November 3, 2022

The

PEOPLE Project 2022

Making Change

Thanh Tazumi empowers communities to come to grips with racism

Art and Voice

Shawn Decaire speaks truth through his art, his songs, his actions

Connecting through the lens

Sarmad Almouallem pursues his art in a safe place

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People If it’s the people that make a community then the Campbell River area is a pretty awesome place Getting in touch with a community means getting to know the character of the people who live there.

Alistair Taylor, Editor, Campbell River Mirror

This publication showcases the nature of this community through the stories of some really amazing people. Looking at the personalities populating these pages, you have to conclude that we live in a dynamic, caring and active place. The character of Campbell River is reflected in this collection of folk that our writers have gotten to know and have introduced to you through words and pictures.

The depth of commitment that our subjects have made to this community is staggering and we all benefit from their convictions and their contributions.

Their backgrounds are diverse but it all contributes to a collective dynamic that would be the envy of anywhere.

The first thing that attracts you to the Campbell River area is the gorgeous scenery with the deep blue waters of Discovery Passage, the snow-capped mountains and the verdant forests.

Some would say that we’ve got an unfair advantage being able to live, work and play in such a paradise. Perhaps it is the great fortune we feel being privileged to live in such a great land that inspires the people who live here to step forward, take responsibility for not only the natural surroundings but also their friends and neighbours. Because if there is a thread through all of the stories in these pages, it’s the care for the planet, the community and one another.

We hope you are inspired by the stories we present. These are difficult times and it is refreshing to hear about such good people.

It is the people of our community that are going to lead us through our challenges. Thankfully, we have some great people here.

We love the people of Campbell River!

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EDITOR Alistair Taylor editor@campbellrivermirror.com DESIGN & LAYOUT Tammy Robinson

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CONTRIBUTORS ALL PHOTOS BY Marissa Tiel

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WRITERS Alistair Taylor Marc Kitteringham Marissa Tiel Mike Davies Ronan O’Doherty The Welcoming Community Coalition

Mirror C AMPBELL RIVER

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104 – 250 Dogwood Street Campbell River, B.C., V9W 5Z5 1-250-287-9227 The People Project is published annually by Black Press Media. The points of view or opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher of The People Project. The contents of The People Project magazine are protected by copyright, including the designed advertising. Reproduction is prohibited without written consent of the publisher.

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A PURSUIT OF ART ....................35

DEEP DIVE ..................................11

INSPIRED BY A FATHER TO EXPERIENCE THE WORLD .........38

A RYVER RUNS THROUGH IT..............................16 BUMBLE-BEEING THROUGH LIFE ..........................22 A CULTURAL MAN.....................30

STORYTELLER ............................40 SHHH! .........................................45 COMMITTED TO COMMUNITY .............................50 5

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Tireless

Joanne Assen

Campaigner

Thanh Tazumi is driven to make the world a better place

By Alistair Taylor | Photos by Marissa Tiel

T

hanh Tazumi is a positive, take-charge worker for good causes who has risen above some of the challenges she’s faced in her own life.

Tazumi is a tireless campaigner against racism, teaching the wider community how to aid in the fight against that persistent scourge in our society. She is also a relentless advocate for international aid, raising funds to bring wheelchairs to developing countries. Plus, she and her family sponsor students in Asia to help them achieve a better life. And, if that’s not enough, she assists in connecting local people in need with those who can provide them with help.

When asked what she does to relax and divert herself away from the distractions and responsibilities of life, she talks about walking trails and appreciating nature but, really, she gets the biggest charge from causes that make the world a better place.

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“That is what fills my cup,” Tazumi says.

Tazumi is a dynamic community activist who has carved out a role boosting international aid efforts, helping young people and assisting those in need in her own community.

Tazumi knows what it’s like to be the target of racism. She also knows what it’s like to be left with nothing, having no home or country to call your own, cast out, literally, on the seas of misfortune.

When she was nine years old, Tazumi escaped from Vietnam on a tiny boat, being one of the so-called “boat people” who, beginning in the late 1970s, fled the country at the end of the Vietnam War, settling in North America, Europe and other developed countries. Her family spent three years in a refugee camp in Hong Kong before coming to Canada when she was 12 and to Campbell River in 1987. #thePEOPLEproject

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“I struggled because for the first year. I didn’t understand a thing. Like, I came to Canada with zero English,” Tazumi says.

But by her second year, she was out of the English language class.

“I was a high achiever, I guess,” Tazumi says. “I was determined to be in the regular class.”

And that determination carried her through her education from elementary school through to university.

“I felt like I have to work twice or three times as hard as my peers.”

And that determination to improve herself translated into a desire to improve the lives of others. She attributes that to the example shown to her by others – her family, aid workers and teachers.

When she was in the refugee camp there were some young missionaries who would take the kids out to the beach or to an amusement park.

“You can imagine people living in the refugee camp. So, it’s, it’s like a prison, right? And with walls and fences and glass with 2,000 people – traumatized people who had just escaped war,” Tazumi says. “So, there was a lot in that. A lot going on in that camp. A lot of violence, a lot of things that, you know, a nineyear-old shouldn’t be exposed to.”

But these missionaries would take the kids away from that for a period of time.

“And I got to see a different world,” Tazumi says.

One missionary in particular was a young woman from Finland who would show Tazumi pictures of her home and her family.

“I always wondered why? Like, why did you come here? Why did you come all the way over here?”

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Tazumi assumes she explained why but it was a long time ago and doesn’t remember what exactly she said, likely something to do with her beliefs and fulfilling a calling. But that act of coming over and doing something to help stuck with the young refugee girl.

“That always remained with me,” Tazumi says.

The lesson learned from the missionaries’ example carried on through her arrival in Canada and by having kind parents of friends and wonderful teachers in school.

“One of my teachers in grade nine just really made me feel that I was worth his time,” Tazumi says. “I don’t remember what I learned in English nine, but I remember how he made me feel.”

Impressions like that that stuck with Tazumi.

“I feel like I’m pretty blessed. I have a good life because I have a beautiful home. I have work. I have, you know, a safe community to be in and Campbell River has given our family a lot in different ways. And so I always want to give back and make life a little bit easier for others.”

And Tazumi does give a lot to back. She and her husband Mark were away earlier this year meeting with some students in Vietnam whom they sponsor through the Vietnam Education Initiative. The Tazumis and a group of Campbell River friends and colleagues sponsor about 20 students in Vietnam, helping them acquire a post-secondary education. The payback for Tazumi is visiting these students like she did this year to celebrate the graduation of three of them.

“We’ve supported them for for four years. It was pretty incredible,” Tazumi says.

In an action that mirrors her own childhood, the Tazumis took them to a higher end café because the girls said they could never dream of being able to patronize a place like that.

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“Which goes back to when I was in the refugee camp. Right?

Lots of times I had those experiences then. I’m like, ‘What is this pizza?’ Oh my goodness, you know, or I’m…at this theme park.

So it kind of reminded me of my childhood.”

Tazumi is active in the Rotary Club being particularly involved in the Dancing and Tapas event that raises money to purchase wheelchairs for people in developing countries. The Tazumis have also contributed to the Campbell River Caremongering group, a Facebook-based channel that connects people in need with those who have the things they need and are willing to give them.

But one of Tazumi’s most impressive accomplishments has become, in essence, her life’s work: eradicating racism.

She was no stranger to racism growing up but it was an incident in 1994 that really motivated her. Tazumi was concerned about the impact these situations would have on the Vietnamese community, particularly the kids. Tazumi at that time was at university but her mind was on her family back home in Campbell River.

