Welcome to KDocs Talks

Adapted from the KDocs Film Festival and led by experts in the field, these keynote addresses and panel discussions create dialogue around some of our most pressing social justice issues: Indigenous sovereignty, genocide/war, institutionalized racism, climate change, environmental justice, migrant labour, housing rights, prison justice, Big Data/surveillance, the illegal arms trade, the opioid crisis, food justice, and many more. KDocs Talks represents an entry point for discussion, debate, and social change. Designed as a resource to be shared, these videos carry a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.

We encourage faculty to use KDocs Talks as part of their curriculum and for students and the general public to consult the video series as part of their social justice research and community-building.

To receive notification of our latest videos, please subscribe to the official KDocs Talks YouTube channel.

KDocs Talks 2022

The Seeking Truth. Waging Change. edition of KDocs Talks is available below as a playlist or on our YouTube channel.

KDocs Talks 2021

KDocsFF is proud to announce the launch of KDocs Talks 2021. Capturing twelve keynote addresses and three panel discussions, the latest edition reflects the theme of KDocsFF 2021: Resistance. Freedom. Justice.

Our lineup of speakers includes special guest George Takei  (author, actor, activist) who joined keynote speaker Diana Morita Cole (author and storyteller) and panelists Abby Ginzberg (filmmaker) and Satsuki Ina (author and activist) for our opening night presentation of And Then They Came for Us. The presentation of Chao (Landless) brought together a transnational panel led by keynote Camila Freitas (director) in conversation with Gilvan Rodrigues (Landless Workers' Movement), Adriana Paz Ramirez (International Domestic Workers' Federation and Justicia for Migrant Workers), and Fernando Cilento (KPU). A Q&A with the co-directors of Influence, Diana Neille and Richard Poplak, was hosted by Wendy Royal (KPU). Hidden gem: You might enjoy watching KPU student/KDocsFF Creative Consultant Tauheed Faheem guide us through a calligraphic expression of the festival's theme, showing us how to build "resistance," "freedom," and "justice" in Arabic and English.KDocs Talks also includes keynotes by Clement Tong (Hong Kong Moments), Anita Ho (iHuman), Geraldine Pratt (Overseas), Andrea Crosta (Sea of Shadows), Jared P. Scott (The Great Green Wall), Carlos Spector and Marcela Arteaga (The Guardian of Memory), Joel Bakan (The New Corporation: The Unfortunately Necessary Sequel), David France (Welcome to Chechnya), and Alexander von Bismarck (Wood). We are indebted to all of our speakers for giving a voice to social justice. Finally, thank you to our moderators, Jen Hardwick and Wendy Royal, who made it look so effortless on the often-uncooperative Zoom; to Fernando Cilento, who demonstrated agility as the Portuguese translator for fellow panelists; to Melissa Fraser, who edited all of the footage to make it work; to Janice Morris, KDocsFF's tireless festival director; and to VIFF, our presenting partner. KDocs Talks is produced with support from the 0.6% PD fund.

You are invited to watch the entire series on our YouTube channel.

KDocs Talks 2020

This edition of KDocs Talks captures the keynotes and panel discussions as they contemplate “Truth in a Post-truth World,” the theme of this year’s festival.

Special thanks go out to the production team of Greg Chan (KDocsFF Community Outreach Program Director and executive producer), Mouxuan Xue and Xinyi Li (videographers), Melissa Fraser (editor), and Janice Morris (KDocsFF Founder and Festival Director). This edition of KDocs Talks was made possible through the support of the 0.6% PD Fund, KPU Marketing, and the KDocsFF Board.

SPECIAL GUEST: LEKEYTEN
One of 20 Kwantlen First Nation Elders, Lekeyten grew up within a very large family in Chehalis First Nation near Harrison Lake. There, Lekeyten attended day school. Similar to residential schools, day schools did not require students to stay overnight, and they returned home at the end of every day. But the teachings were the same, said Lekeyten, and he and his classmates were taught to be quiet. As a result, Lekeyten spent more time in nature than in school, and he soon found his voice. Fast-forward to adulthood, and Lekeyten has been avidly involved for more than 20 years as a guest speaker and presenter at all levels of elementary, secondary, and post-secondary education, as well as trades and conferences in the Lower Mainland. His talks are about the environment, land and water use, fishing, and issues of conservation and its traditional importance. Lekeyten is a proud father of three daughters and two sons. He is also extremely proud of being a grandfather of nine. Lekeyten and his wife, Cheryl Gabriel, have been together for over forty years. He loves and respects his family wholeheartedly. His advice at the Elder-in-Residence installation ceremony: “Never shut up.” Lekeyten is honoured to be an Elder-in-Residence at KPU. He shares with the university, faculty, staff, and students the best of himself. He believes that every person deserves the best for their life and educational journey.

BEYOND CLIMATE

SPECIAL GUEST AND KEYNOTE SPEAKER: DAVID SUZUKI
Award-winning geneticist and broadcaster David Suzuki co-founded the David Suzuki Foundation in 1990. In 1975, he helped launch and host CBC Radio’s long-running Quirks and Quarks. In 1979, he became familiar to audiences around the world as host of CBC TV’s The Nature of Things, which still airs new episodes. From 1969 to 2001, he was a faculty member at the University of British Columbia and is currently professor emeritus. He is widely recognized as a world leader in sustainable ecology and has received numerous awards for his work, including a UNESCO prize for science and a United Nations Environment Program medal. He is also a Companion of the Order of Canada. He has 29 honourary degrees from universities in Canada, the US, and Australia. For his support of Canada’s Indigenous peoples, Suzuki has been honoured with eight names and formal adoption by two First Nations. In 2010, the National Film Board of Canada and Legacy Lecture Productions produced Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie, which won a People’s Choice documentary award at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival. The film weaves together scenes from the places and events that shaped Suzuki’s life and career with a filming of his “Last Lecture,” which he describes as “a distillation of my life and thoughts, my legacy, what I want to say before I die.” David has written or co-authored more than 50 books, nearly 20 of which are for children!
davidsuzuki.org

PANELIST: IAN MAURO
Ian Mauro is the Principal of the Richardson College for the Environment, Co-Director of the Prairie Climate Centre, and filmmaker at the University of Winnipeg. He is a former Canada Research Chair, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists, and has served on expert panels related to food security, energy issues, and climate change. Ian is a pioneer of multi-media methodologies, scholarship, and education. He holds a BSc in Environmental Science, PhD in Geography, and Postdoc in Ethnoecology. His work focuses on climate change, food security, industrial development, and strategies to build vibrant, resilient, low-carbon communities across scales. He uses participatory video to collect, communicate, and conserve local and Indigenous knowledge, an approach that allows people who live on the land to tell their own stories, in their own languages, within the landscapes where their knowledge has been generated. He was awarded an Apple Distinguished Educator award for his approach. Ian’s work has been featured in academic conferences, museums, film festivals, and news media, such as the United Nations, Smithsonian Institution, National Geographic, Royal Ontario Museum, ImagineNATIVE, Berlin International Film Festival, The Globe and Mail, and This American Life.
uwinnipeg.ca/richardson-college
prairieclimatecentre.ca

BECAUSE WE ARE GIRLS

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: JEETI POONI
Jeeti Pooni, like most women, wears many hats and is proud to wear each and every one of them. She is a motivational speaker; the driving force behind the documentary film Because We Are Girls, a National Film board of Canada production; the author of her upcoming book The Silent Stoning (publishing later in 2020); and the designer of To Desire shawls. She is an alumna of Simon Fraser University with an Economics major and Sociology minor; an advocate for cultural change; and a voice for girls, boys, men, and women who have suffered sexual abuse. Jeeti has persevered through an arduous 12-year journey of a long-tried sexual assault case in the Supreme Court of British Columbia. She lives in Surrey with her husband and two daughters.
jeetipooni.com

PRODUCER AND PANELIST: SELWYN JACOB
For nearly three decades, award-winning filmmaker Selwyn Jacob has been telling stories about the lives and experiences of Black Canadians, Indigenous peoples, and other under-represented communities. Born in Trinidad and Tobago, Selwyn came to Canada in 1968. He holds a Bachelor of Education from the University of Alberta and an MA in Film from the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts. Selwyn’s independent films include We Remember Amber Valley, Carol’s Mirror, and Gemini-award-winning The Road Taken. Since 1997, he has worked in Vancouver with the National Film Board of Canada’s Pacific & Yukon Studio. In that time, he has produced almost 50 films, including, most recently, Because We Are Girls and Mighty Jerome. Selwyn has been recognized with an Emmy, three Gemini awards, and a dozen Leo awards, as well as personal accolades, such as the John Ware award for Black Achievement and an Honorary Alumni Award from the University of Alberta for community contribution. Most recently, he received an honorary degree from Dalhousie University, as well as the Outstanding Achievement Award—recognizing outstanding accomplishment, contribution to media art, and body of work—at Fava Fest, the annual festival of the Film and Video Arts Society of Alberta.
nfb.ca/directors/selwyn-jacob
blackincanada.com/2011/01/19/selwyn-jacob

