Hello Ottawa

Helga

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 17:40:00 -0400

Meet Helga, a photographer and graphic designer who is both relentlessly positive and passionate about Ottawa. Helga immigrated to Canada from Columbia in search of adventure and snow; ten years later she’s still just as excited about living here as the day she arrived.

Read on to learn more about Helga’s life in Ottawa, her fascination with Canada, and her immigration experience.

Helga, thank you so much for meeting with me. Can you introduce yourself to Hello Ottawa readers?

I’m a photographer, graphic designer, and communications professional with a bachelor’s degree in architecture. Overall, I consider myself an artist. I’m from South America; I lived there until I finished university. In my late teens and early 20s life got exciting and there were definitely some adventures. That’s what that time of your life is all about, right? Anyway, a big adventure was about to take place for me, and that’s when I decided to move to Ottawa.

That sounds exciting!

I guess! My family is from Colombia. There are ten million people living in Bogotá and that felt very overwhelming to me. My dad was in the military so we lived on military bases and travelled all over the continent. We lived in the States for a while, but we were relocated every two years. I think that lifestyle became embedded in my psyche. I just wanted to travel all the time.

After my dad retired, I couldn’t wait to actually live on my own - on my own terms, able to do whatever I wanted. Just before I graduated from university, I told my dad, “Listen, I want to go somewhere exciting and start a new life, have an adventure - but I need your help.” And he agreed! So I started this hunt for the perfect place. I immediately thought I would move to a Nordic country.

What was the draw to Nordic countries?

It was the exact opposite of what I had grown up with – tropical sandy beaches, palm trees and warm weather. I wanted snow, and to experience winter blizzards. I wanted winter gear, a winter sleeping bag, to build an igloo – all of the clichés! Of course I had really romanticized the idea. I had no idea what was fiction and what was fact. This was in the 90s, so I was able to look up a little information online, and I learned as much as I could about Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland you name it – all of the top-of-the-world countries. And, of course there was Canada, the biggest one. The more I looked into it, the more I realized that Canada fit the profile of who I wanted to become. It was just this big, beautiful idea of a perfect place to me, and I could see myself living here.

There is a lot of documentation, a lot of forms and stuff to do before you can even dream about immigrating to Canada. The whole process took over two years. I was very lucky that I had applied just a few days before the world changed on 9/11. I was worried, I had no idea what was going to happen; nobody knew. I thought, “The world is closing its doors, but I’ve worked so hard for this.” It wasn’t fair.

Part of the process included getting medical exams, a psychological assessment, and all sorts of stuff. It’s a tough process. The immigration officers at the embassy actually told me, “Don’t make any plans, carry on with your regular life. We can’t guarantee anything.” I was 22, willing to do whatever it took just to make this adventure happen.

Two and a half years later, I finally received notice that I had been accepted as a permanent resident. I was only given 30 days to get to Canada.

Were you ready for it?

I certainly was not. I never thought they would only give me 30 days to completely relocate my life. I was somewhat mentally prepared, but I had to wrap up 24 years of life in just a month. I was still living at my parents’ house; I had a boyfriend, a car, a good job at a publishing house. I even had a maid! I still really wanted to live in Canada, though, and it was so satisfying to go through such an intense process and have Canada say, “We want you. You are skilled and an asset to our country. Welcome to your new home.” That’s such an incredible feeling.

I know I’m really privileged. Coming from a class-based society, I knew I wanted to experience the world by myself. Getting through the process was very important to me, because there is so much stigma attached to people coming from different countries. So getting into Canada as a skilled worker was very important to me. There’s so much self-esteem and self-worth wrapped up in that.

Anyway, I landed in Ottawa during the summer of 2003 with just the essentials. Well, along with loads of energy, hopes, and dreams!

Had you seen Ottawa before you landed?

No, at that point I had never been to Canada. I had only seen it on TV and movies – you know, the iconic Mountie, the flag, igloos, snow, seals, and polar bears. I really didn’t know much about Ottawa. I remember choosing Ottawa because it was the capital – in my mind that meant a gigantic, magical urban landscape where everything happens. It took me about a week to realize, “Oh, this is it? This is the downtown core?” The population is like a tenth of what I was used to. I was never disappointed, though. I was really excited to be here.

The first thing I did after I arrived was to visit all of the big tourist spots I could get to. I toured Parliament’s Centre Block, went to Toronto, saw Niagara Falls in all their glory. I remember taking an obscene amount of pictures. Toronto was really more of what I was expecting from Ottawa, but I knew right away that Ottawa felt right, better. Felt like home.

I got a job pretty quick, taking photos in a portrait studio. I started volunteering, networking, meeting people. It didn’t take me long to feel like I really belonged here. When the first three years were up and I got to file for Canadian citizenship, I was incredibly happy.

What was the citizenship process like for you?

It was interesting, to say the least. I went to the best private schools my parents could afford but I never learned a thing about Canada. Going through the citizenship process provided me with the opportunity to learn so much about this part of the world, and I fell in love with Canada all over again. I felt like, as a new Canadian, I was truly becoming a valuable part of this country during this time and place in history.

I recall spending lots of time learning about Canadian history, although I must say there were some things that broke my heart. I learned about plenty of beautiful and wonderful Canadian moments, but when I first read about Residential Schools I couldn’t believe it. It was heartbreaking. Still, when I finally got to take that oath and say, “I swear I am going to defend this country,” at that very moment my life changed. Without a doubt, becoming Canadian is by far the most important thing in my life, and I treasure it very much.

And just like that - and almost a decade later - here I am.

And what is your life like now?

Well, my career has improved! I’ve come a long way from working for minimum wage in a portrait studio. I work for a non-profit now, and I have my own freelancing business where I do work as a professional photographer. As a person, I’ve grown so much in the past ten years. I have a beautiful apartment, a career as an artist, and I get to live in Ottawa. I’ve seen this city grow so much since I arrived, too. It’s practically a different city. It’s hard to keep up with all the cool things that are happening. The arts and creative scenes are just booming.

Professionally, my greatest success was having my photos exhibited at the Ottawa airport. That was not only an amazing experience, but so thematically appropriate. I mean, I landed as an immigrant in that airport; the moment those doors open and you walk into the country is like being born. If someone had told me that less than ten years later I would be a photographer with an exhibit at that very same airport I would have said, “You can’t be serious!” Just like walking through that airport for the first time launched my new life, I feel like this exhibit was an opportunity for me to truly launch my life as a photographer.

A couple of years ago I had the opportunity to go on holidays to the Yukon and Alaska, which was a dream come true for me. I went dog sledding, saw glaciers, wildlife, and visited hot springs when it was minus 40. I told my friend who was hosting me, “The beauty of this place is so overwhelming that I just want to fall down on my knees and cry.” They call it the spell of the Yukon for a reason. One of my dreams is to live north of 60 for a couple of years.

This adventure has surpassed my own expectations. I’m glad I’ve gotten to spend the last 10 years doing things my way. I feel like I’ve accomplished certain level of success, and I can’t wait to see what’s next.

Thank you, Helga! Some of Helga’s photography can be found on her Flickr page.

Nick

Sun, 04 Dec 2011 19:56:00 -0500

Meet Nick, a hip-hop artist, dancer, artistic director, and student. Nick is very connected to Ottawa’s dance and hip-hop music scene; he just released his first few studio-recorded tracks as SORU (scroll down to the end of the post to listen to a track and find out how you can download the whole thing), and is in the process of recording his debut album.

Nick and I met on a rainy weekend to do some photos overlooking the Byward Market, a place we chose after searching out a location that would give us a great view of the city, that represents how Nick feels about living here, and that shows how connected he feels to the downtown core. I was very flattered to find out that Nick’s friend Bobby Green based a painting on one of the photos we took, and that Nick is now using it as the cover of his new release!

Read on to find out what Nick thinks about Ottawa’s music scene, how he got started in dance, and more.

A special thank-you this week to Sheila, who volunteered to transcribe this interview for me.

Tell me about yourself!

My full name is Nicolas-Henri. I’m fully Lebanese by blood, but I was born and raised here in Ottawa, so I have a strong love of the city.

I’m studying Interactive Multi-Media Design at Carleton University, which is a joint program with Algonquin College. I’m hoping that one day if I get a job through that I can eventually become a Video Game Director - that would be my dream as far as a career. I’ve also been dancing for… well, I guess it’s going on my sixth year now. I was introduced to an organization called Culture Shock by a friend, to one of their youth dance troupes - Future Shock - and I’ve been with them ever since. I’m currently the Artistic Director of Culture Shock Ottawa.

It’s a lot of… urban dance, I guess? It’s fair to call it urban dance because we do hip hop, but there’s also breaking, popping and locking, and a lot of other styles. The media bundles it under the word “hip hop,” even though that’s not technically correct.

You have a dance crew of your own, right?

Had. We had a great run from 2008 until 2010. We performed in various shows, and in the Culture Shock Canada showcase every year. The crew was called dTALE – because we told a story and paid close attention to detail. I started the crew as a creative outlet and a way to have fun with my friends. I made many great friendships, had the privilege of training some great dancers, and learned more than I ever thought I would. The crew members eventually got really busy with school, work, and their personal lives. I also started directing Culture Shock, so we all went about our own thing. But we’re all still good friends and keep in touch.

I do music as well – I sing, rap and write. My artist name – my alias as a dancer and artist – is SORU. It’s an acronym that I created – it stands for “Someone of Real Ulteriority.” It basically means that there’s a lot more below the surface. You can decide to judge me based on what I’m wearing or how I’m talking but there’s more than meets the eye.

Tell me more about your music… when did you start doing that?

I’ve been writing poetry since the third grade - since I was really, really young. I only really started rapping when I was twelve, and I started seriously trying to sing when I was fifteen. I’m totally self-taught. I’ve been able to build some relationships with other artists and people in the industry here – believe it or not, there is an industry.

I don’t think most people realize there’s a music industry here!

Well, the most mainstream artist in Ottawa is probably Belly, and then there’s Danny Fernandez. He’s from Toronto, but he’s signed to Capital Profit Records, which is Ottawa-based. There are a lot of producers doing big things around here, you just have to know where to look.

I’m fortunate enough to be part of a group of amazing musicians called DeadRinger. Composed of my great friends and talented dudes Real Raw, Sean Blake, Joe Nativv, Young B, Nakiem & Tony. The first three I mentioned also have a band called Bars & Tone that just released an amazing original album, which I’m also featured on.

There’s a lot of potential in Ottawa. There will always be a studio to record at in Ottawa, just like there will always be artists in the streets. Just because it’s not on the front page of the newspaper or not in the blogs doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. I know a lot of really, really talented people in the city, a lot of great artists, but you have to dig to find them. Slowly but surely they’re starting to surface. I’d like to have the chance to feel like I’m one of them.

I actually just released a mixtape called OT State of Mind. It’s a compilation of hip hop and R&B songs that, in traditional mixtape fashion, borrow unoriginal beats – you know, beats that belong to other artists - to which I give my own flavor. It’s rapping and singing. The tape is available for free download through my Facebook fan page, my Soundcloud page, and on HotNewHipHop.

Come mid-December I’ll be going into the studio with Sean Blake to work on production for my debut album. Recording the mixtape has been an amazing learning experience that has allowed me to finally find my own sound. There’s much more to come.

Do you feel like living in Ottawa has influenced you as an artist?

You’re always a product of your environment, right? Without a doubt it has influenced me. Every city you visit, every country, no matter where you are, will have its own style, its own flavor. Ottawa has its own thing, for sure, but it’s hard to put a label on it, especially since we’re so influenced by everything around us.

I definitely draw from personal experiences, but I think what influences me most in Ottawa are the people. The people around me, the people I meet, and most of all the people who support me, see what I do, and choose to get behind me and become my friends or fans, and just support what I’m doing. There’s no better feeling than someone coming up to you and giving you recognition for what you put your heart into.

It’s really friendly here, and I respond to that. I think people who come here are caught off guard by how easy it is to just approach someone you don’t know. I like to smile, I like to be happy – even if I don’t have a reason to. It might sound cheesy, but I live for today. I’m a very passionate person, and if there is one thing I believe it’s that you have to really feel what you do. If you don’t put feeling into it, it’s not worth doing. If you’re dancing, or making music, put your heart and soul into it and it will be reflected in your product. That’s my own philosophy, but a part of that comes from how Ottawa has influenced me: I see passionate, creative people and I want to be a part of it. It’s an exciting time for this city.

Thank you, Nick! Listen to a track from Nick’s mixtape below. You can download the whole thing on his Soundcloud, Facebook, or HotNewHipHop pages. Nick can also be found on YouTube, and on Twitter at @nicksoru.

Sabrina

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 12:00:00 -0500

A fashion blogger and communications student, Sabrina uses her sense of fashion as a way to connect with the city and people around her. We met on a rainy Saturday for photos in Old Ottawa South, the first neighborhood Sabrina visited when she was being introduced to Ottawa as a student; it’s still one of the places she feels most represents “her Ottawa.”

As a special aside this week, I’d like to extend a sincere thank you to Jessey Bird of Local Tourist Ottawa, who transcribed this interview for me. Thank you, Jessey!

Tell me about yourself!

My name is Sabrina. I’m a third year student at Carleton University studying communications. I’m originally from suburban Toronto, from one of the Toronto communities – Scarborough - that has an Asian majority. Coming to Ottawa was actually kind of a culture shock for me.

I guess one of my main interests right now is my blog - I blog as Sincerely Sabrina. I used to blog under the name “I am Talentless” which is funny, I guess, because I kind of thought I was one of those kids who didn’t have any special talent or skills – like, I didn’t play the piano and I wasn’t very good at sports, so that’s where the name came from. I’m a fashion blogger, so I typically post on my own outfits, and I occasionally throw in items that inspire me. To take something from the inspiration around you and make it your own, I think that is what fashion really is: creative, inspirational, and innovative. Starting a new blog has been really great for me because I’m kind of stepping out of that ‘talentless’ shell that I had, and moving on to bigger and better things for myself.

You mentioned that fashion is about drawing inspiration from things around you and making it your own. How do you incorporate that into your own life?

Inspiration is something different for everyone, but for me it can be anything that catches my attention. If I see something I like, I’m not going to copy it directly, but I will take aspects of it and add in my own ideas to make it more “me.” I find that inspiration isn’t always a conscious act, so I tend to find myself using what I see all the time and hardly realizing it.

Do you feel like your sense of style has changed since you moved to Ottawa?

I’m definitely different from who I was in Toronto. In Toronto there are so many other people, it can feel like you’re drowning in a big crowd. Fashion is a way for me to stand out. I like going to class and turning heads in that way; I tend to push my limits through fashion, I think. What can I get away with in every day life? One day I’ll go with the three-inch heels to class, and another day I’ll go in five layers of jackets. I was more conservative in Toronto and didn’t really think much of fashion, but in Ottawa I can kind of let my creative senses be free.

Now that you’re here in Ottawa, how do you feel about the city?

I actually love the city. I honestly didn’t expect to love it this much. I came to Ottawa with the mindset that I was here for university, that I’d go back home to Toronto when it was over, and that would be it. Now when I go back to Toronto it’s almost like I’m a guest in my own home. Ottawa isn’t just a second home to me anymore. I think I’m ready it turn it into my home.

The cultural scene here is pretty interesting to me. I’m from a predominantly Asian community in Toronto so I often find myself comparing it to Ottawa. Here, I see Chinatown as a little street with a few restaurants and hair salons, but for the most part it seems pretty detached from the rest of the city. The same goes for a lot of the other cultural communities here, though. It’s kind of ironic that Ottawa is home to a lot of foreign embassies, but there aren’t very many cultural events that take place that are open to the public.

As far as fashion, one of the first things I was told about Ottawa was that it’s a Gap city – you know, that there would be a lot of people who shop at the Gap and walk around wearing sweats – but that’s not it. When I came to Carleton that’s not what I saw. I saw people getting creative. Especially with all the students, you have a lot of people that come from many different places – Toronto, small towns, other places in the world, so there is some fashion diversity that comes together, at least on campus.

What advice would you give someone who is just starting to express his or her self with style and fashion?

Be experimental. A lot of people ask me what my style is, and I still call it undefined. I don’t have just one style that I prefer. I like being experimental and seeing what sticks. If someone were trying to test out their style to express themselves more, I would recommend being experimental with it. Keep a fashion journal – I blog about my fashion choices, which is like keeping a photo journal. It’s interesting to see how I have changed over time. I can look back and see how much I’ve grown, and how much growing I still have to do. Documentation is about looking at what works for you and what doesn’t – not just in terms of aesthetic fashion, but in terms of your personal style.

Thank you, Sabrina! You can check out Sabrina’s fashion blog at Sincerely Sabrina.

