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From Margaret Atwood to André Picard to Dr. Jenn Gunter to Atom Egoyan: fascinating speakers on the topics that matter most to Canadians.
For the past seven years, we’ve hosted some of the most engaging thought leaders in Canada through The Walrus Talks, a national event series that sparks conversations on the issues that matter most to Canadians.
It’s hard not lose ourselves in our own thoughts, especially in an extended state of isolation with no end in sight. How many friends have you lost touch with since this all started? How are you keeping hope alive until we’re be able to feel those connections again? This is CIFAR fellow and UWO professor Adrian Owen.
People from all over the world call Canada home, weaving together cultures from across the globe to create the Canadian identity. But, with this blended cultural identity that we are so proud of, what does it mean to understand your own cultural history? Is it time to redefine multiculturalism? Filmmaker Atom Egoyan spoke at The Walrus Talks National Tour: We Desire a Better Country in May of 2017.
Learning requires exploration of one’s identity, and according to our next speaker, this is a First People’s principle of learning that applies to all of us. So on this international day of translation, and at this time when we can’t greet each other in person and with physical contact, this is an opportunity to communicate better with each other. To identify each other and ourselves with clarity and humility. This is Paige Raibmon, CIFAR fellow and professor in the Department of History at UBC and she spoke at The Walrus Talks Boundaries in 2019.
We’ve all had to change and adapt in different ways during the coronavirus pandemic. Dr. Deena Hinshaw is the Chief Medical Officer of Health for the Province of Alberta and has been the trusted voice for Albertans during the pandemic, calmly delivering daily briefings on the virus. And telling Albertans what measures they should take to prevent the spread of COVID-19. One of the biggest lessons of these past several months has been how a public health crisis can impact the way we live. Dr. Deena Hinshaw was the keynote speaker at our recent Leadership Forum event.
Sports is a universal language in the world. From Halifax to Hydrabad, Nunavut to Nairobi. And what also seems weirdly universal is the support of men’s teams over women’s. Instead of wallowing in this vast discrepancy, Brenda Andress wants us to see it as a place to grow from. A rallying cry to mobilize in support of women in sports. Brenda Andress is the former commissioner of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League, she spoke at The Walrus Talks Women of Distinction.
As many kids head off to school – in whatever form that takes for them in the midst of a pandemic – it’s easy to pass off the issue of education to the actual humans involved – the parents, the kids and the teachers. But according to Annie Kidder, we all need to be thinking about educating the next generation of Canadians. Annie Kidder is the Executive Director of People for Education and she spoke at The Walrus Talks Resilience in 2014.
Writing is a responsibility in many ways, perhaps none more so than when we think about the cultural expectations inherent in writing as a minority – of any kind. As a woman, as LGBTQ, as a person of colour, as a person with a disability. As writers, what is our responsibility to the rest of our culture? And why does it seem so much heavier than that of CIS-male writers? Noor Naga is a writer and a poet and she spoke at The Walrus Talks “The Future of the Arts,” in 2018.
Natural talent is overrated – at least according to singer-songwriter Corb Lund. He works hard to create it and believes that work – that constant challenge to focus and refine – is what separates the artists from the rest. And that art itself needs to be accessible to everyone, even the people that don’t see country music as art.
We’re all creative creatures, but what can we do when our creativity feels stalled? Join us in this hilarious pillow talk with the muses as Emma Donoghue shares the playful, demanding, sexy, unexpected sides of creativity and the ways we can strengthen our connection to making the things we love. This is Emma Donoghue from The Walrus Talks Creativity in London, Ontario.
Lauren Voisin was a scientist, innovator, entrepreneur, and all before she graduated high school. When she was only 8 years old, Lauren founded her own robotics company. By age 13, Lauren was a U.N. speaker. She was a champion of inexpensive access to technology and stable internet for Canadian youth. She believed in introducing kids to subjects like robotics and coding early on. She passed in April, but with the Lauren Foundation, her legacy continues to inspire young women to innovate and create.
It’s hard, as we go into the triple digits of days that some of us have been at home, isolating from friends and society, to maintain hope. When Olympian Waneek Horn-Miller talks about the health issues endured by the Indigenous people of Canada, she emphasises that hope is what gets her through. Her mother taught her that. She was a Hope-maker.
Anger is one of those emotions that transcends age, race, and political affiliation. Everyone is angry. Feeling trapped in a global pandemic will do that to you. But we can get so caught up in expressing our anger. To balance that, maybe our optimism has to be outrageous. Almost unreasonable… because the bad things in our lives are more reasonable than we know, teaching us lessons we may not see. Here’s singer-songwriter Bif Naked at The Walrus Talks Quality of Life.
The barriers to building inclusion can feel insurmountable. Especially when people are trying to be politically correct by ignoring differences. According to inclusion professional Ritu Bhasin, we need to notice the differences between us and learn about them, rather than deny that they exist.
Ritu Bhasin is a speaker, author, and a Leadership & Inclusion Specialist and she spoke at The Walrus Talks Resilience.
