ICD

Integrated Community Development: The ICD Experience
Written by Kevin Best and Alex Stokes
With Caryn Bergman and Catharina Sobotta
Academic Advisor: Dr. Blake Poland
“In the time of the 7th Fire, there will arise a new people, the Oskiibimaadzig, who will come
back looking for the things that they had lost. Then, in the time of the 8th Fire, the Anishinaabeg
will lead all of humanity into a time of peace and harmony.” – Seven Fires Prophecy
The Seven Fires Prophecy, a prophecy delivered to the Anishinaabe people many years before
1492, foretold things to unfold in the future generations of the Anishinaabeg. Among the
messages conveyed was that of the arrival of the colonizer in great numbers and of the
environmental degradation that the earth is currently experiencing. It talked of this time, the time
of the Seventh Fire, when there would arise the Oskiibimaadzig, the “new people,” who would
come back on the path, looking for what they had lost. Then, in the time of the Eighth Fire, the
Anishinaabe would lead humanity into a time of peace and understanding. Now is the time of
the Eighth Fire.
Introduction
The effects of a changing climate has far-reaching implications for all of humanity. 2015 marked
the year in which there were several societal watershed events. At the Paris Accord, 195 global
nations affirmed the need for greater action on atmospheric carbon emissions and climate
change (United Nations, 2015). Arising from these conclusions, it has been recognized that
actions towards climate change mitigation must be deployed. Whilst the focus by academics
and policy-makers in recent years has typically been on facilitating behavioural change through
the aggressive reduction of global carbon dioxide emissions, it has also been suggested that the
use of negative emissions technologies that directly remove CO2 from the atmosphere may be
employed as a supplementary measure to accompany carbon reduction plans (Gasser, T., et al,
2005) in an effort to begin the restoration of balance. However, in order to work towards
restoring balance to an earth in the throes of fever, there is an ever-growing need to incorporate
the voices and traditional knowledge of Indigenous communities into climate change mitigation
and adaptation conversations (Desmarais, A., 2018).
In Canada, the release of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s (TRC’s) final report in
2015 began a process of irrevocable change for the state of Indigenous affairs. Gradually, both
the outcomes and recommendations arising from the TRC report and the Paris Accord have
been translated into various plans and programs to build climate change awareness and
Indigenous relations. Indigenous resurgence is ever gaining momentum with growing numbers
and passion of the youth fueling it. It was into this context of growing environmental awareness
and social capacity that the Integrated Community Development (ICD) approach was
crystalized. And it was from this that the Integrated Community Development Group, a

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consortium of individuals and organizations that came together to implement and realize the
ICD Approach, was formed.
Definitions of sustainability and climate change have changed much over the lifespans of the
concepts. Ten years ago, sustainability was often defined as the incremental reduction of things
such as energy, water use and waste production. Increasingly, sustainability and climate change
advocates are talking about the need for cultural transformation, encouraging an integrated
approach to sustainability that takes into account the multiplicity of complex social, political,
economic, and environmental drivers of climate change and environmental degradation
(Norwine, J., 2014; Burch, S., et al, 2014; Pelling, M., 2011; O’Brien, K., 2011; Maggs, D., and
Robinson, J.B., 2016; Harrison, P.A., et al, 2016; Potvin, C., et al, 2017). Although this has
historically been a minority perspective, there has been increasing recognition of the
devastating impacts of runaway climate change (Pecl, G.T., et al, 2017; USGCRP, 2017). As
such, increasing numbers of people are becoming aware of and subscribing to a broader,
deeper understanding of climate change that conjoins adaptation and mitigation as both a
response to the symptoms of this global illness and as a means of a wider cultural
transformation.
As Indigenous worldviews become increasingly well-known, there is a growing opinion amongst
academics and other social thinkers (Maldonaldo, J.K., 2014; Nakashima, D., et al, 2018;
UNESCO, 2017; Trudeau, J., and Chartier, C., 2016; Smith, J., 2016) that this perspective may
be the way to drive this cultural change and that the framework for rethinking sustainability must
be a “basket of Indigeneity”. We would say it is the only way.
Integrated Community Development (ICD) Story
A critical dimension to Integrated Community Development is social innovation and
transformation. Grayson Bass, a professor of Applied Innovation at the Rotman School of
Management likes to say that “innovation comes from the margins”. It is increasingly recognized
that immigrant and indigenous populations in Canada have been living on the margins of society
(Galloway, G., et al, 2017; Rocha, R., and Lowen, C., 2017; Statistics Canada, 2017a). If such a
maxim is to be considered, the ICD Approach suggests that these communities can bring their
own traditional knowledge and individual experience to the table, acting as reservoirs of
untapped perspective and creativity.
The ICD Approach takes the position that all marginalized communities are a part of civil society
and it is the duty of civil society to support these communities to the point that all possible
barriers to full engagement have been removed. Accepting the gross differential of resources
and opportunities is simply not sufficient if we are to prevail in the development of connected
and informed communities. From an Anishinaabe perspective it is also simply wrong that there
is such disparity. Anishinaabeg tradition provides a series of instructions to guide action for
individuals and the community known as the ‘Seven Grandfather Teachings’. These seven