Elsewhere: Q&A with Jennifer MacKinnon of Fenix Solutions

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 13:32:00 -0500

This week I contributed a guest post to the Lead to Win for Women blog, where I had the opportunity to profile Jennifer MacKinnon, Founder and CEO of Fenix Solutions and creator of Ottawa Women of Wonder.

Jennifer and I spoke about her experience as one of Ottawa’s first female tech founders, mentoring, and more.

Natalie

Wed, 21 Sep 2011 08:47:00 -0400

Meet Natalie, a social worker and the Manager of Operations at Operation Come Home. Natalie and I met after Corey – the homeless youth whose profile was featured last week – put me in touch with the Operation Come Home staff. He spoke so highly of the services they offer and the support they’ve provided him in his transition from the streets to student life that I knew I’d have to profile one of the social workers there.

Natalie is the hugely energetic and passionate force that leads Operation Come Home’s street outreach team. We met for an interview and photos at OCH’s new location at 150 Gloucester, where Natalie showed off some of the beautiful jewellery created by street youth in the BeadWorks storefront. Read on to find out more about Natalie’s life in Ottawa, her experiences at Operation Come Home, and her thoughts on the challenges faced by homeless youth in Ottawa.

Can you tell me about yourself?

Sure! My name is Natalie. I’m the Manager of Operations at Operation Come Home. I’ve been here for almost five years. I started out as a youth worker in the Education program and I’ve worked my way up to Manager of Operations. I went to Algonquin College’s Social Service Worker program, so I’m a Registered Social Service Worker.

My interests – well, I love my family and my daughter. I like the outdoors, going to the cottage, anything to do with water, water sports. Outdoor stuff. I like photography. Not that I’m good at it, but I do like a nice picture.

Are you from Ottawa?

Yes, I’m from Ottawa. I’m from outside of Ottawa, though. I grew up in Richmond, and I lived with my mom and my brother in Bells Corners for the rest of my high school and pre-college years. I actually just bought a house in Richmond - I want my daughter to grow up there. It’s a small, not-too-busy town.

What drew you to social work?

Well, even when I was in high school and did co-op placements I worked with disadvantaged people. I always liked working with kids. First I was a personal support worker, and I worked in paediatrics. It was really sad, too sad. I worked with two boys with muscular dystrophy. One has since passed away, but I still work with his brother. I’m still there any time they need me.

I was able to get a job in a youth foster home working as a relief parent. I worked with disadvantaged and abused children, children with ADHD and conduct disorders. It was a really great experience, and I wanted to work more with kids. It wasn’t full-time employment though, so I went to work in a place in Arden, Ontario called Arden Court. It was a 31-bed residential treatment centre with a mix of male and female closed-custody and open-custody beds. It was a good experience, and I liked it so much. But the commute was long, and it was a live-in situation, so I’d stay there for three days at a time and live there. It was exhausting, as much as I loved it. I started looking for something closer to home, and found a position at a group home in Ottawa.

Around that time I went back to school for the social service worker program, and I got a co-op placement at Housing Help. It was incredible. It opened my eyes to everything – poverty, homelessness, everything. I realized my calling was outreach – reaching out to people on the street and low-income people in rooming houses to help make them aware of the services that are available. I started working for Operation Come Home in January 2007. I keep growing in this environment, and my passion grows stronger. To me, there’s no need for these young adults to have to deal with what they do every day.

Can you tell me a little about what Operation Come Home does?

We have six pillars of service. We started in 1971 with our Reunite Pillar, which focuses on reuniting runaway youth across Canada with their families. Right now we’re travelling a youth from Toronto to Newfoundland. It’s a really involved process. We work with Greyhound, and it’s a four-day trip to Newfoundland. We arrange for bagged lunches and snacks to meet him at pit stops, dropped off by shelters across Canada.

We also have an Outreach Pillar, an Employment Pillar, a Housing Pillar, an Education Pillar, and a Drop-in Pillar. Our point of contact is the drop in; youth come here and get to know the services we offer, realize what we can do for them. We can offer them employment through our Bottle Works social enterprise, our BeadWorks social enterprise, and the Job Action Centre, which is a skills development and employment centre with a full-time employment councillor. Our BottleWorks enterprise has more than 70 contracts with clubs, pubs, bars, hotels and condominiums across the city. BottleWorks picks up their empty bottles. In addition to that, BottleWorks picks up donated empty Beaus bottles. Beaus All Natural Brewing Co. is our corporate partner. BottleWorks employs three youths full time on a four-month contract, and every four months new youth are chosen and employed. At the BeadWorks enterprise we have at-risk and homeless youth crafting one-of-a-kind jewellery, and we have a storefront to sell their creations, at 150 Gloucester. The youth create beautiful jewellery and get 75% of the profit. It’s an amazing store. The shop is open from 10:00-5:00 from Monday to Friday.

Our school, the Achievement Centre, is partnered with the Ottawa Catholic School Board and Sage Youth. We have a full-time teacher, support staff and literacy support staff. Youth can come in and earn high school credits and prepare for their GED. We’re partnered with Lester B. Pearson high school, which means that youth who graduate through our program get a diploma or certificate from there – so there’s no stigma attached to graduating from a drop-in centre. It’s an amazing partnership. They’ve been so dedicated in assisting with our graduations, and they’ve been there for us when a youth recently passed away. Just extremely supportive. We make the environment very safe, so no matter the reason a youth dropped out of school – bullying, teen pregnancy, because they are gay, bad family situations, all the many reasons kids drop out of school – they find support here. We have a lot of community partnerships, like with Ottawa Mental Health, Rideauwood Addiction and Family Services, and the City of Ottawa Sexual Health Clinic.

Our outreach program runs twice a day. We go out there and try to find youth who are street homeless and connect them with housing options and other referrals. We hand out water and granola bars, sleeping bags, socks. The outreach workers try to find the youth who are in need, or new to the streets and scared and maybe don’t know about the young men and women’s shelters that are available to them. The outreach workers are volunteers, and we really can’t thank them enough.

How many youth do you serve here?

We serve between 75 to 100 youth in all of our programs each day.

What kind of challenges do homeless youth face in Ottawa?

I do think there are a lot of youth services in Ottawa, but the challenges of being a street youth are waiting lists for mental health, addiction, and housing. Waiting lists, waiting lists, waiting lists. That’s what our youth hear every day. There aren’t enough youth beds, and once you turn 18 you’re expected to stay at the adult shelters, which I don’t think is right. I do feel that there need to be more beds in Ottawa for youth. I know of probably 12 to 15 youths that access our services who sleep on the streets or in parking garages, or in bushes, or they camp. They don’t want to stay in shelters, or there’s not enough room in shelters, or they don’t want to stay in adult shelters. You know, I always say, “Come see me, just come see me,” because we’ll help them figure it out, help them find a place to stay. But they’re in groups, and they’re not going to leave anyone behind. So if someone can’t get a bed, none of them will go.

If you could change anything in Ottawa, what would it be?

I would just give these kids a chance. They’ve been so… pushed around. I know our drop-in is for youth aged 16 to 25 and they’re not really kids, but I call them my kids. They’re each just really amazing. I really want to see them do well, and I really want to see them be given a chance.

Since I’ve been here, Operation Come Home has lost five youth. We have a memorial wall. Cactus, Tammy, Jake Lawson, Jen - and we just recently lost Leanne. It breaks my heart. They were street homeless youth, a youth who was at a party and stabbed in the chest, Jake Lawson, who drowned, Jen who overdosed, and Leanne who was a user. None of those deaths needed to happen. You know, if they had been able to get through those wait lists — for housing, addiction services, whatever it was they needed – well. It didn’t need to happen. I don’t think I could handle losing another one. These youth need a chance, and there need to be so many more opportunities. We do the best we can here, but there’s so much space for more.

Thank you, Natalie! Operation Come Home is celebrating both their 40^th anniversary and the grand opening of their new location at 150 Gloucester on September 22^nd with an open house. If you would like to visit Operation Come Home and learn more about the services they offer to Ottawa’s homeless youth, drop by 150 Gloucester between 2:00 and 7:00 on Wednesday September 22, or visit http://operationcomehome.ca for more information. Operation Come Home can also be found on Twitter at @ochottawa.

Corey

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 12:32:00 -0400

Meet Corey, a homeless youth who has been living on the streets of Ottawa for the past year. Corey’s story is pretty inspirational: in the time since we met for this interview four weeks ago, he’s been accepted to Algonquin College, admitted to transitional housing, and started his first week of classes in Algonquin’s General Arts program, despite having to jump some pretty time-consuming and exhausting hurdles to make it all happen.

Corey’s photos were taken outside of Operation Come Home, a drop-in centre on Gloucester Street that serves Ottawa’s street youth; it’s a place where Corey spends a lot of time and has received a lot of support. Please read on to learn about Corey’s life in Ottawa as a homeless youth, his views on street life, and more.

Tell me about yourself!

Well, my name is Corey. I do odd jobs, you know, if something comes my way. Usually I find out about gigs through one of the city drop-ins or on Kijiji – that’s where I find most of my jobs. Apart from that, I’m trying to go to school right now. I’m planning on doing General Arts and Sciences- Community Studies so that next year I can get in to the Social Service Worker program at Algonquin. I do a couple of side things – you know, hang out with friends, go to the youth drop-in centres. Stuff like that.

Are you from Ottawa?

No, actually, I’m from Hawkesbury. It’s about an hour and a half away. It’s a small town. It’s basically the mid-point between Ottawa and Montreal.

What brought you to Ottawa?

Well, I stopped living with my parents. It was kind of a kicked out-slash-I’m leaving scenario, you know? I finished high school, and realized that there was really nothing for me in Hawkesbury. I couldn’t get a job, and there’s no college there or anything. I packed everything up and decided to leave. I had about four garbage bags, some backpacks, a few boxes. I’ve been in Ottawa for about a year and a half now. I lived with my cousin for about two months, and then I moved in to the YMCA’s second-stage housing for about six months. Since then, I’ve been on the streets of Ottawa. I was living on the street before, in Hawkesbury.

Can you tell me about that?

I was technically emancipated from my parents the night before my 18^th birthday, but even before that it was this situation where I’d be kicked out of the house most of the time. You know, I was only staying there maybe once or twice a week at most. I got tired of it and just stopped showing up. There were times when I’d get off the bus from school and just go to a buddy’s place, no questions. My parents and I fought a lot, and I just didn’t want to deal with it any more. It was mostly verbal, but sometimes physical between me and my dad. I was finally like, you know what? My eight year old sister is listening to this, exposed to this all the time. I’m not doing that to her any more. So I just got my things and left. I cut off all communication with my parents – if they found a way to communicate with me, I’d cut it off. Change my phone number, change my email address, change my name on Facebook.

There were nights before that, though – starting sometime around the summer I turned 17 in 2009 – I’d spend quite a few nights on the streets in Hawkesbury when I had nowhere to go. You know what, though, now that I’m in Ottawa I feel like I’m less homeless. I’m still living in shelters and visiting drop-in centres, but at least I can do that here. In Hawkesbury there was just nothing. There was only a food bank that you’d have to pay $5 to access. So if you’re in the streets there, you’re really on the streets, on your own. In Ottawa there are a lot of services. You can stay really well fed at the drop-ins. During the day, I’ll get breakfast at one drop-in, lunch or dinner at another. Especially as a youth, it’s not difficult to feed yourself here. In Hawkesbury, I panhandled a lot, I had to steal. Sometimes I’d sneak into my parent’s house in the middle of the night after everyone had gone to bed and grab food from the pantry and leave again.

But, I mean, here in Ottawa the services are incredible. For example, the drop-in down the street is Operation Come Home. They help youth aged 16 to 24, and they have an employment program where you get paid minimum wage to learn how to make a resume and find a job. There’s also the Youth Services Bureau, which has a lot of the same services but for people 16 to 21. They have daily lunches, counselling, showers, computers, a nurse practitioner. You can’t live at the drop-ins, but for youth 16 to 21 there are two shelters run by the YSB. They’re more of a safe haven compared to a lot of the adult shelters. I’ve stayed at the Mission, the Salvation Army, the Shepherds of Good Hope, and they’re pretty unpleasant. A lot of older people, just angry at life. A lot of violence and drugs, and your stuff will definitely get stolen.

Since I’m 19, I don’t qualify for overflow any more. Overflow is when there’s no room at one of the youth shelters, they’ll find a place for the 16 and 17 year olds to stay. A couch in the common room, or if it’s really bad the city will give you a hotel room until a bed is available. But, if you’re 18 or over, you get sent to the adult shelters. I have anxiety issues, and when I go to those places my anxiety just gets out of control. I’ll just sit on Rideau Street instead, stay up all night, and then pass out on a couch in one of the drop-in centres during the day.

Can you tell me what living on the streets in Ottawa has been like for you?

Yeah. It’s not something I enjoy. There are some people who live on the streets and enjoy it, it’s not a problem. For me, one day I want to get out of the shelter systems and get away from the drop-ins. Get away from Ontario Works and all that. I’d like to have my own apartment and a full-time job doing something I like to do. I’d like to get to that point where I have a wife and two kids and a house, and a backyard. All that!

Temporarily, though, being on the streets is something I’ve become accustomed to. I have a lot of services I can access, so it’s not like when I was in Hawkesbury and would have to sleep in a park somewhere on a bench or in a play structure. And, I mean, since coming to Ottawa I’ve met so many different people. Before I came to Ottawa I had never met a transgendered person, and when I started going to the drop-ins I met three on the same day. I didn’t know! I thought transgendered people, LGBTQ people, were one in a million, something just in movies. But that’s totally not true. I’ve met so many different types of people.

A big problem with downtown is the drugs. Marijuana isn’t even considered a drug, it’s everything else. I know it’s stereotypical to say, but it’s true: among homeless people, drugs are the number one issue. I just watch people and think, “How can you do that to yourself?” I look at a lot of street youth who are starting to do that stuff, and I just want to say, you know, “Go home! You have a bed at home, parents who will take care of you, even if you don’t get along.”

Do you think you would have taken that same advice?

Well, no. I’d be a hypocrite to say otherwise. At that age I was into some pretty bad stuff, but the stuff I’m seeing youth do now is way worse than what I did. And, I mean, I checked myself into a sobriety home. In the situation I was in, I just looked at my life and thought, well, I’m really stressed out, my parents don’t want me around, I have very few friends because of my living situation – I want to get this off my brain. At that time, my only stress relief was drugs. I will tell people younger than me to get away from it, though. It’ll ruin you.

As far as selling drugs, that’ll get you into a mess too. I’d rather just go to a street corner with a sign and panhandle for the day. I don’t keep a sign with me because police view panhandling as illegal and if they search your backpack and find one you can get in trouble. They’ll charge you a $65 fine if you’re panhandling. I mean, realistically, if you get a ticket for panhandling you just walk away and rip it up. How are you gonna pay that? You’re already panhandling for your dinner.

What kind of response do you get from people when you’re panhandling in Ottawa?

When I’m panhandling myself, passers-by will just walk by you like you’re a ghost. It’s hard, you can’t really make that much. People don’t even stop for a second to read the sign.

When I do panhandle, I find a piece of cardboard and write “Hungry, broke, homeless – anything helps.” Anything someone give does actually help. Change, food. Yesterday I was panhandling on Elgin Street, and a guy stopped and actually chatted with me for a few minutes, and then he offered to bring me to Subway. He bought me a drink and a sub. He said I could get anything on the menu, so I got something cheap because I didn’t want him to have to pay so much. I was surprised, he didn’t even get anything for himself. I guess he was just going in that direction and decided to help me out. That’s really rare. More often people just drop off a little change, you know, 25 cents, maybe a dollar. It seems like everyone is just on the go, and no one has even a minute to stop, read the sign, and be interested. I mean, if you get someone a large drink from McDonald’s for a buck that’ll keep someone full for almost a whole day, but no one thinks to do that.

If I don’t have a legitimate reason to panhandle, I won’t do it. Most people who are panhandling don’t like doing it any more than the people walking down the street like seeing it. It’s not like you wake up in the morning and are like, “Oh, panhandling sounds fun. I think that’s what I’ll do today.” Sometimes you just have to though. I’ll have to feed myself, or pay a bill, and maybe I didn’t find any paying odd-jobs that day. If people just stop for a minute and ask, “What are you doing here?” if they’re kind enough to stop and ask me about why I’m there, I find that really generous. It gives you hope when someone is nice, you don’t feel so invisible.

You’ve been working very hard to get into college. I was really impressed by all of the obstacles you’ve been able to overcome, like getting ID and chasing paperwork, and just the pure logistics of getting into and attending school while you’re living on the street. That’s been pretty difficult for you, right?

