Meet Canoo member Shameka and her family.

As a new Canadian citizen, Shameka believes that active citizenship is an important practice. “Active citizenship means to me getting involved in your community no matter how small the activity may be,” explains Shameka. “[For example,] sitting on a parent council at your kids school or volunteering to go in and speak about your career for career day or donating to your local food bank. It doesn’t have to be something elaborate; it just has to be something that has an impact on others and making a difference in their lives.”

“The best place I’ve visited using Canoo was Telus Spark Science Centre,” says Shameka, “We visited on a Statutory Holiday and it was a bit crowded but my kids had an awesome time… for once my 5 year old didn’t complain that he was bored and actually didn’t want to leave! It felt so good watching my kids explore the centre and ask questions about how things worked, [even] competing with each other in operating the simple machines. I have never seen them that engaged before. Now we have a membership for the centre. Canoo afforded my family the opportunity to visit some places that we would not have thought about visiting and we totally enjoyed the experience!”

Shameka thinks that cultural places “help people to have a deeper appreciation and understanding of different cultures and this leads to persons feeling more connected and comfortable in society.”

As of today, The Market Gallery has partnered with Canoo to welcome new Canadian citizens into their space with free admission.

Canoo is a mobile app that helps new Canadian citizens celebrate their citizenship by providing free admission to over 1400 museums, science centres, art galleries, parks, and historic sites across Canada.

The Market Gallery animates the second floor of the South St. Lawrence Market, which encloses all that remains of Toronto’s original 19th-century Front Street City Hall council chamber, operating from 1845-1899. The historic site presents a variety of changing exhibits related to the art, culture and history of Toronto.

Canoo members in Toronto and the surrounding area, check your app to learn more about The Market Gallery and to visit! To find more places to visit near you, be sure to enable location services on the Canoo app. Learn more about the app on the Canoo Help Centre.

Meet Canoo member Christine Samonte.

Christine immigrated to Canada over 10 years ago, and now lives in the Calgary area. She received her Canadian citizenship in June 2019. Christine chose to move to Canada in part because “it’s one of the most beautiful countries in the world!”

Christine’s favourite city in Canada is Vancouver, but her favourite place in the country is Banff National Park, and she visits the park regularly. “I always love Banff because of its amazing sceneries,” she says.

She believes that Canoo helps to play a role in building social inclusion as it allows her to “enjoy and witness the different cultures” in Canada. “What I love most about Canada is its diversity of people and culture,” she says.

Meet Canoo member Vikash Raghoebier.

“I chose Canada because of its liberal laws and accepting culture,” says Vikash, “What I love most about Canada is that you can be your true authentic self here, and the beautiful landscapes.”

“To me, inclusion means the unprejudiced offering of equality, respect, and dignity to an individual,” he adds.

Vikash’s favourite place in Canada is Montreal. “The versatility of this country is reflected in this fun and bustling city where arts and cuisines are curated with finesse and cultures are celebrated with splendour,” he says. “Montreal is also a historic time capsule with captivating architecture, which made me nostalgic of a past unknown. I made friends there amazingly fast!”

In Montreal, Vikash has enjoyed visiting cultural venues with Canoo. “Cultural places are the playground where social dynamics are formed very early on in the process of integration. Hence the development of social inclusion depends on the cultural places,” he says. “Canoo has been the best gift one could receive as a new Canadian citizen. After all these months with Canoo, I feel I know my country more than I did before and the traveling has nourished me emotionally and spiritually.”

Claire Oliver, left, is the audience development officer at Danse Danse.

Danse Danse has been bringing the best of local and international contemporary dance to audiences in Montreal since 1998. Their commitment to promoting dance and its appreciation has seen Danse Danse’s work grow from showcasing performances, to creating education programs geared to youth and schools, to creating a dedicated audience development department in 2015. We recently spoke with Claire Oliver, audience development officer, about Danse Danse’s work, dance as a common language, and the ways in which diversity shapes an organization.