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teachings are: Nibwaakaawin (Wisdom), Zaagiidiwin (Love), Minaadendamowin (Respect),
Aakodewewin (Bravery), Gwayakwaadiziwin (Honesty), Dabaadendiziwin (Humility), and
Debwewin (Truth). Together, they illustrate what is required for Minobimaadizi, or living the good
life in balance in harmony with all creation (Ojibwe.net, 2019). The spirit of these teachings
demonstrates that such a resource disparity is not commensurate with the well-being of the
community as a whole. In Anishinaabe law, this disparity is fundamentally illegal.
The Integrated Community Development model is symbolized by the three-strand braid. The
braid has a symbolic and cultural value in many Indigenous traditions (Monkman,
L., 2016; Indigenous Corporate Training INC, 2012). Here, we utilize the imagery
of the three-strand braid to represent an interweaving of three crucial components
of the ICD model: community-controlled social enterprises, integrated community
energy systems, and deep community engagement. Each strand is a vital
contributor to the greater structure of the community, and each must continuously
make space for the other. The ICD Group believes that all sectors, including
development, energy, food, and social services, must be a valued part of a
coordinated, integrated approach to transitioning to a post-carbon society. This
transition may represent the best hope for realizing the goals of community
development and social services in the face of a sweeping wave of polarizing austerity politics.
When confronted with the potential of a changing climate, feelings of fear, uncertainty, and
powerlessness often arise (Leiserowitz, A., et al, 2018; Clayton, S., et al, 2017). Addressing
environmental concerns and facilitating deep community engagement provides the opportunity
to create self-sufficient, committed, socially just, and resilient communities with an improved
quality of life (Burke, S., 2017; Raphael, D., et al, 1999; Community Tool Box, 2018). In
responding to climate change through the creation of community-based social enterprises
focused on building local energy and food systems this will strengthen local economies and
local autonomy. As importantly, it creates the opportunity to change the destructive values that
have come to drive our society from individualism and separation to community agency and a
restored interconnectedness.
While federal and provincial governments have created their own climate change action plans, a
culture of siloed implementation continues. This practice leads to projects wherein a synthesis
of differing areas of expertise is often perceived as out of scope or does not occur, constructing
an ad hoc approach to programs rather than an interconnected or systemic approach. There is
a pressing need for grassroots organizations to take the lead on integrated approaches that cut
across sectoral silos and address both the collective impact and the collective benefits to both
the conversations on climate change and reconciliation and decolonization. There needs to be a
coordinating body which, in its very make-up, embodies this integrated approach.
Perhaps most importantly, people need a vision of hope. While the ICD approach is almost
certainly not perfect and has not become fully comprehensive, the elements that are contained
therein have been utilized in each of their constituent parts as viable methods of sustainable
activity, such as deep retrofit (Zhai, et al., 2011; Moschetti, R., and Brattebø, 2016), distributed

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renewable energy generation (Alanne, K. and Saari, A., 2006; Ackermann, T., 2001), localized
food production (Feenstra, G.W., 1997; Seyfang, G., 2006), and district heating (Münster, M., et
al., 2012; Rezae, B., and Rosen, M.A., 2012), as well as others. Together, these represent a
positive, economically sound, and life-affirming vision of the future.
The Integrated Community Development approach offers a unique and innovative solution to
address the problems that are symptomatic of a great systemic fracture between social needs
and economic priorities. By making use of Traditional Ecological Knowledge – here defined as
an evolving body of knowledge, practice, and traditions held by particular Indigenous groups
pertaining both to the environment and human relationships with the environment (Houde, N.,
2007; Hatfield, S.C., 2018) – and engaging an Indigenous Worldview – here defined as
perspectives arising from traditional, cultural, and social experience and knowledge rooted in
Indigenous beliefs – combined with best practices of sustainable engineering and design, we
work to create a new system which challenges prevailing methods. The ICD Group sees the
implementation of this within several key areas:
● Supporting the creation of a community-owned coordinating entity which, through a
collective impact and benefit approach, oversees the for-profit and non-profit activities
required for necessary cultural transformation.
● The creation of a community-owned unified utility, which provides thermo-electric
services and ancillary businesses to be the localmotive (locally-driven economic engine)
of a sustainable community economy.
● Supporting the creation of new cultural narratives rooted in Indigeneity that reflect and
support cultural diversity and weave a new blanket of hope for communities.
Weston-Mount Dennis
Through community consultation and ceremony, the Weston-Mount Dennis neighbourhood in
West Toronto came to be the first place to implement this social transformation. Mount Dennis is
a unique community that represents hundreds of different countries and cultures, offering an
opportunity to have a truly global conversation in one physical location. What follows is a
description of Weston-Mount Dennis – its history, its make-up, and the unique concerns,
developments, and advantages that made this community an ideal environment for the
application of the ICD approach.
Weston and Mount Dennis are two neighbourhoods
in the York South riding of Toronto, both bordered by
the Humber River on the westernmost side and
adjacent to the Black Creek valley system to the
east. Although identified as individual
neighbourhoods by the Statistics Canada Census
Tract boundaries, Weston and Mount Dennis often
find themselves combined into one large community,

