Why I Spent A Year Documenting Social Change In Canada
I believe that a country is largely defined by the rights, freedoms
and social circumstances of the people who live within its borders. It's
defined as much by the achievements as the struggles, by the dark times
as by the light and as much by the activists who fought for change as
the naysayers who opposed it.
We've come far in this country.
Over the last century or so, we've tackled major social causes head-on,
and achieved in ways unimaginable a few decades earlier. When it comes
to issues like our health, human rights, marriage equality, immigration
policy and job security, Canadians have marched, protested, deliberated
and taken some significant leaps forward. But what have we learned from
our history of social change? It seems a most timely question in light
of the challenges we face today as a nation looking both inward and out.
It was a question I grappled with ever since I read a report
stating Canadians lacked knowledge of their own history. Here's the
thing: social change is not an easy process. It takes effort,
stubbornness and the ability to persevere in spite of all obstacles and
opposition. Once achieved, social change and any newfound rights and
freedoms should never be taken for granted, yet they often are. When
that happens, we not only lose our sense of who we are, we lose sight of
how we got here, which makes looking forward that much more
challenging. After all, to achieve the social change we aspire to today,
it's important to know where we've been.
As editor of SEE Change Magazine, I not only wanted to educate
Canadians on their history of social change, I wanted to delve deeper. I
wanted to understand what prompts an activist to eschew convention and
accepted norms in pursuit of greater rights and freedoms. Why some
social movements take longer than others to accomplish its goals. And
what our past struggles -- and those still ongoing -- say about who we
are and who we aspire to be.
So I brought together a team of
equally passionate individuals and embarked on an ambitious project:
exploring the evolution of Canadian social movements and their key
players through digital stories, video interviews and a book. And this
past summer my digital producer and I set off across Canada to interview
activists, changemakers, politicians and others who played a seminal
role in 10 movements that we felt in many ways define this country.
People
like lawyer and activist Tanya Kappo and former Chief of Tsawwassen
First Nation Kim Baird who each in their own way have worked to help
Canada's Aboriginal communities achieve greater sense of empowerment and
self-governance. And former Premier of Saskatchewan, Roy Romanow who
devoted much of his career to promoting universal healthcare. The
founder of the Nellie McClung Foundation spoke about the extraordinary
woman who refused to back down when others laughed at the notion of
women getting the vote.
We interviewed human and civil rights
lawyer Clayton Ruby about the birth of the Charter of Rights and how it
impacted the way lawyers defend the accused. Prime Minister Paul Martin
and the Michaels -- Canada's first same-sex couple to legally marry in
Canada -- discussed their efforts to secure marriage equality in this
country. And Greenpeace co-founder Bill Darnell eloquently described how
a ragtag team of activists came together in Vancouver to launch what is
now one of the largest environmental organizations in the world. And we
spoke to many more.
Through our interviews and exploration, I
learned that activism can be both the loneliest experience and the most
unifying, and that either route can prove effective with enough
self-belief, fortitude and determination. I learned that it's the people
who live by their own standards, by their self-defined value system who
effect the greatest change. I've learned that the words "no" and
"impossible" are the most powerful fuels for activism. I've learned that
some people are born activists while others adopt the role through
circumstance and pain. I've learned that political power is no match for
sheer will and smart strategy -- though a combination of all three can
move mountains. I've learned that we've come very far in this country
and have much to be proud of.
And I've learned we have much more work to do.
It
is my hope that this project will offer a valuable examination of the
diversity of issues, people and social causes that define our country,
remind us of the values we hold dear, celebrate the successes and
illuminate the steps we must take next.
The website with digital stories and interviews can be found here. A corresponding book will be published shortly.
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