“I kept thinking about them and I vowed to come back to Campbell River and do something to change it.”

She did come back and worked with the multicultural association. In 1997 she helped organize the first Walk Away From Racism which became an annual event up until 2016.

Over the next few years she found herself in the position of speaking up about racism and fostering a conversation in the community about it. A few years of working with the John Howard Society, Aboriginal youth and other projects gave her a break from working directly on racism but in the meantime she took some anti-racism training.

Then in 2019, she and a partner received requests to do a couple of workshops in the Comox Valley. Word got around and a request came in from the Society for Intercultural Education, Training And Research on the mainland to conduct some workshops for them. It was the beginning of COVID-19, so she was asked if it could be done virtually.

“We had our first anti-racism response training virtually, and (since) then it’s been a whirlwind.”

Sadly, there was demand for her work. The George Floyd murder had just happened and anti-Asian racism spiked with hate crimes against Asians in Vancouver rising. But not just there, all around the world.

“And so then I was all the more…energized and motivated to do more work.”

And the demand has been constant. She has trained thousands of folks in responding to racism. She did a four-part series with the deans of some of the top universities and colleges in the country. She has to pinch herself sometimes hearing people with PhDs and Masters saying they’re learning so much – from her.

She’s also done training for some B.C. municipalities and non-governmental organizations as well as for an organization in the U.S. She is spurred on by what’s happening in the States with incidents of book banning and stifling debate about racism.

She was intending to become a highschool counsellor but “everything changed when that incident happened in 1994.” Tazumi had gone through a period of burnout after the 90’s, feeling tired of trying to convince people to be inclusive.

“But now with the attention and the recognition of how important it is. And of course, you know, all the work that Indigenous communities and groups have done in Canada to talk about this issue as well. So I’m glad I can be part of this conversation and this movement.”

“That spurs me on even more. It’s not a career that I had mapped out for myself,” she said. #thePEOPLEproject

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Deep Dive There’s little Kirk Krack hasn’t done in the world of technical diving

By Ronan O’Doherty | Photos by Marissa Tiel

W

ho knew that a little boy snorkelling in Saskatchewan’s lakes would grow up and work with movie stars, swim alongside blue whales, or push the limits of the human body underwater?

Perhaps not, nobody but Campbell River’s Kirk Krack knew at a very young age that he wanted to have his own business, and that business would be him on or in water.

For his 14th birthday, Krack received scuba diving lessons, and after high school, he scored a job at West Edmonton Mall eventually supervising the divers who maintained and cleaned the submarine lake, the aquariums and the wave pool.

All the while, he was taking every scuba diving course he could, including a four-month scuba instructor program in Victoria.

A friend from the program who had made it down to the Cayman Islands implored Krack to join him.

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“It was my parents who said, ‘Don’t be stupid! Go do it,’” he said.

many hours of decompressing on the way up.

While in the Caribbean, he helped the scuba diving company grow from one boat and three instructors, to six boats and 20 instructors.

He figures he was the most active technical diving instructor in the world at that time, but there was still much to learn.

He would go on to buy a scuba diving shop in Saskatoon in his early 20s, and shortly after became intrigued by technical diving.

A descent sees divers use multiple tanks, and different blends of gases to go far deeper than usual.

“At that time, people in the dive industry were looking at us like we’re ingrates, like, it’s going against recreational diving,” Krack said. “It’s too deep. It’s too dangerous, too extreme. It’ll never take off. Witch’s brew, and voodoo gas.

An Italian man on his honeymoon approached Krack about helping him freedive down to 30 metres. He prepared a safety plan, and a method for verifying the depth, and in the process, became curious again.

A renowned Cuban diver known for riding a sled down to deep depths with no scuba equipment wanted to break a record in the Cayman Islands, as the conditions were perfect, so Krack worked with him too.

He would eventually pair up with the diver to write a book on freediving.

“But for me, I needed to learn something new. I’d got to the peak of recreational diving, and just thirsted for more information.”

“I developed a whole standard, a whole educational system standards, with books, and videos on how to freedive,” he said.

His search would take him back to the Cayman Islands, where he opened a dive shop devoted to technical diving. From his storefront, Krack said it was a 10-metre walk to the ocean’s edge, and from there a 10-minute swim along the surface to a thousand-metre drop-off.

Soon after, he started training athletes who wanted to go deeper than ever before. Krack became sought after, coaching seven divers to 13 world records.

He was regularly doing dives down to 168 metres which involved 12

A number of folks outside of the diving world took notice.

“I started developing other kinds of more revolutionary procampbellrivermirror.com

We are grateful for the on-going generosity of our community and the support that comes with it. grams like breath-hold survival programs aimed at surfers,” he said.

Unsurprisingly, various military groups got wind of his techniques, and prompted him to work with their special operations teams. Currently, he trains seven different special operations groups from three countries. This includes U.S. SEAL teams, U.K. special forces, and the Canadian Joint Task Force.

“They’re a different breed of person,” Krack said, chuckling.

“You might as well teach CPR mannequins, you’ll get more emotion out of them.

“They just want information, they don’t want the stories or the jokes.”

So, training high performance athletes and the top soldiers in the world might seem like a lot to have on a plate, and for many people that might be the case, but Krack still had more to give.

He and his ex-wife, Mandy-Rae Cruickshank also worked on the Oscar-winning documentary, The Cove. The film exposed some horrific dolphin hunting practices in Japan.

Krack and Cruikshank were performing surreptitious dives at night to place cameras around a bay to capture the slaughter. #thePEOPLEproject

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I needed to learn something new. I’d got to the peak of

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recreational diving, and just thirsted for more information.

“And then we’d have to go in the night after the slaughter and grab all the cameras,” he said. “So we’re in a bay where 100 dolphins have just been slaughtered in the waters, and you’re wondering what predators are still in the water.”

In addition to the risk of being eaten alive was the chance of getting caught by local authorities not keen on outsiders exposing their secrets.

In the same vein, he also worked on Racing Extinction, acting as a consultant and diver on the segments of the documentary dealing with ocean creatures in trouble.

When they maxed out the possibilities in Florida, the whole gang flew on Cruise’s private jet to Krack’s old haunt in the Cayman Islands to finish the training.

“He was such an amazing learner,” Krack said, “So athletic, focused, and he had a thirst to really know it.”

From there, Krack also consulted on movies like the Suicide Squad and eventually he scored his dream film collaboration, when he was approached to work with James Cameron.

One of the highlights for him was diving with the planet’s largest animal, the blue whale.

A significant chunk of Avatar: The Way of Water, which is scheduled to be released in December, 2023, takes place underwater on the fictional planet of Pandora, and Krack was on set to make sure the underwater scenes were done right.

In addition to spending time with the biggest creature on Earth, Krack’s also worked with arguably the world’s most popular movie star.

What started out as a two-month gig turned into a two-and-ahalf-year endeavour, which will eventually extend if the franchise continues to be as successful as predicted.

Krack helped Tom Cruise prepare for one of his wildest stunts, which involved a six-and-a-half minute breath hold.

Even when taking some down time, Krack is constantly thinking and engaging in new projects.

He spent two and a half months in the U.K. training Cruise while he was filming Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation.

Here in Campbell River, he has recently teamed up with a who’s who of Vancouver Island diving enthusiasts to create the Exploration Diving Society of British Columbia.

Feeling he was a little behind as the date for the stunt approached, Cruise asked Krack if he wouldn’t mind flying to Florida over the Christmas break to ramp up the learning process.