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Weston-Mount Dennis, bonded by many shared social and economic concerns.
Gabekanaang-Zibi (the Humber River) runs alongside the Weston and Mount Dennis
neighbourhoods and has long been a site of community-building and commerce. Historically, the
“Carrying Place Trail”, a trade and travel route that ran north from Lake Ontario along
Gabekanaang-Zibi to Lake Simcoe, was a site
upon which many Indigenous villages were built,
including those of the ancestors of the
Huron-Wendat Nation, the Six Nations of the
Grand River, and the Mississaugas of the New
Credit First Nation (Brown, A.L., 2011a). A
number of villages have been found on the
banks of the Gabekanaang-Zibi including a large
and well-defended settlement at Baby Point,
near the current-day Bloor West Village, which
was at times occupied by the Huron-Wendat, the
Five Nations Iroquois, and the Mississaugas
(Brown, A.L., 2011b). In the 1500s and 1600s,
Gabekanaang-Zibi was a fur trading site with the
European settlers, and in 1793, the settlers
founded the Town of York. (Brown, A.L., 2011a). The British later purchased much of what is
now the City of Toronto from the Mississaugas, with the terms of the purchase only being finally
settled in 2010 (Brown, A.L., 2011b). In the 1800s, the waters of the river became a site of
industry, bringing agricultural and residential development and causing deforestation and drastic
changes to the Humber watershed (Brown, A.L., 2011a).
During World War I, the arrival of a Kodak factory at the intersection of Black Creek Drive and
Eglinton Avenue West brought an increase in industrial development in the Weston-Mount
Dennis region, an area that was previously farmland. The influx of jobs brought by the Kodak
plant attracted an increasing number of new immigrants and first-time homeowners until 2005,
when the Kodak Heights factory complex was shut down (CBC, 2018).
The loss of the Kodak plant in 2005 precipitated a large loss of employment in the community
that is still felt today. In 2011, the Weston-Mount Dennis community was named one of 13
Priority Neighbourhoods through the City of Toronto’s Neighbourhood Action Plan. In 2014, the
Weston and Mount Dennis areas were again specified by the City of Toronto as one of 31
neighbourhoods to be designated as a Neighbourhood Improvement Area (City of Toronto,
2019). Poverty and economic opportunities have become an increasing concern for community
residents over the years (CIBC, 2018). The 2016 census neighbourhood profile indicated that
29.6% of people in Weston and 25.3% of people in Mount Dennis were found to have
low-income status in comparison with 20.2% for the rest of Toronto, and respective 10.6% and
10.9% unemployment rates in comparison with 8.2% unemployment rate for the rest of Toronto
(Statistics Canada, 2016a; Statistics Canada, 2016b).

