6 Degrees Vancouver: Are You Home?
Democracy, 2017, Community Building
For refugees, immigrants, Indigenous peoples and settlers, notions of home are complex. In Canada — and particularly in unceded Coast Salish territory — questions of home, belonging, and who is welcoming whom are constantly scrutinized. Who is “home” in Canada and who is not? How do we reconcile home with place of origin? Are you home?
Canada, who some say is still becoming a country, may indeed find itself the last defender of pluralism, liberalism, and even globalization with its principles of equality and inclusion. But are these the luxuries of prosperity and geography and if so, how do we firmly fix them in our national identity? Never before in our history have our ideals and self-conceptions been so closely examined nationally and internationally.
8:00 a.m. (PT)
SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts
149 West Hastings St.
Six Degrees Vancouver
On this Page
The Rt. Hon. Adrienne Clarkson
26th Governor General of Canada, author of Belonging, Co-Chair, Institute for Canadian Citizenship.
John Ralston Saul
Essayist and novelist, author of The Collapse of Globalism, Co-Chair, Institute for Canadian Citizenship.
Framers
Mohammed Alsaleh
Refugee Resettlement Counsellor, Immigrant Services Society of BC.
David Arnot
Chief Commissioner, Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission.
Rima Berns-McGown
Strategic thinker, change-maker, writer, respected and award-winning researcher.
Nadine Caron
First female First Nations general surgeon, mother.
Natalie Chapdelaine
Innoweave Manager, Québec and Francophone Communities, J.W. McConnell Family Foundation.
Ivan E. Coyote
Renowned writer, performer, and advocate.
Max Fineday
Co-Executive Director, Canadian Roots Exchange.
Ginger Gosnell-Myers
Urban planner, Nisga’a and Kwakwak'awakw.
Nelofer Pazira
Award-winning journalist, filmmaker, and human rights activist.
Sirish Rao
Festival producer, writer, and cultural curator.
9:15–10:45am | 360: Feeling at Home
Home suggests more than a physical space. It evokes belonging, shelter, acceptance, and sanctuary. But what makes any human feel “at home”? Canada houses first peoples and settlers, but is residency a guarantor of belonging? How do we embrace and respect different understandings of space and territory, and profound ties to other places and cultures, as we continue to co-create our forever unfinished nation? What are the cultural connectors that enable people to feel they belong in this vast place? Who is “home” and who is not?
2:00–3:30pm - 360: Being at Home
Inclusion is deeper and harder to achieve than diversity. Are Canadian institutions drivers of an inclusive society, or are they establishments promoting pre-formulated values and agendas? How have structures and systems shaped the Canadian model? Have our policies served everyone fairly?
The popular narrative frames Canada as a sanctuary of equality. Is this the case? Has it ever been? How do we collectively recognize and address our shortcomings, while strengthening the structures necessary to nurture genuine inclusion?