PANELIST: BALBIR GURM
Balbir Gurm, RN, BSN, MA, EdD is an award-winning educator in the Faculty of Health at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, the founding editor-in-chief of Transformative Dialogues: Teaching and Learning Journal, a founding member and facilitator of the Network to Eliminate Violence in Relationships (NEVR), and a Diversity and Organizational Change consultant. Dr. Gurm is interested in how policies and culture impact organizational and societal practices and how academic knowledge is used to solve complex societal issues. Through sitting on a variety of boards and committees, including as Education Policy Chair, Federation of Post-Secondary Educators of BC; member, Canada Pension and Disability Tribunal; member, BC Parole Board; member, Canadian Cancer Society Board; Vice-President, Canada India Education Society; President, Indo-Canadian Women’s Organization; Chair, Royal BC Museum’s Punjabi Intercultural History Advisory Committee; and member, City of Surrey’s Diversity Advisory Committee, she takes academic knowledge and translates it to actions to improve communities. Since 2011, members of NEVR (police, volunteer service sector, government service sector, and academics from over 50 organizations) have collaborated to take action on violence in relationships using the principles of Appreciative Inquiry, Multiple Ways of Knowing, Health Promotion, Intersectionality, and Cultural Safety. Using academic knowledge from a variety of disciplines and listening to the stories of staff from across the sector, Dr. Gurm and colleagues have created a holistic framework for taking action to eliminate violence in relationships.
kpu.ca/health/bsn/faculty/balbir-gurm
kpu.ca/nevr

PANELIST: SHARON CAHILL KEARNEY
Sharon Cahill Kearney has an honours degree in English literature and a law degree, both from UBC. She was an administrative lawyer in Vancouver for 30 years, working in both public and private practice, and specializing in labour and human rights law. During this time, Sharon also served as an adjudicator on the BC Labour Relations Board. In 2018, Sharon decided to become a social justice lawyer as her way of giving back to the community. In 2019, she provided pro bono legal services to women who had experienced intimate relationship violence. In 2020, Sharon joined SOURCES Community Resource Centre, where she heads up a legal clinic that provides pro bono legal services to individuals living in poverty.
sourcesbc.ca

PANELISTS: SALAKSHANA POONI AND KIRA POONI
Salakshana Pooni is a community health support worker. She lives in Tsawwassen and is a proud mother.

Kira Pooni travels the world working for a major airline. She is the cool Mousi (meaning aunt). Kira is bi-coastal between Toronto and Vancouver.

change.org/poonisisters
#PooniSisters

CONVICTION

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: KIM PATE
Kim Pate was appointed to the Senate of Canada on November 10, 2016. First and foremost the mother of Michael and Madison, she is also a nationally renowned advocate who has spent the last 35 years working in and around the legal and penal systems of Canada, with and on behalf of some of the most marginalized, victimized, criminalized, and institutionalized—particularly imprisoned youth, men, and women. Senator Pate graduated from Dalhousie Law School in 1984 with honours in the Clinical Law Programme and has completed post-graduate work in the area of forensic mental health. She was the Executive Director of the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies (CAEFS) from January 1992 until her appointment to the Senate in November 2016. Prior to CAEFS, she worked with youth and men in a number of capacities with the local John Howard Society in Calgary, as well as the national office. She has developed and taught Prison Law, Human Rights and Social Justice, and Defending Battered Women on Trial courses at the Faculties of Law at the University of Ottawa, Dalhousie University, and the University of Saskatchewan. She also occupied the Sallows Chair in Human Rights at the University of Saskatchewan College of Law in 2014 and 2015. Senator Pate is widely credited as the driving force behind the Inquiry into Certain Events at the Prison for Women in Kingston, headed by Justice Louise Arbour. She has been instrumental in building coalitions across the country with other equality-seeking women’s, anti-racism, anti-poverty, and human rights groups and organizations, and in this capacity, she has worked with feminist legal scholars, lawyers, other professionals, and front-line advocates and activists—from Indigenous communities to transition house and rape crisis centre workers. Kim Pate is a member of the Order of Canada, a recipient of the Governor General’s Award in Commemoration of the Persons Case, the Canadian Bar Association’s Bertha Wilson Touchstone Award, five honourary doctorates (Law Society of Upper Canada, University of Ottawa, Carleton University, St. Thomas University, and Wilfred Laurier University), and numerous other awards.
sencanada.ca/en/senators/pate-kim

CO-DIRECTOR AND PANELIST: ARIELLA PAHLKE
Ariella Pahlke is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, media artist, curator, and educator living in Terence Bay, Nova Scotia. For the past 25 years, she’s directed, written, and produced feature documentaries, shorts, installations, and media projects that have screened around the world. With a background in philosophy, Ariella is a keen observer who is not afraid to ask tough questions. She has extensive experience facilitating collaborative projects, and participatory process is at the heart of her documentary approach. Her most recent project, Conviction, is a feature-length collaboration with women in prison and advocates, created together with filmmakers Nance Ackerman and Teresa MacInnes. Ariella is presently engaging festival, TV, and community audiences across Canada to mobilize change through Conviction’s #BuildCommunitiesNotPrisons impact campaign. Her other films include Burning Rubber, Strategies of Hope, Rock and Desire, Charlie’s Prospect, and dozens of other shorts and collaborative media projects.
#BuildCommunitiesNotPrisons

PANELIST: SHAWN BAYES
Shawn Bayes’ career in the social services and justice fields spans more than 30 years, virtually all of which has been served at Elizabeth Fry Society of Greater Vancouver. Since becoming Executive Director in 1997, she has led the organization in creating initiatives that address the issues leading to justice system involvement, including several which have become national standards of practice in Canada. Shawn is a firm believer in the value of supporting and empowering women and youth to build brighter futures. Under her stewardship, the hallmark of EFry’s programs and services is that they address not only clients’ immediate needs but also help set them up for long-term success. In 2000, Shawn was one of Canada’s non-profit leaders chosen to participate in McGill University’s Masters of Management program, during which she noted a strong correlation between parental incarceration and justice system involvement. This led to the creation of JustKids, Canada’s only dedicated initiative that brings together research and programming designed to help break this legacy. Shawn is a recognized national expert in this area, which has become a key focus for EFry. Shawn is also a strong believer in the role social enterprise can play in the reduction of recidivism for women and spearheaded the creation of EFry’s successful Asphalt Gals business. In addition to the Masters from McGill, Shawn holds a BA from SFU and is the recipient of numerous awards for her work, including a YWCA’s Women of Distinction award. elizabethfry.com
just-kids.ca
sphaltgals.com

PANELIST: JESSICA MAGONET
Jessica Magonet joined the BC Civil Liberties Association as Staff Counsel (Litigation) in 2019. Before joining the BCCLA, she was a lawyer at Arvay Finlay LLP and spent two years clerking for the Honorable Madam Justice Karakatsanis at the Supreme Court of Canada. Jessica is called to the bar of British Columbia and Quebec. She graduated from McGill University in 2015, receiving degrees in Civil Law and Common Law, with a minor in Cognitive Science. Jessica has been involved in the social and environmental justice movements for many years and previously worked for Ecojustice and the Public Interest Law Clinic. She is the former Editor-in-Chief of the McGill International Journal of Sustainable Development Law and Policy. In 2016, she was named one of Canada’s Top 25 Environmentalists Under 25.
bccla.org

PANELIST: DEBRA PARKES
Professor Debra Parkes joined UBC's Allard School of Law in July 2016. She was a member of the Faculty of Law at the University of Manitoba from 2001 to 2016, where she served a term as Associate Dean (Research and Graduate Studies) from 2013-2106. She has also been a visiting researcher at the University of Woollongong and the University of Sydney. She was Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Journal of Women and the Law from 2009-2013 and President of the Canadian Law & Society Association from 2007-2010. Professor Parkes' scholarly work examines the challenges and possibilities of addressing societal injustices through rights claims, with a focus on criminal justice, corrections, and workplace contexts. The lens she brings to this work is feminist, intersectional, and socio-legal. Professors Parkes takes a particular interest in the incarceration of women, the limits of prison reform, and the framing and adjudicating of prisoners’ rights claims. With funding from the Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), Professor Parkes has examined mechanisms for oversight and accountability of imprisonment in Canada, and she is leading on a new SSHRC-funded project examining life sentences in legal and social context. In 2015, she guest edited a special volume of the Canadian Journal of Human Rights on solitary confinement and human rights.
allard.ubc.ca
allard.ubc.ca/centre-feminist-legal-studies