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Weston-Mount Dennis is currently home to a highly diverse population (CBC, 2018), with high
numbers of ethnic groups represented from Jamaica, Portugal, Somalia, the Philippines, and
places in the Americas (Statistics Canada, 2016a; Statistics Canada, 2016b). In addition to a
highly diverse newcomer population, the Weston-Mount Dennis community supports a notable
Indigenous population, with 1.1% of Weston residents and 0.9% of Mount Dennis residents
claiming an Aboriginal identity in comparison to the total average of 0.9% of Toronto residents
(Statistics Canada, 2016a; Statistics Canada, 2016b). The ICD Group maintains that such a
diverse neighbourhood makeup presents a unique opportunity for organizations in the area to
reflect and celebrate this vibrant diversity.
In 2012, the Learning Enrichment Foundation (LEF), in partnership with University of Toronto
students and Weston-Mount Dennis community members conducted a community survey to
assess needs and trends in the Weston-Mount Dennis area (LEF, 2012). A number of
neighbourhood priorities and concerns were identified by community members, including high
crime rates, lack of employment opportunities, poverty, and lack of access to recreation
services, arts and culture, and community organizations. Another case study completed in 2012
by the Anti-Poverty Community Organizing and Learning (APCOL) project (Duncan, C., et al,
2012), further emphasized the need for economic development for youth and small businesses
in the Weston-Mount Dennis Community (Duncan, C., et al, 2012). However, alongside these
fears, LEF survey respondents also reflected on positive neighbourhood traits, such as diversity
and the peaceful nature of the area. Residents also demonstrated a high level of community
engagement, with 62% indicating that they were volunteers in at least one organization. Many of
these concerns and benefits continue to exist for community members today.
In late 2015, the transportation agency, Metrolinx, announced plans to build a transit hub by
2021 that will house a terminus station for the Crosstown LRT line, a future GO Train station,
and a 15-bay TTC bus terminal (Metrolinx, 2013) on the site of the old Kodak lands (Howells, L.,
2017). Plans for this “Mobility Hub”, have brought a new set of possibilities and concerns for
community residents, as they contend with the potential for an increase in economic
development, retail revitalization, and improved transportation, as well as gentrification,
increases in rent and the price of housing, and potential environmental ramifications (Howells,
L., 2017).
There is a well-documented connection between racialization and poverty (National Council of
Welfare, 2013), a connection to which credence is afforded when looking at the demographic
statistics for Weston-Mount Dennis. In addition, alongside the increased development arising
from the Metrolinx project comes opportunities to further influence development towards the
community good. Such a reality presents a need for a distinct commitment for the ICD Group to
build capacity for innovation that addresses community needs from those who live in the
margins, for those who live in the margins.
In the Weston-Mount Dennis neighbourhood, we see a need for programs that:

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● Support community social enterprise (here defined as an organization that applies
commercial strategies to maximize improvements in financial, social, and environmental
well-being), with a particular focus on the role of marginalized groups in creating
sustainable communities with post-carbon social enterprises.
● Through partnerships with community organizations, focus on prevention and
intervention initiatives to educate and engage youth and to address the problems of
violence and gang involvement in the Weston-Mount Dennis neighbourhood.
● Increase community-specific, culturally appropriate climate change education and
engagement programs, with a particular focus on marginalized communities.
● Use a public health lens to holistically look at the overall physical and mental health of
the community with a particular focus on the impact and opportunity of climate change
adaptation and mitigation on disadvantaged populations in terms of, but not limited to,
affordable housing, food security, and community safety.
While each of the above proposals contains components that are not uncommon within
community development programs, the ICD Approach is unique in its integration of a variety of
community development activities (sustainable, post-carbon social enterprises, youth violence
prevention and intervention, and climate change education), with efforts to integrate Indigenous
ways of knowing. The possibility exists to develop a new global narrative of sustainability rooted
in diversity and indigeneity, and building on this to include solutions from industry experts in
fields such as engineering, energy, and architecture. This is consistent with Anishinaabe
prophecies which speak about Toronto’s unique role in helping to restore the ‘good life’, and
transform the world to a better way of life.
ICD Group Activities
The following details methods by which the ICD Group intends to implement its activities in both
the Weston-Mount Dennis community, as well as in the greater landscape of Ontario. These
activities are still in the planning stage and are grouped into 7 components: Giiwayonjigayewin,
Ogitchitwaa-Kwe minwaa Pii aatsokaniing; Listening for the Future; Climate and Environmental
Education; Indigenous Language Preservation and Revitalization; Community Social Enterprise;
Indigenous Publishing and Communications Social Enterprise; Community Energy Systems and
Unified Utility. However, it must be noted that all communities differ in their unique needs and,
therefore, no strategy may be unilaterally applied in each area. As such, the ICD Approach is
intended to be a means of supporting communities to build resilience and sustainability based
on the implementation of distinctly-tailored solutions to problems. At the same time, the ICD
Group will work with each community to further Traditional Ecological Knowledge and an
Indigenous Worldview.

