Policy and Governance for Indigenous Science and Food Sovereignty in Canada

Friday November 13, 2026, 1:30pm-3:00pm, Room W105

Speakers:

Megan Bailey, Dalhousie University

Treena Wasonti:io Delormier, McGill University, Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Indigenous Food Sovereignty and Nutrition, and Director, Centre for Indigenous Peoples’ Nutrition & Environment (CINE)

Healthy Indigenous food systems derive from and reinforce healthy Indigenous knowledge systems (IKS); they provide Indigenous Peoples the ability to support themselves and their communities in a self-determined way. In a Council of Canadian Academies (CCA) report, released in September 2026, the Expert Panel on Indigenous Science and Food Sovereignty sought to understand the ways in which federal laws and policies may better support the intrinsically linked realities of IKS and Indigenous food sovereignty. Members of the Expert Panels will come together to describe methods they identified to use existing (or new) policy and governance mechanisms to support IKS, as well as approaches to IKS in decision-making in Canada, through the lens of food security and food sovereignty. This report is particularly relevant to the theme of this year’s conference: Generations. Both epistemology and food sovereignty are linked to inter-generational strength and respect. The panel will highlight a selection of the many Indigenous-led initiatives and activities working toward multiple concurrent goals, including food sovereignty and security, conservation, ecosystem restoration, on-the-Land learning, and resource management. We will explore how leading practices to support IKS through policy and governance move beyond inclusion or consideration and into action—that is, building capacity and relationships to sustain and grow Indigenous ways of knowing through relationships to Land, Water, and other beings. Bridging knowledge systems reflects goals and shared priorities identified through dialogue and co-developed among partners and successful bridges uphold treaty rights; they are built by people from systems that affirm Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination. The report also examined whether the transformation of food systems in Canada could be an avenue through which Indigenous well-being, cultural resurgence, and sovereignty can be expressed, for the betterment of all. The panellists ask: If Indigenous Peoples’ knowledge and food systems were fully recognized, respected, and supported, how might Canada be transformed?