Episode 2

full
Published on:

2nd Jun 2022

Solidarity and Supports with Des and Tigra-Lee

Two comrades from Lloydminster/Vermillion, Tigra-Lee Campbell and Des Bissonnette, share stories of finding solidarity and creating meaningful supportive spaces in rural Alberta and Saskatchewan with host Jessa McLean.

Keep up with the guests here:

Transcript
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Greetings, rabble rousers.

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My name is Jessa McLean, and welcome

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to Blueprints for Disruption,

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a weekly discussion dedicated to

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amplifying activism across Turtle

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Island.

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Together, we will examine tactics,

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explore motivations, and celebrate

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successes in disrupting the status

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quo.

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This podcast is a proud part of

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New Left media.

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Greetings. This episode of

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Blueprints features a discussion

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with community activists Tigra

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Lee and Dez.

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They share what it's like advocating

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for anti-black racism and

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anti-indigenous racism in

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rural Alberta and Saskatchewan.

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These two amazing women have

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persevered and created something

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very special in their community.

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Let's listen.

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So good morning and welcome

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to the podcast.

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Thank you so much for joining us.

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Thanks for having us.

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Thanks for having me.

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Excellent.

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Yay.

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So I hate introducing people and not

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doing it right. So I'm going to

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leave that up to you two wonderful

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people.

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But Dez, I asked you

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on the podcast, thank you for

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agreeing because of the work you do

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in Alberta. I have no idea what it's

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like being an activist in Alberta.

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I'm from Ontario, so I'll ask

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you a bit about that later.

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But the first thing you said was,

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I want to bring Tigra Lee

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on with me. Let me see when she's

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available.

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Why why was this so important?

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She come with you today?

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So I'll start off telling you how I

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met Tigra, because it is, like, such

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a fun little story.

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She was she's been an activist in

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our community for a while.

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And she was putting on some events,

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especially during the summer of

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2021, for things

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like Every Child Matters and

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for solidarity with missing and

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murdered indigenous women

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and solidarity with like that

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the family in London who

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was shot or ran over as well.

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And so I was attending these events

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and at that time I knew I was

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running for the NDP and I was like,

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I need to connect with like leftists

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here because everybody around us is

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conservative.

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And so I went up and I met Tigra

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and I introduced myself to her, and

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I was like, Hey, like, we should

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have a conversation later and start

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doing some activist stuff together.

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And it was kind of awkward.

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And so we had a Zoom meeting where

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we started.

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I got to tell this is so funny that

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I was thinking about this last night

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and we had a Zoom meeting where we

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were talking about doing different

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kinds of things in our community

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and Tigra, it kind of was super

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awkward and she's like, Yeah, so

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I just need to let you know, like, I

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don't know how you feel about police

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or anything. And I was like, Oh, I'm

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an abolitionist.

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Absolutely. And so since then, we've

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been like, like, so tight.

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She's testing the.

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Waters.

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She's like, I don't know.

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Like, this girl is, like, whiter

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than white bread. Like, I don't know

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how she's going to feel when I talk

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about police, but we

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had this really great vibe and

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I just I love her so much.

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She is such an important part of our

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community.

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Tigra does so many amazing things

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for the unhoused people of our

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community and for people who

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just don't have access to anything

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or people who are down on their

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luck. Tecra is there consistently

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and doing everything that she can,

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and I feel sometimes that my

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work doesn't translate in the same

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way that hers does.

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And because she's so important to

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our community and because the work

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she does is just so like it inspires

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me and it's so critical to me,

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I can't help but show her off.

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I have to bring her along, if you

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like. Look at look at Tara.

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Look at Tara. She's amazing.

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And she proves it every single time

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I get to chat with her.

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And she's she's just so helpful to

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me and such an important part of my

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activism and my journey

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that I could not bring her with me.

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I mean, your energy level just kind

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of an extra ante when

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you start talking.

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I hope you guys feed off of each

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other in that way because we

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all need we all need comrades like

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that.

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There's this, like, the best people.

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Woman Like you guys

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would be everywhere.

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Can you introduce me?

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Oh, yes.

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Secretly, everyone's for office.

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I mean, you need to be at every door

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ahead of her, right?

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Yeah. Seriously?

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Yeah, 100%.

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Tigra, we've heard why Des loves you

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so much, but you want to give us,

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like, a bit of a more of a official

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introduction of of who you are.

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Sure. What you do.

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Yeah. Okay, so I'm

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like this said and you said my name

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is Tigra Lee.

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I am an activist here in

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Lloydminster and I'm co-founder

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of a group called Lloydminster and

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Vermilion for Equity Foundation.

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We are a registered nonprofit

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that officially got

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nonprofit status

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last November.

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We operated for about a year

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before we had our nonprofit status,

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so that was really exciting.

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We originally formed

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after the death of George Floyd,

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so we had

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a protest and by

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we, I mean like myself

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and my other group members, I have

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there's three other group members

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right now.

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And we had a protest

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in Vermillion and.

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We knew that we had to keep the

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conversation going.

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And so we decided

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to have weekly roundtable

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meetings

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and invite the community out of

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Vermillion.

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And then we switched

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it to having one in Vermillion and

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one in Lloydminster and just kind of

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switching off weeks

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and.

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Yeah. There were a lot of weeks

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where nobody came out there.

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There were a lot of our events

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where.

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We had a lot of backlash.

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Like does said, we live in a very

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conservative area.

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And it was it

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was difficult to get off

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the ground. But

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so far, we have

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really started to

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impact our community by

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supporting and amplifying the

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voices of the unhoused

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and just marginalized

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community here and in Loyd.

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So that's where my passion

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is social justice,

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mutual aid,

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anti-racism, but

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building diverse and equitable

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spaces.

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That's really where my passion is.

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I am also

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an entrepreneur and a mom

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of three.

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I also work full time, so

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there is a lot going

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on at all times.

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So

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but it is rewarding.

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It's thankless, but it's rewarding.

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So yeah, it's a bit about

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me.

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Well, I thank you for doing that

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work and

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I don't know how you do it.

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It's quite up. And I ask like if

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there were a thousand youths,

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what would you want them all doing?

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I feel like there might be a

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thousand.

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Who know.

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It's just too much to grow.

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Yeah, yeah, that's true.

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I think I personally want a thousand

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tea groups.

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But.

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There's your faith club chip in in

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it.

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So you talked about forming

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a large bulk of this in the wake of

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George Floyd's murder.

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And I think a lot of communities

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saw action

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get in in the weeks, in the

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months,

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even small towns, you know, here

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where I'm in rural Ontario.

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So I do kind of

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live in a similar, I think, level of

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community when it comes to

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tolerance and levels of racism.

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So it was nice that we did have we

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were able to have some action here,

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but I think having something

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sustained following it is

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what others struggled to do.

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Why do you think and then I know

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some of your meetings, you say like

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maybe nobody's there and not it's

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not always.

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A measurable success.

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Right. But what do you think you did

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that allowed you to kind of sustain

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and build on that and create the

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the the Equity Foundation

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for Lloyd and Vermillion?

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So it was it

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was disheartening at first because

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especially with my type of

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personality, like you want to be, go

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to everything and

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be as direct

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and hard hitting as possible and

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reach as many people as possible.

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But when you're dealing

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with communities

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that are so established, you know,

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many have the same

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like founding families that

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settled here.

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Right.

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And it's hard to change

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viewpoints, especially when you're

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coming in with something new.

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So to stay to stay positive

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and really remember that what

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you're building is trust.

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You're building trust with other

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community members.

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You're building trust with the

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vulnerable community as

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well.

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Many people that have been silenced

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for so long, they don't

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feel the need to reach out for

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support or they don't feel

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like society really has

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their back.

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It really takes time.

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So that was what that

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was what really pushed me forward

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that I had, you know, group members

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that were like, what's the point of

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those to grow? Like, we're not

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moving forward.

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Nobody's coming out, we're not

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reaching anybody.

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And then it took probably

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like.

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Probably about a solid year

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for.

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People like our

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community members to

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really realize and come to terms

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with, you know, we're

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not calling our entire town

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racist. We're not going every single

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person racist.

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We're really just trying to address

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serious issues that.

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Impacts all of

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the world, really, not just

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our own community.

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And, you know, because it's not so

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cold. It's not so over,

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you know, people unless you're

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white supremacy guy or white power

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guy out in Vermillion,

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it's it is more covert here.

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And I feel like that's harder to

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navigate.

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But I just really tried to

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stay positive, persevere,

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pull from the supports

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that I have created over the past

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couple of years here and

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and really push forward.

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And when we started

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to get a

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lot of backlash really from the

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communities of White and

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Vermillion.

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Somebody said something to me that

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really hit home and

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they said to me,

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this is the response.

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This is the response that you're

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looking for.

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If you weren't getting this response

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and there wouldn't be an issue, you

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wouldn't be impacting people

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like you are right now.

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So I really took that and

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I really kept that close to me.

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So when times did get tough, you

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know, when we were getting death

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threats and people were coming

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to our events

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to just disrupt

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and really hold on to that and,

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you know, at the end of the day,

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really come home and debrief and,

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you know, okay, you know, it was

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hard, but you got through it and

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tomorrow's another day.

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That's a that's a theme.

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I've definitely heard from a lot of

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activists, not that

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you're not sharing something new,

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but just that it's

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it's just so critical to build trust

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in the community first, right

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before you kind of do that work.

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And Des

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spoke earlier, I think you do

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something to grab that you didn't

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mention, but you, I believe, kind of

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act like a beacon also for

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progressives and people looking to

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join in this fight does

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mention and maybe

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you can talk to that experience

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moving to Alberta and trying to find

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other progressives

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to work alongside.

