Pride and Prejudice in Rural Ontario

In April of 2023, in the town of Norwich, Ontario the municipal council voted to ban all flags except for Canadian flags and provincial flags. At the same meeting, the council refused to recognize a Pride celebration and voted down the creation of a DEI committee.

This isn’t a new fight in this town, and it’s not a new fight in rural Canada. Protests at Drag Storytime are growing and a veil of intolerance is not only lifted but being shouted proudly.

This episode, I speak with two community representatives that refuse to give up.

Tami Murray is the President of the Oxford County Pride Committee coordinating Pride events throughout the County of Oxford. Her day job is being the proud owner and operator of Diversity Counseling with a clinical approach that supports best practice perspectives in the area of mental health wellness. Tami is also a workplace wellness facilitator for Homewood Health Care, providing psychoeducational wellness workshops throughout southwestern Ontario. 

Patricia Marshal is a neuro-divergent, demi sexual woman of mixed Anishnaabe, Celtic and German decent and resident of Oxford County. She is mother to four children, two of whom openly identify under the 2slgbtqia+ umbrella and the soon to be wife of a proud Houdenesaunee descendent; She is the founder and director of IISAN- Ingersoll & Area's Indigenous Solidarity and Awareness Network as well as a member of the Ingersoll Accessibility committee and Ingersoll's Diversity & Inclusion Committee, 

IISAN is a collaborative friendship network of Indigneous and non-Indigenous members. It is  a grassroots not-for-profit organization that was formed in the wake of the discovery of the 215 children at a residential school in Kamloops BC in 2021. The intention of the group is to help the community of Oxford County take meaningful steps towards Truth and Reconciliation. IISAN is responsible for hosting the annual march for T&R in Ingersoll on September 30th, a youth program titled IndigiKNOW, MMIWG2S+ Awareness initiatives, creative art displays, community activism and community speaking and education.  

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Andrea Palframan and RAVEN - Supporting Indigenous Land Back Legal Claims

Many of us have colonial roots and understand that our ancestors were responsible for attempting to erase Indigenous people and culture in Canada. But with that understanding, what can we do?

Here is one thing you can do.

SUPPORT/DONATE to the Protect the Breathing Lands campaign, mentioned in the podcast.

RAVEN is a registered charity with a mission to raise funds for Indigenous People's access to justice. 

RAVEN is guided by some of the most brilliant legal advisors in the country, and they work to enshrine environmental justice for all. The law is clearly on the side of Indigenous peoples and the group believes that Indigenous victories protect all of us.

RAVEN also has an educational arm, with a series of 10 videos about Indigenous law and history. You can watch those for free.

Andrea Palframan is the Director of Communication with RAVEN. She is dedicated to making media that brings the strength of data together with the power of storytelling.

She holds a Masters in Intercultural & International Communication. Her research focus— how Indigenous communities are responding to, resisting, and adapting to climate change—forms the underpinning of her understanding of environmental justice and human rights issues. She spent 10 years working in sub Saharan Africa as Programs Manager for Glasswaters Foundation, working with grassroots community leaders to bridge the digital divide. 

Andrea is also a filmmaker: her documentary "Raven People Rising" screened at VIFF and won People's Choice award at the Vox Popular Film Festival; she is producer of "The Story of a Girl" with the Visual Epidemiology Project, and most recently directed “The Sky and the Land will Turn” with youth from Capilano University’s Indigenous Film Program. 

RAVEN invites support from foundations, organizations, businesses and individuals. RAVEN supporters can donate, organize events, and fundraise online to support our campaigns.

SUPPORT/DONATE to the Protect the Breathing Lands campaign, mentioned in the podcast.

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Kendra Fry - Rural and Remote Churches - What's Next?

This episode came about when I was looking up how many churches are for sale or even abandoned in rural and remote Canada. I couldn’t find a current number but I did find a story about the selling off of Catholic churches in Newfoundland. In 1999, 39 men — former residents of Mount Cashel Orphanage in St. John’s — filed statements of claim at Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court claiming they were abused during the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s by members of the Irish Christian Brothers, who ran the orphanage. They won and since the Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. John’s appeal in 2021, over 100 men have come forward. Their claims exceed 50 million dollars. Hence selling off churches to pay.

