By Leea Rebeca Ruta – Graphics Editor

On Thursday, March 14, Senator Rosa Galvez visited Bishop’s for a talk with students and faculty. Galvez, who is originally from Peru, is one of Canada’s leading experts in pollution control and its effects on human health. She holds a PhD in environmental engineering from McGill University and has been a professor at Université Laval since 1994. She specializes in water and soil decontamination, waste management and residues, and environmental impact and risk assessment.

Galvez was appointed to the Senate of Canada in 2016, representing Quebec (Bedford). She thus became affiliated with the Independent Senators Group (ISG). As the name implies, the ISG is not part of any political party in order to protect the needs and views of diverse Canadians, particularly minorities and vulnerable groups. It balances the “tyranny” of the majority, Galvez described. Galvez was also a key sponsor of the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act back in 2021 and later introduced the Climate-Aligned Finance Act in 2023.

Hosted by Prof. Vivian Valencia, the research chair in sustainable agriculture and climate action at Bishop’s, the event took place in Cleghorn and began with an intimate lunch. Galvez, some students, faculty and other attendees sat at a round table where they chatted and had a laugh. At first, they reminisced about online meetings. Then, they talked about travelling, oil and gas industry lobbying, recent bills in government and concerns regarding artificial intelligence (AI). The Canadian senator remarked how she receives thousands of emails, seemingly generated by AI, which makes it hard to filter through her inbox.

The senator’s visit followed with a meet and greet from 1 to 2 p.m., during which attendees were invited to ask their questions. After one student asked how she became a senator, Galvez recounted the re-evaluation and evolution of the senatorial appointment process. In 2015, the Liberal government opened the process, allowing Canadians to submit their resumes and apply for the positions. Out of thousands of applications, Galvez was the one who ended up being selected.

In another answer, the Canadian senator expressed her disappointment with the plastic industry’s aggressive lobbying, the lack of data banks and transparency in Canada regarding toxic substances (i.e., the lack of pesticide regulation) and the modernization of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) that removed the word “prevention” as one of the priorities of climate change action.

Galvez also highlighted the spiritual side of her Peruvian roots, as her mom held a lot of traditional knowledge about nature and the stars. On a more surprising note, she shared how various religious groups have reached out to her because of their love of nature and desire for its preservation. As Galvez concluded, she pointed out that we need to “act locally but think globally; everything starts from the bottom.”

After a 30-minute break, new attendees crowded Cleghorn to listen in on Galvez’ formal presentation. Galvez talked about issues of pollution and surpassing climate thresholds (planetary boundaries), and the various inequalities and injustices that arise as a result. She then emphasized how 50 per cent of a country’s GDP is directly dependent on the wellbeing of the country’s biosphere.

Galvez’s formal presentation ended with some solutions: better climate education on restoration and regeneration; mitigation, adaptation and prevention; decarbonizing the economy; supporting NGOs and women’s philanthropic groups such as Women For Nature; investing in resilience (also known as the triple dividend); interparliamentary collaboration (e.g., ParlAmericas); and giving personhood to nature. For the latter, Galvez is working on a bill to give personhood to the St. Lawrence River. This would give the river rights and protections of legal persons. The afternoon concluded with a Q&A session facilitated by Diego Osorio, a guest professor this semester who teaches HIS 228: Truth and Reconciliation in [a] Global Context.