Could you tell us a bit about Danse Danse and your role at the organization?
Danse Danse is a contemporary dance presenter. In other words, the organization presents shows by local and international contemporary dance companies. For our 22nd season, 12 companies will present a total of 60 shows and two school matinees at the larger Théâtre Maisonneuve (1,400 seats) and the more intimate Cinquième Salle (300 seats) at Place des Arts.

Since its beginnings, Danse Danse’s mission has focused on promoting contemporary dance and audience development. As such, in 2015 it created an audience development department to make performing arts more accessible and make people more aware of them. My colleague Anne-Sophie Viens and myself are developing inclusive projects in schools and communities, and with the new citizens that we’ve been happy to welcome to our shows since 2018!

Montreal is a vibrant city, known for its diversity of cultures, ethnicities, and religions. How has this shaped and impacted Danse Danse?
Montréal is extremely rich in cultural diversity and many of the creators presented by Danse Danse are established in Québec but come from other countries: Algeria, Venezuela, Mexico… Not to mention the dancers. There are a lot of international companies in addition to all the local ones, and the total number of performances makes Danse Danse the leading contemporary dance season in Canada. Since its beginnings, Danse Danse has presented foreign companies from 23 countries and five continents.

As for the audience, a recent study* has shown that our audience is proportionally more culturally diverse than the population of the city of Montréal. Our office team, for its part, has people from Germany, China, France, Lebanon and Québec working together (our potlucks are phenomenal), and everyone contributes their own enriching background to our work, which addresses emotions, expression, and identity.

* 2018 Canada Post profile analysis 

How is dance, as a medium, inclusive? How is it accessible?
Dance has been around since…prehistoric times! To celebrate, conduct rituals, socialize… dance has been used as a form of expression on all continents. Also, there’s basically only one tool required: our body. Without words, there’s no language barrier.

In addition, contemporary dance has largely democratized the representation of the human body on stage: it can be tall, small, muscled, thin, it can have physical limitations…

There are dance classes offered for all ages and conditions: for toddlers, seniors, people with reduced mobility. Dance truly is an artistic medium that brings people together. There’s something for everyone, so go ahead, dance!

Tell us a bit about your Get Youth into Dance program, and how it encourages participation and connection
Danse Danse created the Get Youth into Dance program in 2005. The program, which is run with the funds collected during our annual fundraising campaign, gives several hundred youth the chance to see our shows for free every season. Youth centres, schools in underprivileged neighbourhoods and community organizations that work with vulnerable populations can thus bring youths to a Danse Danse show and be greeted by an ambassador that provides information and guidance before, during, and after the show. It creates a special space for expression, listening, and sharing.

To date, over 6,800 youth have had the opportunity to use the program. There are also 930 new citizens who have had the chance to see our shows for free and some have attended a movement workshop with a special guest from the season!

How have initiatives such as the Get Youth into Dance program changed Danse Danse as an organization?
The Get Youth into Dance program also gives youth a voice. We hear that voice and it helps us grow and move forward.  The guidance and resources for the program evolve throughout the years. And it has led to several other projects! In fact, it is the key to our cultural actions: the projects we’re creating, the resources we’re developing, and the partnerships we’re building.
The audience development department as such was born out of this desire and need to go further in guiding audiences that are less interested in or aware of our offer and contemporary dance.

Do you notice any difference in how audiences connect to performances when there is an element of mediation? Or any form of intervention to introduce new audiences to dance?
Mediation is a way to create connections between an individual and a piece. When youth participate in a workshop with an artist whom they then get to see on stage, it has an immediate impact: they feel involved, proud, at home in a theatre that they wouldn’t necessarily have chosen to go to. They become stakeholders in the artistic experience.

When ambassadors speak to the youths before the show, their goal is to create connections between them and the piece they will see, to make them want to see the show.

It’s like magic when you see the connection forming: the feeling that art has no boundaries, that it brings people together and immerses them in an intimate and creative experience. It’s experiencing our deepest emotions and letting them soar.