1. Giiwayonjigayewin, Ogitchitwaa-Kwe minwaa Pii aatsokaniing (telling the story in or of
   the future)

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Giiwayonjigayewin arose after the realization that there currently was no legitimate Indigenous
governance in what is now known as Toronto. Furthermore, being mindful of environmental
degradation and the climate crisis initiated by a patriarchal colonial culture, it was presented that
indigeneity and decolonization offer the only hope for this crisis. For decades, Indigenous
messengers such as Thomas Banyacya from the Hopi (Thomas, R.McG. Jr., 1999), the Lakota
Spiritual leader Chief Arvol Looking Horse (Looking Horse, A., 2001), the Kogi (Reddy, J.,
2013), and others, have issued increasingly dire warnings about the colonizers’ treatment of our
Mother, the Earth. Increasingly, scientists across the world have contributed their voices,
delivering ever louder, ever more dire warnings about the consequences of mistreating the
Earth. Climate change can be observed as merely the most dramatic and potentially fatal
symptom of a greater ‘dis-ease’.
On December 12, 2016, tobacco and cloth were offered at New Credit for guidance on how to
restore Indigenous governance in Toronto in order to protect the land and water. This ceremony
was witnessed by the elected Chief of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, Stacey
Laforme. All those present were instructed through the ceremony that another four ceremonies
in the Toronto area were to be carried out and through that process, we would be shown what
needed to be done. Those four ceremonies occurred in the first six months of 2017. Many things
came through that process but some of the important pieces of guidance are as follows:
● That while ultimately restoring the pre-contact governance structures was necessary, in
the face of the “clear and present danger” to the water and young of all creation, there
needed to be a provisional governance structure to address this in this moment.
● That Anishinaabe kwe (Anishinaabe Women) and Indigenous women of all four
directions had been standing up for the earth and the young in ever increasing numbers.
In this place, Anishinaabe systems of governance needed to be restored with an
Anishinaabe Women’s Watershed Council to speak for the water and 7th direction
(Ogichitwaa-kwewag).
● That the notion of restoring Indigenous governance in Toronto is inappropriate as
Toronto was a colonial construct, Tkoronto being a Mohawk word for Anishinaabe fishing
weirs.
● It was recognized that new creation stories had to be told to guide a cultural
transformation and that within the current academic and scientific community there
needed to be more fulsome theoretical frameworks of sustainability grounded and based
in an Indigenous world view. As part of this process, there needed to be an Indigenous
“Academy”, a world hub of sustainable Indigeneity. Tobacco was offered and the name
Pii aatsokaniing was received.
Leadership of the Mount Dennis Community Association, in partnership with the ICD Group,
suggested the Kodak lands would provide an appropriate home for this Indigenous hub, as it
lies amongst the concentration of Turtle Island Indigenous people that live in the Mount Dennis
area and on the shores of the Gabekanaang-Zibi (Humber River).

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In response to a deputation by Kevin Best, the Parks and Environment Committee subsequently
included in the bylaws for the Transform TO climate change action strategy the resolution that
throughout the Transform TO process, the City would consult with the Aboriginal community and
incorporate traditional ecological knowledge.

2. Listening for the Future (Indigenous women-led watershed council)
   The ICD Approach envisions that answers to climate change and community integration lie in
   multi-sectoral collaboration, combining the inherent wisdom of the people whilst being informed
   by sustainability subject matter experts in an Indigenous context. It must be noted that
   community consultation and participation, as a concept, is often considered best practice in
   community development (Jason, L.A., et al, 2004; Strand, K., et al., 2013; Community
   Development Society, 2019; Paul, S., 1987). However, what is unique about the ICD Approach
   is the incorporation of Indigenous voices, knowledge, ceremony, and systems of governance
   into the process. We describe this concept as Listening for the Future, as it endeavours to
   facilitate attentive, reciprocal communication on all levels to ensure adequate knowledge
   exchange and solutions that, to the greatest extent possible, fit the needs of all.
   In order to strive for greater climate action in a bottom-up process of perturbing the fractal, the
   ICD Approach understands that a mechanism by which communities can affect government
   regulations and processes is needed. Under International Law, reflected in the Dish with One
   Spoon treaty and other treaties such as the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
   (UNDRIP) and the Canadian Constitution, the rights of Indigenous peoples to traditional lands,
   territories, and resources have been recognized, as has the need for institutional accountability
   to Indigenous communities when engaging with these lands and resources (UNDRIP, 2008,
   p.12). As such, we suggest that Indigenous governance is uniquely placed to advocate for
   community and environmental needs. The ICD Group is supporting the work of
   giiwayonjigayewin (using teachings of our ancestors today) and the Ogitchitwa kwewag in the
   creation of an Indigenous women-led watershed council for the Humber River. This council will
   have the legal and moral authority to speak into and advocate for the affairs of the watershed on
   behalf of water and the young, as has traditionally been the responsibility of women in many
   Indigenous cultures of this part of Turtle Island.
3. Climate and Environmental Education
   In order to more fully comprehend the complexities of issues surrounding climate change, it is
   increasingly important to engage in dialogue with individuals at all levels, particularly those on
   the margins for whom the effects of a changing climate may be more strongly felt. The ICD
   Group is positioned to employ deep community engagement with diverse communities to
   determine culturally specific and impactful messaging on sustainability and climate change, in
   order to access and empower a variety of populations. The metrics we use to define deep
   community engagement are mobilizing 20% percent of the population to directly participate in
   community efforts and to establish mechanisms for ongoing two-way communication with the

