tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25607286615888809272016-09-26T05:12:37.649-04:00Willkommen, bienvenue, welcome!Tim Querengessernoreply@blogger.comBlogger100125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2560728661588880927.post-66042296012617859402013-08-25T12:47:00.000-04:002013-08-25T12:55:36.917-04:00

A newcomer to a city sees illogical things. These are things a long term resident doesn't see, or more likely is just tired of complaining about. As I biked home from the bustling and surprisingly car-free Edmonton Fringe Festival on Saturday, my new to Edmonton eyes saw one such thing. It was a red, German-built, two-car Hannover tram. The '70s era train and its many passengers were headed

Tim Querengessernoreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2560728661588880927.post-66973306571004237432013-05-17T10:48:00.002-04:002013-05-17T10:48:35.772-04:00

As of May 16, the group that assembled to begin work on Pedway mapping (13 people at the first meeting, and about 35 emails of interest -- this project has touched a nerve) has decided to begin work on a wayfinding pilot project focused on improving signage, data collection, online features and design in a downtown Edmonton location. The group will now work under the title of The Edmonton

Tim Querengessernoreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2560728661588880927.post-42930300265556315242013-03-23T19:48:00.000-04:002013-03-23T19:48:09.693-04:00

If you've ended up here after clicking on 'Support' at the Make Something Edmonton site, thanks for coming. To help with this project, send me an email and we'll discuss setting up a group meeting for all who are keen to see it happen. Then we'll decide what to do next. Cheers, Tim

Tim Querengessernoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2560728661588880927.post-47614879101879229052013-02-19T14:18:00.000-05:002013-02-21T11:47:54.868-05:00

Today, the snow-crusted supply road that winds north of Attawapiskat to the Victor diamond mine has a new blockade, right where the last one was only recently dismantled. Blockades are yet again costing mine-owner De Beers, as well as Canadians, mineral revenues, royalties, and taxes. Unfortunately in Canada, blockade stories typically begin and end like this. With Indigenous peoples ‘costing’

Tim Querengessernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2560728661588880927.post-17903402912648236122013-01-24T12:17:00.000-05:002013-01-28T17:25:21.128-05:00

Thanks to woeful tales of seemingly gold plated Zambonis in remote reserves, many Canadians have responded to recent calls for an improved relationship between Indigenous peoples and Ottawa as something that's too expensive to consider. The perception is that improvements will cost big bucks, and ultimately hurt Canada's economy. But few have pondered what the costs of maintaining the status

Tim Querengessernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2560728661588880927.post-83245818219149314022013-01-16T21:05:00.002-05:002013-01-25T13:33:45.381-05:00

Say, are you an upsettler from Ottawapiskat? Following its conception from within the belly of social media, Idle No More has been born onto Canada's streets. Nonetheless, its ideas still continue to develop and agitate within the bullpens of Twitter and Facebook. There, unlike the blockades on Canadian rail lines on Wednesday, battles are being fought using a new language, one that's attempting

Tim Querengessernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2560728661588880927.post-50210145086357287272013-01-16T09:51:00.000-05:002013-01-16T11:34:29.140-05:00

Back in 2004, I moved from Ontario to Whitehorse for a job as a reporter at an Aboriginal radio station. The first thing I had to do was learn the names of 14 First Nations, whose territory makes up what we call the Yukon. In that world, fluency with the nation names and understanding of where the various communities were located throughout the Yukon was critical. It was my first immersion in a

Tim Querengessernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2560728661588880927.post-58714485116212977272013-01-12T14:58:00.000-05:002013-01-25T13:34:09.391-05:00

In the 1870s a federal fire sale—160-acres of land in exchange for $10 and a pinky-sworn promise to farm it—saw Canada's settlement frontier explode west of Lake Superior. Over the next 60 years more than 470,000 square-kilometres of prairie land was given away to homesteading immigrants like this. Now who'd like to talk government hand-outs?  The tensions between settlers and Indigenous

Tim Querengessernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2560728661588880927.post-48757234150172677752013-01-06T15:33:00.002-05:002013-01-06T15:35:15.784-05:00