How does Danse Danse encourage inclusivity outside of the theatre?
In addition to presenting shows, Danse Danse organizes dance workshops, backstage visits, and workshops for audience members at the theatre, in studios, or even in schools and community centres. Artistic meetings can happen in places other than the theatre. We can also meet the public wherever it is.

We also have a partnership with an art gallery – Arsenal, Contemporary Art – that provides dance artists with a creative space for a few weeks and ends with a public presentation of the work they have done.

We’re working on multiplying our inclusive projects for the general public: youth, new citizens and seniors (a pilot project is coming soon), so that we can bring the joy of dance to an ever-increasing audience!

Which of your initiatives are you most proud of and why?
That’s a hard one…I feel fulfilled by my work because it relates to people, feelings, sharing. Regardless of the result – discovering a true passion, sharing a pleasant moment, feeling confused or at a loss – all artistic experiences can be constructive and important.

I’m just as proud of the little initiatives as the big ones. In fact, I’m proud to have been given the mandate to create the audience development department and make it grow with my amazing colleague Anne-Sophie Viens. And all that is possible thanks to Danse Danse’s drive and commitment.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

As of today, the Toronto Railway Museum has partnered with Canoo to welcome new Canadian citizens into their space with free admission.

Canoo is a mobile app that helps new Canadian citizens celebrate their citizenship by providing free admission to over 1400 museums, science centres, art galleries, parks, and historic sites across Canada.

The Toronto Railway Museum is housed in the historic John Street Roundhouse. They tell the stories of Toronto’s railways through exhibits and programs for the whole family.

Canoo members in Toronto and the surrounding area, check your app to learn more about the Toronto Railway Museum and to visit!

To find more places to visit near you, be sure to enable location services on the Canoo app. Learn more about the app on the Canoo Help Centre.

Canada’s federal election is on Monday, October 21, 2019. As an organization that encourages active citizenship, the Institute for Canadian Citizenship (ICC) is keen to make sure that all Canadians, especially new citizens, are informed about both how to vote and what political parties have to say about citizenship and inclusion. Below is a breakdown of where the major political parties stand on issues of inclusion, namely immigration, citizenship, multiculturalism and diversity, and countering hate. Included are commitments from the Liberal Party, led by Justin Trudeau; the Conservatives, led by Andrew Scheer; the NDP, led by Jagmeet Singh; the Green Party, led by Elizabeth May; the Bloc Québécois, led by Yves-François Blanchet; and the People’s Party, led by Maxime Bernier.

For information on how and where to vote, check out this blog post.  And for those who aren’t yet citizens, you can still get involved in parallel voting processes led by organizations like CIVIX and Ryerson Democratic Exchange’s Vote Popups.

To understand the platforms of each political party on a wide range of issues like climate change, housing, health care, taxes, and education, take a look at CBC’s analysis, which is continuously updated as the parties add to their platforms. While citizenship and immigration are important to the ICC, we know that voters want to be informed about the complete collection of commitments before heading to the polls!

Where the parties align on immigration

On the record, the Liberals, Conservatives, NDP, and Greens have each stated they are in favour of economic immigration, however, there are substantial differences in their approaches. Economic immigrants already make up about 60 per cent of Canadian immigration, and are assessed on their skills and ability to contribute to the Canadian economy. Economic immigration does not include refugees and others accepted through the humanitarian class or family reunification and sponsorship.

The parties mentioned above also agree on the need to improve international credential recognition in Canada, which is a significant barrier to employment for immigrants. Improving the credential recognition system would not only allow immigrants to reach their full potential, but also contribute their full skill sets and experience to the Canadian economy.

Where they diverge: Immigration levels and priorities

The Liberal Party platform commits to “continue to welcome more people to Canada, with a focus on attracting highly skilled workers.” The Liberal government created an immigration levels plan for 2018-2021, which was the first time in over 15 years that a plan was set for more than a year at a time. Under that plan, immigration increased to 321,045 immigrants in 2018, with a target of 350,000. They plan to introduce a dedicated refugee stream for human rights advocates, journalists, and humanitarian workers. The Liberals say they also plan to move forward on a Municipal Nominee Program “that will allow local communities, chambers of commerce, and local labour councils to directly sponsor permanent immigrants.”