TOXIC BEAUTY

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: BRUCE LANPHEAR
Bruce Lanphear is a Clinician Scientist at the Child & Family Research Institute, BC Children’s Hospital, and Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University. His primary goal is to help quantify and ultimately prevent disease and disability—like asthma, learning problems, and ADHD—due to exposures to environmental contaminants and pollutants. Over the past decade, Dr. Lanphear has become increasingly vexed by our inability to control the “pandemic of consumption”—the largely preventable, worldwide epidemic of chronic disease and disability due to industrial pollutants, environmental contaminants, and excess consumption. He is leading an effort to produce videos, including Little Things Matter: The Impact of Toxic Chemicals on the Developing Brain, to enhance public understanding of how our health is inextricably linked with the environment. Dr. Lanphear is currently principal investigator for a study examining fetal and early childhood exposures to prevalent environmental neurotoxins, including lead, pesticides, mercury, alcohol, PCBs, and environmental tobacco smoke. He has extensive experience conducting community-based trials, including lead poisoning prevention, epidemiology of asthma, prevention of exposure to tobacco smoke, and measurement of lead and allergens in housing.
sfu.ca/fhs/about/people/profiles/bruce-lanphear
littlethingsmatter.ca

PANELIST: DEANE BERG
Deane Berg is a 62-year-old retired Physician’s Assistant. When she was 49 years old, she suddenly was diagnosed with Stage 3 ovarian cancer. She had no family history of breast or ovarian cancer, no other risk factors, and was BRCA-negative. She did online research and found that talcum powder usage could cause ovarian cancer. For over 30 years, Deane had used this product daily for feminine hygiene purposes. She immediately threw her Johnson & Johnson baby powder in the trash. After going online and asking other women if they had developed cancer from using this product, she was contacted by a lawyer who asked her if she wanted to sue J&J for the damage she had received from cancer treatment, including a total hysterectomy and six months of chemotherapy. At that time, Deane was still experiencing nerve damage issues, hearing loss, and pain. She agreed to sue, and the case was taken to court. The lawyers for J&J were uncaring, rude, and demeaning, and the trial process was brutal. In the end, she did win a guilty plea against J&J for failure to warn the public of the dangers of talcum powder usage. Since then, J&J has lost multiple substantial lawsuits filed against them and has thousands of others pending at this time. The battle continues, however, and Deane won't give up until talcum powder is removed from the market and J&J pays the price to all women who have developed ovarian cancer from talcum powder usage.

PANELIST: ISABELLE CZERVENIAK
Isabelle Czerveniak is the Community Organizer for BC, the Territories, and Atlantic Canada for the Blue Dot Movement, a national grassroots campaign (working in collaboration with the David Suzuki Foundation) based on the idea that everyone in Canada deserves the right to a healthy environment, including clean air and water, and a say in decisions that affect our health and well-being. Izzy was born and raised on the Canadian west coast and, fortunate enough to have experienced extensive world travel, is certain she lives in the most beautiful place on Earth. You can find Izzy skinning up the mountains in the winter, enjoying festivals in the summer, and biking around the city on the in-between days. Izzy believes that connecting with our natural environment is crucial for us all to be able to live active, healthy, and mindful lives. Her passion lies in engaging community in fun and innovative ways, and she is extremely motivated to be a part of driving communities towards an environmental bill of rights.
bluedot.ca

KILLING PATIENT ZERO

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: RICHARD MCKAY
Originally from Vancouver, Canada, Richard McKay earned a BA in film and history from the University of British Columbia before moving to the UK in 2005 to undertake Masters and Doctoral degrees in history. For his DPhil thesis at the University of Oxford, he researched the origins, emergence, and social consequences of the concept of “patient zero” in the early North American AIDS epidemic. This research resulted in his first monograph, Patient Zero and the Making of the AIDS Epidemic. After a one-year postdoctoral research fellowship at King's College, London, Richard began a Wellcome Trust Research Fellowship at the University of Cambridge's Department of History and Philosophy of Science in January 2013, where his current research project, Before HIV: Homosex and Venereal Disease, c.1939–1984, examines the process by which healthcare workers and gay men, among other groups, became increasingly interested in the role played by men who had sex with men in the transmission of sexually transmitted infections. The research concentrates on the middle decades of the twentieth century, with a geographic focus on Canada, the United States, and England. In addition to his academic pursuits, he works independently as a career, writing, and life coach, specialising in work with clients in academia, publishing, and other creative industries. people.hps.cam.ac.uk/index/fellows-associates/mckay
richlifecoaching.co.uk
press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/P/bo16463356.html

NIPAWISTAMASOWIN: WE WILL STAND UP

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: PATRICIA BARKASKAS
Patricia Barkaskas earned an MA in History, with a focus on Indigenous histories in North America, and a JD, with a Law and Social Justice Specialization, from the University of British Columbia. She is the Academic Director of the Indigenous Community Legal Clinic and an Instructor at the Peter A. Allard School of Law. Patricia has practiced in the areas of child protection (as parent’s counsel), criminal, family, as well as civil litigation and prison law. She has worked closely with Indigenous peoples in their encounters with the justice system and has worked for Residential School Survivors as an historical legal researcher for the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement. In addition, she has written Gladue reports for all levels of court in BC. Her current and future teaching and research interests include access to justice; clinical legal education; decolonizing and Indigenizing law, particularly examining the value of Indigenous pedagogies in experiential and clinical learning for legal education; and Indigenous laws. Patricia is Métis from Alberta.
allard.ubc.ca
allard.ubc.ca/iclc/indigenous-community-legal-clinic

PANELIST: DOROTHY CHRISTIAN
Dorothy Christian Cucw-la7, PhD is of the Secwepemc and Syilx Nations from the interior of BC. Her home community of Splatsin is one of 17 communities that comprise the Secwepemc Nation. She is the eldest of 10 and has one daughter and over 60 nieces, nephews, great-nieces, and great-nephews. Dr. Christian is an independent scholar, visual storyteller, writer, and editor, who currently serves as the Associate Director, Indigenous Initiatives at the Teaching and Learning Centre at SFU. Her research in academia has consistently centralized Indigenous knowledge, even before those terms were recognized in the academy. In her undergraduate studies at the University of Toronto, Dorothy did a double major in Political Science and Religious Studies, where she started comparing Indigenous thought with Euro- Western thought. Indigenous cultural knowledge informed both her MA at SFU’s School of Communications and her PhD at UBC’s Department of Educational Studies, which focused on Indigenous visual storytelling/filmmaking practices. In 2018, Dorothy guest-curated the Voices from The Western Regions of Turtle Island program at the ImagineNative film festival in Toronto – the largest Indigenous film festival in the world. sfu.ca/tlc.html
imaginenative.com/home

PANELIST: DOREEN MANUEL
Doreen Manuel (Secwepemc/Ktunaxa) is the sixth child of Grand Chief George Manuel and Spiritual Leader Marceline Manuel. She is the Director of the Bosa Centre for Film and Animation; a Board Directors of the Knowledge Network; a partner with the Talent to Watch Telefilm Fund; a Matriarch with the IM4 virtual and augmented reality training program; an instructor for the “Women in Film and Television: Coyote, Raven, Spider, Wendigo: Tricksters and Writers” feature film screenwriting program; an advisor of the Telus Indigenous Storyhive fund; and a member of three local diversity film industry groups. She is an award-winning filmmaker with an extensive background as a leader working in First Nations education and community development in both rural and urban centers. Doreen is also the owner of Running Wolf Productions.
runningwolf.ca
capilanou.ca
knowledge.ca
telefilm.ca/en/financing/talent-to-watch
womeninfilm.ca/Tricksters_and_Writers_.html
storyhive.com

 PANELIST: CARLY TEILLET
Carly Teillet is the Community Lawyer with the BC Civil Liberties Association, leading the Policing Indigenous Communities Initiative. She is Métis from the Red River Métis community (Winnipeg) and the great-great-grand-niece of Louis Riel. Carly was legal counsel for the Vancouver Sex Workers Rights Collective and the Liard Aboriginal Women’s Society (two Parties with Standing) in their efforts to participate in and have their expertise heard by the National Inquiry into Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls. She has represented Indigenous clients in child protection and criminal matters, worked as the inaugural Gladue Lawyer for Legal Services Society of BC, and taught as an Adjunct Professor at the Indigenous Community Legal Clinic at the Peter A. Allard School of Law at UBC. She has written Gladue Reports for individuals in Provincial and Supreme Courts of British Columbia. Carly is a board member of the Wish Drop-In Centre Society and the Rise Women’s Legal Centre.
bccla.org
wish-vancouver.net
womenslegalcentre.ca