I was then looking for people who had an expertise in repurposing or re-imagining churches no longer in use, or even abandoned. That’s when I found Kendra Fry.

Kendra has a long career in the arts mostly as a General Manager in theatre before beginning her work creating multi sectoral community hubs for the common good.  Working with partners from across Canada, Kendra unlocks the hidden value in historic building sites, creating broad cross-sectoral community centres that involve the arts, housing, food security, education and many other not for profit organizations.  Some of her better- known sites include Carlton University at Dominion Chalmers, Crescent Fort Rouge Centre in Winnipeg, Copperlight in Stratford and Trinity St. Paul’s Centre and Eastminster United in Toronto. She is currently working on eighteen sites across Canada.

Kendra is the author along with Milton Friesen of “No Space for Community; An in depth look into the loss of infrastructure due to faith building closures in Ontario '' which can be read at www.communityspacefaithplace.org. 

This study of not for profit and community usage of faith buildings was created in partnership with the Ontario Trillium Foundation, Ontario Nonprofit Network, Cardus, the City of Toronto and Faith & the Common Good.

Kendra is an Associate with the National Trust for Canada where she works on enhancing the community value of, and engagement with historic places including museums, faith buildings, cultural sites and historic landscapes. 

Kendra is also the General Manager of Stratford Summer Music , a summer festival that produces 40 concerts and one collaborative cross sectoral arts weekend each summer.

You can see some of her projects at www.creativecollisions.org   

Trinity Centres Foundation’s: STRATEGY COURSE FOR CHURCH BOARD MEMBERS

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Dr. Jacquie Newman - How Some Rural Municipalities Use Power to Exclude

Through a chain of events, I found myself watching a previous recording of a municipal council meeting, a municipality in rural Alberta. It’s called Olds, Alberta. The CAO was briefing council (and a delegation that was there about another matter) on why the administration was recommending the municipality get out of the ‘proclamation business’. He facetiously said he advised council against proclamations because they might deny a proclamation to a cause dear to someone like 'Save the Rainbows Day' or 'Save the Pandas Day'.

This prompted me to inquire around my own area in rural Ontario. Was this something municipalities were using to avoid supporting specifically Pride events? (Baring some closeness to Save the Rainbows Day, referenced in the clip)

In rural Ontario, in the small town of Norwich, “Coun. John Scholten is proposing a policy that only federal, provincial and municipal flags be flown on any Norwich Township property and that only banners related to the "promotion of downtown businesses or for downtown beautification" be installed on township streetlight poles.” (Source: CBC London)

Let's be honest, this is simply exclusion. An attempt to side step an uncomfortable and perhaps contentious issue.

I decided to ask Dr. Jacquie Newman from Western University in London, Ontario her thoughts about what this means.

Dr. Newman is a Professor in the Department of Politics and International Relations at King’s University College at the Western University in London Ontario. She writes and researches on topics of gender and politics. Currently, she is undertaking a research program, “This is Where I Do My Work” which examines the motivations and commitments of women municipal councillors.

We also talk about how women councillors approach equity deserving topics and that adding women of colour to councils brings a positive outcome for all equity deserving groups.

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Kim English - Addressing a Rural Canadian Nursing Crisis

Professor Kim English first sent me an email, suggesting the topic of rural and remote nursing. 

Kim is a Doctoral candidate who has been teaching nurses at the undergraduate and post-graduate level since 2002. 

Kim draws from her clinical experiences in acute care and professional practice, and her lived experiences in rural health and working with Indigenous communities.

Kim’s narrative-informed research explores the work of rural and remote nurses, celebrating their innovation and leadership.  Kim’s work draws from the social sciences and humanities. She is privileged as a settler to be able to learn with and from many Indigenous nurses, elders, and colleagues to inform an anti-colonial lens to her understanding of context and health.

This is important as she addresses issues in the provision of nursing education using virtual simulations, the impact of inclusive, anti-racist and anti-oppressive approaches to education. 

Kim has a particular interest in addressing racism in healthcare to serve as an ally to Indigenous populations. 

Internationally, Kim is working with a collective of Fellows from Switzerland, New Zealand, and Australia to explore the enhancement of scope of practice in rural areas to address primary healthcare needs. It is expected this fellowship will grow to include 5 additional countries.

Kim has been the recipient of several teaching awards, including the Trent University Excellence in Online Education Award in 2020.