Maybe it was easier to avoid heated debates before we were all living under pandemic rules. Or maybe this is just the result of our small bubbles of safety, but when we have different opinions.. getting caught up in Twitter arguments or disagreeing with family members, it’s easy to forget about what the other person is going through. In this talk, Mustafa Ahmed reminds us that human rights begin with human and that just because disabilities like mental health are seemingly invisible, they are still very much disabilities we need to be aware of.
Something that gets brought into stark focus at a time like this is the value of things. The value of being able to hug a friend you haven’t seen in a long time. The value of being able to work from home and stay positive. The value of adapting to this new environment. Zita Cobb, founder & CEO of the Shorefast Foundation, spoke about the inherent value of things versus what they are financially valued at and the importance of belonging.
Amanda Parris is a playwright and the host of CBC’s, Exhibitionists and Marvin’s Room and she spoke about her fear of being forgotten by a culture that seems to prefer to forget stories like the ones that she tells and amplifies. How does denial affect us in our individual lives, and what can we do to remedy Canada’s Collective Amnesia?
We’ve been talking about Inclusion and Diversity as a society for what feels like forever, with limited success in addressing either. But 2020 is shaping up to be a year of action and as Eva Greyeyes will tell you, it’s time to stop looking to the past, and focus on the future – Resurgence rather than Reconciliation. Eva Greyeyes is Nêhiyaw, from Muskeg Lake Cree Nation, and was a grade 11 student when she gave this talk.
As Canadians from Halifax to Vancouver protest against police brutality and racial discrimination, many are asking how do we make the necessary leap from calls for justice to a tangible change in policing that saves lives? In 2019, Brittany Andrew-Amofah spoke about the power of local government that is often overlooked — and underestimated. If cities involve marginalized communities in their systems of governance, could we end police brutality in this country forever?
Across the country, Canadians are taking to the streets, protesting police violence. And while some are calling for reforms, others are questioning the need for police altogether. Journalist, activist and author Desmond Cole recently tweeted that when he gave this talk in 2017, he was scared to propose a cop-free future in a room that included the Governor-General and members of the armed forces, RCMP, and local police.
It’s impossible to miss the common thread in the images of protest on all our screens these days.
People have reached their limit. And despite a global pandemic, they are gathering in protest. Criticism will always follow protest, and much of the criticism is aimed at the so-called youth. Samantha Reusch from Apathy is Boring spoke about including young people in civic discussion and looking around for who is not in the room.
Resilience can be about coming to terms with the obstacles in front of you. As we minimize touching and practice social isolation, it’s starting to feel like at least part of this experience will have to become part of our forever experience. Rupi Kaur spoke about the power of resilience in her own life.
Artists can’t give you a vaccine or tell leaders how to reopen the economy. But they do give you Netflix to binge-watch, music for your daily walks and books to distract you. Janice Price, president of the Banff Centre, talks about why we turn to the arts in times of crisis.
These are some of our Walrus Talks that remind us of the powerful role mothers play and how their love can shape our future. Writer Lisa Moore talks about conversations between mothers and daughters, musician Pierre Kwenders reflects on the power of the matriarchs in his life and with her baby in her arms, artist Lido Pimienta describes the future of the arts.
Can we innovate through adversity? Dr. Kamran Khan thinks so. He’s the founder of BlueDot, a tech company that works with doctors and AI to predict outbreaks and track the spread of infectious disease.
He knows what it takes to adapt to an uncertain future and the kinds of questions we need to consider before we make our next moves.
When Margaret Atwood’s dystopic worlds begin to appear in our real lives, we know we’re in trouble. Canada’s oracular writer has written some of the scariest scenarios for our future. But she herself has hope. Something that we need when confronted with a world-wide pandemic with no end in sight.
Physical distancing has real-world repercussions, and sometimes that comes out in expressions of fear or hate. Concordia University’s Vivek Venkatesh lost his cousin in the bombing of Air India Flight 182 in 1985 so he understands why people embrace extremism and hateful rhetoric. He also understands what it takes to become accepting and compassionate.
How well do you know your neighbours? Probably way better than you did a few months ago. According to Concordia’s Jennifer Mcgrath, your neighbourhood can have a surprising impact on your health. And she should know. She’s an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology and Director of the Pediatric Public Health Psychology Lab at Concordia University (www.pphplab.org) and holds the PERFORM Centre Chair in Childhood Preventive Health and Data Science.
Everywhere we go, we’re confronted by the language of betterment. Everything in your life needs to be optimized. Your Insta stories, your smoothies and even your days off need to be filled with wellness. But what if feeling better is not an option?
In a time when we’re confining ourselves to our homes to stop a quick-spreading virus, we need to stay tuned in to what our communities are saying. Shelagh Rogers is a veteran of CBC Radio, who has been at the forefront of Canadian arts, culture and society for decades. But in the Talk you’re about to listen to, she explores one specific example of listening that goes beyond regular conversation.
André Picard has been a health journalist for The Globe and Mail for more than three decades, and has written about SARS, MERS and many other health threats. He’s also talked about a health issue that may be collateral damage as we all self-isolate from COVID-19: the lethality of loneliness.