A friend from Yellowknife posted this comment (below) on Facebook. To me it highlights the power of land claims and self-government agreements, which have been largely unexamined in the current Idle No More media discourse. Though modern land claims are not perfect—not by far—my friend's comment about Aboriginal people having access to "all levels of the government" in the NWT is absolutely

Tim Querengessernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2560728661588880927.post-11210786681047320462013-01-02T14:39:00.001-05:002013-01-02T15:06:55.827-05:00

This Idle No More epiphany was written by horror author Thomas D. Taylor. It's an interesting commentary about being taught to hate First Nations people, especially considering what's being said at the Sun News Network's Facebook page. Rather than post a new epiphany, I'll add one I just found in the comments section to this story at Al Jazeera English. I am in strong support of the Idle No

Tim Querengessernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2560728661588880927.post-26009413332548550992012-12-31T19:00:00.000-05:002013-01-13T13:44:27.761-05:00

Here's a quick resource for journalists or bloggers writing about #IdleNoMore. For those looking for a resource that explores the relationship between First Nations governments and Canada, the best (in my opinion) is the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP). The RCAP published its final report and recommendations in 1996. Unlike so many other reports, studies, and dialogues on this

Tim Querengessernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2560728661588880927.post-63710564928463318042012-12-31T17:40:00.001-05:002012-12-31T17:43:10.094-05:00

The #Idlenomore epiphanies just keep on popping up. Here's one from the blog Hacker Tourism. Blogger Pete Forde wrote it from a train that's been blockaded by an #Idlenomore protest. My favourite line: "It’s not guilt that I feel — I didn’t choose this outcome. What I feel is disgust at how this could have happened just hours from where I live, while I enjoy the full privilege of my Colonial

Tim Querengessernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2560728661588880927.post-62185948686930863712012-12-31T14:04:00.000-05:002012-12-31T14:04:28.621-05:00

As I've written here, #IdleNoMore is not just an 'Aboriginal' thing. It's a colonialism thing. Which means it's a Canadian thing. As #IdleNoMore actions break out across Canada, I'm finding it interesting to watch Canadians change their minds and confront some of their internal beliefs and shakily-built stereotypes. Here is yet another Canadian epiphany that's been published after #IdleNoMore

Tim Querengessernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2560728661588880927.post-2120694681175168752012-12-29T19:53:00.000-05:002012-12-29T20:33:29.402-05:00

To most media outlets, Idle No More is portrayed as an 'Indian thing'—even though Wab Kinew effectively argued why it isn't. Despite this portrayal, it's abundantly clear to me as a Caucasian Canadian that Idle No More is simply about colonialism. And colonialism clearly isn't an Indian thing. It's a Canadian thing. As Canadians, we've all been shaped and affected by colonialism. It doesn't

Tim Querengessernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2560728661588880927.post-66293544070986008272012-11-16T10:27:00.002-05:002012-11-16T10:30:51.041-05:00

On Thursday, The Globe and Mail's Facts & Arguments section, long one of my favourites, published an essay I wrote. Here's the link. Naturally, I checked in with the story after a day on the Globe's site and had a read of what people said about it. Reader comments on news sites fascinate me. They reveal so many things about people—what they think, what gets them angry, what threatens them,

Tim Querengessernoreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2560728661588880927.post-84646811197359110862012-09-20T21:24:00.001-04:002012-09-20T21:37:25.928-04:00

Well, I asked and I received: My recent post of a friend's most-excellent smack-down on Facebook against anti-Aboriginal small-mindedness created a large response. So large that I asked others in the Twitterverse to copy, paste and send me similar debates or arguments they've had on social media that erupted over Aboriginal issues. Here's one that I received. This person has changed names and

Tim Querengessernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2560728661588880927.post-21884471887613169782012-09-20T10:23:00.000-04:002012-09-20T10:52:54.641-04:00

