Creating a System that Adjusts to Us

Palm oil is woven into daily life across the globe. It appears in food, cosmetics, cleaning products, biofuel, and countless household goods. Valued for its versatility, stability, and efficiency as a crop, palm oil is not going away, nor should it. When produced responsibly, it can be one of the most efficient vegetable oils in the world.

However, when palm oil is grown without sustainable standards, the environmental and social consequences can be severe. Deforestation, habitat fragmentation, and biodiversity loss, including impacts on orangutans and other wildlife, are closely linked to poorly managed expansion. The challenge before us is not to eliminate palm oil, but to transform how it is produced.

Through education, informed purchasing, and constructive engagement with businesses, we have the ability to influence supply chains. By supporting products made with certified sustainable palm oil, we send a clear signal that the market must prioritize responsible practices that protect forests, wildlife, and local communities.

Join Deborah in exploring the history and global importance of palm oil, the realities of its production, and the meaningful partnerships shaping a more sustainable future. Learn about the Bornean rainforest and the work of the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation, which collaborates with local communities and industry partners to promote sustainable land use, responsible palm oil production, and long-term forest protection.

Rather than calling for boycotts, this conversation focuses on empowerment, understanding how consumer awareness, corporate responsibility, and sustainable certification systems can work together to drive progress. When we choose to support responsible sourcing, we help create a system that adjusts to us, one that values forests, wildlife, and people alongside economic development.

Dialogue Lead: Debbie Dee

We'll discuss how existing Canadian Cultural Values can be harnessed to form new trade linkages and military defence alliances, to improve the process of climate crisis response and linked international immigration, and to expose and deny the efficacy of MAGA values in the new world we are increasingly confronting. We'll also discuss the recent efforts of a few Alberta Sovereignty NGOs and American oligarchic family foundations who are eager to promote MAGA style thinking in Canada, about so- called 'Woke Values' critiquing white supremacy, transgender denialism, the private practice of medicine in favour of 'socialized medicine,' and denial of the need for Indigenous reconciliation. 

Dialogue Lead: Michael Playfair Robinson

Let's Teach an Old Dogma some New Tricks

In this session, we will explore practical approaches to holding conversations that strengthen community trust, invite new ideas and perspectives, and bring unexamined assumptions safely into the open. At the heart of this work is a simple four-part dialogue process designed to deepen understanding and illuminate shared values. From these points of commonality, we can begin building meaningful bridges.

When practiced with care and intention, this process has the power to transform relationships. It can bring people who have previously been at odds into alignment around actions and outcomes that are generationally sustainable — culturally, environmentally, and economically.

“I know there is strength in the differences between us.
I know there is comfort where we overlap.”
— Ani DiFranco

Dialogue Lead: Maureen Mason

Join local writers Craig Turney and Levi Mymko for a workshop and discussion on writing about local history and citizen journalism. We hope to inspire others to write about local interests and politics. The pen is mightier than the sword!

Dialogue Leads: Levi Mymko and Craig Turney

Join us for a hands-on effort to protect our local ecosystems by removing invasive English Ivy. Invasive plants outcompete native vegetation, disrupt wildlife habitat, and reduce the overall health and resilience of our forest. By working together, we can help restore the balance and biodiversity of the place we all love and depend on. 

The pull is open to all ages and experience levels. We’ll provide guidance on identifying and safely removing English Ivy, along with tools, gloves and other supplies. Bring gardening gloves and garden clippers if you have them. Proper footwear and raingear are recommended to ensure everyone stays comfortable and safe while working outdoors. 

Being in the forest and giving back connects us to this place and each other.

And you might find that pulling ivy is surprisingly satisfying!!

Lead: Kate Sutherland and other members of the Valentine Mountain Ivy Pull Group

In today's society we are fed a constant stream of anti-western rhetoric.  In reality, western society is something to be looked up to and embraced. 

Dialogue Lead: Graham Welp-Ellis

Being a youth in a rural community has its rewards as well as challenges. We want to find sustainable, impactful, and lasting ways to support youth to thrive in our community. The youth are all of our future so it is important the community hears directly from us what we need, not just during this discussion but each day moving forward.

It can be difficult to access, let alone navigate, through systems to find comprehensive and inclusive care (physical, mental, emotional, sexual, etc.) Affordable housing feels like it is slipping further and further from our grasp. Funding for programs that benefit youth in our community is drying up quickly, from a local to national scale. We have a lack of accessible and intentional spaces for youth to spend time (ie. zero cost, physically accessible, stigma-free).

It can be scary navigating the world without the right kind of support. It can be discouraging to advocate for those supports and be met with misunderstanding (intentional or not). All of this has an effect on youth mental health.

We need the adults in our community to continue to come together to help uplift voices of youth as we collectively work towards a future where we can all thrive no matter our skin colour, gender identity, economic circumstances, sexual orientation, disability and more.

Dialogue Lead: Ethin Dube

We who live in qathet are ALL food-insecure. 

Whereas:

• qathet functions as an island whereby most of our food is imported from elsewhere in BC and around the world;

• even if we start producing significantly more food in qathet we will not be able to adequately feed our entire population of more than 20,000 people (not counting visitors);

• it is indisputable that food is fundamental to daily life, thus our individual and collective survival in this place is at the mercy of escalating political, economic and ecological disruption of the global food system upon which we currently rely;

• people with lower incomes feel the most vulnerable right now but concern about food security is gradually dawning on everyone -- and many realize that events well beyond our region can abruptly rupture everyone’s food supply in qathet;

• this is a complex problem involving food production, preservation, distribution, consumption and resource recovery, along with physical and mental health, emergency preparedness, local economics and several other factors that must be dealt with both individually and collectively;

• whereas it is a fundamental purpose of government to protect the people;

• whereas qathet food security is too vital to be left solely to individuals, private enterprise and charity;

Therefore:

Governments, especially our local governments, must re-arrange their priorities and intervene by adjusting their budgets to create a qathet Food Security Service in partnership with existing food providers, community organizations and related public services.

Dialogue Lead: Tom Read

What would it look like if our community responded to conflict, harm, and disagreement in ways that strengthened relationships instead of dividing us?

Across the world, communities are exploring the idea of becoming restorative cities — places where wellbeing, accountability, and belonging are supported not only through formal justice systems, but through how neighbours, families, workplaces, and organizations relate to one another every day. A restorative approach recognizes our interconnectedness and invites meaningful accountability, healing, and repair when harm occurs.

This dialogue circle invites participants to explore:

• How communities can address conflict without escalation or exclusion

• What accountability can look like outside punishment

• How restorative and transformative justice principles can guide daily life

• What it might mean for qathet to grow toward becoming a restorative community

Together, we will reflect on real-life experiences, share perspectives, and imagine practical ways we can respond to harm with care, responsibility, and collective support.

Dialogue Leads: Chelsea Friesen and Theresa Verdiel