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I know as you ran for the NDP, so

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I guess that allowed people to

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kind of probably come to you and

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understand that there was another a

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socialist in

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town.

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But do you feel the grid does that?

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And is that work important?

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Is it hard to find allies

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in Alberta?

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It's you know, it's really

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interesting because I

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like I've been around a lot of

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Lakeland as a riding and

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through a lot of northern Alberta.

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I'm pretty well traveled through the

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province and

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I've met all sorts of different

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people and especially during the

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election, like talking about

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different kinds of issues.

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I find that people

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aren't really that afraid

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of leftist policies or leftist

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ideas.

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They just don't understand most

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of the time.

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And especially in small rural

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communities where it's predominantly

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white, they just don't have a lot of

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exposure to other people and

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to other ways of being

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other communities, other ideologies.

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And so it tends to be like when

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you start talking to certain people

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about anything progressive,

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you can usually get them on a couple

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of, you know, things like I

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agree that like we should have, that

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we should have this.

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But it's, it's really like.

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I would say it's harder to find

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somebody who has all of the same

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ideas or more

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left ideas.

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I find people are really in that

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centrist camp or like

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no political home, but they have

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ideas and they have an idea that

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they want society to be.

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They just don't know how to get

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there.

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Honestly, if anything,

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I think I've had an easier

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experience finding progressives in

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the community, mostly because

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I am quite white compared

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to a teacher like teachers

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experience going door to door during

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the election.

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Getting signatures for me was

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such a different experience to me,

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going alone and going door to door

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and the experience that she and I

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had together, going door to door

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together was different than my alone

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experience and her alone experience.

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And so I think, honestly, it's

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almost easier for me to find other

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people in my camp because I have

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I have that whiteness that really

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protects me in a way that not

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a lot of people who are in

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this line of work tend to have.

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And it's it's

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a barrier, I think, in Alberta and

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in Saskatchewan that really has to

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to be broken down by people like me

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who are educated and who have that

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privilege and who can enter those

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spaces and start breaking down those

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walls.

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But I find it easier

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just as a just

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because I can kind of hide

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my marginalized identities, really,

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which isn't a good a

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good thing by any means.

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But it is unfortunately a reality in

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Alberta.

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Do you find

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a lot of the comments that we've had

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earlier, too, was in our circles,

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even in our progressive circles.

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There's a lot of decolonizing to do

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within those circles.

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So you may find other progressives,

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but there's still work to do there.

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Right. Forget about the broader

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community.

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Do you find that the same

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degree?

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Do you do you feel like you do a

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lot of heavy lifting as.

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As an activist to kind of make

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sure you're surrounded by

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folks that are you know, they

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understand. I know the way you kind

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of tested. Des And am

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I, you know, you're not going to

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bring cops to the rally, right?

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We don't get permits.

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Yeah, it's true.

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Like, so when I.

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Yeah, when I first met does she was

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running for the for NDP

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and.

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I.

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I don't know you guys, you kind of

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touched on it where, you know, we

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don't really have I don't really fit

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anywhere politically, I feel

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and if

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I'm like at that time, if I was

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to vote, it would have been NDP

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if I was to vote or

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Green Party.

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And just hearing

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the amount of ridiculousness

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that the Green Party was going

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through at the time.

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And I had a couple friends actually

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that were a part of that whole

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hotness, like, I don't even know, I

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don't even want to touch on that.

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It was ridiculous, but.

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So when I met Dias and,

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and she's like, Yeah, I'm going to

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run for NDP.

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And then I made that comment like,

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I don't really know if, you know,

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like we're going to 100%

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online because I'm very anti

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anti-cop and she's like, Oh, we're

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abolitionists here.

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I'm like, Girl that says

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some. We are best friends now.

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And because

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it is, it is hard.

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You find progressives

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or you find other socialists

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or leftists that have

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some of the same

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viewpoints and ideologies.

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But, you know, when you say

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defund or abolish, they

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just get all squirrely.

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So yeah.

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So it's though

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there's certain topics, you know,

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that you can't you kind

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of do have to test them like I'm

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going to say this and I'm going to

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judge you based on this response.

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So it.

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But you once like

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once you once you get into

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activism, you find many,

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many like minded people.

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It's just how like minded they are.

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But there is,

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like, anti-black and

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anti-indigenous.

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Racism is so prevalent

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no matter what circle you're in.

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There's so much unlearning to do.

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White supremacy

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runs so rampant and nobody's

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impervious to it.

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The decolonization that you touched

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on 100% does need to happen

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and up

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outside of doing

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this work in the community.

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You're up against other

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outside community members that

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truly don't understand your purpose

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and understand

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your your mission.

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But we have to deal with lateral

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violence within the socialist

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and leftist communities as well,

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whether that be stereotypes,

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racism, lateral violence,

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you know, anti queerness

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and just

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like various different things.

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So

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support, supports of broad support

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is really what you need.

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And yeah,

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I found a lot of like minded people,

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but.

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You. You have to build barriers

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still, regardless

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of how much you relate to that, that

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one person just to keep yourself

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safe. Because once you start

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to burn out, it's

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so hard to get back on

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the right track and doesn't.

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I've been there multiple

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times together within the past

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couple of years here,

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but it like she.

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She. I feel very, very comfortable

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with her because there is not many

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people to that.

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You can see that like, hey, I'm

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burnt out so many times.

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Like we made plans and you

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know, we're on the same level

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where it's like we have plans, but

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I'll cancel or she cancels and

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I don't I can't speak for you does.

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But sometimes I'm like, yes,

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I just need to do that.

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The worst thing about being an

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activist is just how absolutely

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exhausting.

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Life.

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Gets after a while, especially

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just as we watch capitalism

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failing more and more every day.

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I think it just takes so much out of

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us. And it it's really important to

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find people who you can cancel plans

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with.

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And I'm so glad I have you.

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I love you so much.

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I love you so much, too.

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It's true, though.

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Yeah. You do have people that you

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can just be be your 100%

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authentic self.

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And I think that's a lot of the

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learning, too, that I've learned in

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the last the last few

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years. Here is how like to

Speaker:

the amount of unlearning

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that every single one of us has to

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do.

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That in itself is exhausting as

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well.

Speaker:

That kind of inner work.

Speaker:

But I mean, that burnout is real and

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it's so nice that you can lean on

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each other.

Speaker:

I can attest that there's always a

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few close comrades where they just

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no, there's no explanation

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needed. It's I'm bailing.

Speaker:

But, you know, think about before

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we started recording how many

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and even then what Dez and

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you have listed how many issues

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just you

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are fighting or

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have advocated for.

Speaker:

You know, you're talking about missing

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and murdered Indigenous women,

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housing advocacy, anti-black

Speaker:

racism, anti-indigenous racism,

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the harms of the residential

Speaker:

schools, and unpacking that,

Speaker:

plus the pressures of capitalism

Speaker:

that you're fighting and

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being bombarded with daily.

Speaker:

So kudos

Speaker:

to you for being able to sustain

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that work for so long, for operating

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with your nonprofit status.

Speaker:

And like just that push through.

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I mean, not everybody can do that,

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especially during these

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circumstances.

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The pandemic has sucked a lot of

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energy out of a lot of so,

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you know, be so proud of

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that work that you're doing.

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And let's let's talk a little more

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about the work specifically.

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You talked about amplifying

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the voices of the unhoused and

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other members of your community that

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are otherwise marginalized.

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How do you do that?

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You know, you don't grab a

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megaphone. How do we amplify those

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voices while remaining respectful of

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their situation?

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And so I do agree with Megan.

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She does have a megaphone.

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She totally does.

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One. I go to Brand.

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My husband bought me a brand

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new megaphone.

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Oh, that's love.

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Yeah. One time I was, like, so

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excited. I started marching

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throughout my house, Black Lives

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Matter and my dogs started

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howling. I was like, This is

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perfect.

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I love your dog. Such a good ally.

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Right? She's so great.

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We so we do

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a mutual aid outreach

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once a week called LV

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Street Team.

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My good friend Claire.

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I'll give her a shout out.

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Claire She

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is a co-founder of

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Water Warriors y

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e g and in Edmonton

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and I got the opportunity to meet

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her at a few protests

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in counter-protests and

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her energy and spirit was just

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awesome. And

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they had a little,

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I don't know, like Sidecar

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of Water Warriors called

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Water Wings in the

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not last summer, but the summer

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before when we had a really

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hot heat wave.

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And so to my

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other co-founder, his name is Brad,

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I was like, hey, you know, we should

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go around with water.

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Like, people aren't able to get

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inside.

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They're not.

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I know that our men's

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shelter and our drop

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in center, they were only operating

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at like a third capacity or

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half capacity

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and they weren't able

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to just just water, just

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to get water. It was super hot

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outside. So

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we put a call out for

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some rollable

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coolers and

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we filled it with ice and water and

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we went out and we just started

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giving out water and then we started

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bringing snacks.

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So we started water and snacks and

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we're like, you know, we need

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sandwiches.

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So we started water snacks and

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sandwiches and we

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then we got donated

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collapsible wagon.

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And so obviously we had to

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stuff as much stuff in there

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as we could to bring out.

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So we got socks, toothbrushes,

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toothpaste

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like hygiene products, feminine

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care products.

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Just put as much stuff in

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this wagon as we possibly could.

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Are these all donations?

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How do you.

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Well, yes, they were donations,

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but a lot of it came out of our own

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pockets as well, like much

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of it came out of our own pockets.

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But that also ties back into

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building trust like we would

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put out calls for on

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like our community Facebook pages

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for different products and stuff.

