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Abstract:
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"The Canadian community pastures Program (CPP) began in 1939 under the Prairie Farm
Rehabilitation Act to mitigate the effects of severe drought in the prairies through
conversion of submarginal land into shared pasture lands managed by the federal
government. In 2012, the Canadian federal government withdrew their involvement from
the CPP and transferred the program to their provincial counterparts. The Portage
community pasture (PCP) in Manitoba formed its own association, the Portage Pasture
Association (PPA), and is operating by and for its members. This thesis investigates the
current state of the PCP through identifying: i) governance structures used for decision
making and community pasture operations; ii) perspectives of commons users and
managers on changing governance structures; and, iii) long-term sustainability and equity
in governance of the PCP. An institutional analysis using Elinor Ostrom’s principles for
sustainable common property resources was performed. Eight participants were
interviewed, then transcripts and documents were analyzed for themes and trends using
NVivo 12.0 Plus. Ostrom’s framework was applicable to the community pastures context.
The PPA satisfies Ostrom’s principles and they are especially strong in rules matching
the local context, graduated sanctions, conflict resolution mechanisms, and local
institutions being respected by external authorities. The PPA is perceived as sustainable
by its users."
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