Clearing a New Path™

Dispelling Period Stigma with Free Periods Canada - Zeba Kahn and Niki Oveisi

As our rural Canadian communities grapple with conflicting views about gender identity and the right to live freely as authentic people and simply exist, if we take a step back, often conversations around periods and menstruation along gender lines (and generations) can be strained and awkward at best.

Why is this? Why does the very mention of the w...

This Rural Canadian History Moment was created by Emma Rutledge as part of the University of Guelph Diarist course project in 2023.

The course was taught by Catharine A. Wilson, PhD, F.R.S.C. / Redelmeier Professor in Rural History / Department of History / College of Arts at the University of Guelph.

Many rural women, and the work they did, was often overlooked, many even eliminated from being counted as a person, in the C...

Lisa Gallant-McRobb - Leading Indigenous Healing Through Trauma and Triumph

June is traditionally Pride Month but June is also Indigenous History month. It’s an opportunity to learn about the unique cultures, traditions and experiences of First Nations, Inuit and Métis. It's a time to honour the stories, achievements and resilience of Indigenous Peoples, who have lived on this land since time immemorial.

While in Whitehorse l...

Sista Patricia and the Drag Storytime Guardians

Earlier this month, a Drag Storytime was scheduled in the rural town of Parkhill, Ontario. Protestors were expected but what wasn’t expected was a group of woman-identifying motorbike enthusiasts, some of which belonged to the group, Wind Sisters.

One of those women was 70 year old Patricia Ginn, or Sista Patricia as she likes to be called.

Sista Patricia and her friends show...

Who Fuels Division in Rural Canada and Why? - Kurt Phillips - Canadian Anti-Hate Network

I’ve spoken with Kurt Phillips from the Canadian Anti-Hate Network in an episode previously, called Bias, Hate and Extremism in Rural Canada - Part 2 about the organizations at play spreading hate and disinformation in the news deserts of rural Canada.

This time, we’re talking about the campaigns to overturn proclamations, Pride events an...

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 vei...

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 miss...

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...

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 facetious...

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 Indigen...

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 si...

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 mu...

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 st...

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 pro...

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: so...

Pamela Cross - Luke’s Place - A Rural Inquest

Pamela Cross is a feminist lawyer; a well respected expert on violence against women and the law. She is revered for her work as a researcher, writer, educator and trainer. She works with women’s equality and violence against women organizations across Ontario.

Luke’s Place is an award-winning non-profit organization devoted to improving the safety and experience of women and thei...

Councillor Michelle Friesen - Whitehorse, Yukon Territory

Michelle Friesen caught my eye, initially, with a post on Instagram. She was addressing her city’s council, as a sitting councillor herself, about the discovery of children’s remains at residential schools. She posted a video of her address and then also posted the comments she received from the public afterwards. I also noticed in the video that Michelle was holding her ...

Duane Kumala-Thomas: Highlander Studios - History and Truth

Duane Kumala-Thomas recently invited me to his art studio called Highlander Studios in Woodstock, Ontario for a tour and a conversation about his studio, his work, his philosophy and his awe-inspiring art installation in downtown Ingersoll. 

Duane Kumala-Thomas explores the relationship between multiculturalism and perspective. With influences as diverse as Fela...

How Freebruary Helps Canadian Producers

Last week, my good friend Stella Sehn, a family farm honey producer in the Prairies told me about Freebruary. She started to explain and then she said she’d just send me this one minute video and it would explain everything. 

Basically, it’s a low investment campaign for producers who may want to expand their reach and grow their customer base, without spending a fortune on a digit...