“He said, ‘I’ll take care of you, and your family, I’ll fly them down first class, you know, put you up in a nice place, and everything will be good,’” Krack recalled.

Krack recalls gingerly approaching his ex-wife about the proposal, and laughed as he remembered her response.

Their mission is to explore and survey new dive sites in the waters along the local coastlines.

“Our local dive operators will have new and exciting places to take their people, and divers from the Prairies or Washington State will want to come up here to see these new sites, and we think it will refresh the dive industry here,” Krack said.

“She said, ‘(Forget) the family. We’re going to Florida for Christmas!’” #thePEOPLEproject

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A Ryver runs through it

Ryver Santos Cegnar moving on towards a bright future bathed in spotlight

By Mike Davies | Photos by Marissa Tiel

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f you’ve experienced a musical theatre performance in Campbell River in the past few years, you’ve likely been fortunate enough to have seen young Ryver Santos Cegnar exactly where he wants to be, doing exactly what he wants to do.

Santos Cegnar has been involved in – or even in some cases responsible for – a huge number of theatrical offerings in this community since he arrived here five years ago as a Grade 7 student at L’École Phoenix Middle School.

In fact, he’s become so intrinsically intertwined with the local theatre community, you’d think he’s probably always been the centre of attention, even in his own living room as a child, putting on little plays and performances for his family based on cartoons he’s watched or stories from his books.

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But you’d be wrong.

“I was actually kind of an introverted little kid,” he says, thinking back to how he first found musical theatre: by pure happenstance. A family friend was part of a small theatre company back when they were living in Sudbury, Ont., and approached him for some help.

You see, like most small theatre companies, Santos Cegnar says, they had lots of women and girls, but needed a young boy to play one of the von Trapp kids in The Sound of Music.

“Before that, I hadn’t even listened to or seen any musicals,” he says. “This was all completely new to me.”

But he auditioned and got the part and went home and started learning about musical theatre.

“I just fell in love with it,” he says. “I just couldn’t get enough of it. I think the one that really did it was Mama Mia! It was just so perfect.”

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Unfortunately, as he was preparing to be in his second show, his family moved to Surrey in an attempt to be closer to his grandparents, who now live here in Campbell River.

Seven months later, sick of the complication of a ferry between themselves and the rest of the family, they uprooted again and came the rest of the way.

He was about half-way through Grade 7 when they got here.

In Grade 8, his family hosted an international student who was attending Timberline and had joined their Musical Theatre program.

So Santos Cegnar went with him to see if he could be in a play, too.

“Again, I think they were maybe short on boys, so they just kind of let me join,” he says with a laugh.

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That show was Fame.

When Fame ended, he tried to “get something going at Phoenix” in terms of a musical theatre offering, “but it didn’t go well.

I took it as a learning experience in terms of what not to do,” he says, and instead began looking forward to attending high school the following year where he could join an already-established program.

He decided to go to Timberline and in his first year, they announced they’d be putting on Mama Mia! Obviously, he jumped in head first.

“It was an amazing experience,” he says. “It had always been my favourite musical, and now I got to be a part of it not only as a performer, but also got to be involved in set design and costuming and props and everything else.” campbellrivermirror.com

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I was actually kind of an introverted little kid,” he says, thinking back to

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how he first found musical theatre: by pure happenstance.

He then hopped on for Shoreline Musical Theatre’s production of Mary Poppins to get a different theatrical experience while waiting for Timberline’s next production: Avenue Q, a Sesame-Street-style musical featuring actors interacting with puppets, revered by theatre-goers for its approach to tackling themes like pornography, racism and sexuality.

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“When they announced it, I was kinda surprised, because the original was, let’s say, probably not age appropriate,” he says.

“But when we got into this version, it was just so, so funny, and working with the puppets was just another amazing experience I’m so happy I got to have.”

Avenue Q closed right as the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. Schools shut down and the world held its collective breath waiting to see what would happen. #thePEOPLEproject

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While most of us waited it out, Santos Cegnar was putting on a musical theatre production in his living room.

“Priscilla, Queen of the Desert is a show about a pair of drag queens traveling across Australia singing and dancing to 80s tunes,” he says. “They were going to be doing it during the next season before I moved from Ontario, so I’d been listening to it and fallen in love with it back then.”

So four-ish years later, he put it on himself in his living room while he waited for a global pandemic to be over.

Obviously, it didn’t reach a lot of people.

But that wasn’t the point.

“The goal of any entertainer, always, is to take people out of the real world, even if it’s just for a minute,” he says. “I bought a bunch of wood and fabric, I built a set and sewed costumes, I ordered lights and spent a bunch of time choreographing songs, and I had five people in the audience when I finally put it on.

But it didn’t matter. Those five people got to leave the real world behind for a bit, and I think it was a better use of my time than staring at a TV for a couple of months.”

That experience was a turning point for Santos Cegnar. When school went back in session for his Grade 11 year, musical theatre became almost his entire life. Instead of doing one production with the school and maybe another with a community theatre company per year, he went after every opportunity he heard about – even if those opportunities overlapped in terms of timing and even if his roles in those productions weren’t exclusively acting-based.

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He starred in Timberline’s 2021 production of Once Upon a Mattress – which ended up becoming an online-only performance due to COVID restrictions. Perhaps because of those restrictions, the program decided to take on probably their biggest show ever in terms of production levels the following year.

“Shrek was going to be enormous,” Cegnar says. “We had to announce it early and get started, so I got started building sets

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and props over that summer.”

Meanwhile, he also needed to turn some of his attention to another project.

His theatre teacher, Jana MacFarlane, had approached him and asked if he’d like to direct and produce a show the following year called All Together Now. All Together Now was Musical Theatre International’s idea to hold a global celebration welcoming audiences back to the theatre.

Musical Theatre troupes all over the world would perform a run of the production over the same weekend – Nov. 12-15, 2021 – while raising money for their respective organizations, as the licensing for the show – which usually is a large percentage of the cost of putting on a performance – was provided free of charge.

“She said, ‘I don’t have the time to do this, but if you’d like to….,’” he says. “So now while I’m working on Shrek, I’m also starting to produce and get the word out for auditions for All Together Now.” And while he’s getting both of these shows ready, his voice coach tells him there might be an opportunity in the Comox Valley for him to be involved in You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.

So now he’s also rehearsing to play Schroeder at the Sid Williams Theatre in Courtenay.

Oh, and he’s teaching at Raincoast School of Musical Theatre downtown.

And before any of that was done, Raincoast announced they’d be putting on Frozen the next spring and now he’s also learning to become Kristoff.

ing at Raincoast and let’s not forget that he’s also finishing his Grade 12 year and working a part-time job at St. Jean’s Cannery.

Periodically, he’s also finding some time to spend with his other hobbies: he’s got two spinning wheels and a loom for making fabrics and he loves to bake. He also volunteers for local organizations like The Transition House. In fact, he won the Campbell River Mirror’s Local Hero Award as Youth Volunteer Hero of the Year in 2020.

He had also purchased the script, score and production rights for a musical called Ruthless that he’d been wanting to put on for some time, so he did that, too, just this past summer.

But of course, while all this was happening, he also needed to turn at least a bit of his attention to the future. He was about to graduate, after all, and head off into the world to…

“I’m heading off to Capilano University, which has a fantastic musical theatre program,” he says.

But what is the Capilano program a stepping stone towards? Is there a long-term goal? What does the future hold?