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But until

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we became a little bit more

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established in the in the community

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and, you know, people could

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see what

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their donations were going towards,

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it took a bit of time to start

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getting monetary donations in which

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we have a bit now.

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So that's good. It really helps out,

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but a lot of it still does come out

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of our own pockets.

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But so

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this was in we worked we worked

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right into the winter

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and outside.

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We were just outside at City Hall

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and then we got clothing donations.

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So we every weekend we went out to

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City Hall, set up two tables.

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We would have our bag lunches,

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our clothing donation items,

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and then we'd just have them out.

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So then how is community

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members? Many we see

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the same people mostly every

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week. There are some new people that

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we get to see.

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So they knew they we would show

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up to City Hall and they would be

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there waiting for us.

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And

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now, during the cold months, my

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good friend Tyler, he

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runs Residents

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and Recovery and

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which is our recovery center

Speaker:

here in Lloyd. So I

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asked if we could use his space

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to set up during the winter time

Speaker:

and he said, Yeah, so now we're in

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there every Sunday,

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which is nice because

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with COVID there wasn't many spaces.

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The drop in center had closed

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actually, so there weren't many

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spaces for them to go

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and be warm, take a rest,

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just sit down

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and have something warm to eat in

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their belly. And a good conversation

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as well.

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Good conversation to have somebody

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that's there that's going to listen

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to them.

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I was

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a part of that community and house

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community in Edmonton

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before I moved to Lloydminster

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and I

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was in active addiction for ten

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years when I moved

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here and I got clean and sober.

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So a lot of these

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a lot of what I tried to do

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is.

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Out of

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like experience from my own

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experience and what I what I

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appreciated

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and what what I would have like to

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see.

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Also, the work we do is

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100% with the

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unhoused and the vulnerable

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community members in the forefront.

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They tell us what they need.

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They tell us what

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they would appreciate.

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They tell us

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what's happening to them within

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the community so that we

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are able to advocate for them,

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whether that be housing,

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whether that be harm reduction,

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whether that be like any other

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like social issues

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we can try.

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Since we're so new,

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we don't have to too much capacity,

Speaker:

but we do try and do what we can.

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One kind of theme I'm picking

Speaker:

up as you're talking is asking

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so you make really bold asks

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of of your allies, of the community.

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Right, to enable what you do.

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But you also ask the people

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you're working with.

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That's a lot of listening.

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A lot of activism sometimes doesn't

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include that.

Speaker:

I mean, good activism does.

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But quite often, especially

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in political spaces, we get talked

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at a lot.

Speaker:

Des Is this you know, this is not

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a typical political approach,

Speaker:

the listening right from our

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experiences within the NDP,

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do you feel like these are more

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productive spaces for you

Speaker:

than going door to door as a

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political candidate?

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Oh yeah, absolutely.

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I think especially now as

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I mean, like last year, I

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think we were in a completely

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different state in terms

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of social and political

Speaker:

relations among everybody.

Speaker:

It's become so much

Speaker:

more polarized, so much faster

Speaker:

than any of us really thought it

Speaker:

could in just a short year.

Speaker:

I mean, we're not even a full year

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out from the election.

Speaker:

And the political ideas

Speaker:

that were around in September have

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escalated so much.

Speaker:

And so I honestly like for

Speaker:

myself now, I don't know if I can

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even operate in politics because

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it's just very obviously

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not working and it hasn't been

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working. But what's great does

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and what Tigra is passionate

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about and what she gives to our

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community, that's what

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works. And it works for the people

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of our community.

Speaker:

It works for like the

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way that our community is really

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Lloydminster and Vermillion where

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we're really tight communities.

Speaker:

Like we're small communities and

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there's already that like,

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I mean, you know how it is in rural,

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everybody's kind of friends with

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each other, but like only if

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you're, you know,

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like we're the same color.

Speaker:

We're going to be friends if you're

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a foreigner.

Speaker:

Parentheses I'm not going to be as

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nice to you because I'm a rural

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person. But Teeger, as

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work changes that she that

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changes that atmosphere, that

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creates that inclusion, it creates

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that that basis

Speaker:

for equity and politics

Speaker:

can't just straight up it can't

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because because it doesn't listen it

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doesn't take real democracy

Speaker:

into consideration on how an entire

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community feels.

Speaker:

It doesn't take the time to

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familiarize itself with the

Speaker:

community in the way that politics

Speaker:

realistically we would expect it to

Speaker:

being a service that serves the

Speaker:

people right.

Speaker:

And that's just why I just love what

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L.D. does so much and want to or

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does, because, like

Speaker:

Teeger took exactly what

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needed to be done in our community

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and just started freakin doing it.

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And nobody can really say that.

Speaker:

And, you know, I can't even say

Speaker:

that.

Speaker:

And I feel

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like so inspired and just so

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incredibly energized

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by the work that she does genuinely

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like. I think Tigra does more, more

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than any politician could ever do

Speaker:

for our community just by being

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being her and having the heart that

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she does and knowing to ask

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the right questions.

Speaker:

I'm thinking back to

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your answer. And then in Tigra's

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kind of suss of you

Speaker:

as a NDP candidate, there wasn't

Speaker:

actually this beacon of hope, right?

Speaker:

It was like, oh, she must be cool.

Speaker:

She's NDP, right?

Speaker:

She's progressive. It was like,

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all right, you seem a little

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establishment,

Speaker:

but I feel that is

Speaker:

the case now. You know, I'm I'm also

Speaker:

a former candidate, but now I look

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at candidates with a little

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bit of,

Speaker:

you know, because of

Speaker:

these ideas that you're talking

Speaker:

does that that are shooting out.

Speaker:

You're not talking about leftist

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ideas. We don't really see them kind

Speaker:

of exploding

Speaker:

in the way that we need them.

Speaker:

I am assuming you're talking about

Speaker:

the rise of the right and

Speaker:

in this polarization, because we've

Speaker:

not really seen.

Speaker:

Well, we have the good people like

Speaker:

T Grizzly aren't really all that

Speaker:

involved with electoral politics.

Speaker:

A lot of people aren't.

Speaker:

Right. The most marginalized are not

Speaker:

because it doesn't speak to them.

Speaker:

Right. The communities that you're

Speaker:

helping probably

Speaker:

don't vote all that much.

Speaker:

Right. And so when we we continue

Speaker:

to talk at voters, we're missing

Speaker:

this huge picture

Speaker:

that you're engaging with mutual aid

Speaker:

and all of these other activities.

Speaker:

So like secretly like in the work

Speaker:

that you do, we know how you make

Speaker:

immediate impacts on your community

Speaker:

members, right?

Speaker:

By listening to them and creating

Speaker:

spaces and food.

Speaker:

Right. That is so obvious.

Speaker:

A need and and housing.

Speaker:

But how do we.

Speaker:

How does your work help the broader

Speaker:

picture?

Speaker:

Are we changing the messaging?

Speaker:

Are you pressuring politicians?

Speaker:

What else does that work do?

Speaker:

I really think it's just leading

Speaker:

by example.

Speaker:

Over the past year,

Speaker:

you know,

Speaker:

leftists like socialists,

Speaker:

communists, they're all

Speaker:

kind of like buzzwords now.

Speaker:

And to be

Speaker:

honest, like, I don't subscribe to

Speaker:

any of it.

Speaker:

I do not subscribe to being

Speaker:

a leftist or a centrist

Speaker:

right wing, because I

Speaker:

don't have faith in our governments

Speaker:

and I don't even understand

Speaker:

what that means.

Speaker:

You know what I mean?

Speaker:

Like and I see this

Speaker:

all the time because I truly

Speaker:

like to see someone,

Speaker:

to see a community member out

Speaker:

there. And you're not.

Speaker:

Trying to provide some

Speaker:

support or you know, that there is

Speaker:

an issue within the community,

Speaker:

but you're criminalizing

Speaker:

it doesn't make sense

Speaker:

to me.

Speaker:

I honestly cannot understand

Speaker:

it.

Speaker:

So it's just like the ideologies

Speaker:

on both sides I don't subscribe to.

Speaker:

And like I said, like really just

Speaker:

try to to lead

Speaker:

by example.

Speaker:

You know, when

Speaker:

social media is a great tool,

Speaker:

I do think that it

Speaker:

has it's good and its bad to

Speaker:

it.

Speaker:

But we do.

Speaker:

We put pictures out and we put posts

Speaker:

and we'll put them in the community

Speaker:

groups for accountability.

Speaker:

One, because we do get a lot of

Speaker:

donations, monetary

Speaker:

and item donations from the

Speaker:

community. So one

Speaker:

for accountability.

Speaker:

But two, you know,

Speaker:

we did start this from the ground

Speaker:

up. It took a lot of work, but it

Speaker:

was doable.

Speaker:

So if we can do it, somebody

Speaker:

else can do it as well.

Speaker:

Our mayor here in Boyd,

Speaker:

we think

Speaker:

we have some sort of an

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understanding.

Speaker:

And we but we have

Speaker:

we've gone and protested outside of

Speaker:

outside of the RCMP building,

Speaker:

outside of City Hall many times.

Speaker:

We've had I've had personally had

Speaker:

many conversations with our

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with our mayor.

Speaker:

We've written letters, you know,

Speaker:

we've put pressure on the

Speaker:

governments.

Speaker:

But any results?

Speaker:

Is there is no results for

Speaker:

like we when we had the Wet'suwet'en

Speaker:

protests, we stood in solidarity

Speaker:

with Wet'suwet'en and

Speaker:

we wrote a letter to

Speaker:

our MLA.

