Told in their own voice
‘What’s Your Story – A Canada 2017 Yearbook’ features the work of two Islanders
Two Prince Edward Islanders are featured in a new publication, ‘’What’s Your Story – A Canada 2017 Yearbook”.
The book features stories from Stuart Hickox, a Prince Edward Islander who lives in Ottawa and Christina Murrayof Cornwall, P.E.I.
Published by CBC/Radio Canada, the hardcover book is a collection of profiles and portraits received from Canadians in every province and territory, of all ages and from diverse cultural backgrounds. The special project showcases Canadians and the connections they have to each other in the sesquicentennial.
What: “What’s Your Story – A Canada 2017 Yearbook”. Published: CBC/Radio-Canada with Mosaic Press.
Website: Go to https://2017guide.cbc.ca/item/yearbook/
Available in both official languages as a single edition, it includes more than 150 stories, perspectives and photographs that create a ‘’fastinating snapshot of the people, places, things and events that tell a story of who we are now and where we are headed together as a nation, a news release states.
“As Canada’s public broadcaster, we have been at the heart of the country’s 150th anniversary of Confederation with a special lineup of programing, live events and partnerships,” said Hubert T. Lacroix, president and CEO of CBC/ Radio-Canada.
“We provided a public space for Canadians to have a voice, to share their stories and to connect with each other. We’re grateful for each of the stories we received.”
This limited edition yearbook is available to the public at Indigo (online at Indigo), Chapters, Coles and independent booksellers for $29.99.
A downloadable, digital version is also available at http:// www.cbc.radio-canada.ca/en/ explore/2017.
Here are their stories, excerpted with permission from ‘’What’s Your Story – A Canada 2017 Yearbook’’, published by CBC/Radio-Canada and Mosaic Press:
BY CHRISTINA MURRAY
I do a lot of travel internationally for work, and last year I went to India and worked in a very remote, rural area.
I felt such pride to be a Canadian woman in an area where people dream of going to Canada.
It was in that rural and remote area that I really saw myself through others’ eyes in terms of what it means to be Canadian. As a woman, the opportunities that I have as my birthright came shining through. Time after time, people told me their dream was to come to Canada.
I think Canadians need to pay more attention to issues facing people in our country, like extreme poverty and lack of access to clean water and adequate health care. These things really impact individuals, families and communities across our nation.
Canada, for me, is opportunity, potential and endless possibilities. I want people to know you can set your sights on any dreams and they can become real in Canada. As a girl who grew up on a potato field in a small rural community and who eventually got a PhD and travelled the world, I know that anything is possible in this country.
BY STUART HICKOX
There’s a shameless idealism at the heart of Canada. It’s who we are.
When I was a kid in Grade 7 in Winsloe, Prince Edward Island, my bus driver ran a wire from the front of the bus to the emergency exit where I sat and put a speaker there so I could listen to CBC news on the way to school and back.
One night a babysitter took me and my sister to a rally to hear former Conservative Prime Minister Joe Clark speak. The place was packed, there was a lot of energy in the room and I was an 11-year-old kid. I’d never really heard someone talk about P.E.I. within the context of Canada. It was quite amazing and eye opening. And I started to think about my place in the world a little differently.
Afterwards, Joe Clark came out of the rally and saw me and my sister holding signs. He came right over to us, got down on our level, and very humbly spent a little time chatting with us.
I went to Carleton University in Ottawa because I thought I needed to follow Joe’s footsteps and be prime minister. Well, that didn’t happen, obviously, but I have found myself working in organizations that very much represent the kind of values that I sense were his – helping connect people in their communities to causes that they believe in and empowering people to believe that simple actions matter, that everyone’s voice counts, and that what we do in our neighbourhoods can have an impact not just locally and in our country, but around the world.
Now that Canada’s 150th birthday is here and we’re hearing a new prime minister taking a feminist approach to help women and girls, people in need, and the most vulnerable, I say: “Hell, yeah. I’m with you, buddy.”
But I don’t think I should say, “Hey, buddy” to the prime minister.