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Isaac Murdoch - Revolution of the Heart

I first saw Isaac Murdoch telling his stories on Facebook, during the pandemic. A prolific and legendary Indigenous storyteller, he was so entertaining he left an indelible impression on me.

Later, during my own training and healing about the real beginnings of Canada, Isaac’s stories turned up again, during a training session as someone all of us should listen to.

Isaac is also a singer/songwriter, artist and maker.

I had the honour and privilege of having a conversation with Isaac recently, just before he attended a special event deemed Revolution of the Heart. He designed the logo.

Bomgiizhik (Isaac Murdoch) is from Serpent River First Nation. He is of the Fish Clan and is Ojibwe and has 4 beautiful children. He currently lives in the forest at Nimkii Ajj-bi kong, a indigenous community that focuses on indigenous language, art, and land based activities. Being blessed with the opportunity, Bomgiizhik grew up in the traditional setting of hunting and gathering on the land. Having spent many years learning from Elders, he spends a lot of his time as a Storyteller. Many of these stories become his visual art pieces which have become recognized world wide. Bomgiizhik is also an author and singer/songwriter who loves to make music and make books whenever he gets a chance. You will often find him on the land looking at his favorite plants or gazing into the beautiful night sky.

Isaac’s website

Isaac’s YouTube channel

Isaac’s Facebook page

Isaac’s Instagram

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Emily McIntosh -  Bill 5 - Women of Ontario Say No

I first heard about the Women of Ontario Say No campaign on Instagram. One of the campaign’s posts was shared by a number of female municipal council members that I follow.

It’s a growing grassroots advocacy effort to address the gap in a provincial accountability structure for municipally elected officials.  Multiple Ontario municipalities have learned the hard way about the lack of tools in the Municipal Act for holding councillors accountable for workplace harassment. Currently the most severe penalty that can be imposed on a municipal councillor is suspension of pay for 90 days- even in the worst cases. There is no process for removing councillors from office and they can even seek re-election. (Some of them have)

 

Bill 5 addresses this by amending the Municipal Act & City of Toronto Act. The legislation would ensure elected officials are 1) held to their municipality's violence and harassment in the workplace policies 2) permit the Integrity Commissioner to apply to the court to vacate the councillor’s seat for failing to comply with the municipality's workplace violence or harassment policies and 3) restrict subsequent re-election. 

Emily McIntosh is at the heard of this campaign

Born and raised in Simcoe County, Emily has a longstanding interest in politics, human rights, and immigration and refugee policy. With international development experience in East Africa and Central Asia, Emily knows first-hand that the rights of women in Canada are never something to be taken for granted. Emily spearheaded this advocacy when her own hometown, Barrie, ON was directly affected. A municipal councillor ran for Mayor in the most recent election while in civil ligation for sexual harassment of a city employee. 

Emily is passionate about advocating, protecting and strengthening the rights of all people, but particularly women- recognizing that the barriers to dismantling the longstanding patriarchal foundations of our current political environment make it challenging to speak out.  That’s why she is using her voice and privilege to bring this Bill to the Ontario legislature.

The Women of Ontario Say No website

The Women of Ontario Say No Instagram

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Rural Women Councillors in Ontario - 100 Days in Office

This episode is a conversation with four first-time rural women councilors, all serving in small communities across Ontario. They talk about what their experience has been both before the election, while they were campaigning and now 100 days into their term.

They talk about challenging stereotypes that rural folks may have about women in governance, the importance of clear communication, they talk about the privilege they have and what a privilege it still is to be able to run a campaign and that ALL of them would give up their seats to see more intersectional representation.

Kelsie Van Bellighem is a councillor in Kenora, Ontario

Born and raised in Kimberley BC, and a life-long seasonal resident of Lake of the Woods, Kelsie has been a permanent resident in Kenora, ON since 2017 when she met her now husband. They have two young children and while at the tail end of her maternity leave with her second, she decided to run for council. As a person of privilege and ability she is aware of the need for diverse voices when it comes to governance and leadership. Similar to financial assets, “you don’t want all your eggs in one basket” and she ran on that platform during my candidacy. She is returning to work shortly, as a Member Advisor at the Credit Union in Kenora, and in her last term as Treasurer for the Women’s Shelter, Saakate House. 

