Canada is still reeling from the recent, separate acquittals of two men in the deaths of two Indigenous young people – Colten Boushie in Saskatchewan and Tina Fontaine in Manitoba. Today in The Conversation Canada, Mi’kmaq lawyer and academic Naiomi Metallic has a powerful and painful piece that explains why the Indigenous feel such despair, and she wonders how Canada can truly believe it’s progressing in its treatment of its aboriginal population. “As much as we know the past injustices and the ongoing injustices faced by our people, and the role the law has played and continues to play in this injustice, deep down there is hope that change is possible and is slowly happening,” she writes, adding that the Gerald Stanley acquittal has “made many of us seriously question this hope, if not lose it altogether.”

Did you know Brazil, not Canada, is the world’s biggest source of fresh water on the planet? That’s one of many things you’ll learn today in a piece from Carolyn Johns of Ryerson University in advance of World Water Day on Thursday. Johns issues a call for governments around the world to take serious measures to protect Earth’s most precious natural resource.

And have you seen The Shape of Water, the Oscar Best Picture winner? It’s not just an unconventional love story, writes John Richardson, an education expert at the University of Ottawa. It’s an allegorical critique of U.S. President Donald Trump, and beautifully reminds audiences of the humanity of those who are marginalized in his vision of America.

Regards,