Clearing a New Path™

The folks at the Rural Development Network (RDN) have been on the pod previously , but much has changed since that time (January 2023). Nearing the end of 2025, urgent issues have shifted for rural communities, and RDN has shifted to serve those priorities. When new President and CEO Melissa Fougere reached out to me in late October about having some of her team on the podcast, it took us a little...

Thank you to those 3 or 4 folks who tuned into this live video! It was an experiment, and while I could edit it before I post it, I’m not going to. You know why? I have zero s***s and zero f&cks about perfection. This was raw, real, off the cuff and that’s the vibe of this new season. No fluff, no pretend toxic positivity, it’s too late for that. Rural Canadians have to organize, unite, be inspire...

I was fortunate enough to have a tour of the Fusion Youth Centre in Ingersoll, Ontario last month. Craig Boddy has been with the organization for over a decade and seen many transitions. The building is a former school, purchased by the municipality, when youth crime was a burgeoning issue. The centre was established in 2006 to provide a safe space for kids after school. It offers a wide range of...

Summary I met Helen Tremethick, a rurally-based Regenerative Business Designer and Holistic Business Coach, through her workshop for the Canadian Women's Chamber of Commerce and it was her workshop's title, "Sustainability is B******t" that caught my and so many others' interest. In this episode, Helen discusses her approach to disrupting business coaching and the importance of redefining success....

April Lindgren, a former journalist and current professor, discusses the state of local journalism in Canada and the challenges it faces. She shares insights from her research on the decline of local news outlets and the emergence of new models. Lindgren emphasizes the importance of local journalism in building communities, holding power accountable, and combating misinformation. She explores the...

Andrew Button - MashUp Lab I first met Andrew Button from MashUp Lab over the phone. He was inquiring about the national conference the organization I was working with, Community Futures Ontario, was hosting and how he could become a speaker. That was in the throes of the pandemic. Andrew and I caught up again recently to chat about how he’s supporting entrepreneurs in rural Canada (and the US), w...

Elder Cindy Crowe - Sacred Circles This is the third time I have had the pleasure of speaking with Elder Cindy Crowe for a podcast episode, however, I speak with her often as she is my mentor, a dear friend and my chosen family. Cindy is an Anishinaabe Grandmother Elder, a Knowledge Keeper, a Lodgekeeper, a Pipe Carrier and a Drum Keeper. Cindy is from Opwaaganisiniing close to Thunder Bay, Ontari...

The Coxes: Rural Ontario in Colour This episode, I again handed the microphone to folks who share a lens I do not have. This is an intergenerational conversation, from a mom and son, whose experience and perspective is, as people of colour, who once lived in urban settings and now have moved to the country. Mojdeh and her son Darius talk about safety, access to cultural food, infrastructure, clima...

Organizing and Activism in Rural Canada As a response to injustices that happen around the globe, protests and demonstrations have always been a way for people to express their views in a public way. We’ve all seen big protests and demonstrations depicted on television news and increasingly on social media. But many of those displays of solidarity happen in big cities. I believe that there are pro...

Racism: Rural vs Urban - A Gen Z Perspective Racial inequities exist in Canada, and particularly in rural, remote and northern Canada. I have heard the stories. Just one example is a Black woman entrepreneur in rural Alberta, who told me of the racism she experienced at her local Chamber of Commerce. She’s the reason I enlisted the help of post secondary students (from the Venture for Canada Intra...

This Rural Canadian History Moment was created by Christian Doran 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. From the Diary of Thomas Alexander Loghrin (1878-1936), Downie Township, Perth County. Courtesy...

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 d...

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 co...

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 imme...

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 Pat...

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 p...

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 St...

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 regist...

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 N...

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 ‘proc...

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 work...

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 lis...

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...

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 gov...

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 wh...