YOU ARE WELCOME HERE

I am a cisgender, white woman who lives in what is called Canada with ties to the Canadian government through citizenship. On my father’s side, I am a descendent of the French settlers who arrived in what is now the Maritime Provinces (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island) of Canada in the 17th and 18th centuries. These settlers are known as French Acadians, and, even though the Mi’qmaq are said to have accepted these early Acadians as equals and are reported to have lived in peace and harmony until the Louisbourg defeat resulted in an order to forcibly remove the “politically neutral” Acadians, the fact remains that they lived on stolen land as we all continue to do today. On my mother’s side, I come from Irish descent. The history of Irish Canadian settlers is a bit harder to track since it goes back to early fishing settlements in the 1500’s to mass migration during the Great Famine in the 1840’s and beyond. All in all, I recognize that I am a settler, a person of privilege and someone who has enjoyed the fruits of systems of power.

I am not neutral or free of unconscious bias. I know that not recognizing internalized judgements can lead to bad decisions and harm to others, and I seek to actively engage in decolonizing the work and application of service provision. What is personal IS political, and the work of healing is political.

And have lived-experience with some of the barriers that are woven into what that signifies, looks and feels like. I look for ways to shift the conversation from gender to a greater understanding of how social, cultural and economic factors create inequity. Feminist principles help to free a person from personal blame for larger societal problems. Self-determination and empowerment is what allows us to work toward goals that are meaningful to us.

I recognize that liberation is bound by the liberation of all people and requires personal AND collective shifts from old narratives and stories. This includes exploring and reshaping thoughts, feelings, behaviours or past experiences coloured by patriarchal and capitalist systems (that sell us a lie that if we just try harder we will get ahead), white supremacy (holding up the white body as supreme) and a myriad of other interlocking and overlapping oppressions causing severe distress and harm. Engaging in a two-way or multi-way exchange is what helps make sense and how meaning is different for folx with different lived-experience from our own in different bodies, different colours, genders, divergences and more. What are the typical, acceptable behaviours and standards within society, and how can we validate, embrace and stand up for alternatives that no longer serve us? Afterall, silence is complicit.

And what it could look like to return to a state of balance and control through an Indigenous philosophy of life. I support this worldview that pushes back against past and present colonial genocide and seeks to regain a measure of self-governmance through local social services. To be an accomplice is to recognize the primacy and the leadership of Indigenous Peoples who have designed and created their worldview since time immemorial. It also includes disrupting oppressive systems that work against Indigenous-led initiatives and their inherent right to self-govern.

Is about building the capacity to see each other and the world with possibility. It is knowing that everyone has the capacity to succeed. It starts with giving voice to outdated narratives and stuck bits that may or may not be our own. Empowering communication is also about the ingredients necessary to sustain the difficult work of challenging systemic injustice and fostering change that requires hope, optimism and faith.