Research Assistant, Summer 2017
Supervisor
Biography
Asheika Sood earned her Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Political Studies and Geography at Queen’s University in 2017. Her previous research experiences include working with an Edmonton-based consultancy firm providing analysis for Indigenous communities, municipalities, businesses, and not-for-profit organizations. After completing her work at PWIP, Asheika has undertaken a Policy and Research Analyst internship with the Government of Alberta at Treaty 8 First Nations of Alberta.
Research with PWIP
Asheika's research with the PWIP centered around understanding whether municipalities have been meaningfully including Indigenous perspectives in their Official Plans. The PWIP worked previously on recommending “ways to include First Nations and encourage stronger and positive municipal- First Nations relationships” through helping to promote changes to the Provincial Policy Statement (See PPS At a Glance) in Ontario.
Her project examined whether the changes to Ontario's 2014 Provincial Policy Statement had resulted in better relations with Indigenous communities in the creation of municipal Official Plans. Through the comparison of four municipal official plans from before and after 2014, this research sought to understand whether Indigenous people have been better included and recognized in municipal Official Plans in Ontario
Other Research Interests
- The relationship between Indigenous peoples and political systems in Canada.
- How to develop effective systems for engaging Indigenous and marginalized voices in policy formation.
- Creating public engagement practices that effectively harness community knowledge in making political decisions.
Publications
Asheika Sood and Leela Viswanathan. 2017. Point in Time Evaluation of Ontario Municipal Plans: Regions. Data Set. http://hdl.handle.net/1974/22921
Asheika Sood and Leela Viswanathan. 2017. Point-in-Time Evaluations of Ontario Municipal Official Plans: Single Tiers. Data Set. http://hdl.handle.net/1974/22919
Asheika Sood and Leela Viswanahtan. 2017. Point-in-Time Evaluations of Ontario Municipal Official Plans: Counties. Data Set. http://hdl.handle.net/1974/22923