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remaining 80% of the community. Typically, such engagement practices entail a consultation
with local guides, the formation of a community partners council that is representative of the
various neighbourhood demographics to devise strategies, the utilization of Indigenous
methodologies to promote engagement, and the establishment of open-invitation meetings for
community members to discuss proposals.
Through the process of community mapping, the ICD Group intends to look at the overall health
and wellness of the community, especially in relation to the effect of climate change adaptation
and mitigation on disadvantaged communities. This process will also work to uncover the
pre-existing organic clusters of community associations that arise within the larger community
and, through engagement with these groups, to learn the best way to communicate with them
on their terms. This is distinct from holding public meetings in spaces that, through a lack of
resources, knowledge, or feelings of safety, are often inaccessible to many affected populations.
A top-down governance structure often leaves people with feelings of frustration and
disempowerment. We believe mechanisms for the opportunity for ongoing two-way
communication are critical. It will take more time in the beginning to develop those mechanisms
but once established will provide more “authentic” engagement on an ongoing basis.

4. Indigenous Language Preservation and Revitalization
   The preservation of languages indigenous to Turtle Island and those of newcomers are both
   culturally important. Although damaged and diluted by colonization, Indigenous cultures are
   embedded in languages and ways of knowing that emerge in direct reciprocal relationship with
   the earth.
   Weston-Mount Dennis is highly ethnoculturally diverse, with many non-English languages
   spoken, including Indigenous languages. The ICD Approach endeavours to ensure that the
   ongoing work of restoring a sustainable culture and creating a post-carbon economy is informed
   by diversity and is truly inclusive. As such, The ICD Group is working to partner in the
   development of online learning platforms and in the creation of an online community of First
   Language speakers.
   The existence and dissemination of many Indigenous languages of Turtle Island has been
   threatened as a result of Canadian history and policies, such as the cultural degradation of
   residential schools and the continued valuation of English and French as the official Canadian
   languages (Statistics Canada, 2017b). As a result, many of the Aboriginal languages in Canada
   have been considered endangered, including Anishinaabemowin (Langlois, S., and Turner, A.,
   2015; Horton, R., 2017). Many first speakers, both on and off of reserves long to speak their
   traditional languages and may feel loss and frustration at their inability to understand them
   (Wiart, N., 2017). By creating these online language nests, we will create a platform that
   nurtures social, cultural, and communal ties with First Language speakers across Turtle Island.
   Language needs to be conversational. In creating support systems for language acquisition, we
   will build an accessible environment which provides new language speakers the opportunity to

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speak with first language speakers. Anishinaabemowin will be the first language to be
addressed as the need and demand is well understood.
Community consultation will determine the following direction of the Indigenous language
preservation and revitalization program and all of the non-technical aspects of all our programs.

5. Community Social Enterprise
   We maintain that communities and societies need to engage in a cultural transformation to
   transition to a post-carbon economy. For this, economic capital is required to drive this change,
   providing the funding for community programs, as well as guaranteeing economic stability for
   community members. The ICD Approach begins with the establishment of grassroots community
   enterprises that place control of this cultural transition in the hands of the people.
   There are existing energy economies in every community. The ICD Approach harnesses these
   energy economies, allowing for community management and oversight of them. By
   implementing social enterprises such as energy retrofits of existing buildings, local renewable
   energy generation, local food production and processing, and ecological restoration projects for
   adaptation and mitigation of climate change, these social enterprises will have the capacity to
   create employment, reduce energy costs, and reduce the production of greenhouse gases,
   Through these actions, these community-owned initiatives will work to ensure the health and
   well-being of individuals living in the community.
6. Indigenous Publishing and Communications Social Enterprise
   The ICD Approach emphasizes the importance of building organizations that support the
   dissemination of knowledge, awareness, and community engagement. Through an
   Indigenous-led publishing and communications social enterprise, the ICD Group intends to build
   communications in multiple languages on climate change education and Indigenous relations.
   The focus of such enterprises will be threefold:
   ● To facilitate the preservation and restoration of Anishinaabe cultural traditions,
   particularly in the areas of language and history, and to further the presence of
   Indigenous voices in literature and storytelling.
   ● To develop resources and materials that support a greater understanding of climate
   change and environmental stability, particularly with regards to Traditional Ecological
   Knowledge and an Indigenous Worldview of ecological degradation.
   ● To create culturally appropriate educational resources for newcomer populations to
   support reconciliation.
   The strategy of this enterprise will incorporate a wide array of different mediums such as books,
   visual and performance art, journalism, audio/visual podcasts, blogs, and online videos.
   Through using traditional and non-traditional media, arts and storytelling of all kinds, it will

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ensure that critical messaging can reach a broad and diverse audience to garner support for the
movement and aid in the global implementation of the ICD Approach.