PREY

 KEYNOTE SPEAKER: DON WRIGHT
Don Wright has worked with male survivors of sexual abuse for nearly 30 years. He established the Victoria Male Survivors of Sexual Assault Society in 1989 and the Vancouver Society for Male Survivors of Sexual Abuse in 1990, the first agencies in Canada to provide recovery options for male victims of childhood sexual abuse or recent sexual assault. In 1997, these two societies amalgamated into the BC Society for Male Survivors of Sexual Abuse. BCSMSSA provides a comprehensive range of treatment and support services to male survivors of sexual abuse and support to their significant others and relatives. Recently, its mandate has been expanded to include men who are victims of domestic violence. Don was the Executive Director of BCSMSSA from its inception until June 2017, when he stepped into the new position of Education Coordinator, supervising the agency’s Master’s and Doctoral practicum students. Over the years, Don has acted as a mentor and guide to similar organizations working with male survivors across Canada, as well as in Great Britain, New Zealand, Australia, and other countries. He has also provided consultation to the Provincial and Federal governments regarding victims’ issues. In 2001, the BC Human Rights Commission awarded Don the BC Human Rights Medal of Honour for his pioneering work with male survivors. In 2017, Don was awarded the Community Safety and Crime Prevention Award of Distinction from the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General in recognition of his lifetime contribution and commitment by a practitioner and volunteer. Don currently hosts a radio programmed through Co-op Radio called Both Sides Now, which explores mental health issues from the perspectives of personal lived experiences and practitioners/service providers.
bc-malesurvivors.com
coopradio.org/content/both-sides-now

PANELIST: LEONA HUGGINS
Leona Huggins, BMus, Med, is a teacher, an Active Member of Ending Clergy Abuse, the western Canadian representative for SNAP (the Survivor's Network of those Abused by Priests), as well as a founding member of ACTS (Advocates for Clergy Trauma Survivors) Canada. Her courage in reporting the extensive abuse she endured as an early adolescent brought the successful criminal conviction of Fr. Jack McCann, a highly respected Roman Catholic priest, in the early 1990s. She founded a local peer support group for survivors of institutional abuse and continues to speak out to create an environment that will encourage not only those who have been harmed but also witnesses and whistleblowers to come forward. Leona is currently a member of the Archdiocese of Vancouver’s case review committee. She was the only Canadian among the International group of survivors invited to a meeting with the organizing committee of the Vatican summit on preventing clergy sex abuse.
snapnetwork.org/canada

PANELIST: ROD MACLEOD
Rod MacLeod graduated from Sutherland Chan School of Massage Therapy in 2011. He then traveled to the United States for advanced training in Structural Integration, completing his studies with Tom Myers of the KMI School (Kinesis Myofascial Integration). Rod joined the Bellesmere Massage Therapy team in 2013 as a Certified Structural Body Worker. Rod’s personal experience with chronic pain led him to the School of Self-Healing in San Francisco, where he was introduced to studies about the body, including anatomy, physiology, and massage. Many life lessons were learned— like sitting at a computer all day is bad for you! It was there that he received structural integration treatment for his chronic knee pain. The effectiveness of the treatment inspired him so much that he decided to return to school for training, allowing him to provide this type of relief for others. Rod’s specialty and area of expertise is structural integration, using the KMI method. Prior to his massage therapy career, Rod earned his Honours BA from Laurentian University. He served seven years with the Army, rising to the rank of Captain with the 3rd Battalion Royal Canadian Regiment. He served as a UN Peacekeeper in Cyprus, Palestine, Israel, Egypt, Lebanon, and Syria. After his honourable discharge, he was self-employed as a home builder for 14 years and a financial advisor for 20 years. His hobbies include sailing, cycling, downhill skiing, reading and travel.

PUSH

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: LEILANI FARHA
Leilani Farha brings a dynamic energy to the role of UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing—energy she will need to reach her goal of prompting and facilitating an international paradigm shift in how housing is approached. During her time as Special Rapporteur, Leilani has presented reports to the UN on homelessness, the connection between the right to housing and the right to life, and the financialisation of housing. She has traveled on official missions to Serbia, Kosovo, India, and, most recently, to Chile, amongst others, to investigate and comment on the state of the right to housing. In addition to her requisite work, Leilani has used her platform to start The Shift, a global movement to reclaim and realize the right to housing, which calls for everyone to approach housing as a human right, not a commodity. A lawyer by training, Leilani assumed the role of Special Rapporteur in 2014, but she has been tirelessly advocating for the realization of the right to housing throughout her career. She is the current Executive Director of the NGO Canada Without Poverty. In her previous role as Executive Director of the Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation, she was instrumental in launching a historic challenge to government inaction in the face of rising homelessness. She has been a member of the Advisory Group on Forced Evictions for UN Habitat and was a founding member of ESCR-Net, an international network of actors committed to economic, social, and cultural rights.
unhousingrapp.org
unhousingrapp.org/the-shift
cwp-csp.ca

PANELIST: THOMAS DAVIDOFF
BA (Harvard), MPA/URP (Princeton), PhD (MIT)
Stanley Hamilton Professorship in Real Estate Finance
Director, UBC Centre for Urban Economics and Real Estate
Associate Professor, Strategy and Business Economics Division
University of British Columbia
sauder.ubc.ca/thought-leadership/research-outreach-centres/centre-urban-economics-real-estate

PANELIST: KARI MICHAELS
Kari Michaels was elected as an Executive Vice President of the BC Government and Service Employees’ Union in 2017. She has been a member of the BCGEU since 2011, when she and her co-workers stood up to their hostile employer and formed a union at her worksite. Since joining the union, Kari has held many positions as a union activist, including shop steward, bargaining committee member, and First Vice-chair on her local executive. She is a passionate advocate for social justice and believes in building workers’ capacity to take action to improve their working conditions and communities. This work has most recently extended to her outreach and advocacy work concerning the role of labour in addressing BC's housing crisis.
bcgeu.ca
affordablebc.ca

PANELIST: JEAN SWANSON
Jean Swanson is a Canadian politician, anti-poverty activist, and writer based in Vancouver, where she currently sits as a City Councillor. Jean has worked to get governments to reduce and end poverty for 40 years, for which she was awarded the Order of Canada in 2017. She’s author of the book Poor Bashing: The Politics of Exclusion. For the last 12 years, she volunteered at the Carnegie Community Action Project, working for more and better housing, higher welfare rates, and stopping gentrification in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. In August 2018, Jean spent four days in jail for blocking access to the Kinder Morgan pipeline. Jean was elected to Vancouver City Council in 2018 as a member of the Coalition of Progressive Electors (COPE) on a platform of working for:

·       a rent freeze (no annual allowable rent increase for four years, in addition to implementing vacancy control);

·       modular housing for every counted homeless person, to be fully funded by a Mansion Tax in one year;

·       more social, co-op, and city-owned rental housing for people earning under $50,000 per year, subsidized by subsequent years’ Mansion Tax revenue;

·       free transit with a U-Pass for the Working Class;

·       a real Sanctuary City;

·       clean, safe, and free drugs and culturally appropriate treatment on demand; and

·       reducing the police budget and redirecting into services for low-income and criminalized people.
vancouver.ca/your-government/jean-swanson.aspx

PANELIST: ELLEN WOODSWORTH
Ellen Woodsworth is a writer, organizer, and international speaker and consultant on urban issues. A former Vancouver City councillor, Ellen is passionate about working for social justice, economic equality and environmentally sound planning. Ellen works for cities to create social justice, economic equality, a creative culture, and environmentally sustainable planning, using an equity/intersectional lens to ensure that cities work for everyone. Ellen Woodsworth is the Founder and Chair of Women Transforming Cities, which collaborated in writing “Advancing Equity and Inclusion a How to Guide for Municipalities.” She has spoken all over the world, including at the UN International Women Friendly Cities Conference in Turkey in June 2015; UN Habitat 3 EU/North American Prague Conference; Cross-Cutting Expert Group Meeting: Human Rights and the New Urban Agenda, co-organized by the Habitat III Secretariat and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), New York City; and at many Canadian events. Ellen coordinated a Queer Declaration for the Youth Division of UN Habitat and is speaking at the 6th Green Standards Week in Montevideo, Uruguay. WTC produced a UN Habitat 3 project on “The City We Need.” Ellen spoke at and co-launched the Women Friendly Cities International Challenge. She also spoke on the World Urban Forum and YoutHab Panels at UN Habitat 3 in Quito. As External Chairperson of Women Transforming Cities, Ellen is working on a three-year project funded by Status of Women Canada to examine systemic barriers to women’s participation in local government partnered with Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women by examining the Cities of Vancouver and Surrey.
ellenwoodsworth.com
womentransformingcities.org

