What impact do you (and/or your business) want to have on rural and remote Canada?
Both as individuals and in community
Clearing a New Path podcast and newsletter are aimed at building a more united, feminist, anti-oppressive rural (so-called) Canada.
The recent federal drinking water settlement deal covers 142,000 individuals from 258 First Nations. (TVO drinking water crisis timeline)
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In this newsletter:
What impact do you (or your business) want to have on rural Canada?
Rural news roundup
Recommendations
What impact do you (and/or your business) want to have on rural Canada?
After getting over an almost 10-day long sinus and chest infection, I had the pleasure of interviewing a good friend on her latest venture last week.
Janan McNaughton and I met during the pandemic, through a mutual desire for some form of activism/awareness in the county where we both live. We were connected through a local female politician and have remained good friends as we both navigate entrepreneurship, and citizenship in our own rural communities.
Janan had a PhD in social work, worked in that industry, was a researcher, freelance writer and travelled the world. So how did she end up opening Proof Line Farm Creamery and Farm Market in rural Ontario?
Janan talks about her experience moving from the city to a rural community, the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion and how these conversations were common in her social work world, but more challenging in a rural context.
She emphasizes the need for urban and rural communities to connect and work together in the local food system and how partnership building and finding the right resources aligned with the farm's values are crucial for success.
This is really the first time the two of us talked ‘business’ and while I was struck by many of her thoughtful responses, what really resonated in the moment for me, was her clarity and sense of purpose. Not that I was surprised, not at all but what it did was shine a light on my own LACK of clarity and purpose (more on that later).
Janan credits, in part, her business coach Chelsey Hart from Your Initiative Co with gaining clarity on vision, mission and values.
Or you can find it on any of your favourite podcast platforms.
You can’t plan and assign your way into collaboration
I have made the mistake of thinking that I can single-handedly encourage people to collaborate and it’s just that simple. Honestly, I have no idea what I was thinking!
Folks do not like being uncomfortable for the most part and working with folks they don’t like (or I/we don’t like) or that disagree with us or that might poke holes in our ideas, is not something we embrace with abandon.
Becky McCray from SaveYour.Town came up with this gem and it landed in my inbox.
“Howdy Shauna,
I ran into another one of those outdated “how to fix your rural community” prescriptions. I think you know the type I mean, written to address the “official leaders.” It started with shared vision, then planning (lots of planning), recruiting additional participants, assigning parts of the plan to people, and then finally action. That’s not getting into the follow-ups and accountability and all that.
It sounds plausible, or it used to.
You can’t plan and assign your way into collaboration.
Not when we each have access to instantaneous individual and group communications and the assembled knowledge of humanity. We can do a lot individually and together, and we can choose to be part of a community.
So if you want a prescription for how to fix your rural community here’s my version:
Less time writing plans and assigning action to others, more time helping other people try their own ideas and build on their successes in your community. (I LOVE THIS - SR)
Less time trying to convince people to see it or do it your way, more time attracting people by taking your own positive action and making it easy for them to play a small but meaningful role. (YES!)
If you’d like to see how this Idea Friendly version of collaboration works, join Dell Gines from IEDC International Economic Development Council, Deb Brown and me for a no-charge webinar to help you develop robust networks for targeted purposes. You’ll get practical ideas for building meaningful collaborations in your rural community. Learn more about the Rural Collaboration Webinar here.”
What happens next?
I mentioned above that my conversation with Janan really made me think about what my own compass is and what impact I want to have in this human life that I have left.
And what’s next for me. I’ve really had to pause to think deeply about that.
I started a podcast in the fall of 2021, focused on amplifying woman-identifying, non-binary and queer entrepreneurs in rural Canada. I produced 40 episodes in 10 months with one sponsor. I also started sending out a weekly newsletter in December of that year. I hosted a virtual town hall, amplifying issues faced by rural women entrepreneurs and invited female mayors. I also ran a ‘report card’ project looking at the inclusivity practices of Canada’s Chambers of Commerce with three students in a Venture for Canada (VFC) Intrapreneurship project. I hosted a second town hall, inviting Chambers that served specific underserved groups and the students revealed their findings.
The second season launched in fall of 2022 and I switched the focus to issues affecting rural Canada, to shine more attention than traditional media outlets were putting on them (I thought, no one else is, why not me?). The sponsor stayed for the 2nd season. 40 more episodes and weekly newsletters and an action plan for Chambers of Commerce that wanted to implement DEI with more VFC students. And we held another town hall to address the hate surrounding rural Drag Storytimes.
This is when I started to get burned out and I was really confused about who my audience was and how to reach them. It seemed like I was really missing the mark.
What I did know, is that I wanted to spark conversations for meaningful change in rural Canada and that has never wavered. But I started season 3 without a sponsor and I had to rely solely on donations.
Community Futures Western Ontario hired me to do a video podcast series, focused on rural entrepreneurs in their network. I’ve done that for 2 seasons now and it has been an honour and a joy.
Participating in an Indigenous-led sacred circle with Elder Cindy Crowe led me to healing and learning this year, and to start questioning the very vocation I once worked in, (radio) journalism and its long history of white supremacy and colonialism. It also made me realize perhaps it was time for a shift.
