We are committed to principles and practices of decolonization, including settler responsibility for honouring the treaties and rematriating this land to Indigenous trust before the work of collaboration can be undertaken in good faith. We would like to be held accountable for the ways I perpetuate legacies of harm as an uninvited inhabitant of this land. We support the restoration and protection of Indigenous people’s land and resource rights for the benefit of all.
There is no prosperity without flourishing Indigenous communities.
There is no freedom without Indigenous liberation.
It is very difficult and deeply problematic to acknowledge the land we are on and the history it holds in a static format. A fresh and specific acknowledgement is written by a different participant for each of our events and meetings.
Our People
Lee Allard
they/their | accountability-holder
Lee values: community, collaboration, learning, transparency, and diversity.
Lee practices: vulnerability, love and kindness, community building, social work, parenting, and cyclo-touring.
Caitlin Gallichan-Lowe
she/her | accountability-holder
Caitlin values: love, courage, rebellion, kindness, and compassion.
Caitlin practices: parenting, theatre, teaching, dancing, design, meditation, tree hugging, and patience.
Theodosia Markarian
she/her | accountability-holder
Theda values: generosity, unknowing, thriving, presence, and love.
Theda practices: writing, reading, cat parenting, macrame, and baking.
Tiffany Sostar
they/their | accountability-holder
Tiffany values: vulnerability, compassion, curiosity, resilience, community, and consent.
Tiffany practices: narrative therapy and community work, writing, more writing, writing with colourful pens, stepparenting, and an exhuberant and sometimes unsustainable abundance of projects.
Nathan Viktor Fawaz
they/their | accountability-holder
Nathan values: love, liberation, accessibility, clarity, congruency, divergence, and outlasting.
Nathan practices: parenting, writing, knitting, performing, practicing, storying, alignment, and healing.
Mark Randall
he/his | speaker qsa #1
The theme for qsa #1 was: Resilience Responds to Fear.
We chose a raspberry pavlova to represent the spirit of Mark’s resilience in responding to surviving, living, and flourishing with HIV through the crisis days of the 80s, and supporting people through their own experiences of crisis today.
In addition to being known for making delicious desserts, Mark brings all the sweetness, tartness, softness, precision, and wholeness life has to offer through trials of great fear and shares his specific balance of those flavours in his every interaction.
Miroslav Reljic
he/his | speaker qsa #1
The theme for qsa #1 was: Resilience Responds to Fear.
We chose yarn to reflect the spirit of Miro’s resilience in responding to bullying, assault, and seeking refuge in distant land.
Miro told us how his grandmother taught him how to knit, and how, to this day, he uses each stitch as an affirmation of his goodness, value, strength, and integrity.
Stasha Huntingford
she/her | speaker qsa #2
Stasha values: visions of a more just future, reclaiming, difference, rebellion, equity, and connection.
Stasha practices: living my values, speaking up about injustice, nurturing relationships, being part of the earth, listening.
The theme for qsa #2 is Affirmation Responds to Distortion.
In Stasha’s words: “I shall talk about veggie burgers with bacon, and ways we all challenge binaries, and why this is social justice work.”
CN: There will be mention and description of trauma and loss, along with joy and transformation. Strong language will also be used.
We selected this image of moss to represent the spirit of Stasha’s affirmation of self and world because, like Stasha’s work and ideas, moss is rhizomic; and, because Stasha documents her celebration/grief through daily collections of photos that often take the natural world as its subject.