The Conservative Party platform was recently released, about two weeks ahead of the federal election. The Conservatives say they will prioritize economic immigration over humanitarian (refugees) or family reunification/sponsorship, and private sponsorship of refugees, rather than government-assisted refugees. Mr. Scheer commits to refocusing the government-assisted refugee program specifically to genocide survivors, LGBTQ+ refugees, and internally displaced persons. The Conservatives’ platform commits to aligning immigration with skills and labour gaps in business, increasing the number of points needed to enter Canada through the Express Entry Program, reducing irregular border crossings, and negotiating greater jurisdiction for Quebec around immigration.

The NDP’s platform commits to making “sure that immigration policies and levels meet Canada’s labour force needs and recognize people’s experiences, contributions, and ties to Canada.” They say that “family reunification should be a priority” of Canadian immigration policy and would “work with provinces to address gaps in settlement services.” The NDP platform also commits to setting up stronger regulations in the immigration consultant industry. Mr. Singh has said the NDP will get rid of the cap on applications to sponsor parents and grandparents, and that they will eliminate immigrant application and landing fees.

The Green Party platform commits to “speed up family reunification, especially reuniting children with their parents,” “establish a system that is fair,” and attract immigrants to support Canada’s aging population and fill gaps in the labour market. The Green Party will also “lead a national discussion to define the term “environmental refugee,” advocate for its inclusion as a refugee category in Canada, and accept an appropriate share of the world’s environmental refugees into Canada.” The Greens say they want to eliminate the Temporary Foreign Workers Program and increase funding for language education and training services in Canada’s official languages.

The Bloc Québécois platform emphasizes the autonomy of Quebec’s decision-making, and proposes that the Quebec National Assembly should choose the number of provincially accepted immigrants and refugees, rather than the federal government. The Bloc Québécois platform also promises to streamline the processing of Temporary Foreign Worker Program cases, and promises a tax credit for recent graduates and immigrants who accept a job in rural areas of Quebec.

The People’s Party of Canada states they are against “mass migration,” and their platform commits to “lower the total number of immigrants and refugees to between 100,000 and 150,000” per year, a level not seen since 1986. The People’s Party platform specifically says that mass immigration is used as a tool by mainstream parties to buy immigrant votes and states that it drives up housing prices. They go on to say that immigration “should not be used to forcibly change the cultural character and social fabric of our country. And it should not put excessive financial burdens on the shoulders of Canadians in the pursuit of humanitarian goals.”

The Pathway to Citizenship

The Liberals have promised to eliminate the application fee for those eligible to obtain citizenship. Currently, the fee is $530, which was raised by the former Conservative government from $100. Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen, stated that their government “heard from groups across the country… that the prohibitive fees were stopping families from becoming Canadian.”

The Green Party platform commits to “establish a program to process the estimated 200,000 people living in Canada without official status, providing a pathway to permanent residency for those who qualify.” They also want to “ensure ‘lost Canadians’ quietly being denied citizenship through archaic laws are protected and that their citizenship is restored.” They commit to improving “the pathway for international students and foreign workers to Canadian permanent residency and citizenship.”

Promoting Diversity and Multiculturalism

The Liberals say that they will “improve diversity in appointments to federal agencies and bodies” as well as “appointing only bilingual judges to the Supreme Court of Canada.” Mr. Trudeau is the only leader who says he would consider challenging Quebec on Bill 21, which bans certain public servants, including teachers and police, from wearing religious symbols.

The Conservatives’ platform makes no specific mention of commitments to multiculturalism and diversity. The Conservatives say they would not challenge the Quebec government on Bill 21.

The NDP platform makes several commitments to fight discrimination on the basis of race, gender, or sexual orientation and to improve equity. The party platform says they will “strengthen labour laws and ensure diverse and equitable hiring within the federal public service, and in federally regulated industries. Jobs and training for underrepresented groups will be a core part of federal infrastructure plans.” Mr. Singh supports expanding language laws in Quebec, but has not made a commitment to fight Quebec on their Bill 21.