Speaker:

Garth

Speaker:

and the response

Speaker:

we got. I wish I could find it

Speaker:

because I would send it to you.

Speaker:

It's probably in another email, but

Speaker:

it was awful.

Speaker:

It was heinous.

Speaker:

It was just like, well, you know,

Speaker:

pretty much they got

Speaker:

they're getting what they deserve.

Speaker:

And the chiefs

Speaker:

already agreed to it.

Speaker:

So what they're doing is futile.

Speaker:

And he's also.

Speaker:

He's a climate change denialist

Speaker:

completely. He does not believe in

Speaker:

climate change.

Speaker:

He does not believe that there is a

Speaker:

climate emergency

Speaker:

yet. And yeah.

Speaker:

It's a hoax, too.

Speaker:

Yeah.

Speaker:

Well.

Speaker:

Anything scientific, I assume,

Speaker:

is a hoax to.

Speaker:

To the governments and EU

Speaker:

governments.

Speaker:

Right. You're trying to tell me.

Speaker:

They're just straight up Christ

Speaker:

fascists, to be honest.

Speaker:

Yeah, the the

Speaker:

I like I love Christianity.

Speaker:

I am a self self-described

Speaker:

Christian, but man,

Speaker:

the last couple of years,

Speaker:

Christianity been whack.

Speaker:

Christianity gotten super whack.

Speaker:

I don't know.

Speaker:

I think they have a history.

Speaker:

They do.

Speaker:

You know.

Speaker:

But I love I'm not going to thing

Speaker:

like I know lots about Christianity

Speaker:

as a whole thing.

Speaker:

I'm a strong believer that

Speaker:

Christianity peaked when it was a

Speaker:

sect of Judaism.

Speaker:

It should never have separated from

Speaker:

that.

Speaker:

That's when it was peaking.

Speaker:

But where we're here now,

Speaker:

unfortunately.

Speaker:

It's hot too.

Speaker:

We'll have to do a whole new

Speaker:

episode.

Speaker:

On if you want to get a hot takes on

Speaker:

Christianity.

Speaker:

Like, I was an evangelical Christian

Speaker:

for like ten years.

Speaker:

I got hot takes.

Speaker:

I got hot takes.

Speaker:

Yes.

Speaker:

We also I

Speaker:

also grew up in the church is well,

Speaker:

Pentecostal and

Speaker:

it's part Pentecostal,

Speaker:

whole part cult.

Speaker:

So there's

Speaker:

the the the yeah, we could,

Speaker:

we could do a whole other podcast.

Speaker:

I was going to say no, just the two

Speaker:

of you on again.

Speaker:

Yeah. Well we'll go through all the

Speaker:

cults that are employed because

Speaker:

there's at least five.

Speaker:

Yeah, there's a lot.

Speaker:

There's a lot.

Speaker:

And some say there's a leadership

Speaker:

cult, right?

Speaker:

There's cults everywhere.

Speaker:

Yeah, let's not judge.

Speaker:

Let's go back to the work that

Speaker:

you're doing again.

Speaker:

We'll circle back

Speaker:

what, you know, kind of

Speaker:

is the biggest barrier

Speaker:

I know. Like you've talked about

Speaker:

maybe spinning your wheels with

Speaker:

politicians in it, going nowhere.

Speaker:

Let's imagine we just like just

Speaker:

forget about those folks

Speaker:

other than those who are

Speaker:

useless representation.

Speaker:

What's your biggest barrier as an

Speaker:

activist?

Speaker:

Is that external?

Speaker:

Maybe it's internal.

Speaker:

Oh, that's a really good question.

Speaker:

My biggest barrier right now

Speaker:

is finding

Speaker:

appropriate social

Speaker:

services to direct

Speaker:

people.

Speaker:

Like one of our

Speaker:

missions and like part

Speaker:

of our mission. And the vision is to

Speaker:

be a conduit.

Speaker:

So people

Speaker:

will come to us, we listen

Speaker:

to them, and then we

Speaker:

direct them in different areas

Speaker:

of us,

Speaker:

like special specialist

Speaker:

special areas, specialty areas,

Speaker:

specialty people, whether that's,

Speaker:

you know, income support,

Speaker:

some social services, education

Speaker:

therapy, addiction

Speaker:

services.

Speaker:

But when we talk about

Speaker:

decolonization and we talk about

Speaker:

defunding and, you know.

Speaker:

And uplifting other social

Speaker:

areas.

Speaker:

Those areas all need to be

Speaker:

decolonized as well.

Speaker:

So child social services

Speaker:

100% needs to be decolonized.

Speaker:

Education 100% needs

Speaker:

to be decolonized.

Speaker:

But instead of putting the work into

Speaker:

these areas when

Speaker:

the government needs money,

Speaker:

they fund all of those

Speaker:

areas.

Speaker:

They don't put any work into them.

Speaker:

And somehow all of this money

Speaker:

goes to the RCMP.

Speaker:

That is the that's

Speaker:

the number one area right now

Speaker:

that I'm having difficulty with

Speaker:

is finding

Speaker:

safe spaces because you

Speaker:

don't want to perpetuate

Speaker:

harm. You don't want to tell them

Speaker:

to, you know.

Speaker:

Okay, will you

Speaker:

visit the service?

Speaker:

More often than not, that's the only

Speaker:

option that we have.

Speaker:

So that's what we have to do

Speaker:

in order to get them some sort of

Speaker:

support. Because I can't 100%

Speaker:

say that all of the support

Speaker:

that they'll get in that area is

Speaker:

negative.

Speaker:

So any positivity

Speaker:

that would come out of that is

Speaker:

beneficial because we don't have any

Speaker:

other options.

Speaker:

So that in itself, that in itself

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is the biggest barrier that we're

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seeing right now.

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Kind of reminds me of, you know,

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when you know someone is in crisis

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and you know, you don't want

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the police, but you

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don't know who else to call.

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So it's not a matter of, you know,

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you don't you know, you just don't

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know what services available is.

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You know, that some of those

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services will actually do

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more harm.

Speaker:

That is not only that is the only

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thing we can do here in Lloyd is

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call RCMP when you have any

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sort of crisis at all.

Speaker:

The only thing you can do is call

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the RCMP.

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And it

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it is a it's a it's a hard

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decision. You don't know if

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you are going to call them.

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And then more

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often than not, they are judged

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immediately upon arrival before

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that person

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is in social crisis or

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is in some sort of crisis,

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is in needing mental health support.

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You know, they're a drunk indigenous

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person.

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That is first and foremost what is

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seen.

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So

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you don't know if they are

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going to be victims of police

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brutality.

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You don't know if they're going to

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be taken seriously.

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You don't know if they're actually

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in they need life

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saving help, but they're going to go

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to the hospital and not receive that

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and which has happened quite a few

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times here and in other

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surrounding areas where people have

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gone multiple times to the hospital

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there. One person ended up taking

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his own life in a hospital, in a

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bathroom, because he had gone

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multiple times and was not

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supported.

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There are multiple, multiple

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stories. I have heard so

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many stories out of the hospital

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here of people and of racism.

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Yeah, I'll just interject.

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Even my own experience.

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I'm not me personally, but

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my brother was in crisis in

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the hospital here in Lloyd, and

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like he said, he's an indigenous

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man. He looks quite indigenous

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compared to me.

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And he's a big guy.

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He's built like a refrigerator.

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He was in a mental health crisis and

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the nurse called the cops on him

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because he was sitting behind

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a toilet crying because he didn't

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want her to take his temperature.

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And she said, Oh, he's going to hurt

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me. He's going to kill me.

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And called to police officers who

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showed up with guns and tasers.

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And like my my brother was like

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17 years old and he's terrified

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out of his mind.

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And the only thing that they saw

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was a big, scary native guy who is

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uncontrollable to them.

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And they just the first thing they

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did was call the police.

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And it's just that's how it is here.

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And it's it's really frustrating

Speaker:

because it's it's literally

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inescapable.

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And there's something similar.

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Well, not similar.

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But I've also had my own experience

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there after I had

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my youngest daughter,

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she like newborn

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babies. They kind of get like a

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newborn rash sometimes.

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Some are worse than others.

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And she had quite a substantial

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newborn rash and her

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startle reflex, like she got

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startled very easily.

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And I

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it, I noticed it.

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So I, I asked the nurse about,

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I was like, hey, what's up?

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Like, what's going on with this?

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And.

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The pediatrician literally asked me

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if I was doing drugs, and they

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asked me multiple times, are

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you do you do drugs?

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Are you doing drugs? Are you sure

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you didn't do any drugs?

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Like, this is my third baby.

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I'm sure I did not do any drugs.

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If I was concerned about that, I

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would I would have relayed that to

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you.

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And because of the rash, I got asked

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if I had herpes

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and, you know, as a new

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not a new mom, but I mean, I just

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gave birth and those

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and and being

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COVID tested right after

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you give birth plus all of those

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questions on top of it, not

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being able to have the support that

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I would have had with my other

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two children as well.

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Like I was alone, my

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husband, I had two other kids at

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home and

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because they he couldn't go, he

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couldn't leave and come back.

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I opted to stay by myself

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because I didn't have any other

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choice. So.

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It was. And that's that's just like

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our stories out of.

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I've heard so many so many

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so many stories out of this

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hospital.

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I can't remember what the question

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was. Sorry. That was kind of a

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really random tangent.

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Let me let me come back with another

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question then, kind of based on what

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you said, because one of the

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struggles that I face in my

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progressive circles

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when we try to talk about defunding

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the RCMP, you know, there was a

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resolution and, you know, I brought

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it to my riding association

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and.