Yeah. To get into school I had to go through this process for OSAP so that I could prove I was emancipated, on my own. I had to prove that I can’t rely on my parents. I also had to get a birth certificate, a Social Insurance Number, and I had to do the college application all by myself. I had to be pretty motivated to do that. I’ve always been pretty motivated about that stuff, though. When I was in Hawkesbury I made sure I got my high school done before I left, even though I was living on the streets for part of it. My objectives since I was sixteen or seventeen have been to get out of Hawkesbury, get my life set up. I really thought that after those first two months I was in Ottawa living with my cousin that I’d be able to have my life set up, that I’d be fine. When those two months were up and I didn’t have a job, a place, or any of the things I was hoping for, I was really struggling. I had gotten away from homelessness for a while, but I ended up right back there.

I felt really low, like a nobody who couldn’t accomplish anything. But I just thought, well, you know what? Even though I’m homeless my goal is to still go to school. I can make that happen. There are students who do it, who go to college even though they’re homeless. It’s a long process and it’s going to take some time, obviously, but I’ll feel pretty good when I’m done it.

The reason I want to do the Social Service Worker program at Algonquin is because I’m always playing the councillor role with my friends. I’ve always been like that with people in my life. Also, the actual councillors at the drop-ins I go to are really amazing. They’re committed and always helping out. I want to be able to do that, I want to be that person. I want to work in drop-ins because I’ve been there, or maybe in a group home. I want to get into something that I can relate to.

My goals right now are to just get into school and find a job, and then find a place to live. I hope things will fall into place. I’m not doing too bad.

What do you want people to know about being a homeless youth?

Like I said, people stereotype all the time. People think that youth are all about drugs, alcohol, causing havoc. Honestly, that’s not true. I’ll admit there are some youth that do abuse drugs and commit crimes, but I would rather people look at individuals – especially homeless youth – and actually ask, you know, “Why are you in this situation?” Actually pay attention. We might be on the streets and might not have a lot to believe in, but everyone has a goal and a past and a reason for being where they are. If people take five minutes out of their day to listen to someone’s story, that’s all we need. Telling your story in those five minutes could inspire someone to help out and maybe see that there’s more than stereotypes, but also it’s just nice to feel like you’re not invisible, that someone gives a damn about why you’re sitting on that corner. Feeling like you’re not just a shadow or a nobody, that you might actually be interesting, is really motivating.

That’s all I want to get across, really. If you have the time, listen to a youth.

Thank you, Corey!

Emilia

Mon, 11 Jul 2011 13:11:00 -0400

Meet Emilia, owner of Lilac Lingerie, a boutique lingerie store in Westboro. When Emilia contacted me about being profiled she was worried about talking about her business too much: “I don’t want to come across like I’m just doing this to promote the store,” she said, “but the store is my life! If we talk about me we’ll have to talk about the store.” And, it’s true! As a local small business owner, Emilia and her family are devoted to the success of her shop, which focuses on providing affordable, high-quality lingerie.

Aside from being a business owner, though, Emilia is also a mom, a clubber, a Bulgarian ex-pat, and self-described “devoted redhead.” We did her photos in her store – of course! – and on Britannia Beach, one of her favourite places in the city. Read on to find out more about Emilia and her experience in Ottawa.

Tell me about yourself!

My name is Emilia, and I moved to Canada about 10 years ago. I’m from Eastern Europe, but Ottawa is my home now. Originally we were thinking about just being here for a few years and then travelling the world, but my husband found a very good job and I went to school at the University of Ottawa. When I finished school I felt established here, we bought a house, had a daughter, and now we have a business. So we’re pretty much staying. We’ve gotten used to Ottawa, and we don’t want to move. I grew up in Sofia, Bulgaria, which is a much bigger city than Ottawa. But I like that it’s not as busy here. Sofia is very intense, and very condensed. There are a lot of people in a very small space.

I went to university for communications, worked a little bit in that field in the private sector, in non-profits, and later for the government. In January 2010 I started my own business, Lilac Lingerie. The boutique opened doors in August that year. It’s going well – it’s getting busier every month, which is great. It’s kind of a unique thing that we offer. We do bra fittings, but we also carry lingerie from all over the world. Chemises, bustiers, camisole sets – all very feminine and pretty, and most of the time not available anywhere else in town.

What made you decide to open a lingerie shop?

Well, I always wanted to have a business. I was searching for an idea that was very personable and face-to-face, something I could build a little community around. I thought about a coffee shop, but I’m not really much of a food person. For a long time I brainstormed ideas, but nothing seemed quite right. Finally over Christmas it all kind of solidified, and opening a lingerie boutique started to make a lot of sense. My husband was very keen, so we thought about it, did some research, and then just decided to do it.

I’ve always had a passion for lingerie. When I first let it out that I was opening a store, my friends all said, “I didn’t know you were interested in that!” But a passion for lingerie is not something you talk about, really! Now I get to talk about it all the time. When new shipments come into the store it’s like Christmas, we all get so excited. In general Lilac is a very positive environment, a very positive place to be. People only go lingerie shopping when they’re in the mood for it, so my customers are always really smiley.

Was starting the business challenging?

Starting a business is challenging everywhere, I think. Winter isn’t on my side because we still have to rely on a lot of walk-in traffic. Luckily my clients are very happy. They’re open, they like talking – they’re just very friendly people. We’ve gotten great feedback. When we opened we had other businesses on the street send us flowers and chocolate. It was very nice welcome. Our clients and the neighbouring businesses have been really supportive. They’re helping us a lot with word of mouth.

And things are going well now? Are you enjoying being a business owner as much as you expected to?

I am definitely enjoying being a business owner, although there’s no work-life balance! It’s all business – it’s taken over my life. I do try to keep some time for myself because the business needs me fresh, but it’s constant work. There’s a lot of relationship building, a lot of hands-on work with clients, and of course there’s the operational side. I’m definitely looking forward to a vacation when I can really spend some time with my daughter, my husband and my friends.

I do see that people are starting to specifically look for Lilac, now. We’re building a profile. We have done a lot of networking events, private parties, bridal showers. There are so many things that we can do. It is good to see that all the effort is starting to pay off.

I like that my business is in Ottawa, especially considering how much effort it took to get here. In general the system helps you here – in Bulgaria, it eats you. I think people in Ottawa should be very proud of what we have, that we can start business and have families and live in a beautiful city with no major hassles, as long as you are hard working and motivated.

Do you see yourself staying in Ottawa long-term?

Yes, I think so. I like Ottawa. Originally I was a little skeptical – it seemed small. But I’ve really seen it grow since I moved here, and I’ve realized that the party is where you make it. Fun can be anywhere, it just depends on you.

I’m starting to see Ottawa as a fun city. It depends on the energy of the people around you. I didn’t really discover that while I was in school, but once I was in the work force I got to know it better. I like partying – I’m not going to hide that! Sometimes my husband and I will take off for the weekend and go to Montreal for the clubs. I wish we could do it more often.

Recently I’ve been working on developing a new “musical religion,” which has helped me connect with my husband and the city in a new way. You know how sometimes people will do something for their partner that they might not do otherwise, like, for example, adopt a new religion? Well, about a year ago I decided I was going to change my musical religion. My husband is all about electronic music, and I’ve never really been into any kind of music. I decided I’d work on developing some knowledge and preference for that specific type of music so we could go to parties together. I think he appreciates it. It’s been very interesting – a different culture and style of partying. Anyway, it’s a whole new part of my life! I’m starting to learn that there is so much involved in musical cultures, and it’s helped me see Ottawa in a new way.

If I could change anything in Ottawa, I guess it would be parking. I’m the parking ticket queen. It’s something I’m really struggling with! Other than that, I think everything is fine. I have a pretty low standard to compare the city to, I guess. I come from a city that doesn’t have enough machines to clear the snow every winter. Here it’s very organized. Everything seems to be taken care of. We can always improve, but we also need to appreciate what we have.

We did your photos at your shop, Lilac Lingerie, and on Britannia Beach. Why are those important places to you?

I love water. Lakes, seas, oceans… I’ve always wanted to live near the ocean. If I need some time to think or clear my head, I go to Britannia Beach and look at the river. And, of course, the store is my life.

Thank you, Emilia! You can find Emilia on Twitter at @LilacLingerie, and please do visit http://www.lilaclingerie.ca/ for more information about her shop.

Sandy

Wed, 06 Jul 2011 18:33:00 -0400

Meet Sandy, Executive Director of the Ottawa Rape Crisis Centre. The ORCC is a local organization that advocates for equitable communities and supports women who have experienced sexual violence.

Sandy and I met for her photos along the Rockcliffe Parkway, a route she drives daily as she commutes between her home in Orleans and downtown Ottawa. Read on to learn more about Sandy’s life in Ottawa, and the ORCC.

Tell me about yourself!

My name is Sandy, and I’m the Executive Director of the Ottawa Rape Crisis Centre. I’ve worked there for 10 years. I have adult children who are all in their 20s, so we like to hang out. I like to read a lot, although there’s not a lot of time for it. I also like to do needlecraft - crochet, needlepoint, that sort of thing.

I was raised in Oshawa, but born in England. My mom came over to Canada because she got a nursing job in Oshawa. I went to elementary school and high school in Oshawa, and then I went to the University of Windsor and did a degree in Sociology and Criminology, and then to the University of Toronto for a certificate in Human Resources. I worked in Toronto for over 10 year, in the Public Health Department as a Community Development Worker. Coming to Ottawa was a little hard, because I loved Toronto. I love the craziness, how there were so many people, the crazy highways. I just loved it.

What brought you to Ottawa?

My partner got a job in Ottawa, so we decided as a family to move here. My partner and my kids moved here and I stayed in Toronto for a year to finish up some work. I travelled back and forth, which was challenging! I saw an ad in the paper – in those days they still had job ads in the paper! – for a Sexual Assault Network Coordinator. I got that position and did that for a couple of years, and then I moved to the Ottawa Rape Crisis Centre. I’ve been there ever since.

What drew you to that?

It’s just real. I’ve found my interest is mainly in community work. Even in Toronto’s health department, we were a pretty unique group of development workers. It was interesting because we were doing a lot of grassroots work, but still part of this larger corporation. Most of my work has been in grassroots communities. I have lots memories of creating grant proposals or planning events at someone’s kitchen table, or in a living room. For example, in Toronto I did some work with a community on food access, and we organized big dinners for the community and the kids. It really keeps it real. It’s fun, and I really like doing it.

I like working in sexual violence because… well, to be honest, sometimes I’m like, “Ugh, what am I doing here? I should be sitting in a coffee shop sipping a latte, writing my memoirs.” But I like the challenge. There’s so much exciting work to do. For example, if you’re looking for research in the area of sexual violence, you really won’t find many Canadian perspectives, so I think there are some really exciting breakthroughs to be had in Canadian research alone. That really excites me. I do a lot of “paper pushing,” meaning administrative work. Sometimes I think that’s a deliberate strategy on the part of the government! You know, we can’t be strong activists because we have to spend all our time filling out so many forms. I spend so much time in front of my computer that when I finally get to go to a real-world event like a city council meeting it gives me a real shot of energy and purpose, like, “Okay, this is why I’m here.” And, I mean, there’s always a story to share of a sexual violence survivor that’s doing really well because of what we’re doing, and that’s a really motivating story to tell.

Now that you’re in Ottawa, what do you think of it?

Well, I don’t think I’d like to go back to Toronto. I go back to Toronto now for meetings, and I just feel overwhelmed by how many cars and people and billboards there are. The difference between Ottawa and Toronto, I think, is that there was a lot of thought put into the physical layout in Ottawa. There’s a lot of green space, parks, and bike paths in Ottawa. There has really been a lot of thought put into it. The beauty of the city really keeps me here. In the core of Toronto, you really don’t get that same physical beauty.

I also like the coziness of Ottawa. You get that big-city feel, but it’s a medium-sized city. So you can go out to the suburbs – I live out in Orleans – and feel cozy in the suburbs, but then I can go downtown and be in the city. I’ve dedicated myself to going to as many different restaurants as possible! I also love Canada Day, here. This is definitely the place to be on Canada Day. We never celebrated like that in Oshawa or Toronto, it just wasn’t the same thing.

Can you tell me a little about what the Ottawa Rape Crisis Centre does?

Yeah, for sure! So, the organization is 36 years old now. We’re in a confidential location, but it’s right downtown, so it’s pretty central. We have a 24-hour crisis line program that is operated by trained volunteers, supported by a coordinator. That’s our first line of contact. Then, we have a counselling program where we provide short-term crisis counselling. For example, if you were assaulted last night you could call the crisis line the next day and say that you needed to talk to someone. You can get up to six appointments. If after that you want longer-term counselling, we can offer up to 42 sessions. We also have a number of group therapy counselling sessions. We have a first and second stage group counselling – the first stage is usually about breaking down that isolation, where people share their stories and receive support. In the second stage, clients can take part in a variety of programs like art therapy, yoga, cooking classes, dance therapy, and sex and sexuality discussions, which are really popular.

We also have a public education program, which trains volunteers to talk about sexual harassment and abuse in schools, workplaces, high schools, universities, and colleges as well as at all kinds of events. We try to be very visible. The public education program is also responsible for things like connecting with the media, providing statistics, and research.

Domestic violence and sexual violence kind of split into two separate issues in the public conscience, and politically it’s more palatable for the government to deal with domestic violence publicly. Sexual violence has kind of fallen off of the political radar, off the table. One of our challenges is to increase the visibility of sexual violence, and get it on the same table as domestic violence. I think the aversion is related to the fact that sex is used as a weapon and there are so many different attitudes and approaches to sex, especially in a public forum. It gets all mixed up. We face a visibility issue, and a general acceptance issue.

We also deal with trying to break down a lot of myths. Sexual violence is the only violent crime where the victim is blamed. You know, “Why was she walking on the street at night? Why was she wearing that mini-skirt? Why was she drinking at the bar?” You don’t say or think those things about a man, you know? “Why was he drinking at the bar, or walking home at night? Wearing tight shorts?” That’s not a thing people are concerned about, but it’s always said about women. They’re really the only people who get blamed for the prevalence of sexual violence. We’re really trying to breakdown those myths, especially with young people. It seems that it doesn’t matter what age you are, the myths persist in general. So we want to kind of catch those misperceptions in young people.

One of the things we continue to struggle with is trying to meet the needs of women of colour, immigrant women, lesbians, trans women – we need to work with them from a different cultural perspective, and we need to do more outreach. What we’re learning is that most women who come to the centre are young women who have been recently assaulted, or women who were assaulted as a child and have some trauma that is surfacing as an adult. Most women who visit the centre are coming to us already seeking support and help, and they know what they’re getting – one-to-one, talk therapy, that sort of thing. But the women who come from more marginalized communities are dealing with so many other issues, like adjusting to a new environment, housing, jobs and many, many other issues, so their trauma surfaces in different ways. We’re trying to reach out to them and work with them in more culturally appropriate ways. As an organization, we’re still on the journey, trying to figure that out.

We also want to do more work with men - young men in particular. In the sexual violence field, we’ve really focused on providing services to victims – to the survivors. Those programs are very stable and widely recognized, so I think it’s time to address the other part of it – to start thinking about how we can offer strategic intervention for young men, and men in general, about their attitudes and behaviours when it comes to women. We’re on the cusp of figuring that out. I really think we’re not going to be able to put any sort of dent in eradicating sexual violence until we address the cause of the problem in some way.

How receptive do you think Ottawa is to issues surrounding sexual violence?

It’s very conservative here. Very different from Toronto. Toronto is a very activist city, with a lot of people who are really invested and connected to their causes. It was easy to just jump right into things in Toronto. In Ottawa, it’s a lot more conservative. I think people in Ottawa are very concerned about the issues, but their strategies are a lot slower. We also need to educate people here a lot more about the issues – especially surrounding sexual violence.

Has that influenced your own perception of Ottawa?

Well, when I first came to Ottawa it felt to me like people were really behind the times. So I was approaching it like, “Well, in Toronto we would have done it this way…” or, “In Toronto we would have done it that way…” I was really pushing the issues. Ottawa has been good for me, though. I’ve been learning that people are open to change, but it has to come slowly, and there has to be buy-in and it has to be within people’s comfort zones. It’s allowed me to slow down and work with people at their own speed. In the end, I think it’s just as enriching as if we were really fired up about it. But it’s a different pace here. It’s been good for me to slow down.

I think Ottawa needs to recognize the diversity of the city in a more proactive way. We talk about Ottawa as a really transient city, but then when you’re living here you realize that there are many, many people who have been living here for a really long time, and they’re rooted in Ottawa, or they’ve come from the outskirts to the inner city - but they’re rooted in the valley. There needs to be a greater recognition of the changing face of Ottawa, and how that infiltrates into programs and services, and especially employment. I think there’s a lot more work to do in terms of integrating newcomers and immigrants, and people of colour, and lesbians: the whole diversity of people really need to be more integrated into the city.

We did your photos along the Rockcliffe Parkway – why is that an important place for you?

