This Canada Day, some activists reported that there were more people at protests than at some of the celebrations. Some of those gatherings were for Jonathan Styres, an Indigenous father of two who was killed last February by Peter Khill. Khill was recently acquitted of second-degree murder in the case. Today in The Conversation Canada, questions are asked about the viability of our justice system, including jury selection. Amiel Joseph of McMaster University writes from the unique perspective of “Juror No. 4018.” Joseph, who is also a critical race scholar, challenges the idea that any jury could be “colour blind” and wonders how justice in Canada can be served “without acknowledging that the deaths of Indigenous people were already historically rendered permissible for the protection of stolen, colonized lands.”

“Our misuse and abuse of land and water is changing fertile land into deserts,” writes Andrew Slaughter, visiting professor at the Global Institute for Water Security at the University of Saskatchewan. Canada needs to learn how to manage our water resources so that we can adapt to the growing impact of climate change. If action isn’t taken now, it will accelerate and fuel further migration and conflict, Slaughter warns.

Finally, Stephanie Chamberlain, doctoral candidate at the University of Alberta, writes that more people are living alone than ever before in Canada. Combine this with our increasing life expectancy, and the chances of aging without a family caregiver are high. When solitary elders become incapacitated (often due to a dementia), they are known as the “unbefriended.” Chamberlain argues for an urgent need for further research into the phenomenon so that our health-care and social systems “are prepared to care for our most vulnerable.”

We’ll be back in your inbox over the weekend with a roundup of some great leisurely reads.