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Socialists, progressives

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from anti-black

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racist advocates and

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a lot of resistance to defunding the

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RCMP. And one of the major

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sticking points

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that I obviously couldn't speak from

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experience, but you too can

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was you know, we've got a lot of

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these rural towns,

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cities that only

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have the RCMP

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and what would they do?

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Should there not be?

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Obviously, it's a gradual defunding

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and a building up of community

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services.

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You know, it's not.

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But that was the resistance

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that it faced, that that it was

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towns like yours that absolutely

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needed the RCMP

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to solve all of your problems.

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So what would you say to those

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folks that just can't see

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another way for towns like Lloyd

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does?

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You should answer this one.

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I know you have a phenomenal

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response to that.

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Yeah.

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You know, it's actually interesting

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because Tigra and I had had this

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conversation a little

Speaker:

while ago, too, where we talked

Speaker:

about the fact that Lloyd needs

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to have the RCMP for crisis

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response.

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And it's because we genuinely have

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no other services.

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And as you go throughout Alberta,

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especially rural northern Alberta,

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it's the same thing where, you know,

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some places they don't even have

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like an actual RCMP detachment.

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They have like a building that

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officers from a different community

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show up at in the morning.

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And they go they go there and they

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work there for the day because

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there's there's no you know, there's

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no municipality funds or anything.

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So they just have a tiny little

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building that they operate out of.

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And it is it's a huge problem.

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But it was made to be like that.

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This system was set up to

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be like this so that they're the

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only things that we have access to.

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You know, that comes from

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colonization, that comes

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from how this country fundamentally

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was set up and how systemically

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they needed to, you know,

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control the.

Speaker:

Natives.

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And all of this bullcrap

Speaker:

that we know that the RCMP is was

Speaker:

funded on and created on.

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From what I have learned,

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I like it is that gradual

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change, that that

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gradual bringing over of community

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services I think in a lot of

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communities out rural,

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especially in Alberta.

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I could see something where if

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Lloydminster, for example, was set

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up with a community response,

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we would have to take the onus at

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first and extend that

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out. Right.

Speaker:

Like Lloydminster having a community

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based response.

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We would extend that to places like

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KITT Scotti, which is only like 15

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minutes outside of Lloyd or Mar

Speaker:

Wayne, which is about 30 minutes or

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familiar or whatever areas.

Speaker:

I think that it would be

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really difficult, honestly,

Speaker:

to to make that change and I think

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it would be an effort

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that would have to come from the

Speaker:

entire community being ready to make

Speaker:

that change.

Speaker:

And honestly, I don't think it would

Speaker:

even be successful unless we were

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able to meaningfully

Speaker:

address the problems that

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cause the RCMP

Speaker:

to be needed.

Speaker:

So things like we have safe drug

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supply for people who need to access

Speaker:

it and we have a place where they

Speaker:

can go to use those drugs safely

Speaker:

and have medical response.

Speaker:

You know, we do things like

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providing housing for everybody

Speaker:

in that community so that people

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don't have to, you know,

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sleep in alleys and have the cops

Speaker:

called on them or break into a place

Speaker:

and have the cops called on them.

Speaker:

It's unfortunate that, like in order

Speaker:

to really start the process of

Speaker:

fixing these things, that

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we have to

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start by fixing the problems to make

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it so that we don't even need the

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police in the first place.

Speaker:

But that's that's kind of the

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beautiful thing that like a

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group like Elvie can do,

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especially as it gets larger, like

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creating that space to be like,

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Hey, don't call them, call us.

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I think would be really

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like the best way to start that is

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having those groups of people where

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somebody is trained to

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respond to any kind of mental health

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situations. I know here in Lloyd

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they do provide mental health

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training.

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I don't know how much it costs.

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I'm going to actually look into it

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later, though, but I know you can

Speaker:

get the $200.

Speaker:

$200 that's two

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or to 50.

Speaker:

Gross capitalism.

Speaker:

Songs

Speaker:

to us, which I thought was really

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awesome. But then I kept thinking

Speaker:

like, the unhoused should have

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this knowledge, they should have

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this training so they can support

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themselves.

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But for two, I can't even afford

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that.

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No, that's ridiculous.

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That's. Well, you know, I'm going to

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I'm going to get the course.

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I'm going to learn it. Then I'll teach

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it to everybody for free.

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That's what we'll do.

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Well, Pirate Bay.

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Pirate Bay. Crash course.

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Yeah, like.

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Like that's what you have to do is

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create those community systems and

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have that that number that,

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you know, to call that person or

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this group, and they're going to

Speaker:

come and have the people who are

Speaker:

reliable for it.

Speaker:

So yeah, I think that's where we

Speaker:

need to start looking.

Speaker:

It's the reality

Speaker:

is I think that we need to

Speaker:

consider over the next eight years

Speaker:

as we're looking

Speaker:

to a future where we're going to

Speaker:

have more polarized politics,

Speaker:

especially on the far right as we

Speaker:

see people of year,

Speaker:

whatever his name is, poutine,

Speaker:

getting all his like these big

Speaker:

rallies and MAGA types,

Speaker:

things like we're going to see more

Speaker:

of this, we're going to see more

Speaker:

climate disasters, we're going to

Speaker:

see more people being unhoused and

Speaker:

more people living and falling into

Speaker:

that poverty line.

Speaker:

We're just going to have to pick up

Speaker:

the responsibility together and,

Speaker:

you know, arm in arm, say, no,

Speaker:

you know what?

Speaker:

This isn't acceptable.

Speaker:

None of us have to live like this.

Speaker:

None of us have to have to

Speaker:

adhere to these ideas that society's

Speaker:

telling us that we need to live by.

Speaker:

We're eventually

Speaker:

going to as individuals and

Speaker:

as a community and as community

Speaker:

groups, we're just going to start

Speaker:

have to taking that responsibility

Speaker:

and just ask

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for forgiveness later.

Speaker:

You know, we know this person

Speaker:

needs to get house today.

Speaker:

We're going to find them a house

Speaker:

today. We'll ask for forgiveness

Speaker:

later. That's what we're going to

Speaker:

eventually be falling into, I think.

Speaker:

And I think that we should be.

Speaker:

Open and willing and ready to have

Speaker:

the conversations on what that looks

Speaker:

like and how we build up to that

Speaker:

point.

Speaker:

Because if we don't have those

Speaker:

conversations now, by the time that

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we need to have those systems in

Speaker:

place, it's going to be way more

Speaker:

difficult than any of us would like.

Speaker:

And I think a lot of people will

Speaker:

fall through the cracks.

Speaker:

Like, I'm hopeful that this model

Speaker:

that you have is

Speaker:

can act as an example, like you

Speaker:

said, like leading by example for

Speaker:

others to follow. And if you can

Speaker:

demonstrate a different way of

Speaker:

operating community, which is

Speaker:

really municipal, right?

Speaker:

Ideally, you folks shouldn't have

Speaker:

to do this right?

Speaker:

This is what you pay your taxes for

Speaker:

so that we can take care of each

Speaker:

other and not corporations.

Speaker:

Right. So I'm going to challenge

Speaker:

you a little bit here in the same

Speaker:

way folks challenge food banks.

Speaker:

If we take that onus on ourselves,

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the entire onus of feeding our

Speaker:

community members, have we not left

Speaker:

a lot of people off the hook

Speaker:

and.

Speaker:

Not that that's your work.

Speaker:

Like, we got to feed people.

Speaker:

We have to house people right now,

Speaker:

right? We can't wait for, like,

Speaker:

transformative politics to happen.

Speaker:

But how do we start to make that

Speaker:

shift where it's understood that

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that should it be dess

Speaker:

responsibility.

Speaker:

It should not be grizzlies and

Speaker:

her friends responsibilities to feed

Speaker:

the community of Lloyd

Speaker:

Wright like.

Speaker:

You do have a mayor, you do pay

Speaker:

taxes. There is a provincial

Speaker:

government. There is a federal

Speaker:

government with certain

Speaker:

responsibilities.

Speaker:

I know we don't trust them, but it

Speaker:

is still their job.

Speaker:

So we I worry that if we structure

Speaker:

ourselves like this, where the onus

Speaker:

is put on people who are already

Speaker:

struggling and

Speaker:

burning out as we do

Speaker:

that, that is not sustainable.

Speaker:

Our government's not sustainable.

Speaker:

It isn't. Our government is not

Speaker:

sustainable, though.

Speaker:

And the thing is,

Speaker:

especially when you have a nonprofit

Speaker:

and you are doing mutual aid, you

Speaker:

have to be super mindful

Speaker:

not to fall into

Speaker:

the nonprofit

Speaker:

industrial complex

Speaker:

and you have to be mindful

Speaker:

about.

Speaker:

Not falling into

Speaker:

this.

Speaker:

White centered charity

Speaker:

idea

Speaker:

where you are going to come

Speaker:

in and save everybody.

Speaker:

We're not saving people.

Speaker:

We are supporting our community.

Speaker:

And.

Speaker:

We are showing other

Speaker:

community members that

Speaker:

they are also capable

Speaker:

of supporting as well,

Speaker:

especially when it comes to food

Speaker:

and doesn't.

Speaker:

I have plans we have plans

Speaker:

for.

Speaker:

This.

Speaker:

Summer and yeah,

Speaker:

it's just we're I'm super excited

Speaker:

because.

Speaker:

We are going to be growing

Speaker:

food.

Speaker:

We're going to be growing food.

Speaker:

And the way that I see it, my

Speaker:

vision, my vision

Speaker:

is for everyone.

