Event Type : Speaker Series

The Power of Therefore

Who: Helen Parker

Tickets: $15/person

Helen Parker is a film and television producer and a screenwriter. She is in the 2% club. That’s the 2% of screenwriters whose work is licensed in Hollywood. Her aim of a Hollywood Oscar nomination is lofty but to even get this far, Helen’s extraordinary career needed a driving force. Helen calls it the “Power of Therefore”.

We all know the value of setting and achieving goals – but why is this rarely enough? When one action triggers another action – the therefore effect kicks in.

Helen’s incredible career has taken her to: 17 countries, she has filmed in Moscow with the elite hockey players of the 72 Summit series as a guest of Putin, had tea in Buckingham palace with the Royal family, flown test flights in new planes (filled with water ballast) with Qantas pilots in France, been to Peace Keeping Zones with the Australian military, filmed in three prisons, interviewed three Prime Ministers in the Prime Minister’s office. Helen has flown 250 hours in helicopters – doors off while filming, mustered cattle in the Outback, interviewed mafia members, she swam in crocodile infested waters and was given exclusive access to Red Bull’s Formula One garage and pit crew during an F1 grand prix event (Team Weber).

Helen’s first career goal was to get a job in ABC TV in the national newsroom which she did at age 19… against thousands of applicants. That role lit a flame and therefore opened doors to extraordinary adventures and a life of learning that Helen shares with corporate teams and associations.

The Telling Our Stories Speakers Series, in cooperation with the Haliburton Highlands Healthy Democracy Project and with the support of Places for People, has planned a “pop-up” presentation in advance of this year’s Municipal Election. Dave Meslin author of Teardown: Rebuilding Democracy from The Ground Up, will be our guest speaker.

2026 is an election year for Haliburton County and we’ll have the opportunity to elect our municipal councils in Minden Hills, Algonquin Highlands, Dysart et al and Highlands East. Local elections present an incredible opportunity for local residents to make their voices heard about important issues such as housing, conservation, health services, economic development, road safety, tax spending and more.

Sadly, the vast majority of citizens don’t tend to participate. Municipal voter turnout is often below 30% and the 2022 elections in Haliburton even saw some positions “acclaimed” – which means there was no election at all.

Dave Meslin has spent the last 25 years researching and experimenting with ways to boost civic participation, especially at the local municipal level. Through stories, Dave will remind us why it’s important to get involved: Not just to vote, but to get engaged earlier as a volunteer or even as a candidate! Dave’s ideas and proposals will help us build a culture of engagement in 2026, across the County.

The Accidental Canadian

Who: Dr. James Raffan

Tickets: $15/person

This year, 2025, marks the 50^th year in a row that writer and explorer James Raffan will have spent at least part of the year travelling, researching and learning in the Arctic.To celebrate this career milestone, James has written a one-man musical show he’s calling The Accidental Canadian, referring to the fact that his British parents flipped a coin after WWII to decide whether to emigrate to South Africa or Canada.That coin toss made James and his three sisters “accidental Canadians” and, since he was old enough to venture out on his own, James has been travelling to the most remote corners of the Arctic by every conceivable means—canoe, dogsled, icebreaker, floatplane, snowmobile and on foot—returning with stories that have found their way into books, films, radio documentaries, magazine articles, and countless presentations including his popular Storyfest series that, since 2010, has raised tens of thousands of dollars for community development through the Seeley’s Bay and Area Residents Association.

With overtones of the growing Elbows Up initiative, The Accidental Canadian is a light-hearted yet thought-provoking show for all ages with stories, images and songs animated with James’ trademark mix of humour and erudition.Adding to his usual mix of sounds and images, this presentation will feature several stories written into original songs that will be sprinkled throughout the show and performed live. .As with all of JR’s presentations, this show will take you to places you’ll likely never see and introduce audiences to people and voices they would likely never hear—all part of the incredible country that The Accidental Canadian has discovered in half a century of rambling and writing in the Great White North. James will charm you, inform you, make you laugh and cry, and perhaps help you get a new appreciation of Canada through his reflections on a lifetime of Arctic experience.