“I mean, Broadway is obviously a dream, but if that’s not where life brings me, that’s not where it brings me,” he says. “I’m going to Capilano to make connections, and those connections will bring me somewhere, and then there will be something and somewhere else after that. I don’t want to put blinders on and head towards something specific, because that might close me off to other opportunities along the way that might be really great.”

One thing we can say for sure is that we haven’t heard the name Ryver Santos Cegnar for the last time after he left town for the next leg of his journey this fall.

And wherever he pops up, it’s likely he’ll be bathed in a spotlight.

Between November 2021 and May 2022, Santos Cegnar was involved in – and sometimes fully in charge of – the production of four sizeable productions in two communities while teach#thePEOPLEproject

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Bumblebee-ing Through Life

From collecting caterpillers to running a conservation organization is not a big leap, Katie Lavoie finds

By Marc Kitteringham | Photos by Marissa Tiel

#thePEOPLEproject

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W

hen Katie Lavoie was a kid, you could probably find her outside looking for caterpillars.

She grew up in Manitoba, just east of Winnipeg.

It was the warm summer days on the prairie that helped inspire her curiosity and love for nature and the outdoors.

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It’s hopeful to see how many people care so much about the green spaces in Campbell River,” she says. “It just feels important for a bunch of reasons, like mentally for people and ecosystem-wise in

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terms of how everything is doing for restoration and conservation.

“I’ve kind of always been just playing around outside. I would collect caterpillars and frogs and things as a child. I think that just naturally progressed to where I find myself now,” she says. “(My family are) just supportive of whatever makes me happy, as long as I’m doing something good in the world. They’re fairly environmentally-conscious, but it was never forcing me into this direction. We spent a lot of time camping or in the Interlake (a region between Winnipeg, Lake Winnipeg and Lake Manitoba). They were always really awesome at helping me ID things and learning more about the area where I am. They supported my hobbies and interests in things like that by getting involved with me… I found a way to do that through work.”

That was by becoming the Executive Director of Campbell River’s Greenways Land Trust. However, the route from catching caterpillars in small town Manitoba to running an environmental conservation organization on Vancouver Island is a bit convoluted. One of the first steps was when she visited the coast a few times as a kid, staying with a family friend on Haida Gwaii.

“I did some camping in B.C. as a kid and was actually on Haida Gwaii with my family when I was 14,” she said. “I had been there before and spent some time exploring tidal pools and things.”

After a stint in nursing school in Manitoba, Lavoie felt the call to return to the coast.

“I lived (in Winnipeg) until I was 21 and then I moved to the coast. Since then I’ve been living all over the coast,” she says. “I lived on Haida Gwaii for a while, then Quadra (Island), Courtenay and Victoria.

“Originally when I moved to Haida Gwaii, I did the UBC program they have with the Haida Gwaii Higher Education Society. It’s a natural resource program. It’s like a field semester. That’s what got me out in the beginning, and then I switched to UVic after that.

“We actually have a family friend and one of them let us rent his cabin when I did school there. I had a bit of an idea of what I was doing when I signed up for it,” she says. “Victoria, however, I had not been there since I was a child. That was a wild guess, and I guess it worked out. I just crossed my fingers and went for it. It worked out OK.”

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Crossing her fingers and just going for it seems to work just fine for Lavoie, who describes her journey as “bumblebee-ing through life.” That also happens to be a good way to describe her personality. Like a bumblebee, Lavoie is curious, loves the outdoors, gardening and making the world a better place in her own way. However, while environmental stewardship work can be very rewarding, it is also easy to get discouraged when there are setbacks.

ly positive. It has an overall good net impact.”

“I think that working in this field, I could see how people get burnt out, for sure. Some of it is kind of distressing,” she says.

“It’s frustrating how things go sometimes. Actively working at making things better is like an act of hope. It makes you feel better to contribute to even a small amount of climate change things. It is emotionally heavy sometimes, though. One of the things I like about this job is working with school kids and contributing any way I can to environmental stewardship feels real-

Running an organization like Greenways Land Trust is not a solo endeavour. Lavoie says she really values the skills, knowledge and input of people who make this community home.

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While Lavoie currently is executive director of Greenways Land Trust, she is relatively new to the role, taking over from her mentor Cynthia Bendickson in July.

“She’s been so lovely and supportive, teaching me all of the things as I changed jobs a million times and answered all of my questions,” Lavoie said.

“The community engagement part is really important, in terms of both educational outreach and making sure everyone sees that ecosystem functionality is really important,” she says. “It’s really fun to meet a lot of community members and see what awesome work people are doing in their community and absorb campbellrivermirror.com

knowledge from people who have been doing streamkeeping for decades.

“It’s hopeful to see how many people care so much about the green spaces in Campbell River,” she says. “It just feels important for a bunch of reasons, like mentally for people and ecosystem-wise in terms of how everything is doing for restoration and conservation.”

Lavoie has actually held five jobs with Greenways, starting as a summer student in 2020.

“I started as a summer student right at the beginning of COVID, which was interesting. Then I coordinated our Good Food box program, which was kind of the beginning of it,” she says.

While the new job is keeping her at a desk more than before, she does still get the chance to go outside. That love extends to her personal life too, where the spends time wandering aimlessly in the woods with her husband and dog, gardening and trying new hobbies for a while before she gets distracted by something else.

Bumblebee-ing.

In some ways, her job is basically the grown-up version of searching for caterpillars, though having wet clothes for an eight hour day at her desk can be a bit of a pain.

“I bounce around and figure things out, and it’s going really well so far,” she says. “I’m really happy with where I live, the people I work with. My goals are just to be happy and feel like I’m contributing good things to world around me, ecosystem-wise and people-wise.”

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A Cultural Man Shawn Decaire uses his powerful voice to sing traditional songs and speak on behalf of those not often heard

By Marc Kitteringham | Photos by Marissa Tiel

E room.

veryone notices when Shawn Decaire walks into the

They’re all excited to see him, he says hello to and has a smile for everyone he recognizes and it isn’t long before his deep low voice booms out, cutting through the noise of the crowd and making sure everyone stops what they’re doing to listen.

It’s that power that makes Decaire so effective at what he does. Decaire describes himself first as a cultural man from the Liǧʷiłdax̌ʷ people. He’s an advocate, having worked with Laichwiltach Family Life Society doing everything from being a handyman to managing Kwesa Place, the safe gathering place in Campbell River for people experiencing homelessness and living with drug dependency. He uses his powerful voice not just for singing traditional songs, but for speaking on behalf of the people whose voices are often not heard.

However, 20 years ago Decaire’s life was on a very different course.

Decaire, whose traditional name is Yaxawidi, was born in Campbell River, and is a member of the We Wai Kai First Nation. After his father died when he was young, he moved with his family to Revelstoke for some time, before returning to Campbell River to attend Phoenix Middle School and then Carihi Secondary School.

“I dropped out in grade 10. Did the party life, I was an addict and a dealer,” he says.

He spent those years bouncing around in different jobs and communities. In 2001 that was in Nanaimo, where he worked as a bouncer and dealt drugs a bit on the side. After an injury, he was laid up and waiting for a surgery on his back he made a decision that would change his life for good. He was asked to join one of the canoes on the 2001 Tribal Journey

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“Something told me I had to do it, I had to go,” Decaire says.

“Back then, I didn’t know a lot of Indigenous people even. I was very, very different. They put me on this canoe and I didn’t know anybody. When I was in those situations where I felt nervous I would sing. I grew up with a lot of country music. I sang ‘The River’ by Garth Brooks. After I sang, this man from the bow turned to me and said ‘I’m going to teach you how to sing.’