Most mornings I drive down the Rockcliffe Parkway on my way to work. It’s so beautiful, and the changes of the seasons are really nice. It always looks different. I like seeing the water first thing in the morning. I get to kind of take a deep breath and feel calm before I get to work. The other nice thing I like about travelling down that road is that there are always country flags of visiting dignitaries, so I always get a reminder of who’s visiting Ottawa.

Thank you, Sandy! To find out more about the Ottawa Rape Crisis Centre, visit their website at http://orcc.net.

Colin

Wed, 08 Jun 2011 16:22:00 -0400

Meet Colin, an illustrator, cartoonist, and designer living in Ottawa. Colin is well known for his illustrations of Ottawa streetscapes and ‘comix’ depicting interactions he has with people living in the city. Right now – and through the month of June - Raw Sugar Café is hosting an exhibit of his work called Confectionaries, which is a collection of illustrations of corner stores in downtown Ottawa. The exhibit’s vernissage will be hosted at Raw Sugar on June 8^th between 6:00 and 8:00PM. To view Colin’s work, visit his websites at http://colinwhitestudio.ca and http://colinwhitecomix.ca. I definitely encourage you to take a look at my favourite of his comix, Cool Drawing, Dude, where Colin records the interactions he has with people who approach him on the street while he’s drawing streetscapes.

For his photos, Colin and I walked around Chinatown to revisit many of the corner stores he illustrated for Confectionaries. Not only was it interesting to visit some of the little side streets and lesser-known corners of the city, but watching Colin interact with nearly everyone we came across was a fascinating peek into how his comix get made! Read on to find out what Colin thinks of Ottawa’s creative scene, and how his art has helped him fall for the city.

Tell me about yourself!

Okay. I’m an illustrator and designer based out of Ottawa. I do freelance work, and self-publish comix. The overarching theme throughout my life has been art, drawing, design, and self-publishing, even when I was a kid. I founded a local newspaper when I was 11 – I grew up on a dirt road, and the newspaper was called the The Goshen Report, after the name of the road. It went out to the locals, mainly, as well as my relatives. I had maybe 30 or 40 “subscribers,” and I did all of the reporting, designed the whole thing, and even “hired” my brother to do interviews. Thinking back, that was my first interest in self-publishing and putting myself out there. I was also pretty interested in cartooning my whole life, and I’m really into politics and the environment. I spend a lot of my time reading political stuff, which ends up influencing my work. A lot of my comix are influenced by politics.

Where are you from?

I grew up outside Ottawa, between Arnprior and Renfrew. Ottawa was the nearby city we’d go shopping in once in a while.

I didn’t think much of Ottawa, and in my early 20s I intentionally avoided it. When I went to university I wanted to go to Toronto or Montreal, any big city. My impression of Ottawa was that it was just a government town without much to do. Everyone works for the government, or maybe in the tech industry, but other than that… you know. I didn’t think of it as being filled with culture like Toronto or Montreal. Those were my thoughts before really spending any time in the city. I went and lived in Toronto, Montreal, and London, England, before I officially moved to Ottawa in 2006.

I was pleasantly surprised, I guess, to find that there is an underground or alternative scene in a city that I thought was really plain. You know, Ottawa’s large enough to sustain some interesting things – cafés, printing houses, galleries, all that sort of stuff, and there are people here with money to spend on it, who are aware of it and want to further culture in Ottawa. It’s at this breaking point right now where there is this legitimate underground scene that’s very organic, and it’s happening and growing because there’s room for it. Raw Sugar is a good example of that – it’s only existed for a couple of years, and it really filled a gap. There was a niche for it to fill – we didn’t have any place where you could chill out that was aesthetically pleasing, that put on shows, that had great communities built within and around them. It’s been successful, and most people seem to know about it. It’s nice to see these types of things happening, basically, and it’s nice to be directly involved in it.

I once heard someone refer to Ottawa – as far as arts and culture goes – as something like a “farm town” for Toronto, Montreal, and New York. You know in baseball where you’ve got the major leagues and the lesser teams play in smaller cities, but that’s where they source the good players? That’s maybe true of Ottawa’s arts and culture scene, but I feel like if went to, say, New York, I’d be lost in a sea of other illustrators. It would be hard to make a mark or find my place in the city. In Ottawa, the scene is really growing and you can be active and feel like you’re having an impact – it’s relatively easy if you put yourself out there and engage yourself. I think there’s a certain amount of city pride to that sentiment, but it’s completely genuine. It’s not pretentious – I’ve never felt like there was much pretension here. People just end up living here and fall in love with the city, and then they make their mark as best they can.

So, how did you end up living here?

I was doing a Master’s degree in graphic design in London, England, and had some teaching positions lined up in the UK, but I had some visa complications and couldn’t extend my stay. I came back to Canada for Christmas, and everything just sort of fell through. I kind of ended up staying in Ottawa because I had nowhere else to be right then.

I was doing some freelance work for people in the Ottawa area, and I already knew so many people here, so I started looking for apartments in the city. The first day I saw three terrible apartments – one of them was 6 feet tall, and I’m six-foot-three! I was like: “$600 for this? This is crazy!” Later that day I bumped into my high school art teacher, and he mentioned that he was subletting his apartment. He’s an artist – he’s now retired and painting, and he had this apartment he had been using as a studio. One of the two bedrooms was a studio he used on weekday afternoons, and the rest of it he just rented out. That ended up being a really interesting place to live. I lived there for three years. It was a weird situation. He didn’t sleep there, but he worked there. We weren’t living together, but I was still sharing my apartment with my 60-year-old former high school art teacher. I kept a studio in the front room, and we had this great kind of teacher-student, father-son, art buddy-roommate situation going.

I didn’t anticipate staying in Ottawa when I moved here, but after the first year I was sold on the city. I was starting to realize that Ottawa is a cool city. It’s a good size, I can walk everywhere - I’m a big walker. In Toronto and London, you can kind of walk within boroughs, but you can’t walk from area to area effectively. Even in Montreal, you can’t get to everywhere you’d want to be in 45 minutes, which is kind of what you can do in downtown Ottawa.

I’ve been freelancing, and that sort of builds as well. You make connections, and that turns into regular work and clients and all that. So that’s how I came here. Not by choice in a way, just by circumstance. But I’m happy about it.

Do you think you’ll stay here?

I don’t have intentions to leave. I definitely would like to - at the very least - have Ottawa as a home base. I’d like to live in other cities for short durations and do contracts in other cities if that comes up – I’d very much be open to that. But right now my work is here, and many my friends are here, my girlfriend is here and we live together. Circumstances may change things, but let’s just say that I’m dedicated to Ottawa one way or another.

Can you tell me about your art and influences?

Well, the environment is a good start. Last year I started a series called Gigafauna – it’s imagery of ordinarily harmless animals, like snails, sparrows or mice, who have become giants and accidentally crush cities while they go about their day. We have had such an impact on the environment, and it may come back to bite us on the foot at some point. Gigafauna was inspired by that, but I also like a bit of humour so it’s a little whimsical.

Certainly what’s happening in the world - politics, religion, everything - ends up in some form or another in my comix. A lot of that comes out in comix that are more fantastical. One that I’m working on right now is called The Watering Hole, and it runs in X-Ray Magazine, which is based out of Ottawa. The Watering Hole focuses on a couple of woodland beavers who are very concerned about what’s happening in the world. I like that route because it’s a good way to critique these larger issues, but keep it light.

Stuff that happens in my life is something else that really influences me, and it often takes me in a different direction. The first summer I lived in Ottawa I spent a lot of time just walking around trying to get to know what was around me, and I wanted to practice drawing. I would just sit down and draw interesting buildings. Not necessarily tourist destinations, just regular places, like maybe a back alley or an industrial building. Inevitably someone would come up and talk to me – no matter what, no matter how remote an area, someone would ask me about what I was doing or engage me in conversation. The kind of people who randomly engage strangers in conversation on the street – there’s something about them. They’re interesting. They’re either charismatic, open, interested in meeting someone new, or - on the other end of the spectrum - they’re off their meds. I was approached by so many interesting people that I just started documenting them, writing down our conversations and making comics out of them. It’s like reporting little day-to-day stuff – the small things. So, you know, sometimes I’m drawing snails running over cities, and sometimes I’m just drawing the city. I’ve got a balcony, and sometimes I just draw the people walking by below.

I find the aesthetics of cities really interesting. I really like telephone poles - those old wooden ones with all the stuff on them. That’s often been a theme in my drawings. Fire escapes, side alleys – a little dirty, a little grungy – that sort of thing. There are a lot of places in Ottawa that appeal to me, so I draw them.

Thank you, Colin! Be sure to check out Colin’s work at http://colinwhitestudio.ca and http://colinwhitecomix.com, and stop by Raw Sugar Café any time in June to see the Confectionaries series in person. Colin can also be found on Twitter at @colinwhite, and on Facebook at Colin White Comix.

Alexandra

Mon, 09 May 2011 19:31:00 -0400

Meet Alexandra, a public librarian and runner who’s originally from Montreal. While she’s normally one of the happy faces greeting the public at the Rideau branch of the Ottawa Public Library, for the next few months she’ll be working as the Coordinator of Diversity and Accessibility Services with OPL. Alex shares her experiences and thoughts on being a librarian in Ottawa on her blog, Only Connect.

Can you tell me about yourself?

Okay. I’m Alexandra, and I’m a Public Librarian. I grew up in and around Montreal. My parents are actually both priests in the Anglican Church, so we moved around a couple of times to different communities around the Greater Montreal Area when I was young; we did four or five major moves. Finally, I went to McGill and settled in downtown Montreal. I moved to Ottawa four years ago, and I’ve been working for the Ottawa Public Library since then. Before that, I was working for libraries in Montreal. My first degree was in English Lit, though, so I have a love of books that you would hope would be essential in a librarian!

I read a lot. Not just for work – I think I read something like 50 or 60 novels a year. I also run, which is something I picked up from my husband. I was never athletic as a kid – I was always picked last for every team. I love it, though. It’s something that I can just get up and do without any special equipment or an appointment with a trainer or anything – you can just do it. It’s also been a great way to get to know the city. I’ve run up and down the canal, by the rivers, over to the Quebec side. Often when I’m talking to community partners or friends, someone will mention a place and I can usually say, “Oh, I think I ran by that once!” It’s really helped me get to know the city.

What brought you to Ottawa?

My job. After doing my Masters in Library Studies, I had a couple of part-time library jobs: one in a public library, one in an academic library, and one in a school. I was toying around with what I wanted to do. I eventually decided I did want to work in public libraries - I ended up stringing together a series of mat-leave positions. That gets hard. After I had done the second mat-leave position, I thought, well, I can’t keep this up. I had some other concerns, too – public libraries in Quebec are very different from public libraries in Ontario. Because the Catholic Church had such control over culture in general – but especially over books and reading – until the 1960s in Quebec, public libraries aren’t as established there as they are in Ontario. In Ontario, the Public Library Act, I think, was established in the 1890s, whereas Quebec didn’t have one until the 1950s. So Quebec is really just catching up in a lot of ways. I felt like I was really pushing against a wall, and wasn’t able to do a lot of the things I wanted to do. it will take time for the public library structure to be fully established, there.

I had a friend who lived in Ottawa already, so it was a relatively easy choice to move here. Ottawa has a great public library system in that it’s bilingual, and that was a plus for me. I wanted to continue to use my French, and Ottawa’s not too far from home.

What made you decide to go into Library Science?

I grew up in a household that had a lot of books. My parents were big fiction readers, in addition to reading a lot of theology. So my house was full of books, and I had a great aunt who spoiled me rotten with books as a child. Also, though, as I finished my English Lit degree, I was doing an honours thesis about cross-cultural connections. It was about E.M. Forster, and connections between different genders and class structure in England, so I was starting to think about how education is kind of an equalizer for people. The Public Library, in particular – I mean, the tag line for the public library is “The People’s University,” and I felt that very strongly. I really wanted to work in an environment that really could be The People’s University. Anyone can come in and ask a question, pursue a research topic, or, you know, do some leisure reading, pick up a hobby, learn about a new world or different culture, and make some kind of connection.

Now that you’re working as a librarian, have your views on the field changed?

I still feel really strongly that libraries are about connections. One thing that I would say to anyone considering a library degree is: it’s not all about books. I don’t know if I really realized how right I was when I was thinking about entering Library Science for the first time. It really is about creating connections – in a community setting, anyway. In an academic setting, it’s a little different. In public libraries, you’re really a community partner or a community builder. It’s a hub, and as a librarian you’re really trying to reach out and make connections with different groups in the community and say, hey, here’s a place where you can learn, or spend some quiet time and read. You can get away from your six siblings, or your husband or wife, or whatever’s going on at home. Or, here’s a nice clean and dry place where you can spend some time and no one’s going to ask you If you’re going to order something or why you haven’t bought anything yet. It really serves as that “third place” – you know, a place away from home and work, where you can go and just chill.

I think it’s pretty much what I expected, but you do have to be more of a people-person than I think most people think librarians have to be. I think our profession really attracts people who are introverted - and that’s okay! - but we don’t get enough people who are also able to advocate on the behalf of their profession or workplace, and that’s very important for libraries these days, I think.

The Ottawa Public Library has been in the news a little bit recently over the proposed redesign – do you have any thoughts about that?

Well, the thing about public libraries is that they’re really reflections of what’s going on in the wider community. Ottawa is, in many ways, trying to figure out exactly what it is as a city. The issues with the Ottawa Public Library are really part of that whole central debate. It’s an interesting time for the city. The new central library would be a place for imagination and inspiration in the downtown core. Meanwhile, there are some other major physical changes happening downtown – the new congress centre, figuring out what’s going on at Lansdowne. These are architectural questions, but they’re also identity questions. What kind of city do we want to be? What importance do we place on cultural venues, and where do they have a place in the city? Downtown? In the suburbs? Both? How does that work? I think we’re really going through growing pains as a city. We’ll get through it and reach a decision, though.

Coming from Montreal, which is a city that merged and then de-merged, it was really interesting to move to Ottawa, because it seems like an example of a great amalgamation success story. Councillor Jan Harder, who is the head of the library board, often says that Libraries are the success stories of amalgamation. I think that’s very true: we have 33 branches and two bookmobiles, and we’re the third biggest library system in the country. That’s really exciting, but it does mean that any project we undertake is that much more complicated because we have to take all of those perspectives into consideration.

How do you feel about it? What would your ideal Ottawa library system be?

I think it would be a mix of urban and rural. I’m a downtown person at heart, and I think a new central library would be a really emblematic place that people could visit as a resource for the whole community, but also as a cultural hub. A place for people to meet, where people feel inspired, can get a coffee or do some research, and find out about the city’s history.

Now that you’re here in Ottawa, do you see yourself staying here?

I think so. It’s a nice city with a lot to offer. Like I said, it’s a city in transition, so I’m looking forward to seeing how things turn out. There’s a really nice mixture of urban and rural. It’s easy to get away from the city – you know, to get to Gatineau, or even just along the canal. There are great options for people starting families. I think I’ll stay. I’m still homesick for Montreal, though. When I left, I was sitting on my kitchen floor crying as I was packing. It was really hard for me. It does help that I’m close, though.

It took me a long time to get to know Ottawa. I’m still in the process, I think, even though I’ve been here for four years. I have learned some stuff, but I think Ottawa has a little bit of an impenetrable shell sometimes. It gets a lot of flack for being a government city and stuff, but it does have it’s own personality – it’s just a little harder to find.

We did you photos at the Minto Bridges near old city hall. Why is that an important place for you?

It’s one of my favourite places in the city. It was one of the first runs I took when I moved here. I went to the Rideau Falls and crossed over the Minto bridges, and it was one of the first times I thought, “I could live here, I guess it’s okay!” It’s kind of a special corner for me.

Thanks, Alex! Be sure to check out Alex’s blog, Only Connect, which is a really interesting exploration of Ottawa’s library system and life as a librarian. Alex is also running in the Ottawa Race Weekend half-marathon in support of Medic to Medic, which supports trainee health workers who are in financial need – you can find out how to support her run here.

Lindsay

Sun, 17 Apr 2011 19:43:00 -0400

An escort and student, Lindsay is an outspoken advocate for sex workers’ rights in Ottawa. She works with POWER (Prostitutes of Ottawa/Gatineau Work, Educate, Resist), a local non-profit organization open to people who self-identify as current or former sex workers, to help raise awareness about sex workers’ rights. Lindsay worked on POWER’s most recent report, Challenges: Ottawa Sex Workers Speak Out, which addresses the issues facing sex workers in Ottawa.

Lindsay and I met for coffee and a candid interview before heading to the Tech Wall on Bronson for photos. Read on to find out about Lindsay’s life as a sex worker in Ottawa, and why the Tech Wall was a fitting place for our photo shoot.