The Greens emphasize collaboration with provinces and municipalities to “integrate new Canadians into the multicultural fabric of our country.” In their platform, they make multiple promises to support diversity and multiculturalism, including “assisting cultural organizations to obtain charitable status.” They also commit to enhancing “Community Benefits Agreements to increase economic inclusion and opportunity for marginalized communities.” Ms. May says that she is personally opposed to Quebec’s Bill 21, but she would not have the federal government intervene.

Mr. Blanchet, of the Bloc Québécois, has stated that the Multiculturalism Act should not apply to Quebec, largely due to concerns and desires to protect Quebec’s culture and language. In the October 7th leaders’ debate, Mr. Blanchet defended Quebec’s Bill 21, and said that Quebec doesn’t need federal politicians telling them “what to do or not to do about its own values.”

The People’s Party of Canada platform commits to “repeal the Multiculturalism Act and eliminate all funding to promote multiculturalism, instead emphasizing the integration of immigrants into Canadian society.”

Countering Online Hate and Strengthening Inclusion

The Liberal platform commits to “help stop the proliferation of violent extremism online” by requiring social media platforms to remove illegal content, including hate speech, within 24 hours or face significant financial penalties. To fight racism offline, the Liberals commit to strengthening the Anti-Racism Strategy and doubling its funding, increasing funding for community-led initiatives promoting inclusion and combating racism, and improving data collection on hate crimes. They will also “strengthen investments in the Canada Centre for Community Engagement and Prevention of Violence.”

The NDP platform also commits to standing up against all forms of hate and racism. They promise to convene a national working group to counter online hate, and protect public safety, ensuring that “social media platforms are responsible for removing hateful and extremist content before it can do harm.” Under the NDP, all major cities will also have dedicated hate crime units within local police forces.

The Green Party plan commits to protecting minorities from discrimination as part of their key elements of a green economy. They commit to regulating Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms to ensure that “only actual people, with verifiable identities, are able to publish on those platforms.”

The Conservative Party and People’s Party of Canada both frame this conversation around the need to protect “freedom of expression” and will promote policies and legislation designed to protect freedom of speech in Canada. The People’s Party of Canada specifically emphasizes “protecting Canadians from censorship” in their platform. The Conservatives also commit to introducing a Cyberbullying Accountability Act., prohibiting the use of phones or the internet to threaten or advocate for self-harm.

Active Citizenship

Some of the parties have put forward investments that encourage active citizenship and participation in arts and culture that are very in line with, and perhaps inspired by, the ICC’s arts and culture program and app, Canoo. The Liberal government has announced the promise of a Culture Pass, a $200 credit to children when they turn 12 to access theatres, museums, galleries, workshops, and other cultural venues and local Canadian content. The Conservatives have said that they will eliminate admission fees to all national museums for all Canadians, and tourists.

Rather than eliminating costs or putting forward credits for individuals, the NDP and Green parties commit to investing in arts and culture institutions, media, and artists and cultural producers. For example, the NDP platform commits to income tax averaging for artists and cultural workers. The Green Party platform commits to “increasing funding to all of Canada’s arts and culture organizations, including the Canada Council for the Arts, the National Film Board, and Telefilm Canada.”

The Institute for Canadian Citizenship encourages everyone to check out the parties’ full platforms, and have your voice heard on October 21st!

 

The federal election is around the corner! This is your chance to have your say on issues and decisions that will have an impact on your life. Here is everything you need to know about casting your vote on October 21, 2019!

Register to vote

You don’t need to register in advance to vote! You can register at your assigned polling station when you go to vote on election day, Monday, October 21.

Where to vote

If you pre-registered to vote, you will have received a voter information card in the mail that tells you where and when you can vote.

If you haven’t received a voter information card, use the Voter Information Service to find your assigned polling station

When to vote

Vote at your assigned polling station on Monday, October 21. Polls will be open for 12 hours. Check out the Elections Canada website for voting hours in your province.