Speaker:

When we address the unhoused

Speaker:

and the vulnerable community

Speaker:

members, when they are taken care

Speaker:

of, everyone's taken care

Speaker:

of. When we can start there

Speaker:

and we know that they are taking

Speaker:

care of the entire community

Speaker:

is taking care of my plan

Speaker:

and my vision is

Speaker:

for anyone

Speaker:

who is gardening, anyone who has

Speaker:

luscious gardens.

Speaker:

Anyone who wants to

Speaker:

is new into gardening.

Speaker:

We can grow these luscious gardens

Speaker:

and trade and have a market

Speaker:

like a farmer's market, but just

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like seriously straight across

Speaker:

trading vegetables.

Speaker:

Right. I know.

Speaker:

I'm so excited for it.

Speaker:

And, you know, like, if you want

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to, you know, come in, you have

Speaker:

like you want to make a couple

Speaker:

bucks. Cool.

Speaker:

If you have some stuff you want to

Speaker:

trade for.

Speaker:

At the end of the season,

Speaker:

we can do seed trading.

Speaker:

So excited

Speaker:

we could do seed trading.

Speaker:

We can do we can and but we can

Speaker:

also get that

Speaker:

education out there as well.

Speaker:

Like this, like we

Speaker:

can do gardening

Speaker:

workshops and like and when I say

Speaker:

this, it is with the

Speaker:

unhoused community in the forefront.

Speaker:

They already know what's

Speaker:

being planned.

Speaker:

They helped plant seeds

Speaker:

to start seeds.

Speaker:

Does. When was that?

Speaker:

Last weekend or the weekend before?

Speaker:

That was last weekend because I had

Speaker:

the boys.

Speaker:

Yes. And so they they helped.

Speaker:

They helped plant seeds.

Speaker:

They are going to show me.

Speaker:

It's kind of.

Speaker:

Do and ask permission later.

Speaker:

You know, I'm not asking.

Speaker:

I believe we call it guerrilla

Speaker:

gardening.

Speaker:

Yes.

Speaker:

Or we've called the Operation

Speaker:

Entry Fire or

Speaker:

plant fire.

Speaker:

Oh, my planting

Speaker:

plan. TFA is a T-shirt waiting

Speaker:

to happen.

Speaker:

It's already a T-shirt.

Speaker:

It's already a T-shirt.

Speaker:

Oh, yeah.

Speaker:

I will buy one.

Speaker:

I'll have to send it to you.

Speaker:

But it's that. The thing is, these

Speaker:

these these terms are not they're

Speaker:

not co-opted.

Speaker:

Anyone can use them.

Speaker:

And they're any.

Speaker:

You want to stick it on a T-shirt,

Speaker:

go and can buy make your own little

Speaker:

plentiful logo.

Speaker:

Go right ahead.

Speaker:

But yeah, I do

Speaker:

now ask permission later.

Speaker:

And you know what? When it explodes,

Speaker:

which I envision it exploding

Speaker:

and, you know, other community

Speaker:

members can really see

Speaker:

that it's possible.

Speaker:

I think that we will

Speaker:

truly be leading by example.

Speaker:

Well, it's it will be

Speaker:

it's genuine.

Speaker:

It's not forced.

Speaker:

It's not like, you know,

Speaker:

like.

Speaker:

Like Joel

Speaker:

was witnesses where you have to go

Speaker:

door to door and you're like, Please

Speaker:

believe in this.

Speaker:

Like, No, watch.

Speaker:

We'll do it.

Speaker:

You know, if it resonates with you,

Speaker:

you do it to to it's not

Speaker:

going to harm anyone.

Speaker:

Maybe cross-pollination, but

Speaker:

me. I still figure that

Speaker:

part out. But it

Speaker:

is.

Speaker:

It's it's putting that education

Speaker:

out there that we can be

Speaker:

self-sufficient as a community if we

Speaker:

want to. If we put that if we truly

Speaker:

put the work in, we can do it

Speaker:

and be self-sufficient as a

Speaker:

community.

Speaker:

But the education that is such

Speaker:

a big part, whether it be

Speaker:

food scarcity,

Speaker:

food insecurity, housing

Speaker:

harm reduction, safe consumption

Speaker:

police, abolishing

Speaker:

the police.

Speaker:

It all comes down to education

Speaker:

and putting the stats

Speaker:

out there,

Speaker:

like the correlation,

Speaker:

the cause and effect.

Speaker:

Even if we start working

Speaker:

here at the bottom down with

Speaker:

the basics, this is how

Speaker:

it will affect up here.

Speaker:

And some

Speaker:

people are very are very

Speaker:

analytically minded.

Speaker:

They you know, you have to put

Speaker:

statistics and percentages and

Speaker:

numbers out there for them to

Speaker:

understand, you know, like

Speaker:

if we had sustainable

Speaker:

housing for everyone

Speaker:

in the long run, this actually saves

Speaker:

us money.

Speaker:

In the long run, we end up building

Speaker:

our community better.

Speaker:

We have a stronger community, a

Speaker:

better relationship, you know,

Speaker:

and I've thought

Speaker:

of various ways

Speaker:

of how we can do this, but

Speaker:

just new and innovative

Speaker:

ways, whether that's, you know.

Speaker:

I don't know about you, but when I

Speaker:

see random QR codes, hopefully I

Speaker:

don't get a virus.

Speaker:

When they're my phone.

Speaker:

When I see random QR codes, I always

Speaker:

scan it. Always so.

Speaker:

Right. So like part

Speaker:

like that.

Speaker:

That was one idea, like putting

Speaker:

together stats

Speaker:

and then putting up QR codes

Speaker:

all around the city, you know,

Speaker:

or, you know,

Speaker:

making different brochures or

Speaker:

having different rallies,

Speaker:

community discussions,

Speaker:

but really

Speaker:

education

Speaker:

based.

Speaker:

I don't know how to word it

Speaker:

properly, but also

Speaker:

with also with

Speaker:

the community members in

Speaker:

the forefront, with those

Speaker:

marginalized people that have been

Speaker:

silenced in the forefront, we are

Speaker:

amplifying them.

Speaker:

They know what they need

Speaker:

and we are just there to

Speaker:

push them and get them into spaces

Speaker:

that they otherwise wouldn't be able

Speaker:

to get into.

Speaker:

Yeah.

Speaker:

And I think the

Speaker:

really important thing about that

Speaker:

vision that you have of

Speaker:

how our community should and

Speaker:

can and will operate, and

Speaker:

I'm going to manifest that right

Speaker:

now. It will operate like this

Speaker:

is I don't think it will take

Speaker:

the onus away from the people who

Speaker:

have let us down.

Speaker:

I think honestly, when our

Speaker:

community sees how

Speaker:

easy it was to make

Speaker:

those little changes, it's going

Speaker:

to be like, Oh,

Speaker:

are you kidding?

Speaker:

They could have done this before.

Speaker:

We could have we've could have had

Speaker:

this for years. You know, like we

Speaker:

have a garden of community garden

Speaker:

here in Loyd. The waitlist is like

Speaker:

almost two, three years,

Speaker:

and it's expensive to get a garden

Speaker:

plot. And if you don't have a

Speaker:

backyard, if you don't have a

Speaker:

backyard garden, there's nowhere

Speaker:

else you can go to, to, you

Speaker:

know, do this.

Speaker:

And people are like,

Speaker:

it's ah, like if you're living

Speaker:

downtown like that walk is probably

Speaker:

about 45 minutes.

Speaker:

Oh I'd say even more than that.

Speaker:

Yeah. Yeah, it's, it's very much

Speaker:

an inaccessible thing.

Speaker:

And so, you know, it's just easy if

Speaker:

we throw up some some guerilla

Speaker:

gardens, some plan trivia

Speaker:

all of a sudden, Oh, hey, you don't

Speaker:

have to worry about this waiting

Speaker:

list. Now you've got fresh lettuce

Speaker:

in your front yard.

Speaker:

It's on. You know, we have so many

Speaker:

grassy medians across town that

Speaker:

have nothing on them except for

Speaker:

litter because people just throw

Speaker:

stuff around because it's not

Speaker:

pretty. Well, let's make it pretty.

Speaker:

Well, you're not going to wreck it

Speaker:

now because it's beautiful, right?

Speaker:

And I think that's that it'll just

Speaker:

be a time of as we're

Speaker:

working through it, educating people

Speaker:

and even just making people angry

Speaker:

ourselves, you know, handing

Speaker:

out sandwiches and being like, isn't

Speaker:

it ridiculous that, you know,

Speaker:

Shannon Stubbs is our MP

Speaker:

and she didn't show up here and

Speaker:

she's not handing out sandwiches,

Speaker:

super weird rosemary folk.

Speaker:

She's not here handing out any water

Speaker:

to unhoused people.

Speaker:

What do they do and why are we

Speaker:

paying them $200,000.

Speaker:

A year once?

Speaker:

Exactly.

Speaker:

Yeah. You know, eurofins.

Speaker:

Oh, this is on all of us,

Speaker:

though. The onus is on

Speaker:

all of us as as

Speaker:

as members of this community

Speaker:

to support to support our community.

Speaker:

To support our community members and

Speaker:

not.

Speaker:

You know, rely on

Speaker:

structures and systems that we know

Speaker:

don't work, that are not something

Speaker:

they are built off profit.

Speaker:

They're they're built on systemic

Speaker:

racism.

Speaker:

And they just they have proven time

Speaker:

and time again that we don't that it

Speaker:

doesn't work so

Speaker:

well.

Speaker:

I appreciate the work that you

Speaker:

guys are doing to kind of disrupt

Speaker:

and decolonize.

Speaker:

We're kind of near the end of our

Speaker:

time here.

Speaker:

But I also I'm listening

Speaker:

to you and I just keep thinking,

Speaker:

you folks need a commune

Speaker:

in Loyd, right?