A friend of mine, who has worked for a First Nation in the Yukon, posted a link to a Globe story on his Facebook wall yesterday that worries aloud that Conservative funding cuts to Aboriginal governments could "strangle self-government in its infancy." That's when the trolls arrived on the scene. These anti-Aboriginal trolls seem to be everywhere in Canada, filling comment sections on news sites

Tim Querengessernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2560728661588880927.post-58586017606579385902012-08-14T14:42:00.001-04:002012-08-14T15:36:36.724-04:00

One of my favourite anecdotes from 10 years working as a journalist is a question I was asked dozens of times. As I'd interview someone, with nothing but a notepad and pen in hand, they'd ask, "So, when is this going to be on television?" I'd look over my shoulder, hinting that there were no television cameras with me. Some kind of laughed self-consciously at this, but the vast majority just

Tim Querengessernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2560728661588880927.post-5466081603157822052012-07-26T11:09:00.002-04:002012-07-26T11:11:11.039-04:00

Sometimes you just write for no reason, for no intended audience, simply because you love to write. This reflective essay is inspired by my feelings and emotions toward Yellowknife, a city that is my home but not my home. *** Everyone knows this is home for you because they see that it fits you better than your oldest shirt, even though it isn't home. At least that's what feels obvious to you

Tim Querengessernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2560728661588880927.post-50880844431596278852012-07-24T03:29:00.004-04:002012-07-24T03:43:18.156-04:00

Like most writers I consume more news than the average person. But stories like the recent shooting at a screening of 'Batman: The Dark Knight Rises' in Colorado are something I sidestep for at least a few days after they break. I avoid clicking for several reasons: For one, the stories are part of American mythology. I know the sad, heart-wrenching storyline before reading a word. But for

Tim Querengessernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2560728661588880927.post-41163363270635946222012-06-28T11:14:00.001-04:002012-06-28T11:26:56.326-04:00

Always eager to grasp my take on Canada, my girlfriend recently started reading Marie Wadden's Where the Pavement Ends: Canada's Aboriginal Recovery Movement and the Urgent Need for Reconciliation. At first I was excited by this prospect. Then I picked up the book. A quick read of its back cover and opening pages, as well as a chat with my girlfriend — who has already put Where the Pavement Ends

Tim Querengessernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2560728661588880927.post-12318023474108680882012-06-15T13:06:00.000-04:002012-06-15T13:08:01.470-04:00

For the last few years I've mulled a creative idea that came to me one night at a bar in Yellowknife. In a nutshell, the idea is a drama, either as a television series or a feature film, loosely based on the fur trade in the North. My idea's big twist—and you always need one of those—is that Aboriginal stories and characters will be at the centre of my fur trade narrative rather than pushed to

Tim Querengessernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2560728661588880927.post-78532861143850320642012-06-14T23:41:00.000-04:002012-06-18T12:49:36.845-04:00

Recently, I took a Brian Henry writing workshop that explained the nuances of the publishing industry for wannabe book-writers like myself. One of the assignments Brian gave us was to go to a book store and imagine our book on the shelves. What section is our book in? What are the books beside it like? Who published them? What agents got these writers their deals with these book publishers?

Tim Querengessernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2560728661588880927.post-71393623336319856272012-03-08T11:31:00.000-05:002012-06-14T22:53:16.993-04:00

Colonization has left behind oddities that don't compute with our modern understandings of the world. Take Canada. The first branch of the Bank of Nova Scotia was built in Jamaica, not Canada. Thank the colonial trade in rum and fish for that trivia tidbit. And this one: A short ferry ride from Newfoundland will deliver you to sovereign French territory, where it's possible to pay for your pack

Tim Querengessernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2560728661588880927.post-34563253524916623242011-12-14T11:07:00.000-05:002012-06-14T20:40:21.705-04:00

Pitching a story for a magazine is in many ways harder than writing a the story itself. The following pitch has been through countless drafts and has been sent to friends for comments and criticisms. And despite all of that, I have no idea whether any of the editor's I've pitched will bite. So enjoy a pitch for a story that may never be written.***Query: One child fallacyMore than 40 per cent of

Tim Querengessernoreply@blogger.com0