Can you tell me about yourself?

Yeah, I’m Lindsay. I’m currently a student doing my second undergraduate degree – this one’s in women’s studies – and I’m a working escort. I’ve been living in Ottawa now for almost five years. I’m very passionate about feminism, and I’m really into identity politics and sex work theory – that’s something I’d like to pursue in grad school, if I ever get there.

Where are you from?

I grew up in Owen Sound, which is, I guess, about an hour and a half west of Barrie and about three hours north of Toronto. If you’re looking at a map, it’s the elephant’s asshole. It was an okay place to grow up. It’s a place for newlyweds and nearly-deads – it’s not so great when you’re 15. Your options are, you know, drinking in a field. Not so much my thing. I’ve always been a super nerd. I love to read, although school doesn’t allow me to do as much reading for pleasure as I like.

After high school I went to Wilfrid Laurier in Waterloo and that’s where I did my first degree, which was in archaeology and classical history. I graduated in 2006. During my last year of university I had gotten involved in a long-distance relationship with my current partner, and we agreed that once I graduated I would move to Ottawa to be with him. I moved to Ottawa in May of 2006, and I’ve been here ever since.

After sort of wallowing for a year, not knowing what I was supposed to with myself, exactly – and learning how hard it is to get a job in Ottawa if you don’t speak French – I decided that my passion was feminist politics, so I went back to school. I’ve always, always been into feminism. I’ve been a feminist for as long as I can remember.

Now that you’re here in Ottawa, what keeps you here?

Well, I’ve kind of gotten settled a little bit. My boyfriends family is here, I’ve made friends. I’ve been working long enough that I have a regular clientele. Really, though, it’s mostly because I’m tethered to school. Once I’m done school, I think I’ll be gone. I mean, truthfully, my six degrees of separation is practically non-existent here. Everyone just overlaps so much. Each time I meet someone new I either know them, or they know people I’m sleeping with or they’ve slept with people I’m sleeping with. It’s just too small. I mean, when you’re polyamorous and a sex worker, your circle becomes fairly tiny. I need to move somewhere where there’s a bigger pool.

I like Ottawa itself – like, the physical location. It’s a beautiful city, but it’s a little too boring for me. It doesn’t seem that there’s a really big alternative community. Most people work for the government, and I’m pretty anti-government. Well, I’m pretty anti-work in general. People always misunderstand me when I say that, but I just mean that I don’t believe in compulsory production enforced by either political or financial means. I’m not down with wage slavery.

That’s part of the reason that I became an escort – it’s something that I want to do, and I’m not doing it for anyone else. It’s just for me. I’m not making or selling a product for someone else’s profit. I’m the only one profiting. Also, I can choose my own hours, which, as a student, is really key.

That’s a pretty good segue into talking about your life as an escort. How did you get started?

Well, I’m of the mind-set that I don’t have a problem with two consenting adults engaging in sexual activity where one person gets paid. It’s just not a big deal or an issue. Everyone else is just giving it away for free, and I’m getting paid! I like sex and I’m not ashamed of that. I like having it, and I like variety. I was sleeping with a lot of guys anyway, and I just thought, well, I should be charging for this!

Really, the big catalyst for my entry to sex work was when I was sleeping with a guy from Montreal, and I was seeing someone local in a more serious context – beyond my primary partner. I ended up cutting off the guy in Montreal, and he asked if he could pay to keep seeing me. And, I mean, why the hell not! Of course I wasn’t going to say no – I had already been sleeping with him for free.

It was really easy. It wasn’t anything like what I had imagined it would be, or what the media says sex work is supposed to be like. I really liked it, so I kept doing it. I started out just doing it when I needed extra money, but it’s now evolved to the point where I do it full time. It’s my sole source of income, it’s my job. I mean, honestly, it has never seemed that unusual to me. When I was in undergrad for the first time and really broke, sometimes I’d trade sexual favours for money. So I guess it just kind of happened. It’s never been hard for me, and I’ve never had problems separating myself from it emotionally. I do occasionally get really, really hot guys and those are the moments where I’m like, “I can’t even believe I’m getting paid for this right now!”

Do you see yourself continuing as an escort?

Oh yeah, I’ll probably continue with this until no one will pay me anymore, until I’m saggy and wrinkled. I mean, I hope to not always do it as a full-time job. I’ve always wanted to be a professor, so right now being a sex worker is a means to getting that position.

It’s sort of my own personal activism. I feel that a lot of people’s perceptions of sex work are really misconceptions based on stereotypes. It’s a lot harder to act like I don’t have rights when I’m standing right in front of you. It’s hard to say, “Oh, you know, prostitutes are all just cracked-out street whores” when I’m right here, the complete opposite of that. If people take the time to get to know me, they’ll realize that I’m really no different from anyone else, and sex workers are really no different from anyone else. If I can change one person’s mind, that’s a start. It means dealing with a lot of people’s projected shame and their own hang-ups about sex work and sex. It becomes difficult to not absorb that, but I feel that it’s worth it. I surround myself with people who love me and care for me, and that stuff doesn’t matter.

Is being a sex worker something you’re open about in your daily life?

Yeah. When I meet people and they ask what I do, I tell them. I’m an escort, that’s what I do. I’m a sex worker. Responses really depend on the person. Being in university, and in women’s studies, I’m surrounded by people who are relatively open to it in the first place, or who have at least been exposed to some sort of theory about sex work. Even if it’s abolition literature, people have read about it and thought about it. I find that I occasionally get abolitionist theory cast on to me – you know, I’m the victim, I’ve been brainwashed by the patriarchy, it’s a false consciousness. All that stuff. Mostly, though, people feel it’s a legitimate life choice and path. Personally, it just makes sense – it’s like an extension of the pro-choice movement and rhetoric. If it’s my body and I can choose whether or not to get an abortion, why can’t I choose whether or not to charge someone for sex? I mean, pornography is legal. Those people do it in front of tons of people and get paid – I do it in private and suddenly I’m demonized. It’s a big moral panic over nothing.

What are some of the issues that sex workers in Ottawa face?

The big thing for me right now is that it’s illegal to work out of your house. If I were to work out of my apartment, I could be evicted, my partner could be charged with “Living off the Avails.” You know, what really pisses me off is the insistence that the “Living off the Avails” law is supposed to protect me, but in reality it just incarcerates friends and family and lovers. It’s so hypocritical. The criminalization of sex work in general is terrible – if people view you as a criminal, it’s like you’re automatically cast as someone outside of the realm of human rights.

I’ve never had any problems with the law, but for street-based sex workers the law is a huge deal. POWER just released a report, and one of our big findings was that police abuse of sex workers is really systemic. I personally hope that our letter to the Human Rights Commission will affect some change. Right now, the situation with Ottawa Police [PDF] is atrocious. It’s completely egregious. I don’t have words for it, it’s just awful. I mean, I’ve never personally had contact with the police, and I hope to keep it that way, but I have to assume it will happen some day. Just being out about being a sex worker makes me slightly worried I might be targeted, but I’m extremely careful to work within the law. I mean, it’s so tempting to do work in your house. It’s easy, it’s safer, but it’s illegal.

You can do out-calls legally. That means that I can go to a client’s house or hotel room. I prefer hotels; there’s measure of safety in that. You can get to know the layout of hotels pretty easily. I’m less safety conscious than I probably should be, but I’ve been doing this long enough that I’ve developed something like a sixth-sense about it. I’ve always been pretty intuitive anyways, so you just learn to read people and if you get a bad feeling, don’t do it. Trust your instincts. I’ve never been in a violent situation, but I’ve been in situations where you’re not really sure how someone is going to react. I was working for an agency for a while, and their screening methods weren’t as rigorous as my own. For example, on my own, I would never go see a client who is on drugs, but I’ve seen a ton of clients who are on drugs through the agency. It’s a safety thing – I don’t know how someone who’s coked out is going to react. Are they going to respect my boundaries? Are they going to be violent? Are they going to try to force me to have unsafe sex? There are a lot of potential issues.

Can you tell me about your involvement with POWER?

Yeah, sure! POWER has been around now for about three years. I came in about a year or so after I started escorting. A friend of mine told me to get in touch with them. At that point I had only a very peripheral understanding of what sex workers’ rights were. I went to check it out, and it was just so cool that there were all these people who feel the way I do – that sex work is a legitimate thing. It’s legitimate work and a valuable contribution to society. It was so freeing to meet those people. I was very isolated. Up to that point, I didn’t have a support network of other sex workers, or people to talk to. It was really just my boyfriend, and he’s not a sex worker – he didn’t understand all of the complexities of the industry.

It was really great to get with other people who understood exactly what I was going through, while fighting for rights at the same time. I got involved right away, doing a lecture at the University of Ottawa. I was also hired as a research coordinator for Challenges: Ottawa Area Sex Workers Speak Out. I recruited participants and scheduled interviews. It’s a big piece of research that was a couple of years in the making, and I’m really proud of it. We really wanted to avoid the pitfalls of previous research, which is primarily street-based and ignored male and transgender perspectives. We tried to get a very good cross-section of the sex worker population. It did end up still being almost half street-based.

Are street-based sex workers a large population?

No, the thing is that street-based sex workers account for maybe 5 to 20% of the sex worker population. About 85% of us work indoors, but that’s the population that’s hardest to access. We’re the most private and discreet, and what we do is all behind closed doors. You would never know, really, so that’s the perspective that never gets talked about.

I feel like it’s always the two extremes – you hear about the Eliot Spitzer high-class escort, or the drug-addicted street-based sex worker, and I think that does the whole industry a real injustice. It also perpetuates the awful stereotypes. Even perspectives on the “drug-addicted sex worker” are often wrong – I mean, they’re not addicted to drugs because they do sex work. A lot of them did drugs before that, and then sex work became a way to facilitate the habit. Drugs aren’t inherent to sex work.

We did your photos at the Tech Wall on Bronson – why is that an important place to you?

I love the graffiti wall. It’s one of the only places where you can legally do graffiti in Ottawa. I think it really vibes with my personality. I love to look at it in the summer because it’s constantly changing, a space in perpetual transition.

Thank you, Lindsay! To find out more about POWER (Prostitutes of Ottawa/Gatineau Work, Educate, Resist), visit http://www.powerottawa.ca. To read more about the issues facing sex workers in Ottawa, read POWER’s most recent report, Challenges: Ottawa Area Sex Workers Speak Out, which addresses challenges of working in the sex industry in Ottawa with exclusive quotes and interviews from Ottawa-area sex workers.

Update: Lindsay also did a really amazing interview with Toronto-based podcast I Like You, where she talks about how she came out as a sex worker to her mom, what her clients are like, and more. It’s definitely worth a listen! I Like You Episode #51: Money Up Front.

Update 2: Because there have been a number of contact requests since this piece was first published, Lindsay has asked that I provide her email address here for anyone who would like to get in touch with her. Lindsay can be reached at live.to.rebel@gmail.com.

Ryan

Mon, 11 Apr 2011 23:04:00 -0400

Meet Ryan, a photographer and security guard living and working in Ottawa. Ryan is a military buff and a big fan of Airsoft paintball - he works part time at Combat 307 in Gatineau, which is where we meant to do photos. Some chilly days and a lot of snow led to a Plan B, though: Place d’Orleans station, where Ryan spends a lot of his day as he commutes from the edge of Orleans to his job downtown. Read on to find out about Ryan’s life in Ottawa, and why he chose Place d’Orleans in the end.

Can you tell me about yourself?

I moved here from Cold Lake, Alberta about twelve years ago - I went through high school here. I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do until grade 11, when I borrowed my brother’s little Samsung camera. Luckily we had a multimedia program at our school, so I got a pretty good start and knowledge of photography through that. I love photography. I’ve never really been able to stick to anything because I have ADHD, but there was something about photography that just worked.

I took a semester in Photography at Algonquin, but it was just so expensive. I lost my job about halfway through, and I couldn’t continue. Right now I’m just about to get my security licence, so I’ll be working security for a local company once I’m done that. Also, you know, I’m taking photos when I can and hoping someone buys some.

I’m not professionally a photographer – I only do it as a side thing. I’d really like to be a professional, but I haven’t gotten many job offers. I worked for a club down town for a while. It’s the off-season right now, but I also work for an Airsoft paintball field in Gatineau called Combat 307. He lets me play whenever I want, and I take pictures of all of the players. I only charge the players like a buck a photo, and I take maybe 70 a game. So I could walk away from a day there with $70. I love doing that.

I grew up in a military family, and I’m a proud military brat. I’m a huge military fanatic. That’s how I got into Airsoft. Airsoft is like paintball, only there’s more military simulation, and it’s more in-depth. You have to do things like find a downed pilot, locate lost documents, follow rules of engagement, stuff like that - just one game lasts a whole day. Video games also got me into military stuff – I played Call of Duty and stuff, and I really like the guns and everything. This is the second year I’ve done Airsoft, and I feel like I’m a big part of it now. There are only twenty or thirty active members, and I’ve gone to almost every game in the last two years. It really gets me into a military mind-set. If it wasn’t for my weight, I would have joined the military. Unfortunately it just wasn’t possible. I’m still trying to find a way to join the military despite my weight, but Airsoft is my fallback plan.

Do you see yourself staying in Ottawa?

I might move to Gatineau, but I like Ottawa enough that I want to stay here. Ottawa is so familiar to me now. When I travel to other places – and I go to Toronto and New York pretty often for Airsoft – everything just feels different.

Ottawa has its ups and downs. Being in here is what got me into photography. I’ve gone through many different events here. The architecture in Ottawa is pretty good for photos. Everything is nice and small, too. I can’t go anywhere without running into someone I know. It’s really safe, too – I mean, we have Ottawa Police, OPP, military… it’s very safe.

Do you have any favourite places to take photos in Ottawa?

When I first started out, one of my favourite places to take photos was the Orleans skate park. I was never a skater myself, but I really love the culture behind it. Ottawa has a really nice group of close-knit skaters, and the Orleans park is a nice place – it was renovated recently. Just outside of Ottawa, Gatineau Park and Combat 307 are favourite places, you know, places where I’ve had the best times with friends, just drinking and chilling out.

We did your photos at the Place d’Orleans transpo station – why is that an important place for you?

The OC Transpo bus station at Place d’Orleans is the first place I got drunk. I had no intention of drinking that night – I got off work at the mall, and a couple of my friends were there. I ended up getting smashed at the bus station. It was my first time drinking, so I didn’t know about rules like don’t drink milk or eat yogurt. It was a real learning experience!

Thanks, Ryan! Ryan’s own photography can be seen on his Flickr page and on Combat 307’s Flickr page, but he’s also provided a few in a slideshow below – take a look!

Kelly

Wed, 02 Mar 2011 21:36:00 -0500

Kelly is an interior decorator and design blogger who recently started her own business. With the support of a solid network of professional and amateur designers, she’s focused on making Ottawa’s living spaces beautiful.

Kelly and I met for photos at Bruce Pit, a dog park in the west end of the city, on one of the coldest days of the year. I don’t think I’d have made it if she hadn’t lent me some gloves (thanks Kelly!) We also took a quick detour for some shots at HomeSense, one of her favourite stores. Read on to find out about Kelly’s experience starting her own design business, and her thoughts on Ottawa.

Can you tell me about yourself?

Well, my name is Kelly. I guess technically my day job is as a technical writer, but what I really want to do is interior decorating. So I’m pursuing that while working part time as a technical writer. I have a pretty wide variety of interests. I like animals – I have a couple of dogs. I’m really into cars, photography, writing, walking my dogs. And decorating! I guess I already said decorating, but I really like it so I’ll say it twice! I also like anything outside. Biking, hiking, kayaking — that kind of stuff. A lot of tomboy-ish things, I guess, but I’m a relaxed chick. I like a little bit of everything.

How did you first get into decorating?

I can’t remember specifically – I think it was about ten years ago? I discovered HGTV, and I just kept watching more and more until it was kind of an obsession. In our marriage vows, my husband mentioned that he would tolerate me watching HGTV as much as I needed! Of course he complains about it now. Anyway, that’s what kind of started it, and then we moved into our current house in 2001. It was really a blank slate where we could start fresh with decorating, so that was where I truly started. I just tackled room after room, and then a friend asked me to help her with a room in her house. It became a passion, and now I think about it all the time. I can’t stop thinking about it!

I started my own business last summer. It’s still small, but the cool thing is that I have a group of friends who are all at the same stage, just starting out in business. We’re like a support group for each other. We call ourselves the TBBs. We chat on Twitter, get together for dinner, ask each other questions. It’s great. We’re all just starting out and still learning, so it’s good to have people to go to for help with things. There are seven of us… the story about how we met is really weird! I have this friend named Donna, and we met online through our blogs. I had a giveaway on my blog, and she won. I told her we should get together so I could giver her prize to her in person. We met for dinner, and at some point in the four hour conversation we ended up talking about how we both had come from Montreal. It turned out that she grew up with and was very close with one of my cousins! Anyway, through her I met the others in the group. We’re kind of like the decorating version of the Group of Seven.