“We got to Harwood Island just off of Tla’amin and he walked up to me with the drum and a handheld tape recorder. He told me to record and he sang me four beautiful songs. I was just mesmerized by it. I took that recording and then that night I listened to it over and over and over again. The next morning I said, ‘I know those songs.’

“I sang the four songs, and he said ‘you’ve got the gift.’ I could pick up even a different dialect. Without knowing the language, I could sing the songs. Every time he went to sing, he would drag me up to sing. That was William Wasden Jr. He was the reason why I became a singer. That and Tribal Journeys. They just encouraged me to go and go and go to sing more and more through those journeys. When I came home after that two-anda-half week trip, I had learned over 30 songs and all of a sudden I decided that I needed to find out who I am.

“That was the beginning of my journey of finding my identity of being a Liǧʷiłdax̌ʷ man,” he says.

Discovering his cultural identity wasn’t easy. Decaire and his family were unable to learn and practice their culture, and he 32

grew up separated from that important part of his identity.

“My mother was never allowed to speak her language or have any affiliation with anything from their culture. My grandfather was a graduate from Coqualeetza residential school. We just found his certificate from 1934 that said he was ‘honourably discharged’ from residential school.”

Part of that journey was moving away from drugs and alcohol.

After discovering his singing gift, Decaire was singing more and more often. After his back surgery, he was invited to sing at a school.

“I was high at the time,” he says. “A kid came up to me and said ‘I want to be just like you.’ I had nightmares of this kid, being an addict and a user, which prompted me to change my life. Now that was… it’ll be 20 years this October. It was 2002 when I quit.

“I’m celebrating 20 years clean and sober off street drugs and alcohol. Thirteen years it’ll be off of prescription. I was on oxycodone for a long time due to my back. Now I don’t take anything.”

“Being a victim of addictions, it was crack cocaine, cocaine, speed, and alcohol, I did a lot of terrible things at the time.

Things that I’ll never be proud of and I’ll never be able to fix,” he says. “That was the hardest part for me. Being from this area though, I can always give back.”

“If this was you and I sitting 20 years ago, it would have been different. There’s people that utilize this place that could verify that. Now it’s different.” campbellrivermirror.com

“

“Back then, I didn’t know a lot of Indigenous people even. I was very, very different. They put me on this canoe and I didn’t know anybody. When I was in those situations where I felt nervous I would sing. I grew up with a lot of country music. I sang ‘The River’ by Garth Brooks. After I sang, this man from the bow

“

turned to me and said ‘I’m going to teach you how to sing.’

Now at every event he’s a part of — and there are many, Decaire said that he’s often singing every week — it never really feels like things start until he shows up. Even when he’s tuning his drum and warming up his voice, people stop and listen, applauding when the song is over.

“That was just the warm up,” he said at a recent event.

But if he is trying to do some good in the world, he has surely done that. Whether it is the myriad jobs he’s held at Laichwiltach Family Life Society where he’s done every job from being automotive technician to managing Kwesa Place, or returning to his home community to give back and try to improve the lives of so many people, he has always had his heart in it.

“It’s not what we take into the grave, it’s how many people we helped before we got there. That’s what’s going to shelter me when I go into the earth. When I leave this earth, the story’s going to be ‘Shawn, he helped a lot of people,’ not ‘man, he really caused a lot of problems and never helped a soul,’’ he says. “My late grandfather told me that if you want something, you do it.

I’ve been a welder, a general contractor, I’ve been a homeowner, I’ve done things right, I’ve done things wrong. Everything short of brain surgery and I don’t plan on doing that. I’ve been given great opportunities, and being a very uneducated but educated man, I’ve proven that I am my biggest boundary. If I believe I can bust through it, I can. I’ve proven it.”

Decaire’s grandfather was “honourably discharged” from the residential school system. That painful past has doubtlessly been a barrier for Decaire, and he is no stranger to the difficulties that can come from this life. But he is also fortunate enough

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to have been able to reclaim his culture and really make that a focal point. Now, three generations after his grandfather’s time at the residential school, Decaire’s own son was named valedictorian at his high school.

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“My son didn’t even tell me,” he said. “He called me up one day and said ‘Dad, I’m really sorry for the short notice, but do you think you could get me a button blanket and an apron by 2 o’clock for grad pictures?’ I know everybody, so I said sure.

“I actually borrowed Curtis Wilson’s regalia. I borrowed his gear, and dropped it off telling him (his son) it was a really special blanket and apron. ‘As soon as you’re done call me and I’ll come pick it up.’

“He called me an hour later and said ‘why don’t you just come to the photo shoot at the river and that way you can pick it up.’ I got there and asked him why there were only four of them, and why they were all dressed differently.

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“‘We’re the valedictorians!’ I was like ‘wait what?’ My son said ‘oh, I thought I told you.’ I was like ‘you punk!’” he said, laughing.

“That was a celebration of what it should have been back then,” he added.

“I know that humanity must come first,” he said. “I took away from humanity at a time, and it’s time to give back. That’s what really pushes me to do what I do. I want my kids to see that.

“By giving back, your heart feels fuller and I acknowledge that I have a lot of acquaintances in my life… my kids see that and they realize that being a good person does this. I feel like I’m teaching them that. My son being valedictorian this year shows me that it’s working.”

“It’s a lot of love. That’s the greatest value in this world. Dollars don’t mean anything. The Creator, when he put us on this earth the only thing we own is our words. Speak good words and you get a lot of love.

“My heart’s full every day.”

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Art In Pursuit of

Photographer leaves Damascus to pursue art safely in Campbell River Contributed by the Welcoming Communities Coalition

I

n Damascus, Syria, simply carrying a camera in public could be perceived as an act of rebellion.

Almouallem says it was difficult to comprehend why citizens could carry guns in the streets but not cameras.

As an aspiring photographer, Sarmad Almouallem was approached by the military nearly every time he went out in the streets with his camera. To keep his equipment, he often had to offer money or delete his digital photo card.

“I was so focused on trying to do photography and produce art, but it was so hard. I love street photography and it was so hard to carry a camera in the street.”

Syria has been in the midst of a complex and violent civil war since 2011 that has displaced millions of people. Some areas are controlled by the regime, such as Damascus, while other parts of the country are held by Syrian rebels, jihadists, or Kurdish forces.

Almouallem was born and raised in Syria, and had obtained a degree in electrical engineering at Damascus University. He worked at his father’s electrical and mechanical engineering company on projects such as a thousand-bed hospital, but his true passion was photography.

“Photography was the medium that I felt I can be connected to and communicate with other people and show them my view,” he says. #thePEOPLEproject

In 2013, he decided to leave Syria for the United States, landing in New York with a visitor visa. His parents stayed behind and, as an only child, he changed his mind and returned to be with his family. A dear friend and photography mentor asked him to reconsider his decision.

“I was like, if we left – the young generation – we have the ability to rebuild … And he was like, ‘It’s not going well, you should leave,’” In 2015, Almouallem went to the oceanside with friends to camp and say goodbye once again. He recalls enjoying the beautiful mountain landscape and that time on the beach and with loved ones while across the water bombs fell and smoke billowed into the sky.

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“Emotionally and mentally, it was hard on me because I don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t know if I am going to get sent back. I don’t know if I’m going to see family and parents and friends again.”

Almouallem traveled to the United States by way of Lebanon and Dubai. He made his way across the U.S. and into Canada in September 2015, headed for Campbell River where his godfather lived and applying for status as a protected person.