Dr. James Raffan is a cultural geographer and writer who has produced more than twenty books, including bestsellers like Fire in the Bones, Circling the Midnight Sun, Deep Waters, Bark, Skin & Cedar, Emperor of the North and Ice Walker. He has created documentaries on a variety of northern subjects and has written for film, radio and media outlets including National Geographic, Canadian Geographic, Up Here, The Walrus, The Globe and Mail as well as for CBC and The Discovery Channel. This work has been recognized with nominations and awards including the Queen’s Golden and Diamond Jubilee medals and Canada’s Meritorious Service Medal for his foundational work in bringing the Canadian Canoe Museum in Peterborough, Ontario onto the national stage. James and his wife, Gail Simmons, live in the Rideau Lakes District of Eastern Ontario where they raised two daughters and continue to be active in as community volunteers.

The Olympics and the Future of Sport in Canada

Who: Scott Russell

Tickets: $15/person

Scott Russell will share stories of his experiences covering the Olympic Games over the years. He is also looking to the future. He appeared before the Future of Sport in Canada Commission and will be attending the National Summit in Ottawa in September. As you know, sport is under the microscope right now because of various transgressions but also because of the spectre of sports gambling and an increasingly sedentary youth. The Canadian sports system needs a way forward. That’s what we’re looking at and Scott has some opinions about that.

Bio

A Canadian Screen Award and Gemini Award-winning broadcaster and acclaimed author, Scott Russell brought nearly 40 years of experience, passion and knowledge to his role as co-host of CBC Sports Presents. Russell’s unparalleled enthusiasm for amateur sport shines through in every aspect of his work.

Graduated from Western University in London, Ontario with an Honours B.A in History, a Bachelor of Education, and an M.A in Journalism.

After joining CBC Charlottetown in 1985 as a news reporter, Russell turned to sports in 1986 and quickly established himself as a talent. From 1988 to 1992, he was a sports reporter and anchor for CBC in Montreal until he moved to Toronto as a network sports commentator. The longtime host of the weekly show CBC SPORTS PRESENTS, Russell has covered 17 Olympic Games for CBC, including seven as host, and also led the network’s coverage of six Pan Am Games, six Commonwealth Games, two FIFA World Cups and two FIFA Women’s World Cups. In addition, Russell was a host and rink-side reporter for CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada for 14 years.

Also an acclaimed author of three books, Russell has earned numerous accolades throughout his broadcast career, including a Canadian Screen Award and Gemini Award with 15 nominations, a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for his contributions to sports in Canada, the George Gross Award for Outstanding Broadcasting from Sports Media Canada, a Medal of Distinction from Toronto Sports Hall of Honour and a CBC President’s Award in the Brand Champion category in recognition of his dedication and enthusiasm for his work covering amateur athletics for the network. He is an honorary board member of the Paralympic Foundation of Canada, an advisory board member for the International Centre for Olympic Studies at Western University, and is the fifth Chancellor of Nipissing University, North Bay, Ontario, from where he holds an honorary doctorate (D.Lit.).

An active runner, Russell completed the Boston Marathon in 2005 and in 2012, was awarded a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for his contributions to sports in Canada. He currently lives in Toronto with his wife, Catherine.

The Samurai in Our Closet

Who: Mandy Shintani and Susan Yatabe

Tickets: $15/person

What if the most powerful story you ever learned was the one your family never told you?

Mandy Shintani grew up with a secret hidden in her parents’ closet — her father, George Shintani had a 450-year-old samurai sword that was never discussed. After his death at 97, Mandy began uncovering untold stories of Japanese Canadians through the lens of his life. That journey now shapes her podcast series.