7. Community Energy System/Unified Utility
   According to Natural Resources Canada, in 2016, Canada’s total primary energy demand, or
   the total energy needs for all users of
   energy, was comprised of 74% fossil
   fuels, 17.4% renewable energy
   sources such as hydro, wind, solar,
   wood, biofuels, and geothermal
   (Natural Resources Canada, 2018).
   Further, in 2016, the industrial and
   transportation sectors accounted for
   28% and 21% respectively of
   secondary energy consumption (or
   the energy used by consumers), and
   the residential, commercial, and
   agricultural sectors accounted for a
   total of 12%, 8%, and 2%
   respectively of secondary energy
   consumption (Natural Resources
   Canada, 2018). Whilst the energy
   usage of the industrial and
   transportation sectors must also be
   addressed, the ICD Approach
   recognizes the immense capacity
   that communities have in reducing
   GHG emissions through the
   cessation of the use of fossil fuels
   in the provision of heating, cooling,
   and hot water production in both
   the residential sectors and the
   commercial and institutional sectors
   (Natural Resources Canada, 2018).
   In order to ignite the change from the provision of thermal services from fossil fuels to
   renewable sources, the ICD Group and its partners intend to:
8. Reduce the load: Conventional wisdom says that reducing the demand through
   conservation activities is the first step. By engaging in comprehensive retrofits of the
   existing buildings and ensuring that new building stock is of high performance, the ICD
   Group proposes to reduce the need for energy services derived from fossil fuels. The

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way to do that is to engage in comprehensive deep retrofit of the existing building stock
and ensure that any new building stock is high performance.

2. Utilize energy storage: Once the load is reduced, the sizes of heating and cooling plants
   can be decreased. However, given the necessity of switching to electric power and the
   constraints of the Ontario Electric Grid, both diurnal and seasonal thermal energy
   storage is required.
3. Increase local renewable energy generation: Constraints on the electrical grid calls for
   the implementation of a variety of renewable energy generation technologies. Such
   technologies are intended to take into account the availability of place-based renewable
   energy resources in order to ensure sustainability.
   These components of sustainability will be fundamentally accomplished by the
   community-owned social enterprises that are to be established. Such enterprises may also
   provide support for electrified vehicles with a cost-stabilized electrical supply and play a key role
   in the localization of food supply (Longo, P., 2016, Hendrickson, M., et al., 2015). It should be
   noted that the ICD Group also maintains the significance of localizing food supply within a
   community for the mitigation of climate change both by reducing GHG emissions associated
   with the output of large-scale food systems and in building resilience in the face of a changing
   climate. Further, in addition to providing food security, such endeavours will work to generate job
   creation.
   In order to halt the use of carbon in the delivery of our thermal electric services, mechanisms for
   the expression of the collective political and economic will are required. As such, the ICD
   Approach advocates for a Community Energy System social enterprise over which the
   community organization is intended to preside and in which it will own a majority of shares. In
   locating control over energy programs in the hands of community members, these community
   members will be empowered to decide on and oversee the for-profit and non-profit activities
   necessary to effect the change to a post-carbon economy in their communities.
   Such a social enterprise will be a new economic layer between the rate payer and the local
   distribution company in Ontario. This is akin to energy retailers such as Bullfrog Power or the
   various natural gas/electricity companies. However, the ICD Approach offers a unique
   contribution, the Unified Utility Approach, or several utilities under one roof.
   Currently, local energy and food economies are primarily “import” economies, with the producer
   of the service being external to the community. In traditional Energy Services Company (ESCO)
   models, companies will finance energy conservation measures, seeing later returns through a
   portion of the savings. However, as seen in the business models of some energy companies,
   such as Bullfrog Power, there is a regulatory framework in Ontario for companies to retail energy
   directly to the ratepayer. The ICD Group’s Unified Utility Approach acts as an import
   replacement, thus keeping money within the community that currently flows to outside sources.
   This is done by conjoining the traditional ESCO (Energy Services Company) with generation
   and treating it as a single energy “portfolio” to be managed on behalf of the ratepayers. In