Speaker:

If I had a magic

Speaker:

wand, I know.

Speaker:

Like, you know, I'll fix all the

Speaker:

problems of the world, yadda, yadda.

Speaker:

But if I could do one little thing

Speaker:

for you would be to give you a

Speaker:

plot of space, a plot

Speaker:

of land in your community with

Speaker:

that structure.

Speaker:

And I can only imagine

Speaker:

what you would do.

Speaker:

And it may sound really silly, but

Speaker:

I'm rewatching The Walking Dead.

Speaker:

That's how I relax.

Speaker:

They'll judge so

Speaker:

and they get to start a new right

Speaker:

and each one has its own style.

Speaker:

And, and, and

Speaker:

you do get to start again.

Speaker:

And in this horrific

Speaker:

post-apocalyptic,

Speaker:

you know, we had the banks

Speaker:

capitalism zombie land.

Speaker:

But, you know, that's how I envision

Speaker:

your work, right?

Speaker:

That's it. That is honestly what we

Speaker:

want to do. Like Alvey is a part

Speaker:

of another it's part

Speaker:

of another, quote, coalition,

Speaker:

kind of called Turtle Island

Speaker:

Mutual Aid Collective.

Speaker:

And it's a group of

Speaker:

so there is L-O-V-E,

Speaker:

a fight for equity,

Speaker:

Water Warriors, NYC

Speaker:

and Street Cats,

Speaker:

I believe.

Speaker:

So we're all under one mutual aid

Speaker:

collective and our goal

Speaker:

is to win the lottery,

Speaker:

collect enough monetary donations

Speaker:

from either like grant

Speaker:

funding or community members,

Speaker:

and build

Speaker:

a self sufficient

Speaker:

structure where

Speaker:

we can have an outdoor

Speaker:

garden, we can have an indoor

Speaker:

garden, hydroponics aquaponics,

Speaker:

but also like

Speaker:

and this is I don't know what,

Speaker:

what type of year like

Speaker:

ten year, five year, hopefully like

Speaker:

five year, but we'll say time.

Speaker:

Your goal of

Speaker:

an all encompassing

Speaker:

space where

Speaker:

we can have our drop in center, we

Speaker:

can have our

Speaker:

our shelters like emergency shelters

Speaker:

for men,

Speaker:

men and women.

Speaker:

But then also like the wet shelter

Speaker:

part of it too.

Speaker:

Everyone needs support no matter

Speaker:

where, at what point they

Speaker:

are. And a lot of

Speaker:

the barriers that I have heard are

Speaker:

and have personally experienced.

Speaker:

If you are under the influence

Speaker:

of anything, you cannot get into a

Speaker:

shelter.

Speaker:

So just to clarify for listeners,

Speaker:

like a wet shelter is one that does

Speaker:

not have restrictions on

Speaker:

those experiencing addiction.

Speaker:

Yes, absolutely.

Speaker:

And, you know, getting

Speaker:

clean and sober on the streets is

Speaker:

almost impossible.

Speaker:

Like I have all

Speaker:

you know, there are there are people

Speaker:

that do it. And I'm like, how

Speaker:

I had to move

Speaker:

hours away from my old

Speaker:

stomping grounds to get clean and

Speaker:

sober and I still relapsed here.

Speaker:

So for you to be in the same small

Speaker:

rural community on

Speaker:

the streets, getting clean and

Speaker:

sober, like we should stop doing

Speaker:

that. Yes. Good for you.

Speaker:

But we do need we do need a

Speaker:

structure that does support

Speaker:

like like a wet shelter,

Speaker:

a shelter where women and

Speaker:

children can come regardless if

Speaker:

they're fleeing domestic violence or

Speaker:

not. Because, believe it or not, out

Speaker:

here in Lloyd, we do not have that.

Speaker:

We have one women's shelter

Speaker:

and you have to be fleeing domestic

Speaker:

violence. Other than that, you have

Speaker:

nowhere to go here.

Speaker:

So that will also

Speaker:

be a part of that.

Speaker:

I know Tyler from Residence in

Speaker:

Recovery. She has an awesome program

Speaker:

for mothers and children.

Speaker:

So instead of your children being

Speaker:

taken away from you when you

Speaker:

are receiving recovery support,

Speaker:

you can now go into

Speaker:

sober living with your children.

Speaker:

And like as

Speaker:

a mom who had

Speaker:

to get clean and sober without

Speaker:

her, her children.

Speaker:

And that is so

Speaker:

hard. The amount of shame you feel

Speaker:

as a mother having your kids taken

Speaker:

away from you.

Speaker:

It doesn't make it easier, makes it

Speaker:

worse.

Speaker:

I truly believe that

Speaker:

I went way farther down than

Speaker:

I would have because

Speaker:

I didn't have my child

Speaker:

with me. She was taken away from me.

Speaker:

So it is a sense of shame.

Speaker:

So another part of that all

Speaker:

encompassing structure is to have

Speaker:

women and children in there, to

Speaker:

be to get clean and sober

Speaker:

and just like, you know,

Speaker:

cultural sensitivity,

Speaker:

mental health training,

Speaker:

just everything, everything under

Speaker:

one umbrella.

Speaker:

And it sounds it sounds

Speaker:

extravagant and grand, but I really

Speaker:

do feel like

Speaker:

it could it could come into

Speaker:

fruition for sure.

Speaker:

How sad for us to have to reflect

Speaker:

on that and think it sounds

Speaker:

extravagant and it does by today's

Speaker:

standards. But is

Speaker:

it right or is that what we deserve?

Speaker:

Like super kudos to you.

Speaker:

Like you talk about your struggles

Speaker:

and I've gone

Speaker:

door to door to and I've heard

Speaker:

people who've had struggles.

Speaker:

And you can go one of two ways,

Speaker:

right? We see people that was like,

Speaker:

if I struggled, everyone should

Speaker:

struggle. What's the big deal?

Speaker:

I'm here, you know.

Speaker:

But you know.

Speaker:

No, you.

Speaker:

You said no one after me, you know

Speaker:

what I mean? I cannot sit idly

Speaker:

by while my community members

Speaker:

struggle.

Speaker:

So I know that you can't

Speaker:

understand anyone operating

Speaker:

any other way.

Speaker:

Thank goodness for that.

Speaker:

But there are so I,

Speaker:

I get so excited when we find

Speaker:

people like you doing this work,

Speaker:

especially in difficult

Speaker:

circumstances, coming out of certain

Speaker:

living in difficult circumstances

Speaker:

like so many of us are.

Speaker:

I mean, it's just surviving

Speaker:

sometimes in this atmosphere

Speaker:

is something to look up to.

Speaker:

But you you both have done so much

Speaker:

more than that. So I do give you

Speaker:

immense praise for that,

Speaker:

and I'm sure a lot of listeners

Speaker:

will. I want to end

Speaker:

first, tell

Speaker:

people how they can donate

Speaker:

or contribute to what you're doing.

Speaker:

Let's take a

Speaker:

minute here and drop some.

Speaker:

Links or whatever

Speaker:

you've got, and then you can provide

Speaker:

that to me after and I'll be sure to

Speaker:

post it up when we post the episode.

Speaker:

But how can people help you right

Speaker:

now?

Speaker:

We have we

Speaker:

have a couple different ways.

Speaker:

So we have.

Speaker:

Hmm.

Speaker:

We do have a Facebook group,

Speaker:

Lloydminster and Vermilion for

Speaker:

Equity. It's a group.

Speaker:

You have to join it.

Speaker:

We have a Facebook page where anyone

Speaker:

can join that.

Speaker:

And then we if you

Speaker:

want to donate to us, we have

Speaker:

an email where you can EMT us

Speaker:

lloydminster vermilion for equity

Speaker:

at gmail.com.

Speaker:

We did have a website, but I

Speaker:

messed it up somehow, so

Speaker:

I will.

Speaker:

If anyone, if anyone

Speaker:

knows how to build a website and can

Speaker:

do it voluntarily, please

Speaker:

let me know because I.

Speaker:

Got you.

Speaker:

Girl.

Speaker:

Yes.

Speaker:

I was going to say I've got it.

Speaker:

I've got a Slack channel that we

Speaker:

can find somebody to help you with

Speaker:

that that is not a problem.

Speaker:

I don't know what the heck I did

Speaker:

like. I got all the log in

Speaker:

information. I'm like, I'm going to

Speaker:

fix this.

Speaker:

And it was not the greatest.

Speaker:

And then I ended up going to check

Speaker:

it out and it was like, This page

Speaker:

cannot be found.

Speaker:

Shame, shame.

Speaker:

That's the worst return, right?

Speaker:

It's like, oh.

Speaker:

Man, I'm like, Oh, shit,

Speaker:

what would I do?

Speaker:

That's how we, all of us, teach each

Speaker:

other, right? Like we just like

Speaker:

trial and error.

Speaker:

Like, bang your head against the

Speaker:

wall is.

Speaker:

Trial and error.

Speaker:

And I think that's.

Speaker:

Yeah, that's how you can find

Speaker:

us.

Speaker:

I will send you all those links when

Speaker:

we're done.

Speaker:

We'll also do a monthly book

Speaker:

club if anyone is interested.

Speaker:

Yeah, it's our page

Speaker:

as well. It's a group.

Speaker:

It's L-O-V-E book club.

Speaker:

And we read

Speaker:

obviously books about anti-racism,

Speaker:

but we read books from other bipoc

Speaker:

ah authors.

Speaker:

We've read Robin

Speaker:

Maynard's Police Black Lives.