Can you talk a little about what it’s been like to start your own decorating business?

Yeah! I really should have waited until I had more decorating and business experience. I feel like the business side of it is my weakness. I’ve never really been a math person or anything – I’m more creative. I’m currently taking my fifth course at Algonquin’s Residential Décor program, so I’m almost halfway there. Part of that relates to business, so that should help. Mostly I’m just doing what feels right. There haven’t been any major incidents yet, so I guess I’m doing something right!

I think in general people have this perception that decorating is for rich people. People feel like it’s not something they can afford, or that there’s not any value in it. I think that’s something that a lot of designers struggle with everywhere. People just don’t really appreciate what you can offer. But there are a lot of interior decorators in Ottawa, and, I mean, if there’s enough work to keep everyone going that’s a great thing. For myself, I just have to get out there a little more. I belong to a group called the Ottawa Design Network Group, which is a group of people who are all kind of in the same boat. We meet about every six weeks and talk about the business of decorating. It’s a very positive support team. So hopefully we can get the word out there that decorating is a good thing!

How long have you lived on Ottawa?

I moved to Ottawa in 1998, so a little over 12 years.

What brought you here?

My husband. He had a good job in Ottawa, and doesn’t speak any French. I grew up in Montreal, but had a non-career type job, so it just made sense to come here. And I’m still here! I guess it’s going okay since it’s been twelve years. This feels more like home to me now than Montreal does. I was in Montreal until I was about 30. Good things happened there, but there’s always negative history with a place – like, my mom died there, so there are some sad memories associated with it. Things have changed so much, so I just reminisce a lot when I’m in Montreal. Ottawa has been all positive things for me, things have been good right from the start.

Do you think you’ll stay in Ottawa?

Well, actually, no! It’s a great city, but I really love the ocean. I’ve always loved Nova Scotia, and I really want to live there some day. So hopefully we’ll move to Nova Scotia. But, I mean, I have a lot of friends here, so I’d always be coming back to visit anyway. If Ottawa had an ocean, that would be perfect! But we only have a river and a canal, so, you know, it can’t really compare. Other than that, I think it’s a really good city. There’s lots to do and to see. It has nearly everything – except for good home decorating stores! We need more of those for sure. HomeSense is kind of my go-to store for decorating stuff. I mean, there are some good ones in the Market and Westboro, but they’re smaller boutique stores that don’t have the variety you’d get at a bigger box stores like Restoration Hardware or Pottery Barn.

Do you think Ottawa has a personality?

I think Ottawa is pretty conservative. I don’t know, maybe that’s because it’s a government town. You know, you go to a concert and people are polite and they clap, but they don’t go crazy. I guess it depends on where you live and the kind of crowd you hang out with, so maybe I’m just missing all of the funky and cool stuff because I don’t go out much and I don’t go downtown much. Maybe I’m just not aware of it. I guess I need to get out more and look for it. I think in general people have a perception of Ottawa as kind of conservative. People have told me that they think of it as kind of a snobby place.

I think Ottawa is very oriented to people who are active. There are a lot of outdoor activities – hiking, biking, walking, the canal for skating in the winter. I think people are nice. I mean, of course you meet a dud here and there, but for the most part all the people I encounter are nice. I guess it’s just a nice place to live.

My life in Ottawa is kind of centralized in this little cube between Woodroffe and Merivale and Hunt Club and the Queensway! In all honesty, my life really is in this kind of cube. Where I work, where I live, the dog park, shopping… from our house, we can walk to pretty much anywhere we need to go. I’m more of a suburban girl than a city girl, so what we have here in this area is perfect for me.

We did your photos at Bruce Pit and HomeSense. Why are those places important to you?

Well, one place I go to a lot is Bruce Pit to walk the dogs. They’ve fenced off most of it, so it’s a completely fenced in area that’s a really great place for socializing your dogs. It’s good exercise for the humans, too! I also go to HomeSense a lot. Decorating is a big part of my life, and it’s something I started in Ottawa.

Thanks Kelly! Check out Kelly’s design blog at JAX Does Design, and her professional interior design portfolio at JAXdecor.ca. You can also follow her on Twitter at @JAXdecor.

Chantal

Thu, 24 Feb 2011 22:02:00 -0500

Chantal is an entrepreneur, makeup artist, blogger, small business consultant, locavore, and – quite possibly – the friendliest, most positive person you’ll ever meet. Her two blogs, The O’ Valley and Me So Pritti keep her engaged in the community and in-the-know about the latest events and store openings.

For her photos, Chantal and I visited the Bank Street Bridge near Lansdowne Park on a beautiful sunny morning when the canal was at its busiest. Read on to find out why Chantal identifies with this part of Old Ottawa South!

Can you tell me about yourself?

My name is Chantal. I moved to Ottawa almost eight years ago from Toronto – I came here for school. I went to the University of Ottawa because it was in French, and I went to French elementary school and French high school in Toronto. I studied biochemistry initially because I wanted to go to med school, but that didn’t pan out. I finished with a science degree, but I also did a certificate in business. I’ve always had a knack for marketing, so now I’m doing communications for the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada. It’s been a huge learning experience, and I really love my job. I love what I do and why we’re doing it; it’s all about women’s health and international women’s health, and it’s just nice to be a part of something real with a purpose.

I like to shop, and I like to cook a lot. I’m not a baker, but I like to cook and invent stuff. I like experimenting with my garden - that was a fun challenge this year. It was the first time that I really dove into it and used it. I watch the Food Network religiously. Eventually I’ll have my own cooking show.

What else… I used to draw a lot more and paint and stuff. I feel like I still have that in me, I just need to push myself to do something. I love to laugh and joke around and watch funny movies. I think that’s a huge part of who I am, just laughing. People tell me I’m very funny, and I like to keep positive and just be a happy person.

What’s kept you in Ottawa?

I’ve pretty much stayed in Ottawa because I met someone. We got married a year and a half ago, and we just bought a house… so I guess my home is Ottawa now!

Really, coming from Toronto, I found Ottawa very quiet without much to do. I didn’t feel that way in university because I was meeting so many people and there was always so much to do, but after real life kicked in I felt like there was something missing. But then I thought, well, maybe I have to be a part of the change. You have to get out there and do something, so I started blogging. I had to learn about the city, and what better way to do it? So I do a lot of restaurant reviews, collect information about things that are coming up on the weekend, what there is to see and do. It’s really created a sense of community for me.

I really like supporting small businesses, and my blog helps me do that. I work in Old Ottawa South, so you really get to experience that small-business feel. I guess it’s because my dad has a small business in Toronto in an area that has that same community feeling. I really want to support local businesses because that’s what makes a city seem so unique, and not just copied and pasted.

I think my goal with this is just to express the attitude that “if you don’t like something, you can’t just complain about it!” You have to do something, and be a part of change. I had a friend who moved with me for school, but she really hated it here. She laid low and didn’t really indulge in what this city had to offer her. She finished school and left. I feel like I’ve had a completely different experience. I really want to support local businesses, I want to know what’s going on and tell people what’s going on. I’m really happy with my blog and where it’s going for that reason. I have a pretty strong presence on Urban Spoon, and that really helps me support local restaurants. I try to help populate the listings and choices. I want to highlight places that are small and up-and-coming.

Do you have any favourite small businesses in town?

I do! Near my work there’s Clothes Secret, which is a consignment shop. I bring a lot of my stuff there, and I find a lot of really cool stuff there. My other new favourite is Life of Pie, which is new to that area of Bank Street. I always get the scones, they’re great. We go to the Georgetown Pub after work sometimes. It’s not a big strip, but there’s something about each little place that I really like.

What do you really like about living here?

Well, I have to say that when I go to Toronto I get really irritated with a lot of things. It’s just… I don’t know. Sometimes it’s too busy there, and you just want to be more relaxed. It’s not like living in the country, but I do find it more relaxed in Ottawa. Sometimes I find that there’s a lack of things to do. Maybe it’s just not being aware of what’s going on out there, I don’t know. People in Ottawa seem very outdoorsy, are really into skiing and all that stuff. It seems like if you don’t do that here, either you should start doing it or, you know, try to find people who have other things going on.

I don’t want to sound mean, but I find Ottawa to be very conservative and nine-to-five. It’s very sports-oriented and not so focused on trends and fashion. It seems like a good place to raise a family. It’s safe, the news is always dull. I guess that’s a good thing! There’s not very much excitement, but it’s a safe place and I like that it’s bilingual. When I’m in Toronto, I miss Ottawa.

Do you think you’ll stay in Ottawa?

I think so, yeah. I think we want to start a family soon. My husband’s family is here, and they are just like my own – we’re all one big family. We go visit my parents in Toronto a lot. My husband is very close to his family and hasn’t ever had any distance from them. I’m used to it, so being here just makes sense.

If someone were to visit you in Ottawa, what would you show them?

I had a friend who visited recently, and we went to the market and showed her the cute kitchen shops like Ma Cuisine. We were going to go to Parliament Hill, but it was so rainy and cold that we ended up just driving by and pointing it out. I tend to think of Ottawa as areas that are comparable to neighbourhoods in Toronto. I compare Westboro to the Beaches because it’s like a pocket in itself, but it’s not really downtown. I really like Westboro and all the little stores there. The Glebe is kind of like Yonge and Eglinton: not so downtown, but kind of close to it. I’m sure there are tons of other places – I would bring a person to Le Nordik Spa if there were time – but those are the main ones.

We did your photos at the Bank Street Bridge – why is that a meaningful place to you?

I really have a thing for Old Ottawa South, so I thought of the bridge right after Lansdowne Park. I work nearby, I bought a house nearby, and I love all of the little stores down there. I skate a lot on the canal in winter. It really represents me in Ottawa.

Thanks, Chantal! Chantal writes two blogs: The O’ Valley, in which she outlines things to do and see in the Ottawa area, and Me So Pritti, which is a scrapbook of her interests. She’s also a professional makeup artist - you can check out her services and portfolio at Me2Morph. And as if she didn’t have enough going on, Chantal recently founded her own small business consulting group, Concetto Consulting.

Bethia

Mon, 14 Feb 2011 11:11:00 -0500

Bethia describes herself as a “teacher and immigrant who lives a pretty quiet life” in Ottawa. We met over coffee and chatted about her life here, the culture shock that came from immigrating as a refugee from Liberia, and her two sons. Even though we met as strangers, it turns out that we’re practically neighbours – Ottawa seems like an awfully small city sometimes.

Read on to find out more about Bethia’s life here in Ottawa, and why she chose Parliament Hill for her photos.

Can you tell me about yourself?

Sure. I’m Bethia. I obviously am from Africa - Liberia, to be precise. I live here alone. I don’t have any family except for my two little boys, who are 9 and 3. Most of my family is in Africa. I’m a teacher – I teach at the Ottawa Catholic School Board, delivering the after school program. I’m a graduate of the University of Ottawa and… that’s it, basically.

When did you move to Ottawa?

I don’t know if I can remember. A long time ago – in 2001. Yes, 2001. Almost 10 years ago now.

Why did you choose to move to Ottawa?

Because of family. I used to have family here. My sister was going to Carleton, and she was living here alone. So I just came and joined her, but then she moved back to Africa and I decided to stay. It’s almost like a first home to me, since I came to Canada.

Did you move here directly from Liberia?

No, actually. I was a refugee in Ghana because of the war in Liberia. I went to St. Catharines first and spent a few months there, and then I moved here.

Do you like it here?

I love it here. Everything from the food and the weather to interactions with people and how to go about doing daily things - it was all very different for me when I first immigrated. If it wasn’t for my sister I probably would have gone back. I felt a little lonely. But things have changed. For me, it’s about meeting a variety of people and getting to talk to them and learn. It’s the little things that make me happy. I also love the language. I’m still in the process of becoming a fluent French speaker, but I’ve been able to acquire some French speaking skills. That’s good for me.

Do you think you’ll stay here?

Yeah, definitely. There’s not any reason for me to move right now. I just love Ottawa in general. It’s a big city, but it also has a small-town feel to it. I love it.

What neighbourhood do you live in?

I think it’s considered center-west? I guess it’s called Hintonburg. I love it because it’s in the center of everything. You can get downtown very quickly, but at the same time you can go on the highway and get to the other end of the city in five or ten minutes. There are a lot of amenities around, and I’m very close to my church. I love it. I’ve been living in this area for about six years now. I think I’ll move eventually, but I don’t know when. I want to buy a home eventually, though, and I want to buy somewhere that has new development. I also wish my kids had more parks to play in where we are now.

Do you feel that Ottawa has a personality?

Cold? No, just kidding. When I first moved here, there weren’t many people from where I come from. Like, it wasn’t very multicultural. But now I see that there is a little more multiculturalism in Ottawa. When I first moved here, I was the only person from Africa in my church, but now I can count more than 20 people there. The people are also very friendly here. It’s a very friendly city.

It would be nice if there were more childcare options, especially for single-parent families. For my second child I needed daycare so I could work, and we had to wait almost a year just to get on a waiting list. I would also like some kind of multicultural festival where members of different countries and continents could celebrate.

Is there a Liberian community in Ottawa?

Yes, there is – they have weekly meetings, and I try to attend once in a while. They also observe the Independence Day, and try to keep us updated with activities. They help new immigrants from Liberia integrate into the Ottawa community.

We did your photos at Parliament Hill – why was that an important place for you?

Parliament Hill is the first site I went to when I first got here. My sister brought me there. I felt very happy to see it. It was nice to see people out and doing things, taking pictures. It really felt different and new to me.

Thank you, Bethia!

John

Sun, 06 Feb 2011 22:25:00 -0500

A semi-retired aspiring sci-fi author, John and I met for coffee near his home in Nepean. He’s full of stories about his life and experiences, and very passionate about science, the economy, and current events. We chatted for a long time before heading over to Andrew Haydon Park for his photos.

John recently received his one-year medallion from AA, and he definitely deserves a huge round of congratulations for his hard work and commitment. Read on to learn more about the challenges John has faced, and how drastically his life has changed in the past year.

Can you tell me about yourself?

Well, okay. I’m 63, and I’m semi-retired. I’m still looking for something part-time to do, to pull in some extra bucks and fill my time, stuff like that. But currently I’m in the midst of writing a book. So really I’m mostly just acting as chief cook and bottle-washer at home. My wife has her own business at home now, so I keep the place tidy and make supper for her and whatnot. I help with her business when and where I can. I did some volunteer work for the City of Ottawa to fill in some time and as a type of therapy.

I’m on my third marriage. I have two boys from my first marriage - the oldest is 39. He’s in the military, doing computers and communications. They’re in the Netherlands now with four kids, having a ball travelling all over the place. I didn’t have any kids with my second wife. My current wife and I met online, through Yahoo. We did the email thing, and then the phone thing, and then we met and one thing led to another. She lived in a place just North of Napanee in a really old house – it was almost 150 years old. It was really falling apart, and she had sunk a lot of money into it. I kept on bugging her to get rid of it. Eventually she sold the house so she could move to Ottawa and live with me.

One thing you should know about me is that I love animals. I have two cats at home, and my wife has got a cockatiel that she’s had for years. Nobody knows how old it is because someone else gave it to her, but we reckon it’s probably getting close to 20 years old. It flies around, you know, walks around on the carpet. I also have a ferret. Ferrets are very intelligent, very curious creatures. He’s just the cutest thing. My wife named him Sassy, after her sapphire engagement ring.

Can you tell me about your book? What is it going to be about?

It’s actually hard science fiction. There’s science fiction, science fiction-slash-fantasy, and then there’s hard science fiction. Hard science fiction basically has to do with stuff that is either current technology or near-future technology. My book starts in the 1920s with Wernher von Braun in Germany. The beginning is about his experiences during the Second World War building the V-1 and V-2 rockets, but then it goes on to after the war when he joins the Americans and gets involved in their space program. Then it gets into the present-day and talks about the current economic situation where the worldwide economy is starting to slip. One guy has a vision of creating a generation ship, where a group of people take a 200-year journey to a habitable planet in Alpha Centauri because World War Three is about to break out. I’m about a third of the way done writing it. I just pick at it when I think of something. It could be 3:00 in the morning, but if something pops into my head I’ll get on the computer and then go back to bed.

What kind of volunteer work did you do you do with the city?

I was working with the City of Ottawa Health Department. You’ve heard of the City of Ottawa needle exchange program? Well part of my job was an extrapolation of that. I made drug cookers for addicts. These are basically blank bottle caps, and we have a special punch tool we used to punch a couple holes in the side of them, and then we threaded a paper clip through to make a handle. It takes maybe 20 or 30 seconds to make one, so they’re pretty fast to make. We sent them down to drop-in centres all over the city, and then addicts can pick them up, use them once, and throw them away. That’s one of the jobs I did. I also put together prenatal books for expectant mothers, and things like that. It kept me busy.