What you need to vote

To vote in the federal election you have to prove your identity and address. There are three ways you can do so:

– Show your driver’s licence or any other card issued by a Canadian government (federal, provincial/territorial or local) with your photo, name and current address

– Show two pieces of ID. Both must have your name and at least one must have your current address. Examples: voter information card and bank statement, or utility bill and student ID. See full list of accepted IDs for this option.

– If you don’t have ID, you can still vote! You will need to declare your identity and address in writing and have someone who knows you and who is assigned to your polling station vouch for you. The voucher must be able to prove their identity and address.

Assistance with voting
Find out more about the tools and services available to make it easier for you to vote on the Elections Canada website

Related: Check out our blog post on what the major parties are saying about citizenship, immigration, and inclusion

Canoo member Monique Brown came to Canada from Jamaica with her children in 2012. She received her Canadian citizenship in January of this year. She chose this country because, “Canada is well-known for a good quality of life, especially for families.”

After moving to Canada, Monique was able to fulfil her dream of returning to school and becoming a Registered Nurse. Now, in her spare time, she enjoys exploring with her children and volunteering. Monique is proud to be a new Canadian citizen and is excited to vote in the upcoming federal election later this month.

Monique has used her Canoo app for a family adventure to Montreal, using her VIA Rail discount to take the train to the city and her app to receive free admission at cultural locations.

“I used the Via Rail discount to travel to Montreal. It was a fantastic adventure!” says Monique, “We visited Mont Royal and Montreal Science Centre, [which] was spectacular. I was very surprised that Canada has a wonderful location like that and hasn’t really promoted it. My children and I had a lot of fun. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it considering that I am an adult. Initially, I thought the location was more geared towards children… [but] I learned a lot in my short visit there. We wanted to visit again but time did not permit.”

Monique enjoys visiting cultural locations, such as science centres, with her children to learn about Canada. “I believe cultural places play a role in building social inclusion by creating a safe place for persons from various backgrounds to congregate without feeling discriminated,” says Monique, “Also, it is my opinion that cultural places help to foster a sense of identity, local pride and positively impacts the social determinants of health.”

We recently spoke with Véronique Couillard, officer, media, public and Francophone relations and Alexis Boyle, community access, curator at the Ottawa Art Gallery. The OAG’s newest building imagines new ways of tackling acccesibility, and works with their community through out-reach programs. It’s clear that access, inclusion, and innovation are at the forefront of everything they do; how they structure their programming; who they bolster in their exhibitions, and even in how they’ve designed their new building.

The Ottawa Art Gallery opened up a new building in 2018 and its architecture speaks to accessibility in ways that people don’t necessarily think about. Could you talk a little bit about the design of the OAG and how it encourages participation?

Véronique: I’ve worn many hats and a long, long time ago, I was in public programs and that’s when I first started to be involved with redesigning the building. We worked with KPMB Architects but the vision of the building very much came from Alexandria Badzak, our director and CEO, who made sure to include staff in this process.

We would sit at meetings … and all imagine what the Gallery should be or could be. And in that, of course, we talked about things like what kind of flooring and where should the groups come in, and how high the ceilings should be, but we also talked about this [as] an opportunity to rethink accessibility in … a broader way … like being welcoming.

Physically, it meant that we wanted to have … everything in the building accessible to anyone who might not be mobile or be able to walk.…We also decided to stay free — our admission is free in the whole building, and we offer free childcare every Friday evening. Kids are super welcome in exhibition spaces, but if parents or guardians want a couple of hours of free time to look at art, that’s an option.

We also extended our hours, so [the redesign] was also an opportunity to look at other barriers, not just physical barriers, but also social and economic; what makes someone not be able to come to the Gallery?

The new layout of the OAG is rather inviting, with several entrances and no front desk.  Can you speak to the new design?