In this presentation, Mandy will share highlights from her podcast, The Samurai in Our Closet, including her travels to retrace George’s life, to pre-war Japantown in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, a bus tour through remote internment sites in BC, and interviews with writers, historians and over 70 Japanese Canadians. Through this journey, she reveals a little-known chapter of Canadian history. Before WWII, Japanese Canadians played a vital role in building the economy in BC. But after Pearl Harbor, under the War Measures Act, 22,000 Japanese Canadians were uprooted with as little as 24 to 48 hours’ notice. Mandy’s father’s family was exiled to Sandon, a ghost town in BC’s mountains.

Susan Yatabe will relate her mother’s experience during internment in Kaslo as a teenaged grade 3 teacher. Some of the former students, now in their 90s, have shared their stories with Susan. Mothers and young women provided education and a sense of community in the prison camps.

Ironically, Mandy’s and Susan’s father and uncle — labeled “enemy aliens” — were recruited by the Canadian & British Intelligence Corps. As young men, they were trained initially as spies and later assigned to interrogate Japanese officers accused in one of WWII’s most infamous war crimes: the building of the Bridge on the River Kwai in Siam (Thailand). Mandy’s father received a samurai sword from a surrendered Japanese officer.

After the war, Japanese Canadians faced two cruel choices: move east of the Rockies or be deported to Japan. Despite losing everything, they rebuilt their lives with quiet resilience, focused on protecting the next generation through integration and silence — which led to the loss of their stories and culture.

Today, their children and grandchildren are reclaiming those hidden stories. The Samurai in Our Closet is not just about reclaiming the past — it’s a powerful reminder of what happens when fear and politics override civil rights. It’s a story of resilience, recovery, and why those lessons still matter today.

About the Speakers

Mandy Shintani lives in Vancouver, BC. She is the chairperson of the Japanese Canadian War Memorial Committee.

Susan Yatabe has been the researcher for the Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre’s Warrior Spirit website and the podcast. She presented an exhibit at Kaslo’s Langham Museum based on her mother’s wartime experience as a teacher.

Both Mandy and Susan received Japanese Canadian Legacies Society (JCLS) grants: Mandy for her podcast, and Susan for documenting her mother’s story as a teacher.

Life Inside a Cult of Obedience

Who: Sarah Patrick

Tickets: $15/person

“Sarah Patrick’s searching and heartfelt memoir throws open the door on one of Canada’s most notorious cults. Through meticulous research and unflinching self-examination, Patrick reveals how Grenville Christian College, and the Community of Jesus preyed on her youthful insecurities and her need to belong, shaping her into a perfect monster of obedience, complicity, and self-hatred. Binding Shame will horrify and enrage you, yes. But it will also ferry you toward the healing that comes with truth, accountability, and forgiveness. A fearless, important book.” – Sarah Henstra, Governor General’s Literary Award for The Red Word, Professor of English at Metropolitan Toronto University

Update

Congratulations to Sarah Patrick for winning the 2025 Dianne Casoni International Award — Popular Literature Category award for her book.

Bio

Sarah was raised in Toronto, the child of a British war bride and a father who worked as an addiction counsellor. At 16, she attended Grenville Christian College in Brockville, ON, which was recognized for its “tough love” approach to Christian education. Upon graduation, she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Drama and English from Queen’s University. Sarah began her professional journey as a publicist in Toronto in the early 1980s, focusing on theatre, dance, and visual arts. She eventually returned to her high school in Brockville to teach English, drama, and history, holding that role for 16 years. In 2001, she relocated to Toronto to work as an executive assistant in commercial real estate, a role she held for eleven years. In 2007, students from her former school initiated a class action lawsuit alleging damages due to the cult-like abuse they experienced there. This prompted Sarah to pen her memoir, Binding Shame: Life Inside a Cult of Obedience, as a way to understand and process her experience as both a student and staff member in a religious cult. In 2014, she relocated from Toronto to Algonquin Highlands, purchasing a historic farmhouse that had once belonged to well-known local trapper James Sawyer. Sarah and her husband, Steve, converted the house into “Sawyer’s Creek Bed and Breakfast,” which they ran for five years before retiring in December 2024.