How did you get started doing that?

Well, that’s a bit of a story in itself. I was working for Nortel, but I got outsourced because they were trying to reduce some costs and they thought that outsourcing their IT department would help with that. Nortel offered a deal where you could go work at the outsourcing company. I did that but I waited too long to accept the deal, so I didn’t get a signing bonus. They did bridge our employment, though. Anyway, in December 2006 I got laid off. My job essentially went to India. I got quite a good severance package, so I decided to take the year off. That might have been a bad idea because after a year when I tried to get back into the workforce again, people wondered why I had this gap year. Getting a job in the IT field was hard. Also there are a lot of younger people in the market, with more education, and they are snapped up first.

I started to get pretty depressed about the whole thing, and I started drinking pretty heavily. By December of 2009 I was drinking a bottle of rum a day. Then in January of 2010 I tried to commit suicide and ended up in the hospital. I got involved with AA and a group run by the hospital. Along the way, my doctor suggested that I apply for some volunteer work so I had something to do during the day. Between the three – the support group, AA, and volunteering – it’s kept me off the booze up to now. I just got my one year medallion in January.

When I was drinking in 2009, I had no thought of the future. I really thought the best thing was to end it all. But now that I have a goal in writing my book, I have a whole new outlook on life. In fact, my wife was my girlfriend last December, and she threatened to leave me when I was drinking. I tried to commit suicide in January of 2010 and ended up in the hospital. I had brought my barbeque into the bathroom, closed the door. The suicide attempt was a real turning point for me. In May 2010 Gayle and I got married.

How long have you lived in Ottawa?

Except for one year away, I’ve been here since 1966. I was born in England, and I came over with my parents when I was five. We lived in the Petawawa and Pembroke area. My dad got a job at the nuclear plant at Chalk River. I guess six or seven years down the line he got a job with the Federal government, so we moved here in 1966. The following year I joined the Armed Forces, which didn’t really sit too well with my parents, but I said, well, it’s pretty hard to find a job just coming out of high school with no experience. I wanted to get a trade of some kind, so I figured that if I joined the Air Force I could do that. I was away for about a year on basic training and trade training, and then I asked for a posting back to Ottawa. I spent the next nine years between Rockcliffe and NDHQ. When I left the military I was a microfilm technician, and then in 1978 I started with Consolidated Computer. This was way before the first microcomputer came out, so these were all rack-mounted computers at a computer plant out in the East end of Ottawa. I was a peripheral technician. Later I was a Macintosh technician, and then PCs started rolling in when Northern Telecom and Bell Northern Research merged to become Nortel. So I got in on the ground floor of the Windows revolution. I was with Nortel from 1994 to the early 2000s.

What’s kept you in Ottawa?

It’s a nice city. My wife has relatives in Toronto, but Toronto itself is way too big. Ottawa is a nice size. You can get from end to end very quickly. The only thing I don’t like about Ottawa is that it’s a Federal town. Being a bilingual country, if you want to break into the Federal government you have to be bilingual. It’s getting worse and worse, you know, to sweep the floors you have to be bilingual. I’ve given up applying for government positions because I’m not bilingual. More and more private companies, even – especially downtown and in the East end – are looking for bilingualism.

I do really like Nepean, though, I really do. When Nepean was forced to join the City of Ottawa, a lot of Nepeanites, including myself, were pretty pissed off. I still use Nepean on my postal address.

Do you feel that Ottawa has a personality?

Oh, absolutely. Everybody thinks that Ottawa is all about the Federal government, but I think there’s a lot more to it than that. We have our own NHL team, which is a big plus for us. Scotia Bank Place – it used to be called the Palladium, I loved that name – is a big draw. The Rolling Stones came to Ottawa in 2004. I would have thought that Ottawa was too small a venue, but they put them in Lansdowne Park and the concert was just out of this world, it was astounding.

Do you think you’ll stay in Ottawa?

Absolutely. I have no reason to leave for the moment. Gayle and I have talked about moving to Brampton, where her son and one of her daughters live. Her son-in-law is opening a restaurant, so maybe I could help out there. The business Gayle has going is all done by fax, email and modem so she can do that from anywhere.

We did your photos at Andrew Haydon Park. Why is that an important place to you?

My wife and I go to Andrew Haydon for a lot of activities. On Canada Day they have a fireworks show there, and we can walk from where we live near Bayshore. There are always lots of things going on. We’re over there quite a bit.

Thanks for sharing your story, John.

Matt

Wed, 15 Dec 2010 12:40:00 -0500

Meet Matt: a new media specialist by profession, he’s a true Ottawa local who is passionate about advocating for a bike-friendly city, and he plays a lot of bike polo in his spare time. We met near his workplace in Centretown to talk about his life and experiences here in Ottawa, and how he feels about changes to the city. Oh, and also so he could tell me what the heck bike polo is.

Read on to find out about Matt’s life here in Ottawa, and make sure to check out two beautifully shot short videos he created at the end of the post.

Can you tell me about yourself?

Yes. My name is Matt, I’m 25 years old, and I’m a web developer from Ottawa. I guess I kind of have three big things I do in my life: there’s the shop that I work at, bv02, I do a lot of charity work for the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of Canada, and I play a whole lot of bike polo. That’s my life in three boxes!

How long have you lived in Ottawa for?

My whole life! So, 25 years now. My whole family is from Ottawa – I guess I’m the second generation here, maybe third? I’ve been to a lot of places, and I always come back to Ottawa. It’s the cleanest, nicest city that I’ve ever been to. I particularly like the safety, and the sense of community that creates that safety.

I’ve kind of moved through different groups in my life here. You know, in college I was in the party-and-have-fun crowd, and now I’m in the professional-networking crowd. I’ve met a lot of different people, and gotten to know a lot of different groups throughout Ottawa, and it’s always the same thing: there’s a real sense of community where everyone seems to know everyone else, and you get these auxiliary communities of people who know your people, and you get to know everyone very, very well.

I think I plan to stay here long-term… I mean, I have family here, and friends here, and I studied here. I’ve spent a lot of time in Edmonton, in Vancouver, and done some extensive travelling up in the Arctic and over in Europe, so I feel like I’ve kind of seen how people exist elsewhere. Ottawa is definitely the cheapest city I’ve ever lived in, and you get the most for the price you pay, so I have no reason not to stay.

Which neighbourhood do you live in? What do you think about it?

I actually just moved back to Centretown from the Glebe. I love Centretown to death. I’ve lived there before, and I’m glad to be back. All the crazies, oh man. Literally, it’s all the crazy people that keep it interesting. I mean, I used to live over near Kent Street, and me and my roommate used to sit in our living room with the screen-door closed and the inside door open, and repeatedly – I mean, really, more than once! – we had random people wander into the house. You know, just stand there in the hallway looking confused. We’d just usher them back out the door, be friendly. It keeps it interesting. And, well, I also like it because everything is walkable in Centretown.

Do you feel that Ottawa has a personality?

I would say that it has a lot of different personalities right now, but it seems to be developing in some really unique, niche areas. There is a long way to go.

How so? What do you think needs to happen?

Well, I don’t know what needs to change, exactly. I mean, there are all of those urban planning things you could do to improve it, like, let’s say, light rail, or making city sprawl more efficient, or more environmental programs and all that kind of stuff – but that also ends up detracting from what it is now, so I’d be worried that changing something would change the way it is. I really like the way it is right now.

There are some major issues on my radar, though. I’m a big cyclist, and a big cycling advocate. I used to be involved in Critical Mass, and I helped organize a memorial for Darcy Allan Sheppard, a bike messenger who was killed a year ago. So cycling, bike paths, and just cycling awareness is huge for me. I think the first thing that the city needs to do is deal with those hot-spot bike paths that end in the middle of nowhere. Those have killed a few people already. Once those are dealt with, we can move on from there. That said, on the scale of bike-friendliness, we’re no Holland where bikes have the right-of-way over everything, but Ottawa is pretty bike friendly. We’re certainly far more bike-friendly than Vancouver, which is touted as a bike-friendly city but it’s really not very safe, and cars don’t like cyclists on the roads there.

So, can you tell me about bicycle polo? What’s that all about?

Yeah! I got involved in bike polo about a year and a half ago. I’ve been playing pretty steadily since then, three or four days a week. We have a club over at Ev Tramblay Park, and there’s a tennis court there where we play. It’s actually a city-sanctioned bike polo court. It’s been around in Ottawa for almost ten years now. It’s basically like hockey, you know, the physical aspects of hockey but also the dexterity of riding a bike. Ottawa’s not big enough to support a league – we have, at the most, maybe 20 or 30 people who come out on any given day, so it’s all just pick up. But we have a tournament once a year, and people come from all over the States to play here.

What do you do with the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation?

I volunteer my time – my strengths are web, multimedia, video, stuff like that — so I mostly do a lot of web work for them on the side for small-scale projects. Shooting videos at events, and photos, and that kind of stuff. I actually have Ulcerative Colitis, so it was kind of a natural thing to help them out.

We did your photos in two places – your work and out in a bike polo court. Can you tell me about why those places are important to you?

Well, those are the two places that really represent what I’m doing here. I really love my work at bv02, and bike polo is a big part of my life right now. They seem appropriate.

Thanks Matt! He didn’t mention it in the interview, but Matt’s really talented at shooting and editing video. You can take a look at his portfolio at http://mattdavidson.ca, and at his Vimeo to see a bunch of great stuff. You can also read his blog at http://nart.ca, and follow him on Twitter at @MattDavidson.

Check out two short videos he put together, below. The first is a promo for bike polo, and the second is one he created for Arctic Watch while on a recent trip to Somerset Island in Nunavut with bv02.

Ashley

Tue, 07 Dec 2010 11:39:00 -0500

A painter, printmaker, animator, art instructor, community manager, and very creative person in general, Ashley wears a lot of hats. She’s also engaged in really exciting ways and working hard to help grow Ottawa’s creative communities.

It turns out that Saturday mornings at Major’s Hill Park are perfect for the kind of peaceful, well-lit, early morning wanders that will make you fall in love with a city. With the first snow of the season still clinging to the ground, it was the perfect time and location for photos. Read on to learn more about why this is an important place for Ashley, and find out about her thoughts on art in the city.

Can you tell me about yourself?

Sure. I’m a lot of different things to a lot of different people. Generally I see myself first as a visual artist. I’m also an arts instructor at the City of Ottawa, where I teach traditional printmaking and stop-motion animation for teens and adults. I work full time as an online marketing person, which has sort of segued into the community management and social media field. It’s been really interesting over the past year. I’m new to Ottawa – I’ve moved around a lot. I think of myself as a sort of ‘former nomad.’ But no longer!

I grew up in a small town outside of Barrie. From there, I moved to Burlington for my last couple of years of high school, and then I moved to Mississauga. I went to university at the University of Toronto and Sheridan’s joint program. From there I moved to Kitchener-Waterloo, and then to Bracebridge in Muskoka, and now I’m in Ottawa. So, I’ve kind of done most of Ontario except for the far north. Some of it was for my own work, some of it was because my parents were transferred for work, and then there was university. Most of my moves in the past few years have been for work. My past life was working in the arts and in arts administration, which is all contract work, so you have to be kind of mobile.

What brought you to Ottawa?

I’ve always wanted to live in Ottawa. That sounds weird to a lot of people who are from here, I know. But honestly, it’s big enough without being overwhelming, there’s a lot of stuff going on. It’s nice and green with open spaces, but it’s still a city. There are a lot of pluses to Ottawa. One of my good friends lives here, and she’s been bugging me for years to move to Ottawa. So there was that moment when I was wondering what to do next, and she called me to ask when my contract was done and told me I should move. So it was great, I’m glad I did it. It was a very crazy move. Four days before I was supposed to move here I got in a very bad car accident - my car was written off. I was fine other than a few bruises, but it threw a huge wrench into the process. I needed to pack everything into two suitcases, fly to Ottawa, and get a bus pass. And that was that, I haven’t really looked back! I really like the space here. I know that sounds kind of flaky, but coming from other parts of Ontario where it’s really hilly, it was as if the sky suddenly went for miles and miles! There’s so much room.

I know this sounds kind of weird, and I’m not one of those new-agey kind of people, but I do think that the space in which you live really affects your life. The things you keep around you, and the physical aspects of the space, that kind of stuff. So I like to get out of the city, and here it only takes 20 minutes, and there are green spaces where you can relax. There’s the canal right in the middle of downtown and almost anything you want if you look hard enough.

How do you feel living in Ottawa has affected your life?

I’m not really sure. It’s hard to get out of yourself and judge that, but I guess I’ve always felt like I’m one of those people who will just go out and do stuff. Now I have the opportunity to do that. When you’re living in smaller places, or places that are temporary, you don’t necessarily take those chances or build those networks, you know? I feel like the opportunities are here to start doing those things and meeting interesting people, and start connecting with a place on a permanent level. In the last couple of months I’ve started going to events – like, there’s GenY Ottawa, Social Media Breakfast, Case Study Jam, and different professional networking events. I feel like, okay, I’m finally not about to pack up and leave.

Taking risks and not being afraid to go out and do things by yourself are all part of establishing yourself, I think. I mean, not that I ever was afraid to do those things, but now I really feel that I can contribute. I guess that comfort comes from a background in the arts – living close to Toronto, there were always different galleries and art openings. So if I heard about stuff I would just go. You know, if someone wanted to go with me that’d be great, but if not it’s also fine.

Can you talk about your art a little?

I guess my influences are artists like Henry Moore, Jenny Saville, and Damien Hirst. As a painter, I’m really interested in the physical quality of the paint, and how simple shapes can communicate to the viewer. Folks like Henry Moore and Native American printmakers are very much about the most basic, distilled version of a shape that can still communicate ideas and emotions. So, I identify mostly with abstract expressionism. However, some of my favourite works of art are nothing like my art. I love art with a sense of humour. David Shrigley is an artist from the UK who creates animations and drawings. He’s done a few public intervention pieces, like he has put this sign on a fence that says, “Sunday adventure club. Meet here, 4AM”. It’s the most amazing stuff!

What would make Ottawa the perfect city for you?

I’d love to see a lot more diversity in the arts and cultural spaces. I’d love to see more interaction in the digital arts. There’s a really great space in Toronto called InterAccess, and they run an event about once every six weeks called DorkBot. The idea is that they’re merging the arts with the electronic world, and engineering and that sort of thing. They’re really, really interesting events. They invite three speakers to come and talk about their work. They’re usually artists who are working with technology, and they present their projects in 15 minutes. Then it’s a really casual gathering where people talk about their projects and funding sources, that kind of thing. I would love to see something like that here. I feel like the interest is there, and there are a lot of young people who would love to see this stuff and who are interested in art and technology, but who wouldn’t necessarily put them together. Show them what they can do, and they’ll get excited about it.

We went to Major’s Hill Park for your photos – why is that an important place to you?

I’ve spent a lot of time in Major’s Hill Park behind the National Gallery. Most of my exploring in Ottawa has ended up there, and there’s always something going on. You know, I’ve stumbled upon a Canadian-Chinese festival and there’ll be lion dance, or Canada Day stuff that happens there. I really enjoy just walking around. On a regular Saturday morning it’s really quiet, and you can just people-watch. It’s nice.

Thank you, Ashley! You can view some of Ashley’s beautiful creations and find out more about the printmaking and stop-motion animation classes she offers at http://ashleyandrews.ca/, or connect with her on Twitter at @cochinealred.

Jonathan

Mon, 29 Nov 2010 22:38:00 -0500

Marketer and award-winning music producer, Jonathan is relatively new to Ottawa but busy building connections and feeling out the city’s music industry. He produces hip hop, R&B, and pop music as Menoza, and you can hear some of it at his Myspace page.

Jonathan and I met on a sunny autumn afternoon for our interview, and then visited two locations for his photos: his workplace in the Byward Market, and the recording studio in the basement of his new home. Read on to find out why those places are representative of his life here, and how Jonathan’s making the most of his new city.

Can you tell me about yourself?

Sure. My name is Jonathan. I was born in Philadelphia, and my parents met in Montreal. My mom is Filipino-Canadian and my dad is American. He was doing his residency at the Montreal Jewish General Hospital, and my mom was a nurse. They met and got married and moved to Philadelphia – that’s where my dad’s from – and they had me. About a year later they moved to Florida, and that’s where I grew up. I lived there for 23 years of my life. I went to the University of Florida and graduated with a history degree. Shortly after graduating, I told my parents that I wanted to become a music producer, so they told me to use my Canadian citizenship, and they let me move to Montreal. I was happy to leave the house after living away from home and going to school for four years - I didn’t want to move back home. I spent six years in Montreal in the music business. I eventually wanted a change, so I decided to go back to school and do my MBA. I applied to the University of Ottawa because I wanted a change of scenery, and I was looking for something a little bit more stable than Montreal. It’s kind of a party town, and Ottawa seemed a little more stable. So, yeah, that’s kind of how I ended up here.