After a few months living with his godfather, Almouallem managed to bring his dogs over from Syria, found a place to rent on Quadra Island, and took a job as a dishwasher at Heriot Bay Inn. Almouallem speaks Arabic, some French, and English – in Syria, he taught himself English by watching English-speaking comedians and listening to English-language music.

And, importantly, he was able to safely pursue his art (instagram.com/sarmadalmouallem). He considered moving to Victoria to seek opportunities as a photographer there, but first decided to attend a contemporary Syrian art show at the Campbell River Art Gallery where he met his now-partner. On the day of their first date, he was also offered a job at Photo Tech Foto Source developing film. Needless to say, he decided to put roots down in Campbell River.

“

“Photography was the medium that I felt I can be connected to

“

Leaving a second time, he says, took an emotional toll.

and communicate with other people and show them my view

Almouallem’s responsibilities at Photo Tech Foto Source increased, and soon he was managing the store when the owners were away. When they decided to retire, Almouallem “rolled the dice, took a risk” and bought the business in February 2021.

He says the support from the community is why the shop is still standing, with residents willing to wait longer for their equipment to arrive from a small local business.

A few years ago, he also successfully brought his parents to Campbell River, and moved off Quadra Island to be closer to them. He says the transition has been more difficult for his parents. They have found the lack of a Syrian community isolating, whereas Almouallem wanted to settle in a community where he could immerse himself in Canadian culture.

“I wanted to try on my own with the people around me,” he says.

Last year, he was appointed the Walter Morgan Studio’s first artist-in-residence by the Campbell River Arts Council and, on June 29, he took his Canadian citizenship test at The Immigrant Welcome Centre. Currently, Almouallem is working on a photography project with a colleague involving a 1932 four-by-five camera with a modern Polaroid back that they plan to show at the store.

When asked if he has advice for other newcomers settling in Campbell River, Almouallem says, “Love it and enjoy the ride. Try your best to share love and respect.”

This article is one of four in an October series contributed by The Immigrant Welcome Centre’s Welcoming Communities Coalition that shares the experiences of newcomer entrepreneurs in Campbell River. The Coalition is funded by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). Listen to more of Sarmad Almouallem’s story at holdingheritage.com or download the episode from Holding Heritage wherever you get your podcasts.

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Inspired by a father to experience the world

Contributed by the Welcoming Communities Coalition

W

hen Taj Singh was nine years old, his father left their home in Punjab, India, to work in the United States, hoping to create a more secure financial future for his children.

His dad worked at 7-Eleven stores in the U.S. while Singh grew up on the family farm with his mom and five siblings.

father, who has traveled to many countries, is the inspiration for his decision to experience the world. When his dad sold the store and returned to India, Singh was 19 and preparing to leave for post-secondary school in New Zealand in 2009.

“He always had a dream for his kids to go to better schools and to have better studies.”

“We kind of had seven to eight months of time,” he says, which they spent sharing stories. “It was a lot to catch up for him and I think he did a great job.”

One day, a regular customer asked his father if he aspired to own his own 7-Eleven. This conversation lit a spark and eventually he did come to own one of the franchises. Singh says his

While Singh already had a bachelor’s degree in computer science, he decided to study business administration in New Zealand. His younger brother and an older sister came along, and

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promoted to the tech department and then to a management position. After six months he was asked if he would like another promotion to a position at the Staples in Campbell River.

“I had never heard of it. I was like, how’s the weather up there?

They said, it’s great. It’s like, when do I move?” he says with a laugh.

He arrived not knowing a single person, but found the team at Staples to be incredibly welcoming.

“I was the only Indian actually working in the store at the time and they asked me questions about my religion and about myself or my country. I was just so over the moon, actually, to tell them because I am a proud Indian.”

It was November 2017, and there were few people from India residing in Campbell River. Singh met other Indian families and stayed connected to his culture through the local Sikh temple.

Singh’s love of food led him back to the restaurant industry. Today, he is the proud owner the Pita Pit on Shoppers Row, one of three on Vancouver Island, which he opened in November 2021 with his partner Shaylene Harry. He recalls being introduced to the franchise in New Zealand more than 10 years ago when a Pita Pit opened down the road from where he worked. He was impressed by the creativity, healthy ingredients, and having the opportunity to influence the menu.

The couple has been at the store seven days a week for 14 to 15 hours a day since opening ten months ago to ensure a successful launch. Harry had to work while Singh attended his Canadian citizenship ceremony on July 2, surprising him when he came into work with a Canadian flag and cake. The pair likes to explore through cooking and trying new menu combinations while respecting cultural dietary needs (such as keeping meat and vegetarian grills separate). One of their goals is to create a menu item that ends up on Pita Pit’s Creation Nation menu across the chain. He estimates that about 60 per cent of their customers are regulars.

Singh and Harry now employ a team of 12, including one of Singh’s sisters who moved to Campbell River this past summer.

His young niece has enthusiastically learned to wear a hair net and ensures the chip racks and drink machines are fully stocked.

He continues to reach out to his dad for business advice, saying, “He is the best advisor I could ask for.”

Both his parents continue to be supportive.

“Dad will ask, how is business going? Mom will ask, hey, did you eat today?”

he fondly recalls them being “a great team.” After a few odd jobs while studying, Singh started working at Subway Restaurants where he became a manager, and was often sent to different stores by the owners to help get them off the ground. With that experience, he decided to apply to immigrate to Canada, landing in Prince George in the middle of winter.

“The day I landed in Prince George it was minus 28. And I got out of the plane, I’m looking at my hands – I’m like what is going on, because nobody told me it was that cold,” he recalls.

On opening day back in November, his father wasn’t able to be there so he texted Singh in the early hours of the morning - and told him he was living his dad’s dream. It was an emotional moment for Singh. “I took a screen shot of that.”

This article is one of four in an October Newcomer Entrepreneur series contributed by The Immigrant Welcome Centre’s Welcoming Communities Coalition that shares the experiences of newcomer entrepreneurs in Campbell River. The Coalition is funded by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). Listen to more of Taj Singh’s story at holdingheritage.com or download the episode from Holding Heritage wherever you get your podcasts.

Singh took a job at Staples as a sales consultant and was quickly #thePEOPLEproject

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The brand was meant to be just a way to support family and friends with artistic or artisanal cottage companies at a time when they were struggling. The start of the pandemic was hard for everyone, but artists and artisans felt the brunt.

“It was meant to just be a hobby to support friends and family who were impacted,” says Assu, people who no longer had community markets to sell their wares.

With the help of her husband, Cody, a third-generation Haida and We Wai Kai commercial fisherman, she launched the business online in fall 2020. They ran the operation out of the family’s garage, shipping orders in recycled boxes and envelopes.

Storyteller Alissa Assu does business differently Story & Photos by Marissa Tiel

Assu also wanted to showcase authentic Indigenous and BIPOC makers, groups that don’t get as much space in retail. She felt there was “a need, a want, a desire” for these products, but they weren’t being reflected in high-traffic retail spaces.

“What people are seeing in gas stations, or BC Ferries is often owned by non-Indigenous families that pay artists royalty fees,” she says. “What we wanted to do was to pay the artists what they’re worth and to pay them directly.”

Assu says it’s also supporting Truth and Reconciliation by building the Indigenous economy.

“We wanted to be the one stable thing throughout an unstable time that really focused on spreading joy and community spirit,” she says, “and remembering that’s what builds our communities; that’s what continues to move the post forward.”