V: It’s true that upon walking in one of our two main entrances, the first thing you encounter is not a desk! You will see people sipping on coffee in Jackson, a beautiful staircase, interior windows to give you a peek in exhibition spaces, or even art right in the lobby. In a sense this is about removing a physical barrier or any kind of sense that one might feel like they shouldn’t go further.

What does accessibility mean to the OAG and what does it look like?

V: It means that we’re part of a conversation, I think that’s the best way to put it. We’ll never be finished with being accessible, you know? It can’t be a mould or a cookie cutter situation, we have to keep kind of looking into it, researching, or working with partners.

One way we learned that is [by working] with Carmen Papalia, who is an artist based in Vancouver. Carmen describes himself as a non-visual learner, and we worked with him and a place called VocalEye, also based in Vancouver. These two partners helped us in terms of accessibility, looking at how we design exhibitions and our interpretative materials like tours.

We looked at becoming accessible audio-wise … [and at] the height of objects in galleries to make sure that objects are not way up high, and either if you’re shorter or sitting, you can still enjoy the art.

I think is best to … at each opportunity that we can … re-think and re-define accessibility, either because of a new exhibit, a new theme, a new audience, or because we have a new partner, or a new project in the community, and just keeping in mind that it has to be flexible and flowing.

Could you speak about your program, Mine the Gap?

Alexis: Mine the Gap was funded by the Ontario Seniors Grant, and a big part of the program was being able to host older adults and folk from outside of the downtown core. We were able to provide transportation to and from OAG, which is a big one when it comes to diversity accessibility. It’s not just ‘can wheelchairs go through the doors.’

And what were some lessons that you learned from Mine the Gap?

A: Just that we should keep doing this. It was so well received. I think it is quite obvious that this kind of inter-generational programming that brings folks in different communities together for exchange through art experiences is needed.

People love the Ottawa Art Gallery … let’s keep bringing them and adapting programming specifically for their community. Whether that means translators for the tour, or adapting the workshops.

V: What I extracted from it is that … there needs to be more opportunities for inter-generational programs, and that initiatives that are designed for us, by us, work really well. It just ensures that the programming that we do is relevant. Because we’re connected to the community and we’re constantly asking ourselves questions, letting other people be hands on and almost take over our programming if you will, that is also being accessible and welcoming.

What do you mean by “letting other people take over the programming”?

V: We have two concrete examples of that. OAG has a Youth Council, and also Art Wise, which is an older adult council. I’ll call them volunteers, but they’re volunteer council members. And they, along with Alexis, organize programs, series, or events based on what they identify as a need, and based on partnerships they create themselves, and basically the Gallery becomes, in a way, just the venue. We let these two groups lead the activities and those turn out to be a huge success, because we can’t know everything, we can’t be on the pulse of everything, and it’s a way of giving a voice.

On your website, you talk about how Music and Portraits worked to break down barriers. Could you speak to how the event achieved that?

A: Most of the seniors that participated, the Chinese traditional instrumentalists and Tai Chi performers, as well as members of Chinese Community service Centre, didn’t speak English. We had high school art students from Canterbury High School sketching their performances.…It was a giant room filled with beautiful music and dancing, and students just sitting on the floor, around, sketching as these performances happened. It was so beautiful and I think the performers were honoured to be able to share their gift in a large, professional space like that.

Even though verbal communication wasn’t possible, there was this tangible respect for one another’s talents … It was an example of how art and creative expressions, those languages can transcend.

N: Do you have any advice to other cultural institutions that are trying to be more inclusive in their practices and in their processes?

V: My one advice is that there’s probably somebody out there already doing it. For us, we know that there are groups, or there’s an artist, or there’s a community out there that we can go to and partner with, or just invite over or ask for advice.

A: I would say look around at who’s not coming through the doors and who’s not participating in program – those are your target audiences. Whoever is not coming, go seek them out and create a program or a space, or touching relationship, and a reason to come. That being said … [with] some of the sensitive populations I work with, I often go to them. I’m doing off-site workshops once a month with people, and once that relationship of trust is built, I can invite them in, but it takes time, especially if I’m operating from a trauma-informed place.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.