I like to do a lot of things. I’m not just the MBA guy, and I’m not just the marketing guy. I like to do a lot of different things. I have this whole past life in music, and I still do some of that. You know, I still produce music and I still put music in television and movies, as a side thing. I work for a really cool start-up company, but I also have a lot of creative things on the go. All of those things make me who I am.

Can you tell me about producing music?

Sure. When I moved to Montreal when I was 23, I moved because I wanted to be a music producer. When you’re 23, you think you’re going to make one song, it’s going to be a hit and then the next day you’re going to be on MTV. I’m naturally a shy person, so producing my own music changed me a lot. I moved to Montreal and didn’t even know anyone. I kind of got dropped off and was supposed to go to school in June for audio engineering, but the school didn’t have enough people enrolled, so I got deferred. I was stuck in a city I only knew from when I went skiing in Tremblant over spring break, but I hadn’t ever lived there. I was an outsider from the US, and wasn’t working or in school, so it was hard to meet people. It was kind of scary for the first few weeks, just walking around and not having anyone to talk to. But I broke out of my shell, started to volunteer and joined a radio show at McGill University. I started meeting people and producing music. I was opening up, and doing crazy things that I never thought I would do just to get my name out and market myself. That changed me a lot. I met so many people, and so many people helped me on the way. I ended up working in music publishing, so I was able to get my music out that way. I also helped form a non-profit organization with a few other people where we’d help kids produce shows in school. We’d go to schools and produce a show from scratch – a high-class talent show is what I called it. Then I changed jobs and took a position with TouchTunes Music and got more into the business side of things. The company started changing very fast and a lot of executives we being hired to manage things, so that’s when I decided I wanted to do an MBA. I still love to do music. It’s harder these days now that I have a house and more responsibilities, but I’m still trying to feel it out in Ottawa and meet as many people as I can, because you never know. I think it’s important to just network when you’re new to a city.

So do you feel that Ottawa has been receptive to your attempts to break into the music scene?

Well, to be honest with you I haven’t even really made the first attempt to put my foot forward yet. I struggled when I got my MBA, you know, do I go back to the music business, or do I do something else? To me it felt like if I chose to go into marketing I’d have to leave all that behind because I’m the kind of person that has to go full-force into something, and if I half-ass it, it doesn’t get done. So I put music to the side for a good year. I did a couple of songs here and there, and I did get some royalty cheques for past work, so that kept me motivated. But now that I’m more stable, and I have a house and I have a great job, I’m feeling more confident and I’m reaching out to people and saying, you know, hey, I make music and I’m doing it again. It’s like riding a bike. You get apprehensive when you get back on – am I still good? Can I still do this? It’s something I’ll do for the rest of my life, though, whether it’s professionally or not.

When I was in Montreal I composed music on my computer and I recruited artists. I went online and just said: I need singers, I need rappers, here’s my stuff, let’s meet. I’d meet them at, you know, Second Cup and stuff because who knows who they were! At the height of it after working hard for two years, I had nine artists and had released two albums. We had huge shows and did all sorts of promotions, so lots of people would show up. I was feeling really good about it. The last thing I made was an instrumental project that was well received. But at the end of the day, the amount of work you put into it and the amount of money you get out of it just wasn’t enough to have a family and do all those other things I wanted in life.

Now that I’m in Ottawa, I’m gonna start to look around. You never know. In my house I have a nice studio set up in my basement, all ready to go. I’ve just got to put my feelers out again.

I write R&B, hip hop, and pop music, and I produce top-40 type of songs. I always wanted to make that kind of commercial music – I grew up listening to Timbaland, Usher… you know. I wanted to emulate that. And I had some success in Montreal after I found my sound – I got a couple of song writing grants from the government, which meant I was able to rent time at a professional studio to record some tracks. I was also one of five finalists in the national song of the year contest representing Montreal on Mix 96, a radio station. Some of my music has been in TV shows, and a couple of B-movies. I mean, not big stuff, but I get a little rush every time something get placed! I worked really hard to get to this point. I feel like it was really an accomplishment to move from making music in my parent’s study in Florida to having my songs play on the radio in a city where nobody knew me. I learned a lot during my time in Montreal, and I hope I can produce some more music now that I’m living in Ottawa.

What do you like about living in Ottawa?

To be honest, I’m still getting to know the area. I’ve been here for just over two years, and the first year I spent trapped inside the Desmarais building at the University of Ottawa, spending 12 hour days trying to get my MBA done. So I kind of confined myself to that building and a couple of bars nearby. But now that I’m working I’m trying to explore a little more. I feel like most people in Ottawa are pretty active. I play a lot of sports – I’ve been playing soccer since I was five. I do OSSC, and I find the people there are, you know, just having fun. So I think it can be a pretty active lifestyle if you know where to go. That’s one of the things I really like about the city so far.

Do you think you’ll stay here?

Yeah, I think I’ll stay here. I met my girlfriend in the MBA program, and when I was finished I kind of wanted to get back into the music business. I looked around and Toronto would have been the place to go, but I did a couple of interviews, looked at all the factors and decided not to move. I decided a change was in order, and I always liked marketing and communications, so I started to transform my music resume, got a great job and settled in Ottawa. So, yeah, I’m happy here and I think I’ll be here for the immediate future, anyway.

Do you feel that Ottawa has a personality?

Yeah. I describe it as comfortable. That’s what I tell everyone who says that it’s boring compared to Montreal, which is more of a party town. I just think that 1/5^th of Ottawa is working for the Government, and that’s for the security for the most part. They do it for the pension, the benefits, the stability. So they’re comfortable with their living situations, salary levels, buying power. Once you get in that comfortable mode, it’s hard to think about making things better.

For your photos, we did two shoots: one in your basement studio, and one at your workplace. Why are those places representative of your life here?

To me, I feel like I have two alternate personas. There’s the MBA guy where I like strategy and process, and making things better and faster. I’ve been lucky enough to have great bosses who have let me make improvements. But then I go home, there’s this creative side where I go down to the basement studio and create music.

Thanks Jonathan! You can listen to some of the music Jonathan has created at www.myspace.com/menoza. He’s also on Twitter at @jonathanlsimon and on LinkedIn.

Rachelle

Thu, 18 Nov 2010 17:05:00 -0500

Rachelle is a recently transitioned transgender woman living in Ottawa. She’s very active in the trans community, and is on the planning committee for Ottawa’s Transgender Day of Remembrance, which will be held this Saturday November 20^th. This year is a particularly special one for the trans community: in addition to the annual candlelight vigil for trans persons who have lost their lives due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice, Ottawa Police Services will be holding a flag raising ceremony that marks the first time the trans community has been officially recognized in Canada. There will also be a peaceful march to Parliament Hill in support of Bill C-389.

I was touched that Rachelle felt comfortable sharing her own personal transition story with me. Read on to find out more about Rachelle, the trans community in Ottawa, and why Parliament Hill was such an appropriate place for our photoshoot.

Tell me about yourself!

Okay, sure. My name is Rachelle. I’;m a fully transitioned woman - born male, obviously, and now female. By profession I’m an IT manager, so I’m a geek at heart. I love computers. I also have interest in web development. I’m an avid skiier – I ski from the moment that the ski hills open right through to the last day. I love travelling, too. I’ve traveled a bit to Europe and the US and the Caribbean. I also love camping, believe it or not! I camp a lot during the summer, and I enjoy riding my motorcycle. I go on motorcycle trips at least once a year where I leave in the morning at sunrise and ride until sundown. Last year I went to Cape Breton, and I visited Halifax and PEI. I mean, going around Cape Breton on a motorcycle is paradise. It seems like as soon as you get to New Brunswick life seems to slow down a beat or two.

Obviously I’m also very active in the trans community. I’m on the executive committee of Gender Mosaic as First Vice President. Gender Mosaic is a transgender support group based here in Ottawa, and we’ve been here for over 20 years. I’m also on the planning committee for the Transgender Day of Remembrance, which is on November 20^th.

How long have you lived in Ottawa?

I’ve lived in Ottawa since 1989. Essentially I came from Northern Ontario to attend college, and I never left. I like it here, Ottawa seems to be the right sized city for me. I don’t think I’d feel comfortable living in a place like Toronto, which is probably about five times the size of Ottawa. I like the location of Ottawa, I mean, we’re two hours from the US, one hour from Montreal. You know, a short plane ride to Toronto. And also, there are a lot of opportunities in this city. It’s a very stable city, it’s very cosmopolitan. It’s changed since ‘89. I would say that Ottawa has started to come out of its shell in the last couple of years. The city is expanding - obviously we have a hockey team, we have the water slides at Calypso. So, I mean, amusement parks are being built and there are a lot of exciting things happening around the city.

I must say, Ottawa is a very good place to be transgender. When I came out I had prepared myself for catcalls, stares, you know, whatever the case may be. I was pleasantly surprised when none of that materialized. People were just like, “Okay, this is who you are. That’s fine.”

The Transgender Day of Remembrance is on Saturday November 20^th. Can you tell me about that?

Absolutely. In 1998 a transgender woman named Rita Hester was murdered because she was trans, and a year later a candlelight vigil was held in San Francisco. Since then they’ve called it the Transgender Day of Remembrance. Between 1999 and 2010 the event spread across the US, Canada, and Europe. There are candlelight vigils all over, and we remember people who have lost their lives to transgender hatred or prejudice.

This year is a very special year because a few of the Gender Mosaic members are on the LGBTQ Liaison Committee at Ottawa Police Services. The Ottawa Police does a lot for the gay and lesbian community, but for the trans community it always seemed like we were kind of tacked on to the end. So Ottawa Police graciously offered to raise a flag on our behalf this year. There’s going to be a flag raising ceremony where they’ll raise a flag of our choosing, and the Chief of Police will speak, as will the Chief of Police of Gatineau, the Superintendent of Paramedic Services, Mayor Elect Jim Watson, and the NDP MP Bill Siksay, who is the sponsor of Bill C-389, will also speak. There will also be two members of the transgender community speaking – a male-to-female trans person, and a female-to-male trans person.

The flag raising ceremony itself will last about an hour, and then we’ll march to Parliament Hill in support of Bill C-389. It’s a bill that would add gender identity and gender expression to the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Canadian Criminal Code. That would mean that if someone were transgender, they couldn’t lose their job because of their gender identity or expression. It would also affect cases where there are custody issues with children, and so on and so forth. In the Criminal Code, if someone were physically attacked because of their gender identity it would become a hate crime, which means stiffer penalties. The bill will be introduced in Parliament for a third and final reading in December. If it passes that reading, it will become law of the land. We have people from all over the place coming, and it’s our hope that we’ll have over 1000 people, and it looks like we’re on track to achieve our goal. It’ll be a peaceful march along Elgin Street from Ottawa Police to Parliament Hill. We just want to express that we’re a group of people like everyone else. Our families, supporters, and friends will be marching with us. It will be the first time that an official organization in Canada recognizes the trans community.

Let’s talk about the trans community here in Ottawa. What’s it like? What kind of challenges does it face?

Well, the trans community is a small minority. It’s also very fragmented. A lot of people in the trans community have had a very rough life because of their gender identity, and because of that a lot of them are disenfranchised and angry. A lot of members of the community live in what we call “stealth.” Some will transition and you’ll never know that they were anything other than a man or a woman. They are very determined that no one ever find out. In my case, I wish I could have transitioned and people would never know. But, I mean, my reality is that I started to transition at 38 and testosterone did its work in my teens and twenties and thirties, so people look at me and I assume they know. A lot of people in the trans community seem obsessed with wondering if people know. I just assume that they know.

Anyway, the transgender community is very fragmented. At Gender Mosaic we have a good core of about 30 people. A lot are, for lack of better language, cross-dressers. I don’t like the word cross-dressers because it implies fetish, and the people in our group are transgender in the sense that they like to live in both genders. They need to live in both genders to keep their sanity. Most of our members are male to female. Many are married with children or grandchildren and what have you. I would say that at Gender Mosaic maybe 5% of members pursue full transition. That just goes to show that the transgender community is very varied. You know, it’s not black and white. We’ve tried to reach out to the female-to-male community, but it’s very tough to break into. Female-to-male trans people tend to blend a lot easier into the general population and don’t want to be associated with a transgender group because they’re determined to show that they are a man and they don’t want to be ‘outed’, so to speak. And youth today, they’re hard to engage too. Today they seem very pansexual. I’ve done presentations at the University of Ottawa and Algonquin College, and the kids in those classes don’t seem to feel like gender or sexual identity is as big an issue as it was for my generation. They seem very flexible, there’s less of a taboo among the younger generations. It’s hard to make it a cohesive community where we can say, you know, let’s all get together and celebrate our differences.

Can you tell me about your experience as a transgendered person?

For my part, when I came to Gender Mosaic I was broken in pieces. I knew that I couldn’t continue living the life that I had previously lived. For most of my life, I mean, I was pretty much a hermit. I was completely isolated. Since I’ve come out, I can honestly say that I’ve met more people and made more friends than I had in my entire life. In my case, I’m out of my prison, out of my cell, and I’m not going back in.

I started my transition at the age of 37, three years ago. I went into counseling with a gender identity specialist. It’s a very gradual process. First you do therapy to identify how severe the gender identity problem is. For a lot of people living as a woman for 25% of the time and a man the rest of the time is enough. That’s what they need. Hormones are for when everything else has failed. If you say you want to live as a woman, you start dressing as a woman and start acting like one. If that’s all you need, great! But if you need more you move on to hormones. It’s the same thing with surgery. Surgery is for when everything else fails. In my case, at 37 I started the transition, so I started with therapy and androgen blockers, which lowers the testosterone in your body. I came out to my family and friends. My family did not take my coming out well. I did a legal name change, and started hormones in January ’09. I had a few hair transplants because I had pattern baldness, and in June of this year I had my surgery. To get the surgery you have to live full time as a woman for at least a year, and then you sign a thick document that states very clearly, “You will lose your penis. This operation is irreversible.” They want you to understand what you’re getting into. In my case, when I woke up from my surgery, it was nothing dramatic. I just felt like, duh, this is the way it’s supposed to be.

It’s funny because I have a friend who had her surgery a couple of years ago, and she says that sometimes she’ll go to the bathroom late at night and stand over the toilet for a few seconds before realizing, “Oh! I don’t have one of those things anymore!” That hasn’t happened to me, though. For me it just removed a lot of frustration. Before what I had was not working out. I just didn’t want to have any intimacy with that. I guess you could say that I’m rediscovering myself and what I want. I mean, I’m still attracted to women, I’m not attracted to men, and I’m perfectly comfortable with that. I was married before, and being intimate with what I had actually made me very angry. I hated it. I hated it with a passion. It was almost like I was being forced to do it. It was like, “I am married therefore I have to do this,” because, you know, I didn’t want my wife to know that there was anything wrong with me. To me it was torture. So I looked at men because I thought maybe that was a solution, but I’m just not attracted to men. But at the same time, what I had with women just wasn’t working for me. So now, I would say that finding a partner is difficult. Gay men like men, and gay women like women. So to be something in-between is… you know. It can be tough.

You chose Parliament Hill for your photos. Why is that place meaningful to you?

Parliament Hill. Well, Parliament Hill for me is a landmark for Ottawa. I mean, when people think of Ottawa they think of Parliament Hill. And, I guess, being a very political person, I know all of the parties, I know the leaders, I know most of the current events that happen on the Hill. It’s the heart of Ottawa. I am an Ottawa girl, so for me Parliament Hill is my own back yard.

Thank you, Rachelle, for sharing your story. If you have any questions for Rachelle, visit her website at http://RachelleGauvin.com. For more information about transgender issues and activities in Ottawa, check out Ottawa Gender Mosaic. Rachelle also hosts meetups that provide a safe and sociable environment for women who do not fit into the mainstream through Ottawa Womyn. The group is open to GLBTQ women, straight women and transgendered women.

The Transgender Day of Remembrance begins at 1:00PM on November 20^th, 2010 at Ottawa Police Headquarters for a flag raising, followed by a march along Elgin Street to Parliament Hill in support of Bill C-389. A candlelight vigil will be held at 7:00PM at the Canadian Human Rights Monument at the corner of Lisgar and Elgin to commemorate people who have lost their lives due to transgender violence and prejudice. Everyone in the LGBTQ community, including family, friends, and allies are invited to attend any and all parts of the day. For more information visit http://www.gendermosaic.com/tdor/.