14

addition, we bring in the management of energy for the
production of food and energy management. Along with
the sustained economic benefits that such projects would
provide for a community, there will also be a relatively
short-term injection of capital into the community in the
form of funding and job creation as the transition to
post-carbon infrastructure initially occurs. In the
Weston-Mount Dennis community, the ICD Group
recognizes the potential for a unified community energy
centre that may act as: thermal energy storage, a district
energy system for York South, a centre for the
bio-gasification of wood chips and other organic waste, as
well as other possible energy projects.
Although an uncommon method, one of the ICD Group’s strategic partners, Corix (a private
utility), understands this model and is moving in this direction as well. Traditional ESCO models
cherry-pick energy savings measures, only acting on those that provide a quick payback. Utility
models allow for much longer paybacks on investment, allowing the deep energy retrofits often
necessary to make economic sense. By taking the integrated approach of the United Utility
Model, not only does one achieve qualitatively better outcomes in terms of service, but one also
achieves an economic synergy which provides a strong enough bottom line to support the cost
of capital necessary to change over to 0 ghg infrastructure and provoke social transformation.
The tentative ownership model of the social enterprise in the Weston-Mount Dennis region is
that 51% is owned by the community. To allow for such a model, a trust fund for the water and
future generations is to be created in the Weston-Mount Dennis area, for which a fiscal agent,
such as a community foundation, can be employed. The challenge, however, is that some
community foundations may not be community-controlled, as defined by the ICD Approach. We
believe it is important to have mechanisms to express the collective political, economic and
cultural will of the community into the affair of the institutions which serve it. Foundations are
typically governed by a board of directors. Currently no such effective mechanisms exist to
speak into the affairs of the community institutions. To effect the systemic change required to
achieve the necessary cultural transition to sustainability requires deep community engagement,
in which the people are truly empowered. This model will provide not only greater community
control over the local economy but the people will also realize immediate economic and
non-economic benefits such as better thermal comfort in buildings and a more nutritious and
reliable source of food.
The Mount Dennis Community Association has perhaps been the most high-profile example of
the power of a community-based organization to mobilize members and advocate for the social
and environmental needs of the community. In March 2017, after pushback from neighbourhood
residents and the Mount Dennis Community Association, plans to build a gas-fired power plant
in the neighbourhood by the transportation agency Metrolinx were scrapped, and it was

15

announced that Metrolinx would build a battery-powered energy storage facility for the Eglinton
Crosstown LRT in its place (Spurr, B., 2017). Of additional significance is the work of Black
Creek Alliance and the residents in the Rockcliffe-Smythe community, who, after experiencing
extreme flooding over many years, have organized to contest the proposed industrialization of
property lying on the Black Creek floodplain (Reeves, A., 2018).
Conclusion

We are facing one of the biggest existential threats in human history. Our climate is becoming
less hospitable, and this will affect every living being on the planet for generations to come. The
ICD Approach proposes that social transformation is essential to mitigating this crisis, and that
this transition must originate from the ground up: initiated from and operated by the communities
wherein we live. Integral to this shift is the restoration and guidance of an Indigenous Worldview,
and utilization of Traditional Ecological Knowledge as well as Indigenous cultural values. The
patriarchal and colonial structures that shape our world and our paradigm are unsustainable.
We must return our societal methods to the ways the First Peoples have been living for
thousands of years: one in harmony with nature and with one another.
To drive the many activities that will shepard this change, the ICD Group will employ various
community-owned social enterprises. The ICD Approach maintains that cultural transformation
is necessary to transition to a post-carbon economy. An integral aspect of this transformation is
the situation of control in the hands of community-members, rather than as a top-down
approach. However, it is important to note that cultural transformation does not arise merely
from reordering a system. Rather, the ICD Group maintains that cultural transformation must
also arise from reordering ingrained thought patterns and integrating new knowledge. Thus, the
ICD Approach also incorporates traditional Indigenous knowledge and practices in order to
create a system of community economic control that will endeavour to offer an alternative to
current capitalist governance systems. The economic benefits of such endeavours will flow
directly back to the community, leading to the creation of self-sufficient and resilient communities
that are carbon positive and are equitable in the distribution of both power and resources,
resulting in improved quality of life and a strengthened local economy.
The most critical of these enterprises will be the Unified Utility Model, a district energy system
powered by renewable energy generation and a local distribution network. Through utilizing
existing expertise in the industry, and applying community-wide retrofitting to accommodate the
system, the complete transition from fossil fuels for thermo-electric heating can be achieved.
It has been many centuries since traditional Indigenous values of all kinds proliferated on Turtle
Island. The ICD Group acknowledges that, at this point, we simply do not know what a
sustainable, integrated, and Indigenized community culture looks like in the contemporary
Southern Ontario landscape. This is both the exciting opportunity and the challenge in front of
us: to collectively imagine and achieve a radically different future than the present we are in.

16

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