HUMAN NATURE

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: ELIZABETH SIMPSON
Elizabeth Simpson is a Professor in the Department of Medical Genetics in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia, where she oversees the Simpson Lab. She is also a principal Investigator, BC Children's Hospital; an Associate Member, Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, University of British Columbia; and an Associate Member, Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia. The overall goal of Elizabeth’s research is to develop gene-based therapies for diseases of the brain and eye. Her immediate goal is to use recombinant adeno-associated viruses to deliver therapies for treatment of mouse models of human disease. Currently, her lab is developing cell-type-specific promoters to use in viruses, engineering better mouse models, and developing gene augmentation and genome editing (CRISPR/Cas9) therapies focused on curing the congenital blindness aniridia. According to Simpson, “We still have only a cursory understanding of the 98% of the human genome that is non-coding, although we do know that it contains large complex gene promoters. By harnessing this regulatory potential into ‘MiniPromoters’ (small selected regions of human promoters) to drive gene expression in defined cell types of the brain and eye, we are improving the efficacy and safety of gene therapy.”
cmmt.ubc.ca/simpson-lab 

BELLINGCAT: TRUTH IN A POST-TRUTH WORLD

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: CHRISTIAAN TRIEBERT
Christiaan Triebert is an award-winning investigative journalist and, since 2015, a senior investigator and lead trainer at the investigative group Bellingcat. Training journalists in finding, verifying, and analyzing publicly available digital information, he works in a range of countries in Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and Latin America. In 2017, he won a European Press Prize Innovation Award for his reconstruction of the attempted military coup in Turkey using leaked WhatsApp messages and social media content. In addition to Bellingcat, Christiaan also works as an investigative journalist on the Visual Investigations team at The New York Times, specializing in online open source investigation and digital verification. Visual Investigations is a new form of explanatory and accountability journalism being pioneered at The Times. It combines traditional reporting with more advanced digital forensics that may include collecting and analyzing cell phone videos, satellite pictures, other imagery, social media posts, and 3-D reconstructions of crime scenes. Christiaan started his journalism career as a freelance (photo)journalist and reported from Ukraine and Iraq. Over the years, his work, which primarily focused on international crime and conflict analysis, was published in a variety of media, including Al Jazeera Media Institute, Daily Beast, and Foreign Policy. He has also worked on verifying United States-led coalition airstrikes allegedly causing civilian harm in Iraq and Syria for the monitoring group Airwars. In 2018, Christiaan worked with the World Press Photo Foundation to fact-check and verify every winning image and its captions for the world’s leading photojournalism contest. Born in the Netherlands, Christiaan earned Bachelor Degrees in International Relations as well as Philosophy at the University of Groningen and his Masters in Conflict, Security, and Development at King’s College London. Besides his digital work, Christiaan has worked as a freelance (photo)journalist in numerous countries, including Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria.
christiaantriebert.com
nytimes.com/interactive/2018/world/visual-investigations.html
bellingcat.com

THE CORPORATE COUP D’ETAT

 KEYNOTE SPEAKER: JOHN RALSTON SAUL
John Ralston Saul is an award-winning essayist and novelist, considered Canada’s leading public intellectual. In The Collapse of Globalism, Saul predicted the 2007-2008 economic crisis years before it happened, as well as the current rise of populism and xenophobia. Declared a “prophet” by TIME magazine, his 14 works have been translated into 28 languages in 37 countries. He is co-Chair of both the Institute for Canadian Citizenship and 6 Degrees, the Global Forum for Inclusion. He is President Emeritus of PEN International, the only Canadian writer elected to this position in 97 years. His most recent work, The Comeback (Le Grand Retour), is an examination of the remarkable resurgence to power of Indigenous peoples in Canada. This book has greatly influenced the national conversation on these issues. Saul’s best-selling 1995 Massey Lectures, The Unconscious Civilization, provided the philosophical basis for the film The Corporate Coup d’État.
johnralstonsaul.com
inclusion.ca
6degreesto.com

DIRECTOR AND PANELIST: FRED PEABODY
Fred Peabody is an Emmy-winning journalist and filmmaker whose credits include seven years as a producer-director on the acclaimed CBC investigative program The Fifth Estate. In 2017, his theatrical film All Governments Lie won the Directors’ Guild (DGC) Allan King Award for Excellence in Documentary. In 2003, Fred was Supervising Producer on Perfect Illusions, a PBS documentary about eating disorders in young women. His film on the childhood exploitation of the Dionne quintuplets was nominated for an Emmy in 1998, and he won an Emmy in 1989 for a film about wild horses rescued from starvation and abuse. He has produced two documentaries on chemical and biological weapons and a major investigation of corporate SLAPPS (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation). Fred learned his craft at the CBC in Toronto, where he spent four years as a news editor/reporter with CBC News, followed by seven years as a producer on The Fifth Estate. His investigative work on The Fifth Estate led to staff producer jobs with ABC News, 20/20, and Dateline NBC.

PANELIST: JEFF COHEN
Jeff Cohen, media critic and lecturer, was founding director of the Park Center for Independent Media at Ithaca College, where he was an associate professor of journalism. He founded the media watch group FAIR in 1986, and cofounded the online activist group RootsAction.org in 2011. Cohen has coproduced documentary movies, including The Corporate Coup d’État and All Governments Lie: Truth, Deception and the Spirit of I.F. Stone. He is the author of Cable News Confidential: My Misadventures in Corporate Media. He has been a TV commentator at CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC, and was senior producer of MSNBC’s Phil Donahue primetime show until it was terminated three weeks before the Iraq invasion. His columns have been published online at websites such as HuffPost, CommonDreams, and Truthout and in dozens of dailies, including USA Today, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, Atlanta Constitution, and Miami Herald.
jeffcohen.org

PANELIST: CHRISTIAAN TRIEBERT
Christiaan Triebert is an award-winning investigative journalist and, since 2015, a senior investigator and lead trainer at the investigative group Bellingcat. Training journalists in finding, verifying, and analyzing publicly available digital information, he works in a range of countries in Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and Latin America. In 2017, he won a European Press Prize Innovation Award for his reconstruction of the attempted military coup in Turkey using leaked WhatsApp messages and social media content. In addition to Bellingcat, Christiaan also works as an investigative journalist on the Visual Investigations team at The New York Times, specializing in online open source investigation and digital verification. Visual Investigations is a new form of explanatory and accountability journalism being pioneered at The Times. It combines traditional reporting with more advanced digital forensics that may include collecting and analyzing cell phone videos, satellite pictures, other imagery, social media posts, and 3-D reconstructions of crime scenes. Christiaan started his journalism career as a freelance (photo)journalist and reported from Ukraine and Iraq. Over the years, his work, which primarily focused on international crime and conflict analysis, was published in a variety of media, including Al Jazeera Media Institute, Daily Beast, and Foreign Policy. He has also worked on verifying United States-led coalition airstrikes allegedly causing civilian harm in Iraq and Syria for the monitoring group Airwars. In 2018, Christiaan worked with the World Press Photo Foundation to fact-check and verify every winning image and its captions for the world’s leading photojournalism contest. Born in the Netherlands, Christiaan earned Bachelor Degrees in International Relations as well as Philosophy at the University of Groningen and his Masters in Conflict, Security, and Development at King’s College London. Besides his digital work, Christiaan has worked as a freelance (photo)journalist in numerous countries, including Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria.

christiaantriebert.com
nytimes.com/interactive/2018/world/visual-investigations.html
bellingcat.com

KDocs Talks to virago Nation

In the fall of 2019, KDocs Outreach produced a documentary short on the All Indigenous Burlesque dance troupe known as Virago Nation. “KDocs Talks to Virago Nation” catches up with Shane Sable, convening member of Virago Nation, and Dr. Jennifer Hardwick, KPU English faculty and KDocsFF board member, as they coordinate a performance at the Wilson School of Design. The Viragos are joined by special guest performers Bo Dyp and Evan Ducharme for “An Evening of Dinner, Dancing, and Dialogue with Virago Nation.” Shane and Jennifer’s ongoing collaboration is part of a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) funded initiative, “’Medicine in our Very Bones’: Gender, Sexuality and Embodied Resistance in Indigenous Burlesque.”

KDocsFF Spring 2019 Mini-Fest

On February 6, 2019, KDocs held its 2019 Spring Mini-Fest. This double-feature showcased the award-winning documentaries RBG and Won’t You Be My Neighbour?  Our special guest and Keynote Speaker for the evening was Ellen Woodsworth, and panelists also included Mebrat Beyene (Executive Director, WISH Drop-In Centre Society), Cicely Blain (Co-founder, Black Lives Matter-Vancouver),Chastity Davis (Chair, Minister’s Advisory Council on Aboriginal Women for the Province of British Columbia), Anita Huberman (CEO, Surrey Board of Trade), Debra Parkes (Professor, UBC, and Chair, Centre for Feminist Legal Studies), and Jinny Sims (MLA, Surrey-Panorama). This special edition of KDocs Talks documents Ellen Woodworth's keynote and the panel discussion.

KDocs Talks 2018

Welcome to the 2018 edition of KDocs Talks.

