Clearing a New Path‪™‬ Radar Media

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 showed up to support the folks trying to enter the Parkhill library with their children. OPP officers were there too. Things got loud. Nasty and derogatory things were said and a bullhorn was activated to intimidate. But the group locked arms and later escorted families inside.

Since then, Drag Storytime scheduled in another town in the same county, was canceled, for a number of reasons but police could not guarantee the safety of the patrons so the event was put on hold.

Sista Patricia is passionate about supporting members of the 2SLGBTQAI+ community and she has a very special personal story about why she says, the time is NOW for allies to show up. Her group is now called Drag Storytime Guardians.

*I want to add that during our conversation, I said I have been an ally for a long time. That is true, but I wasn’t always as aware, in fact, I was ignorant. My allyship has grown over the years. ALL of us have things to learn, including me.

You can connect with Sista Patricia at the email: sistapatricia@gmail.com.

She's expecting you.

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 and flags, and the protests around Drag Storytime. 

Who are these groups and what is their end game?

Kurt Phillips started doing anonymous online research into hate groups in Canada, but was doxxed in recent years, losing his anonymity. He’s a board member of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network and also a high school teacher in rural Alberta. 
Canadian Anti-Hate Network's Educational Toolkit, which is a Government of Canada-funded resource, aims to give teachers and students the tools to address displays of hate on campus.

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.  

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.

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

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.