They also leveraged the power of social media. Assu, a master of the pun, connected with an online community. She shared the stories of the store’s early makers like Erin Brillon of Totem Design House, Salina Morse of Alice + Sage and Valerie Lamirande of RavenSong.

Storytelling is a big part of the business.

W

hen Alissa Assu began her lifestyle boutique during a global pandemic, she had to hustle to get brands in her store.

Two years later, brands are now coming to her for inclusion.

Built on a foundation of compassion and kindness, Wildflowers and Co.—now West Coast Wildflowers—has found a permanent home in Campbell River. The store has offered Assu another way to serve her Indigenous community by showcasing a successful Indigenous-owned business during a time of change.

Assu was on a much different path when the seeds for her lifestyle brand were planted. There was just one tiny problem: she had no retail experience.

The 30-year-old Wet’suwet’en woman grew up with her grandmother and moved to Vancouver in her teens to pursue high performance sports before studying criminology at Simon Fraser University. She went on to become the youngest Aboriginal Liaison Officer for Correctional Services Canada. She then transitioned back into the world of sports, becoming the provincial coordinator for B.C.’s Indigenous Sport, Physical Activity and Recreation Council. She was in this position, serving her Indigenous community through movement, when she left in 2020 to begin her business. #thePEOPLEproject

“We love telling stories about the makers,” she says, “and that’s such an Indigenous way of doing business.”

The stories now go both ways. Staff at the store’s permanent brick and mortar location in Tyee Plaza—which opened in 2021—get to hear where the products are going, who they’re destined for.

The team Assu has assembled has found a home in the heart of Campbell River. The location was important not only for Assu to showcase successful Indigenous and BIPOC-owned businesses, but to have families less apprehensive about spending time downtown.

“A lot of false information comes out of fear,” she says. “I think we sometimes create conversations in our head and then we have those conversations with other people.”

West Coast Wildflowers has joined a collection of family-owned businesses who operate downtown. It’s a community Assu loves being part of. It’s not uncommon to spot her ringing up coffees behind the till at Java Shack a few doors down from the boutique.

“Every community deserves a rich, vibrant downtown,” she says.

“I want to be a part of that.”

Assu runs her business differently. Part of that is the hiring process. She doesn’t bring people on based on hard skills.

“Everything in this lifetime is teachable,” she says, “but what you 41

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cannot teach is compassion and kindness and a willingness to learn about Indigenous history.”

As an Indigenous business owner, Assu is creating a community—one that doesn’t just exist between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. The entrepreneur has plans for the retail space that extend beyond the sale of goods. For example, a group of high-school-aged employees are planning events for the space that align with their personal interests. They’re not only getting financial support from the store to do this, but are also receiving mentorship from an Indigenous community event planner. They’ll also be expected to give a short speech at their event. Assu hopes the initiative gives youth the space and opportunity to have their voices amplified.

As if running a new business wasn’t enough to keep her busy, Assu and Cody recently launched Bear Essential Oils. The venture is a way for them both to connect with their culture.

The reconnection is especially important to Assu. Just over 10 years ago, she received a kidney transplant. Her anti-rejection meds are designed to keep her immune system low and there’s many medicinal elements from her culture she hasn’t been able to partake in, including some teas. She felt a “huge disconnect” from her culture.

So Bear Essential Oils is a way for her to reclaim that part of her life, to spiritually be back on her traditional territories, harvesting soap berries with her grandmother, and to introduce her young son to more of his culture.

“The long term goal is to work with our nations and build opportunities where you can harvest medicine and create it into essential oils,” she says, “and aligning with our Indigenous values #thePEOPLEproject

of being on the land and land-based healing and food security.”

Earlier this year, Bear Essential Oils was part of a contingent of Indigenous businesses invited to the Reservation Economic Summit in Las Vegas. It’s part of a new generation of Indigenous businesses showcasing success.

As the businesses continue to grow, Assu remains attentive to her customers. She’s open to hear where they can do better.

The store now has a growing collection of plus-size clothing and is organizing the displays with all customers in mind—not just those who are able-bodied.

Now on the cusp of its second anniversary, West Coast Wildflowers is taking a cue from Assu and heading back to its roots. The boutique will be carrying fewer established brands in favour of making space for smaller makers.

“The heart of the business has been supporting small families who don’t often get the same opportunities to be in many retail stores,” she says. “We want to rotate makers so that everyone gets an opportunity to be part of our collective.”

After building a lifestyle boutique from the ground up and launching another family business in under two years, what’s next for the Alissa?

More time with family is definitely on the agenda. Their son is growing up fast.

As for future ventures, Cody is encouraging Alissa to pursue anything in the world—except another business.

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Campbell River’s Library Manager won’t hear of anybody being excluded from the library

By Marc Kitteringham | Photos by Marissa Tiel

D

espite the fact that she’s the library manager for the largest area in the Vancouver Island Regional Library system, Joëlle Samson has only read one book since the pandemic started.

“With the pandemic, I hadn’t finished a book until just a few days ago,” she said. “I’d start a book and then it’d be a combination of everything going on with the pandemic, then having young children, and by the end of the day I was just too tired.”

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The question was about what her favourite books were, but Samson’s response actually showed more about who she is and her philosophy about her life and work than a fun filler question about reading could.

“I am trying to get back into it, because it is a form of escapism for me, and my own mental health,” she said. “Every book has a reader, and every reader has a book. There is absolutely no judgment in reading.”

Samson, and pretty much all librarians and library managers, try to follow the idea that no matter who walks through the doors of the library, they’re allowed to be there. The idea is called intellectual freedom, and basically means that libraries are supposed to serve all of the population, no matter their points of view, personal choices, or ways of life.

“Right now there’s a lot of hate going on about LGBTQ2+ folks, and drag queen story times are coming under fire in the United States and in Canada. It’s really too bad, but some libraries have decided, due to safety, to cancel their drag queen story times,” 46

Samson says. “The thing is that there’s an intellectual freedom piece where we provide resources and programs to everybody in the community. There might be folks who aren’t happy with drag queen story times, however, we’re still going to do that because there are folks in the community that we serve who get a lot out of that. They see themselves there. It’s about leading with love and all of that.

“On the other side, there are folks who are really upset about other books they may not agree with. We still have books about that stuff, because we serve the whole community. There are different values and we’re not in a position to censor any of that stuff, no matter who it offends, because again, we serve the whole community.”

The road to being a Library Manager is a bit more complex than you’d think. Samson was born in Quebec, but grew up in the Okanagan. After going to university, Samson got her first taste of library work when she took on a job at the school library in Kyuquot. campbellrivermirror.com

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“I didn’t know that I was going to end up in libraries,” she said.

“My mom had been working in Kyuquot as a teacher for a few years. That’s where I always went in the summer to work. I sort of landed there and a tiny little job at the school library opened up.

I applied and got it. I worked there for two years and just really liked it.

“We were focusing a lot on literacy at the time,” she said. “I knew all the kids and the parents from my time being there in the summers. It was just really nice to match folks to the books that they enjoyed reading. I decided that that was what I wanted to do.”

However, getting a job as a librarian or library manager is quite the undertaking. In getting her Master’s Degree in Library Studies, she worked in a couple of libraries in Edmonton and then moved to Kamloops to be part of the Thompson-Nicola Regional Library system. Her Masters’ focus was on being a children’s librarian, but that wasn’t the only option for her. At one point, she decided between focusing on being a librarian for children, or being a librarian with CSIS, Canada’s spy agency.

