Photo by Celia Mendez If Quique Escamilla could summarize his musical journey in one word, it would be “grateful.” Born and raised in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas, the Juno Award–winning musician grew up with a limited idea of how far music could take him. Now based in Toronto as an established and touring […] More »

Photo by Hadeel Ibrahim Hadeel Ibrahim was a reporter for the CBC in Saint John, New Brunswick in 2023 when then-Premier Blaine Higgs made headlines. He’d removed protections for trans and gender-diverse students, a move that prompted Ibrahim to eventually switch careers. Higgs’ government revised Policy 713, an education policy effected in 2020 that established […] More »

For Somia Sadiq, a registered professional planner and founder of Winnipeg-based impact assessment consulting firm Narratives Inc., we don’t tell ourselves stories in order to live. Rather, we live in order to carry them. To pass them along. The government of Canada’s website defines impact assessment as a tool used by those spearheading major projects, […] More »

We were teaching ourselves something that we didn’t know,” says Kat Estacio, co-founder of Toronto’s Pantayo, a quintet blending traditional Filipino kulintang music with Western pop and rock styles. That’s partly why it took eight years between the ensemble’s first practice in 2012 and the release of their self-titled debut earlier this year. As with […] More »

One Friday in late January, a photo on Facebook had Debra Selkirk in tears. Weeks earlier, she’d received a desperate email from a woman in the U.S. The woman’s 30-year-old sister needed a new liver, but she had to be alcohol-free for six months before she could get a transplant. The question was: Did she […] More »

Shyra Barberstock was 21 years old when she met her Anishinaabe birth mother and finally gained Kebaowek status. Until then, she was unaware of her Kebaowek First Nation roots, having grown up with her nonIndigenous adoptive family. “As you can see I’m very fair skinned,” says Barberstock. “Had I not met her, I may never […] More »

In her bright turquoise van adorned with purple lightning bolts, Melissa Sariffodeen resembles a digital era Ms. Frizzle—travelling the country, expanding the minds of bright-eyed students in new and exciting ways. This is the Code Mobile, Canada’s first coding truck led by Sariffodeen, the CEO of Ladies Learning Code. Sariffodeen was inspired to start the […] More »

“You have to stay here with me ’cause I don’t want you to be responsible for me,” insists a visitor to Percy Sacobie’s cabin in the woods behind his mother’s house. “You’re responsible for what you do to yourself,” Sacobie replies. He stops by the cabin every morning and every evening, but beyond that, its […] More »

Nearly every day, Mark Marsolais-Nahwegahbow hears stories from Indigenous men and women that they’ve often never told. The exchange usually begins at the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre, within which Indigenous people accused of various crimes are awaiting trial. Their stories are turned into a Gladue report, a document that outlines their personal history and how they were […] More »

When Nobel Laureate Tim Hunt said, at a science conference in 2015, that the trouble with women in labs is they cry and fall in love, the scientific community reacted with a barrage of vituperations from both sides. For doctoral candidate Eden Hennessey, one hashtag became a call to action. Under the banner #DistractinglySexy, female scientists […] More »

Photo by Stephanie Willis, Falling Leaves Photography Thirty minutes due east of Edmonton, where the traffic signals turn from streetlights to stop signs, is the town of Ardrossan. Here, you’ll find the Dreamcatcher Nature-Assisted Therapy Association, perched on 40 acres of lush, tree-lined, and trailed land. Founded in 2003 by psychologist Eileen Bona, Dreamcatcher has […] More »