To be clear, my partner has been supporting the two of us for the past year. It has been such a deep learning experience and I'm truly grateful for it (and grateful to my partner for giving me this time.) Privilege allowed me to do this but it was required healing that is helping me move forward.
The newsletters this season have been less frequent and I’ve produced even less podcast episodes but the latest one with Janan McNaughton (Dean), PhD of Proof Line Farm Creamery and Farm Market got me really thinking of purpose, mission and values. Her clarity on the compass for her business was unmistakable and it has made me reflect.
A few things I know for sure:
Rural and remote folks need a voice, especially a diversity of voices and I continue to advocate for the amplification of diverse rural and remote stories.
Radio is not dead as folks would have you believe. It is the last free news resource and it’s due for a resurgence.
There will be a rebirth of what we have known before as ‘journalism’, telling a new story, without excluding anyone.
We can and will come together to solve big problems in rural and remote spaces, rooted in acceptance and love, through storytelling and story, witnessing one another.
If any of these interest you, please get in touch! While I haven’t abandoned this project just yet, I am opening up to new opportunities to collaborate and innovate.
Rural news roundup - March 25, 2024
International
Rental surge in rural areas putting pressure on English councils, warns report
National
Research team examines who’s most likely to move to rural Canada
British Columbia
Rural housing explosion outside Kelowna poses threat, officials say
UBC Faculty of Medicine launches new rural family medicine residency program
B.C. sparks new public EV charging stations in rural corners of province
Alberta
Whooping cough warnings continue amid low vaccination rates in rural Alberta
Wind turbine no-go zones would cut off rural Albertan communities from key tax revenues
Saskatchewan
Money budgeted for mental health, addictions needs to reach rural Sask., say advocates
Farm groups respond to Saskatchewan government spending in agriculture
Manitoba
Rural Manitoba community offering properties for low, low price of $10 getting plenty of takers
Ontario
Ontario extends program that helps rural and northern hospitals avoid ER closures
Developed in Eastern Ontario, Rural Housing Information System to be Shared Province-Wide
Quebec
Pastor among four Cree Nation victims killed in collision in rural Quebec
$2 million from Joyce Family Foundation bolsters students from rural areas of Quebec and Canada
New Brunswick
Rexton volunteer fire department threatens to walk-out
Nova Scotia
Cape Breton residents meet with Nova Scotia Power about rural power outages
PEI
P.E.I. protects popular park from erosion, climate change
P.E.I. launches paid sick leave program
Newfoundland and Labrador
Fish harvesters reach deal with N.L. government to allow catch to be sold to outside buyers
Early Iceberg Sightings Reported Off Coast of NL
Territories (Northwest, Nunvut, Yukon)
‘A really unusual year’ for NWT dog sled racers
International nurses told ‘leave the NWT then come back’
50 remote Government of Nunavut employees could lose jobs by September
56 teams, a metric ton of potatoes — and one unforgettable hockey weekend in Whitehorse
Veterans and first responders hit the Yukon ski slopes with adaptive equipment
Recommendations
Books
Way of the Peaceful Warrior: A Book That Changes Lives by Dan Millman - Way of the Peaceful Warrior is based on the story of Dan Millman, a world champion athlete, who journeys into realms of romance and magic, light and darkness, body, mind, and spirit. Guided by a powerful old warrior named Socrates and tempted by an elusive, playful woman named Joy, Dan is led toward a final confrontation that will deliver or destroy him. Readers join Dan as he learns to live as a peaceful warrior. This international bestseller conveys piercing truths and humorous wisdom, speaking directly to the universal quest for happiness.
Someone suggested this book to me. It’s not new and was made into a movie back in 2006 but I have really enjoyed listening to the audio book.
Podcasts
Canardian by Kattie Lauer - Canardian is the podcast gossiping about Canadian hometowns. Join
Kattie Laur as she discusses the hometowns of various Canadian podcasting personalities, and unravels the juicy stories about them from “trusted” sources like eyewitness testimony, community Facebook groups, hometown Subreddits, and Wikipedia. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. has been teasing in her newsletter about her new podcast set to launch next month that gossips about Canadian hometowns. Click on Kattie’s name and subscribe to her newsletter to get some clips!TV Shows
Treaty Road - Treaty Road is a documentary series that follows Saxon de Cocq and Erin Goodpipe as they unveil the sites, history and people connected to the signing of the numbered treaties. As Saxon explores his Métis heritage, he and Erin examine the role that his great-great-great-grandfather—who was a prominent Métis politician from the Red River region—played in the negotiations of these controversial treaties. Together, they confront the difficult truths of Canada’s colonization, comparing the promises made to those kept.
Trailer:
*If you’d like a topic covered, or you’d like to facilitate a conversation utilizing the Clearing a New Path podcast platform, please connect with me by hitting reply or by emailing shauna@radarmedia.co
Your feedback is always welcome.
Thank you Shauna for shouting out Pod the North and my new podcast!! I'm so excited about your newsletter, can't wait to read more!