Lindsay Wilson is Deputy Mayor in Ingersoll, Ontario

Lindsay Wilson has spent the last decade working in rural community economic development. She often focuses on advocating for the full representation and participation of women in their communities. In 2021, she volunteered to launch Municipal Campaign School Oxford- a grassroots effort to support women running and winning their campaign. In 2022, she was elected as the Deputy Mayor of Ingersoll, the first woman to serve in the position. 

Alysson Storey is a councillor in Chatham-Kent, Ontario

Born and raised in Chatham, Alysson returned to her hometown after working in the private and public sectors across Canada and Europe. A communications and strategic planning consultant, Alysson found herself thrust into an advocacy role almost overnight. Outraged by the deaths of a close friend and her young daughter in a preventable crossover collision on Highway 401, she founded Build the Barrier, a grassroots group of volunteers lobbying for improved safety standards on Highway 401 west of London, Ontario. This experience of public advocacy was an unexpectedly transformative one, and led to her running for Mayor of Chatham-Kent in 2018, where she placed second, and was successfully elected as Councillor in 2022.

Kate Leatherbarrow is a councillor in Woodstock, Ontario

Kate Leatherbarrow, small business owner and first time sitting councillor in the City of Woodstock brings a punch to the table! Herr passions for community engagement and women in politics led her to where she is today! If she's not slinging coffee at one of her two coffee shops, or chatting with a neighbour about an upcoming council meeting, you’ll most definitely find her with her family of 6! She is so honoured to be elected in a time where more and more women are entering politics, and it is critical that we hold the door open for others!

Leatherbarrow, along with Lindsay Wilson, founded the Municipal Campaign School of Oxford County, which encourages women and other diverse voices to become involved in local politics. Communication is number one on Kate’s agenda.

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Gitanjali Aggarwal - Meeting Rural Women Where They Are

The PARO Centre for Women’s Enterprise is an organization that supports women entrepreneurs across Ontario. The organization’s approach to supporting women is unique in that it meets women where they are. Whether it’s your geographic area, or where you are on your business journey, PARO’s programs and services are designed to support women wherever they are

This episode focuses on some of the unique programs PARO offers, like Lending Circles but it’s also about one of the organization’s business counsellors, Gitanjali Aggarwal, and her own personal entrepreneurial journey in rural Ontario.

Gitanjali [git-tan-ja-lee] is a name that comes from the Sanskrit language and means collection of lyrics. As the famous line goes, what's in a name? For Gitanjali, her journey has reflected her name. The self proclaimed Dream Chaser has collected various experiences from the financial industry, to restaurant prenuer, to mother of 2, and now business counselor, she continues her journey as she collects experiences, and shares a few words along the way.

You won't want to miss her exceptional journey and her inspiring outlook!

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Jean Bota - ‘Building Capacity in Rural Crime Prevention Project

In our last episode, we talked about just one element of crime in rural Canada, intimate partner violence, with Pamela Cross of Luke’s Place.

She mentioned that in Ontario we have what’s called a Community Safety and Well-being plan. This is a framework for municipalities to utilize for their own communities. Four areas are highlighted as critical to success: social development, prevention, risk intervention, and incident response.

Jean Bota is the board chair for the Alberta Community Crime Prevention Association, a position she has held since 2016. She understood from first hand experience, as a rural Alberta resident and also as a former rural Alberta county councilor, that rural communities require a unique framework when it comes to crime prevention.

In this episode, Jean explains how the “Building Capacity in Rural Crime Prevention Project” came to pass, the pilot programs they ran in rural Alberta communities, the template that has been developed from those pilots and how you can access them for your own rural Canadian community.

Jean was raised in rural Alberta and is a third generation Albertan. She is a mom, a grandmother, and makes her home in Red Deer County, Alberta where she has lived for the past twenty-two years. 

Jean has always been very involved in her community, entering municipal politics in 2013.  She campaigned on “Safe communities and awareness through collaboration with law enforcement, community groups and citizens”.  Jean was re-elected in 2017 but lost in 2021 by two votes.

Jean has been involved with her local Rural Crime Watch Group for many years. She also chairs the Police Advisory Committee which initiated the Rural Red Deer Restorative Justice program.

You can connect with Jean here: [email protected] 

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