A Wiikwemkoong Elder could be featured on Canada’s $20 bill following a campaign to have an Indigenous woman featured on the note. CEO of the Native Women’s Association of Canada, Lynne Groulx, says they launched the “Change the Bill” in January, a campaign aiming to get an Indigenous woman featured on the  bill to acknowledge contributions made in Canada.

Zahra Tootonsab is in the second year of her PhD program in the Faculty of Humanities’ Department of English and Cultural Studies. Her research focuses on water pollution in Canada and Iran, and how Indigenous knowledges in both places can help inspire environmental activism and promote water security. This year, Tootonsab received a Wilson Leadership Scholar Award, which is part of a leadership development program launched at McMaster by Chancellor Emeritus L.R Wilson. Here, she shares her thoughts on her research and the influences on her work.