Speaker:

Abraham can be from the beginning,

Speaker:

um,

Speaker:

uh,

Speaker:

clearing the plains, but I can't

Speaker:

remember the author of that book.

Speaker:

That was such a good book.

Speaker:

But yes. So if you want to join

Speaker:

that, it's L.V.

Speaker:

Book Club on Facebook.

Speaker:

Will make sure to get those links up

Speaker:

and connected to the show as well.

Speaker:

So on a parting thought,

Speaker:

what I'm going to ask the both of

Speaker:

you to do is just kind of briefly

Speaker:

tell me what you're most

Speaker:

proud of at this moment.

Speaker:

And it could be related to what

Speaker:

we've talked about or not at all.

Speaker:

But yeah. What, what success do you

Speaker:

want to tell us about. Ah, just what

Speaker:

are you proud of?

Speaker:

Share something really positive with

Speaker:

us.

Speaker:

Wow. There's, there's so

Speaker:

many things I

Speaker:

think I've had a good like I've been

Speaker:

kind of sick the last little bit, so

Speaker:

I'm trying to find all those little

Speaker:

silver linings.

Speaker:

I'll think of three off the top of

Speaker:

my head, my monster.

Speaker:

I gave me two babies recently, so.

Speaker:

And I now have three monstera plants

Speaker:

instead of one.

Speaker:

I got to see T Grizzly

Speaker:

Campbell today, which is incredible.

Speaker:

I love seeing her face.

Speaker:

She's probably one of my favorite

Speaker:

human beings, so that's really

Speaker:

great. I also got to see Jess

Speaker:

McClain, which is really awesome.

Speaker:

She's also really credible

Speaker:

and I think what I'm most

Speaker:

excited for is that

Speaker:

it's almost springtime,

Speaker:

which means that Tigra and I get to

Speaker:

go do some entry for work

Speaker:

and I bought a bunch of seeds.

Speaker:

I have a bunch of really awesome

Speaker:

food seeds and wildflower seeds

Speaker:

ready to go in little seed

Speaker:

bonds.

Speaker:

And we're going to completely make

Speaker:

Lloydminster a beautiful place to

Speaker:

live, probably for the first time in

Speaker:

the 14 years that I've also lived

Speaker:

here, because we moved here in the

Speaker:

same year.

Speaker:

I feel like I have to send you two

Speaker:

seeds now.

Speaker:

It's just I know they don't cost a

Speaker:

lot, but it's just seems symbolic.

Speaker:

So I've got to grow light over

Speaker:

there. I'm a spreader myself.

Speaker:

I am. Surely I need your mailing

Speaker:

addresses, both of you, because I

Speaker:

feel like if that's all I can

Speaker:

contribute to your cause and

Speaker:

that's seeds of solidarity.

Speaker:

I'm excited about gardening like I

Speaker:

am. My hands need to be dirty all

Speaker:

summer long.

Speaker:

They already are.

Speaker:

So Seeds of Solidarity

Speaker:

is now a T-shirt.

Speaker:

I sleep so good.

Speaker:

Jay, Jay.

Speaker:

Jay is listening.

Speaker:

Please write all this down.

Speaker:

We have a whole T-shirt factory we

Speaker:

have to start.

Speaker:

Apparently was seated.

Speaker:

So t.

Speaker:

Grr. You've got a lot to brag about

Speaker:

as well.

Speaker:

What are you most proud of right

Speaker:

now?

Speaker:

Well, I am like,

Speaker:

I'm I'm so happy that I got

Speaker:

to have this conversation today.

Speaker:

So appreciative of it.

Speaker:

Thanks so much.

Speaker:

Does or including me.

Speaker:

And yeah, I just love you so much.

Speaker:

I have a really hard time

Speaker:

talking, like talking about myself.

Speaker:

I think a lot of people who have

Speaker:

gone through trauma have the same

Speaker:

the same outlook.

Speaker:

I, I honestly,

Speaker:

I'm really proud of my

Speaker:

recovery.

Speaker:

If I didn't get clean and sober,

Speaker:

then I wouldn't be where I am today.

Speaker:

In January,

Speaker:

I celebrated six year clean

Speaker:

and sober from alcohol

Speaker:

and methamphetamine.

Speaker:

Yeah,

Speaker:

so I am.

Speaker:

I'm sorry if you can hear them.

Speaker:

I'm that's my number one

Speaker:

proud moment.

Speaker:

And I'm proud

Speaker:

of my kids.

Speaker:

I'm proud of the mom I am.

Speaker:

And it's

Speaker:

really hard. It's very hard work.

Speaker:

And when you're neurodivergent,

Speaker:

it's even harder.

Speaker:

So I'm proud of that.

Speaker:

And I'm proud of Alvey.

Speaker:

I'm proud of the work that we've

Speaker:

done in the community.

Speaker:

I'm proud of the relationships

Speaker:

that we've built.

Speaker:

I'm proud of

Speaker:

the the team and

Speaker:

the support that we've that we've

Speaker:

created and

Speaker:

just having really awesome like

Speaker:

minded people that

Speaker:

we can build off of,

Speaker:

have a think tank with, you

Speaker:

know, have different

Speaker:

low key missions so

Speaker:

that, you know, we need to get this

Speaker:

done and they're always down

Speaker:

to do it.

Speaker:

So, yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm very proud

Speaker:

of the work that we've done.

Speaker:

And

Speaker:

yeah, I guess I really want to

Speaker:

honestly like thank the community,

Speaker:

the vulnerable community and

Speaker:

the unhoused community that we work

Speaker:

with as well.

Speaker:

We learn so much from them

Speaker:

every week and

Speaker:

we really wouldn't know what

Speaker:

to do, how to support them if

Speaker:

they didn't

Speaker:

start to develop that trust with us

Speaker:

and really trust us to be open,

Speaker:

open with us.

Speaker:

So yeah, well,

Speaker:

I thank you for the same reasons

Speaker:

like you came on here, both of you.

Speaker:

I've learned a lot.

Speaker:

I hope our listeners have learned a

Speaker:

lot and take some inspiration

Speaker:

from that, that they can learn

Speaker:

by your example as as

Speaker:

your mission kind of states.

Speaker:

So I'm glad that you

Speaker:

had a laundry list of things

Speaker:

to be proud of because you sure do.

Speaker:

You both do.

Speaker:

I am so honored to be

Speaker:

able to amplify that work.

Speaker:

I will do my best to, you know, do

Speaker:

that beyond the podcast as well

Speaker:

because is so critical.

Speaker:

I'm so grateful that people are

Speaker:

still willing to do that through

Speaker:

their struggles.

Speaker:

And capitalism has not got

Speaker:

everybody down.

Speaker:

There are so many fires

Speaker:

burning across Canada in places

Speaker:

you would maybe not even think of.

Speaker:

So again, thank

Speaker:

you, wonderful women.

Speaker:

So much for coming on here,

Speaker:

being vulnerable, sharing your highs

Speaker:

and your lows, expressing

Speaker:

your love for one another as

Speaker:

comrades is just

Speaker:

absolutely beautiful.

Speaker:

Way to start my weekend.

Speaker:

So thank you again so

Speaker:

much. I hope you enjoyed

Speaker:

that discussion with T Grizzly and

Speaker:

Dez and we want to remind

Speaker:

you to be sure to check out the work

Speaker:

of Lloydminster Vermilion Equity

Speaker:

Foundation, the community building

Speaker:

that we heard discussed today,

Speaker:

and the importance of amplifying the

Speaker:

voices of those most affected

Speaker:

is what I'll take from me the most.

Speaker:

Also the incredible camaraderie

Speaker:

between the two.

Speaker:

I think that is important

Speaker:

in terms of kind of getting through

Speaker:

the work that they do.

Speaker:

I hope it inspires you as well,

Speaker:

the listeners, to hear how

Speaker:

much can be done in a really tough

Speaker:

political environment with very

Speaker:

little resources and very little

Speaker:

time.

Speaker:

Of course, as you hear,

Speaker:

that is only made possible by,

Speaker:

you know, finding genuine allies

Speaker:

and comrades to share the workload,

Speaker:

to push us to do better and

Speaker:

to really support each other.

Speaker:

We heard a lot about burnout and how

Speaker:

exhausting the work can be.

Speaker:

If we all could just have comrades

Speaker:

like T Grizzly and days, just

Speaker:

imagine the work that we could get

Speaker:

done. I encourage you all to

Speaker:

support each other in the way that

Speaker:

they do and to keep working

Speaker:

on thank you.

Speaker:

Like in all things that we do, there

Speaker:

is a team behind blueprints of

Speaker:

destruction.

Speaker:

I want to give a big thank you to

Speaker:

our producers, Santiago.

Speaker:

Hello, Quinn, Tero and

Speaker:

Jay Woodruff.

Speaker:

Our show is also made possible by

Speaker:

the support of our listeners.

Speaker:

So if you appreciate our content

Speaker:

and would like to become a patriot,

Speaker:

please visit us at.

Speaker:

W w w dot patron

Speaker:

backslash. BP of disruption.

Speaker:

So if you know of any work that

Speaker:

should be amplified or want

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About the Podcast

Blueprints of Disruption
A Podcast for Rabble Rousers
Blueprints of Disruption is dedicated to amplifying the work of activists, organizers and rabble rousers. This weekly podcast, hosted by Jessa McLean and Santiago Helou Quintero, features in-depth discussions that explore different ways to challenge capitalism, decolonize spaces and create movements on the ground. Together we will disrupt the status quo one episode at a time.

About your hosts

Jessa McLean

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Host, Jessa McLean is a socialist political and community organizer from Ontario.

Santiago Helou Quintero

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Producer