbanization on nature and the importance of protected areas[1]. It links to Jack Little’s interview, which discusses the beginnings of conservation efforts in our country as being prompted by…
Exercise #3: Connecting Past and Present
September 29, 2026 By: MANLI CHEN
Post 1: Parks Article: Steph Kwetásel’wet Wood, “This long weekend, famous B.C. Park Joffre Lakes is open. At what cost?” The Narwhal, August 28, 2025. Link: https://thenarwhal.ca/joffre-lakes-labour-day-opening/ This article discusses conflict over Pipi7íyekw/Joffre Lakes Provincial Park, where Líl̓wat and N’Quatqua leaders criticized B.C. for opening the park during dates they believed were meant for closure, ecosystem rest, and Indigenous use. The story connects strongly to Unit 3 because Binnema and Niemi showed that parks were often created by excluding Indigenous peoples while presenting the land as public wilderness. Joffre Lakes shows that this issue is not just historical; parks are…
excerise 3
September 5, 2026 By: Hailey Donaldson
Media Item 1: https://cknewstoday.ca/windsor/news/2026/07/30/report-released-on-policy-for-opening-national-urban-parks-throughout-canada CKNX News Today covered a newly released article by the University of Windsor’s Centre for Cities regarding the development of the proposed Ojibway National Urban Park. This report bridges the gap between accelerating urbanization and the creation of accessible parks. It urges parks in Canada to establish clear guidelines for introducing protected biodiversity into highly populated areas. This directly connects to unit three, how resources carry the historic tension between expanding cities and natural landscapes. It helped me realize that parks aren’t just far away vacation spots, but instead we’re building them right beside busy…