Special thanks go out to the production team of Greg Chan (KDocsFF Community Outreach Program Director and executive producer), Manon Boivin (Former KDocsFF Board Member and producer), Marina Dodis (editor), and Janice Morris (KDocsFF Founder and Festival Director). This project was made possible through the support of the 0.6% PD fund, KPU Marketing, and the KDocsFF Board.

Aube Giroux is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, part-time organic farmer, and food blogger who works on food and sustainability issues. She has directed two short documentaries for the National Film Board and several independent productions. Her work has been shown on CBC and at international film festivals. Aube is the creator of Kitchen Vignettes, an acclaimed online farm-to-table cooking show on PBS with a large social media following. The show received the 2012 Saveur Magazine Best Food Blog Award and is a two-time James Beard Award nominee. Aube holds an MFA in Film Production from York University. Modified is her first feature-length documentary.

Jay Aubrey joined the BCCLA as staff counsel in 2016. Prior to joining the BCCLA, Jay worked for the Toronto law firm of Ruby & Shiller. Jay is a graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School’s Criminal Intensive Program, where she was awarded the Dean’s Gold Key in 2013. Jay worked to establish the Wendy Babcock Social Justice Award, administered yearly to Osgoode graduates engaged in legal work that honours Ms. Babcock’s fierce legacy of harm reduction for sex workers and other socially marginalized people. Jay holds a Masters degree in Women’s Studies and Feminist Research, which informs her ongoing learning to dismantle, and stop the reproduction of, social oppressions.

Ashley Lexvold is a fourth-year Criminology student at Kwantlen Polytechnic University and a volunteer with Correctional Services of Canada. After studying the many different aspects of criminology, she has found a passion in prison justice and prisoner rights. She collaborated with colleagues to organize a campaign advocating for the abolishment of solitary confinement. Ashley aspires to be a parole officer and advocate for the support of offenders reintegrating back into society.

Professor Debra Parkes joined the Allard School of Law in July 2016. Prior to that, she was a member of the Faculty of Law at the University of Manitoba from 2001 to 2016 where she served a term as Associate Dean (Research and Graduate Studies) from 2013-2106. She has also been a visiting researcher at the University of Woollongong and the University of Sydney. She was Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Journal of Women and the Law from 2009-2013 and President of the Canadian Law & Society Association from 2007-2010. Professor Parkes' scholarly work examines the challenges and possibilities of addressing societal injustices through rights claims, with a focus on the criminal justice, corrections, and workplace contexts. The lens she brings to this work is feminist, intersectional, and socio-legal. Professors Parkes takes a particular interest in the incarceration of women, the limits of prison reform, and the framing and adjudicating of prisoners’ rights claims. With funding from the Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), Professor Parkes has examined mechanisms for oversight and accountability of imprisonment in Canada, and she is collaborating on a new SSHRC-funded research partnership to develop participatory-action research methods for prison research that bring academics, former prisoners, and community agencies together to systematically collect and document prisoner experiences. In 2015, she guest-edited a special volume of the Canadian Journal of Human Rights on solitary confinement and human rights. Before beginning her academic career, Professor Parkes worked as a law clerk to justices of the BC Supreme Court (1997-1998) and practiced with the litigation group at Gowlings LLP in Toronto (1998-2000). She maintains strong connections with the bench and bar, welcoming opportunities to present at judicial education conferences and at continuing professional development workshops for the practicing bar. Professor Parkes supervises graduate students in the fields of sentencing, penal policy, and the criminalization of women.

Jeff Shantz is a writer, poet, photographer, artist, and activist who has decades of community organizing experience within social movements and as a rank-and-file workplace activist. He currently teaches social justice, critical theory, state and corporate crime, and community advocacy at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Metro Vancouver, Canada. He is project lead on Anti-Poverty/Criminalization/Social War Policing at the Social Justice Centre in Surrey, British Columbia (Unceded Coast Salish territories). See: thesocialjusticecentre.org/anti-poverty-criminalization-social-war-policing. Shantz is the author of numerous books, including Crisis States: Governance, Resistance, and Precarious Capitalism (Punctum 2016), Commonist Tendencies: Mutual Aid beyond Communism (Punctum 2013), Green Syndicalism: An Alternative Red/Green Vision (Syracuse University Press 2012), and Constructive Anarchy: Building Infrastructures of Resistance (Ashgate 2010). Shantz is co-founder of the Critical Criminology Working Group (radicalcriminology.org) and founding editor of the journal Radical Criminology (journal.radicalcriminology.org/index.php/rc). Samples of his writings can be found at jeffshantz.ca. Follow Jeff on twitter @critcrim.

Stephanie Farrior is a prominent academic and activist in the field of international human rights whose work includes addressing issues at the intersection of human rights and the environment. She is a Professor of Law at Vermont Law School and the director of its Center for Applied Human Rights. Previously, she was the Legal Director of Amnesty International, based at its International Secretariat in London. She has conducted human rights missions to India, Malawi, Pakistan, and Yemen, and has participated in policy-making conferences on international human rights in Cape Town, Geneva, Ljubljana, London, Oslo, Paris, and Yokohama. Professor Farrior’s work has been published in Oxford, Harvard, Columbia, and Berkeley law journals and has been cited by UN experts in their studies and reports to the United Nations. She has been a Visiting Fellow of the University of Oxford, Visiting Scholar at Georgetown University Law Centre, and member of the Executive Council of the American Society of International Law.  Born in Bangkok, Farrior grew up there and in Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo, and Washington, DC; she has also lived in Athens, Avignon, and London.  She holds a JD from The American University, Washington College of Law, and an LLM from Harvard Law School.

Alex Neve believes in a world in which the human rights of all people are protected. He has been a member of Amnesty International since 1985 and has served as Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada’s English Branch since 2000.  In that role, he has carried out numerous human rights research missions throughout Africa and Latin America, and closer to home to such locations as Grassy Narrows First Nation in NW Ontario and Guantánamo Bay.  He speaks to audiences across the country about a wide range of human rights issues, appears regularly before parliamentary committees and UN bodies, and is a frequent commentator in the media.  Alex is a lawyer, with an LLB from Dalhousie University and a Master’s Degree in International Human Rights Law from the University of Essex.  He has served as a member of the Immigration and Refugee Board, taught at Osgoode Hall Law School and the University of Ottawa, been affiliated with York University's Centre for Refugee Studies, and worked as a refugee lawyer in private practice and in a community legal aid clinic.  He is on the Board of Directors of Partnership Africa Canada, the Canadian Centre for International Justice and the Centre for Law and Democracy.  Alex has been named an Officer of the Order of Canada and a Trudeau Foundation Mentor. He is a recipient of a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. He has received honorary Doctorate of Laws degrees from St. Thomas University, the University of Waterloo and the University of New Brunswick. 

Jeff Shantz is a writer, poet, photographer, artist, and activist who has decades of community organizing experience within social movements and as a rank-and-file workplace activist. He currently teaches social justice, critical theory, state and corporate crime, and community advocacy at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Metro Vancouver, Canada. He is project lead on Anti-Poverty/Criminalization/Social War Policing at the Social Justice Centre in Surrey, British Columbia (Unceded Coast Salish territories). See: thesocialjusticecentre.org/anti-poverty-criminalization-social-war-policing. Shantz is the author of numerous books, including Crisis States: Governance, Resistance, and Precarious Capitalism (Punctum 2016), Commonist Tendencies: Mutual Aid beyond Communism (Punctum 2013), Green Syndicalism: An Alternative Red/Green Vision (Syracuse University Press 2012), and Constructive Anarchy: Building Infrastructures of Resistance (Ashgate 2010). Shantz is co-founder of the Critical Criminology Working Group (radicalcriminology.org) and founding editor of the journal Radical Criminology (journal.radicalcriminology.org/index.php/rc). Samples of his writings can be found at jeffshantz.ca. Follow Jeff on twitter @critcrim.

Professor Stepan Wood’s research relates to corporate social responsibility, sustainability, globalization, transnational governance, voluntary standards, climate change, and environmental law. He leads the interdisciplinary Transnational Business Governance Interactions (TBGI) project, an international research network that examines the drivers, dynamics, and impacts of competition, cooperation, coordination, and conflict among transnational initiatives to regulate global business. His co-authored book, A Perilous Imbalance: The Globalization of Canadian Law and Governance (UBC Press, 2010), was shortlisted for the Donald Smiley award for best book on Canadian politics. Professor Wood is founding co-chair of the Willms & Shier Environmental Law Moot, Vice-Chair of the Canadian national committee on environmental management systems standards, and a lead Canadian negotiator of the ISO 14001 and 14004 standards. Professor Wood holds an LLB from Osgoode Hall. Before obtaining his SJD from Harvard Law School, he was a law clerk to the late Justice John Sopinka of the Supreme Court of Canada and practised law with White & Case in New York. Prior to joining the Allard School of Law in 2017, Professor Wood was Professor and York Research Chair in Environmental Law and Justice at Osgoode Hall Law School, where he was also Editor-in-Chief of the Osgoode Hall Law Journal, Coordinator of the York University JD/Master in Environmental Studies joint program, and founding co-director of Osgoode’s Environmental Justice and Sustainability Clinical Program. He has also held visiting appointments around the world, including at the University of Verona, Bar-Ilan University, the European University Institute, and Northwestern University.