“I finished my bachelor of arts in international relations at UBC,” she said. “I didn’t know if I wanted to do children’s librarianship or CSIS, to kind of go with my international relations background.

My advisor said I needed to pick one, so I picked children’s because I didn’t want to live in Ottawa.”

It seems like she made the right decision. Samson said one of her favourite parts of the job is being able to work with the community — something that she probably would not have gotten from working at CSIS.

“

“I didn’t know that I was going to end up in libraries,” she said. “My mom had been working in Kyuquot as a teacher for a few years.

That’s where I always went in the summer to work. I sort of landed there and a tiny little job at the school library opened up. I applied

“

and got it. I worked there for two years and just really liked it.

#thePEOPLEproject

“You can just be at the library, you can just hang out,” she said.

“I usually, when explaining libraries, explain that it’s like a public park. It’s a public library, and everyone’s able to be here. It’s one of the last public spaces that’s indoors in our society that everyone can just come, be in, and not have to spend money. People can come in, be dry, connect with family members through our computers, access communication, and community.”

That being said, Samson does wish that her little indoor public park could be a bit bigger.

Her sense of community extends beyond her day job. She also sits on the Campbell River and District Coalition to End Homelessness, the Early Years Council and is involved in events like Indigenous Day, which was held right in front of the library for the last two years.

“We’re starting to do stuff, work with other organizations to do things for the community. That’s like what I gain from my job, and what moves me forward,” she said. “That’s in every community where I supervise the library as well.”

While it’s true that Samson hasn’t really read much in the past few years, she does recognize the need to take some time for rest and recuperation.

“As library manager, I’m saying that if you’re having trouble reading, that’s OK,” she said. “There are audiobooks, and that counts as reading as well, but at the end of the day I just wanted to watch Netflix, and that’s totally valid.

“I am trying to get back into it, because it is a form of escapism for me, and my own mental health,” she said. “Every book has a reader, and every reader has a book. There is absolutely no judgment in reading… It’s your library. It’s everybody’s library.”

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Committed to

Community Tara Jordan can’t help herself, she comes from a family of ‘softies’

By Alistair Taylor | Photos by Marissa Tiel

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campbellrivermirror.com

I

f anyone is going to make the world a better place it would be Tara Jordan but don’t recruit her for your political party or social movement, that’s not how Jordan will get it done.

“I love the grassroots,” Jordan says. “I love the grassroots people helping people. So simple, so effective.”

The perfect example of that is Caremongering Campbell River (CMCR), a group she founded in 2020 at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic that connected people in need with people who had the desire and resources to help.

The goal of CMCR is to mobilize the community to connect those who have time and resources to share, with those that need that time and those resources.

Facilitating this is a team of 44 volunteers who might have a truck to move something or a vehicle to do a Food Bank run for someone or maybe someone needs help building something.

“I can put the word out to the Caremongering community and I know that the 44 screened volunteers are going to take safe care of the people that need it when they need it,” Jordan says.

Jordan had come across the idea of Caremongering in another community and knew it was an idea that would work here.

Caremongering groups are organized around social media sites that connect those in need with those who can help.

The idea caught on like wildfire in Campbell River.

Unfortunately, it was a tragic event that kickstarted the group. On April 8, 2020 a fire destroyed an apartment building on 9th Ave. and Dogwood St. and displaced 85 people.

“When the fire on Ninth Avenue happened it was a game changer because it was such a spike in need in our community,” Jordan said.

Caremongering was there in place to help.

One of the first needs identified was diapers. People were evacuated from the building and sent to emergency hotel accommodations with nothing, including no diapers for babies. So the word was put out on Caremongering and within 10 minutes, people were responding. #thePEOPLEproject

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“

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“There’s people that left without diaper bags and we were able to get diapers to that hotel that night,” Jordan said.

It was also the beginning of the pandemic and most organizations and institutions had their hands tied unable to do anything but the need in the community was never greater. Meanwhile, people were sitting around with time on their hands and were asking Jordan what they could do.

“I heard on the news about Caremongering Prince Edward Island and (I said) Campbell River needs this, damn it.”

And it’s been a great success ever since. Jordan says she’s spending less time now volunteering than she did before Caremongering but the group is helping “probably 20, 30, 40 times the people. It’s just teamwork, efficiency. Grassroots teamwork.”

At the core of what’s going on is helping people and that’s what drives Jordan. The born-and-raised, fourth-generation Campbell Riverite – who’s raising a fifth Campbell River generation – lives on the same road – Homewood Road – that her grandfather settled in 1952. The land she lives on is next door to her grandfather’s property but she feels like she’s come home.

“My grandpa bought 15 acres of raw land on Homewood Road, which the Nunns Creek runs through.”

When Jordan and her husband Jarek returned to Campbell River in 2006, she eyed the land nostalgically. The property had been sold after Jordan’s father passed away but it was where she was raised.

“Five generations of my family spent time on Homewood Road, so it meant a lot.”

So, one time when she was driving up the end of the road feeling homesick, she saw a “for sale” sign on three acres of raw land.

“We dared to dream and we took the plunge.”

“Yeah, it means a lot to live on that land and my children playing in the creek that so many generations of our family have enjoyed.”

Family is important to Jordan but so was community, something she learned from her parents. She grew up with five siblings and 25 foster kids (not all at once) that lived with the family as she was growing up.

“My mom was a stay-at-home mom until I was 12 and dad was a commercial trawler and really well known in our community and (they were) people that volunteered for everything, the PTA, raising money for causes.

“I feel deeply lucky to my core to have had that family of origin.

“We didn’t have much money but we did have a lot of love and laughter growing up so, that. Yeah. Lucky.”

After a Campbell River upbringing, including a highschool exchange with Campbell River’s sister city, Ishikari, Japan, and a highschool diploma from Carihi, Jordan headed off to UBC to earn a degree from the school of social work and family studies while her “childhood sweetheart,” now husband Jarek Kubacki went to BCIT. After university, it was travelling to Japan to teach English and living for a stint in India and Europe then back to Vancouver to start careers. However, the Island kept calling and they yearned to spend more time here. #thePEOPLEproject

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“We were gazing longingly at Vancouver Island in the distance as we drove across the Lions Gate Bridge one trip. We’re like ‘okay, we feel it’s calling us, it’s time to go home.’”

They re-established themselves in Campbell River and picked up their careers. They founded a renewable energy company in 2009 specializing in solar power. Jordan worked for the John Howard Society for 16 years but now is committed to the family business full time.

She’s also committed to the community she grew up in as she continues the family tradition of volunteering and striving to make the community – and the world – a better place.

“I was raised by people who are big softies too. So I can’t help it.”

Their business, Small Planet Energy, is an extension of their beliefs.

“We have to stop seeing the earth as a commodity. We have to take care of her.”

The earth means a lot to Jordan as she recently has installed a sweat lodge on her property to strengthen her connection to the planet. It was something that she came across during a training session on engaging with high risk youth through the environment and the natural world.

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“I could have opted out but I didn’t know what I was saying yes to so I said ‘sure. I’ll give it a try.’ I had no idea but it really was a feeling of coming home. And it was really a feeling of this is what’s missing from most people’s lives today is a deep, profound connection to the earth, to the teachings of the cycles of the seasons and to tuning into our inner knowing and how to listen and interact with the natural world.

“I experienced spiritual connection to Mother Earth that I’ve never experienced in my life. And it has me hooked.”

That hook is set into the ground in Campbell River which benefits from her devotion to keeping the planet, in general, and her community, specifically, healthy.

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