Lenée Son is the Coordinator of the Carnegie Community Action Project, where she brings extensive experience as a freelance multimedia journalist with experience producing content in various mediums, including online digital content, audio, and video. A recent graduate from Kwantlen Polytechnic University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism (Hons.) and a minor in Sociology, Lenée is enthusiastic about gaining new professional and personal experiences. Especially as a second-generation survivor of genocide, Lenée is passionate about promoting and supporting human rights through her work. She is committed to intersectional social justice principles and is interested in exploring under-reported social, environmental, economic, and political issues within her community. She has developed skills in storytelling, photojournalism, videography, social media marketing, and research. Lenée has contributed her skills to organizations such as rabble.ca, the United Nations Association of Canada Vancouver Branch, the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association, Sher Vancouver, and Tourism Vancouver. Lenée was the recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Student Journalism Award, South Asian Business Association Student Journalism Award, PIPS Lorem Ipsum Student Journalism Award, and Jal & Threaty Award for her community service.

Jean Swanson has volunteered at the Carnegie Community Action Project since 2006, working for more and better housing, higher welfare rates, and an end to gentrification in the Downtown Eastside. She has also worked with End Legislated Poverty, the BC Coalition against Free Trade, and the National Anti-Poverty Organization.  She is the author of Poor Bashing: The Politics of Exclusion, and, last October, she ran for Vancouver City Council, coming in second.

Charles Wilkinson is a multi award-winning documentary and dramatic film and television director and published author. His more recent titles from the last five years include documentary features Peace Out, Oil Sands Karaoke, and Haida Gwaii: On The Edge of the World, which won best Canadian Feature Documentary in 2015. Charles’s newest feature documentary, Vancouver: No Fixed Address, takes an uncompromising look at the Vancouver drama: multi-ethnic citizens fighting for living space versus the global corporate forces turning entire cities into financial commodities.

Arjun Chowdhury is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of British Columbia. He is the author of The Myth of International Order, which explains why most states in the world are weak states, i.e., states that do not monopolize violence or tax at a high rate of GDP. His classes cover topics like war, trade, and development.

Cicely Blain is writer, facilitator, and activist originally from London, UK. They are a founder of Black Lives Matter-Vancouver as well as a columnist for Daily Xtra and The Body is Not an Apology. They are also a sub-editor at Beyond the Binary, a UK-based magazine for trans and non-binary people. Cicely is the 2017 winner of the CCPA Power of Youth Leadership Awards in Social Movement Building for their contributions to LGBTQ rights and the Black liberation movement.

Abubakar Khan is a young American, Canadian, Pakistani Muslim. He is the founder of The Chosen Khan, an online platform that highlights diversity, interfaith, and creative dialogue. He is the chairman of Social Sport, a charity that helps to integrate refugee youth through the power of team sports. He is also a member of Vancouver Helping Hands, a group that helps members of the DTES by providing them with care packages and conversations. He has planned multiple rallies such as the Love Over Fear Rally against Islamophobia and the Love Over Fear Rally against Racial Discrimination, which in turn led him to co-founding the Love Over Fear clothing line. He hopes to connect as many people as possible during the short time that he's blessed to be on this planet.

Naveen Zafar is passionate about helping others learn and develop. As a community organizer, TEDx speaker, and mentor for students, she uses her education and skills to empower, uplift, and motivate those around her. Naveen works with non-profits and educational institutions to host workshops, organize events, and drive initiatives to increase social impact. She’s joined the KDocs board as a Community Outreach Facilitator, hoping to challenge mainstream narratives of minority groups while engaging local youth. Most recently, Naveen was awarded the “Young Woman of Distinction Award” for her work in the Muslim community.

Alex Neve believes in a world in which the human rights of all people are protected. He has been a member of Amnesty International since 1985 and has served as Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada’s English Branch since 2000.  In that role, he has carried out numerous human rights research missions throughout Africa and Latin America, and closer to home to such locations as Grassy Narrows First Nation in NW Ontario and Guantánamo Bay.  He speaks to audiences across the country about a wide range of human rights issues, appears regularly before parliamentary committees and UN bodies, and is a frequent commentator in the media.  Alex is a lawyer, with an LLB from Dalhousie University and a Master’s Degree in International Human Rights Law from the University of Essex.  He has served as a member of the Immigration and Refugee Board, taught at Osgoode Hall Law School and the University of Ottawa, been affiliated with York University's Centre for Refugee Studies, and worked as a refugee lawyer in private practice and in a community legal aid clinic.  He is on the Board of Directors of Partnership Africa Canada, the Canadian Centre for International Justice and the Centre for Law and Democracy.  Alex has been named an Officer of the Order of Canada and a Trudeau Foundation Mentor. He is a recipient of a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. He has received honorary Doctorate of Laws degrees from St. Thomas University, the University of Waterloo and the University of New Brunswick. 

Jeff Shantz is a writer, poet, photographer, artist, and activist who has decades of community organizing experience within social movements and as a rank-and-file workplace activist. He currently teaches social justice, critical theory, state and corporate crime, and community advocacy at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Metro Vancouver, Canada. He is project lead on Anti-Poverty/Criminalization/Social War Policing at the Social Justice Centre in Surrey, British Columbia (Unceded Coast Salish territories). See: thesocialjusticecentre.org/anti-poverty-criminalization-social-war-policing. Shantz is the author of numerous books, including Crisis States: Governance, Resistance, and Precarious Capitalism (Punctum 2016), Commonist Tendencies: Mutual Aid beyond Communism (Punctum 2013), Green Syndicalism: An Alternative Red/Green Vision (Syracuse University Press 2012), and Constructive Anarchy: Building Infrastructures of Resistance (Ashgate 2010). Shantz is co-founder of the Critical Criminology Working Group (radicalcriminology.org) and founding editor of the journal Radical Criminology (journal.radicalcriminology.org/index.php/rc). Samples of his writings can be found at jeffshantz.ca. Follow Jeff on twitter @critcrim.

Ronald J. Deibert is Professor of Political Science and Director of the Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto. He is a former founder and principal investigator of the OpenNet Initiative (2003-2014) and a founder of Psiphon, a world leader in providing open access to the Internet. Deibert is the author of Black Code: Surveillance, Privacy, and the Dark Side of the Internet (Random House: 2013), which has been turned into a feature-length documentary by Nick De Pencier, as well as numerous books, chapters, articles, and reports on Internet censorship, surveillance, and cyber security. He was one of the authors of the landmark Tracking Ghostnet (2009) and Great Cannon (2015) reports, and co-editor of three major volumes with MIT Press on information controls (the “Access” series). The reports of the Citizen Lab are routinely covered in global media, including 22 separate reports receiving exclusive front-page coverage in the New York Times, Washington Post, Globe and Mail, and Toronto Star over the last eight years. He is on the steering committee for the World Movement for Democracy, the board of advisors for Pen Canada, Access, and Privacy International, and on the technical advisory groups for Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. In recognition of his own work or that of the Citizen Lab, he has been awarded the Electronic Frontier Foundation Pioneer award (2015), the Neil Postman Award for Career Achievement in Public Intellectual Activity (2014), the Advancement of Intellectual Freedom in Canada Award from the Canadian Library Association (2014), the Canadian Journalists for Free Expression Vox Libera Award (2010), and the Northrop Frye Distinguished Teaching and Research Award (2003). In 2013, he was appointed to the Order of Ontario and awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee medal, for being “among the first to recognize and take measures to mitigate growing threats to communications rights, openness and security worldwide.”

Chaumtoli Huq founded Law@theMargins in 2013 and serves as its Editor-In-Chief.  Huq is a social justice innovator with extensive experience in movement lawyering, litigation, public policy, management and creation of programs from emerging trends in law, teaching, and assisting non-profits and individuals with strategic direction and governance issues, mainly in areas of labor and human rights, both in the United States and South Asia. From August 2014 to June 2015, she was a Senior Researcher with the American Institute for Bangladesh Studies (AIBS) based in Dhaka, Bangladesh. She has produced two short documentaries on her work in Bangladesh called Sramik Awaaz: Workers Voices, and a video on Bangladeshi women organizing in New York called Naree Shongotok. Huq has taught courses in legal practice, immigrant rights, employment law, and legal issues facing Asian Americans at BMCC, New York Law School, City College/CUNY, and Rutgers University. Along with holding leadership roles at Legal Services of NYC and MFY Legal Services, she also served as Director of the first South Asian Workers’ Rights Project at the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, as a Skadden Fellow, and as the first staff attorney to the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, a multi-ethnic, immigrant- and worker-led labor organization. Huq is a contributor to the anthology Voices of Resistance: Muslim Women on War, Faith and Sexuality, co-author of “Laying the Groundwork for Post 9-11 Alliances: Reflections Ten Years Later on Desis and Organizing” (Asian American Literary Review), and has authored Op-Eds in Al Jazeera, Huffington Post, and Daily Star, the largest English daily in Bangladesh. You can follow her on Twitter @lawatmargins.

Hessed Torres was a registered nurse from Manila, Philippines who came to Canada in 2014 through the Live-In Caregiver Program. The lack of nursing opportunities led her to migrate to Canada in order to financially provide for her daughter back home. After experiencing the exploitative nature of the Caregiver Program, she sought advice from Migrante BC, a non-profit, grassroots organization. Upon her assertion of her rights as a worker, she was unjustly terminated by her employers. It was then that she realized that this is not an isolated case but a systemic problem that migrants struggle with on a daily basis. Hessed began volunteering her time and eventually became a core member Community Organizer after seeing that the only way to gain rights for the migrant community is to educate and organize them. She currently serves as the Arts Facilitator for P.A.N.C.I.T.  Arts Collective (Pilipino Artists Network for Community Integrative Transformation) and heads the Caregivers Committee under Migrante BC.

KDOCS TALKS 2017

KDocs talks with Lekeyten

One of 20 Kwantlen First Nation Elders, Lekeyten grew up within a very large family in Chehalis First Nation near Harrison Lake. Here, Lekeyten attended day school. Similar to residential schools, day schools did not require students to stay overnight and they returned home at the end of every day. But the teachings were the same, said Lekeyten, and he and his classmates were taught to be quiet. As a result, Lekeyten spent more time in nature than in school, and he soon found his voice. Fast-forward to adulthood, and Lekeyten has been avidly involved for more than 20 years as a guest speaker and presenter at all levels of elementary, secondary, and post-secondary education, as well as trades and conferences in the Lower Mainland. His talks are about the environment, land and water use, fishing, and issues of conservation and its traditional importance. Lekeyten is a proud father of three daughters and two sons. He is also extremely proud of being a grandfather of nine. Lekeyten and his wife, Cheryl Gabriel, have been together for forty years. He loves and respects his family wholeheartedly. His advice at the Elder in Residence installation ceremony: “Never shut up.” Lekeyten is honoured to be an Elder in Residence at KPU. He will share with the university, faculty, staff, and students the best of himself. He believes that every person deserves the best for their life and educational journey.  kpu.ca/aboriginal/elder

KDocs talks with William Rees

Dr. William Rees is a human ecologist, ecological economist, Professor Emeritus and former Director of the University of British Columbia’s School of Community and Regional Planning (SCARP) in Vancouver, Canada, where his research and teaching focused on the biophysical prerequisites for sustainability in an era of accelerating ecological change. Within this envelope, he developed a special interest in ecologically-relevant metrics of sustainability and their interpretation in terms of complexity theory and behavioural ecology. Professor Rees is perhaps best known in ecological economics as the originator and co-developer of “ecological footprint analysis.” His book on eco-footprinting, with then PhD student Dr. Mathis Wackernagel, has been translated into eight languages including Chinese. Widely adopted for sustainability assessments by Governments, NGOs and academics, the human “eco-footprint” has arguably become the world’s best-known sustainability indicator.
Professor Rees’ most recent writing focuses on neuro-biological, cognitive, and cultural barriers to sustainability, including humans’ well-developed capacity for self-delusion. He has authored (or coauthored) more than 150 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters, and numerous popular articles on humanity’s (un)sustainability conundrum. Active across disciplines, Dr. Rees is a long-term member of the Global Ecological Integrity Group, a Fellow of the Post-Carbon Institute, a founding member and past President of the Canadian Society for Ecological Economics, and founding Director of the OneEarth Initiative. The influence of Dr. Rees’ work is widely recognized and awarded. He
has lectured by invitation throughout North America and 25 other countries around the world; the Vancouver Sun named Professor Rees one of British Columbia’s top public intellectuals in 2000; in 2006, he was elected to the Royal Society of Canada, and in 2007, he was awarded a prestigious Trudeau Foundation Fellowship. Laval University in Québec recognized Professor Rees with an honorary doctorate in 2012, and he is the recipient of both the 2012 Boulding Prize in Ecological Economics and a 2012 Blue Planet Prize (jointly with Dr. Wackernagel).
 

KDocs talks with faith bodnar

Faith Bodnar is the Executive Director of Inclusion BC, a provincial federation working with partners to build community and to enhance the lives of children and youth with special needs, adults with developmental disabilities, and their families by supporting abilities, promoting action, and advancing rights, responsibilities, and social justice. Faith started her career more than 25 years ago doing grassroots advocacy with the Lloydminster ACL. Over her career, she has worked locally, provincially, and nationally with families, people with intellectual disabilities, agencies, and government to advance full citizenship and human rights for all people.  inclusionbc.org

kdocs talks with min sook lee

An award-winning filmmaker with a diverse and prolific portfolio of multimedia work, director Min Sook Lee has directed numerous critically acclaimed social documentaries, including My Toxic Baby, Donald Brittain Gemini winner Tiger Spirit, Hot Docs Best Canadian Feature winner Hogtown, Gemini nominated El Contrato, Badge of Pride, and Canadian Screen Award winner The Real Inglorious Bastards. Min Sook is also an Assistant Professor at OCAD University where she teaches Art and Social Change. Min Sook is a recipient of the Cesar E. Chavez Black Eagle Award for El Contrato’s impact on the rights of migrant workers, and Canada’s oldest labour arts festival, Mayworks, has named the Min Sook Lee Labour Arts Award in her honour. More recently, in 2016, she was awarded the Alanis Obomsawin Award for Commitment to Community and Resistance. In 2016, Min Sook released Migrant Dreams, a powerful feature documentary that exposes the undertold story of migrant agricultural workers struggling against Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP), where foreign workers are treated as modern-day indentured labourers. Its premiere at the 2016 Hot Docs festival garnered numerous praises, elicited standing ovations, and was ultimately selected as a coveted Top 10 Audience Choice film at the festival.  migrantdreams.ca

kdocs talks with Tamara Herman

Tamara Herman is a community organizer, researcher, and filmmaker based in Vancouver, Coast Salish Territories. Tamara's interest in resource extraction was sparked when she did environmental work for an indigenous community opposing oil extraction in the late 1990s. Since then, she has spent time working with communities living beside mines in Asia, Latin America, and Africa. Tamara has made several short films on poverty and environmental issues since she first picked up a camera in 2010. We Call Them Intruders is her first feature film.

Kdocs talks with Saleem Spindari

As a member of a minority group and a former refugee, Saleem Spindari has a passion for social justice and strives to support those in need. Since his arrival in Canada in 1997, Saleem has been very active in advocating for refugees, immigrants, temporary foreign workers, and other marginalized groups. Saleem has presented on refugee issues at various conference and forums. Saleem is now the Manager of Refugee Settlement Support Projects at MOSAIC and manages Metro Vancouver’s Refugee Response Team. He is also the volunteer co-chair of the Multi Agency Partnership (MAP), a partnership comprised of representatives of 40+ government and non-government refugee claimant-serving agencies in BC.  mosaicbc.org

Kdocs talks with Wade Deisman

Dr. Wade Deisman is a social scientist, scholar, educator, media pundit and provocateur, and all-around public advocate. He is the past Chairperson of the Criminology Department at Kwantlen Polytechnic University and currently serves as Associate Dean of Students in the Faculty of Arts. Dr. Deisman’s research interests range from a fascination with all things theoretical to a more substantive focus on policing and intelligence, terrorism and violent extremism, surveillance, and virtual vigilantism. Prior to moving to the Lower Mainland, he was a professor in the Department of Criminology at the University of Ottawa and the Director of the Ottawa-based National Security Working Group. He worked for the Law Commission of Canada in Ottawa and for the Atlantic Institute for Criminology in Halifax. Dr. Deisman has conducted research for the RCMP and the Privacy Commissioner of Canada and is a Senior Research Affiliate with the Network on Terrorism, Security and Society. He is a passionate teacher and proponent of community based education, an outspoken advocate of criminal justice reform, and an incorrigible interlocutor of the public good. A frequent commentator in the news and television media, Wade has appeared in a range of programs including CBC’s Canada Now, Question Period, The National, Canada AM, CTV Newsnet, The Current, Dispatches, BC Today, Ontario Today, Ottawa Morning, Global National, A-Channel, and CPAC. He is also the creative producer and co-host (with Dr. Minelle Mahtani) of his own weekly radio show entitled “Intersections” on Roundhouse Radio.