Blyth hosts Rural Talks to Rural conference, bring rural Canadians together
BY SCOTT STEPHENSON
Last week, delegates, dignitaries, artists and honoured guests gathered together for some collective brainstorming at Blyth Memorial Hall as part of the fifth biennial Rural Talks to Rural (R2R) conference. Ten years ago, when the R2R Conference first began, it had a simple but radical goal - to bring together people from different rural communities in one place so they could collectively consider potential solutions to the issues that mattered most to them. This year’s conference brought in visitors from as nearby as down the street and from as far away as Scotland to discuss this year’s theme: “Exploring Our Differences Together.”
As the conference began to come together in the Lower Hall, visitors were offered a caffeine boost from local roaster Coastal Coffee, and encouraged to explore the multimedia exhibition of artwork from The Grand River Community Play Project (GRCPP) that was being installed in the Bainton Gallery. The exhibit included community quilts, puppets, handmade costumes, mosaics, drawings and paintings.
One of those GRCPP artists, actor Austin Silversmith of the Cayuga Nation Wolf Clan offered a bilingual thanksgiving address that thanked the earth, plants and animals for sustaining life and providing nourishment. His stirring words were accompanied by a delicious Middle Eastern meal provided by Khawla’s Kitchen of Goderich.
As the lunch plates were cleared, Warden Glen McNeil offered some post-lunch welcoming remarks. “A little bit of context on Huron County - we are the leading county in Ontario for agricultural value products. And we are all very proud of that. And I would like to also suggest that our most important crop in Huron County is our youth. They are our future. We make decisions not only for today, but for the next generations.”
Following additional remarks from Minister of Rural Affairs and Huron-Bruce MPP Lisa Thompson and event organizer Peter Smith, the event moved upstairs for the opening keynote speech, entitled ‘“What Does It Mean to Meet This Moment in Time?” by rural futurist Dr. S. Ashleigh Weeden. While the idea of “meeting this moment in time” may have made guests feel like they were in for a standard motivational speech, Dr. Weeden’s remarks, though motivating, were anything but standard. “I’ve been asked to consider what it means to meet this moment,” she began, “and being with you here, in this space, is a moment I don’t want to waste…. To be honest, the world is on fire, and people are suffering in immeasurable and unnecessary ways, and we’re all letting ourselves be distracted by snake oil salesmen on all sides of the political and philosophical matrix. If the work that you're doing today, or next week, is more focused on producing a shiny sizzler reel, or a three-word slogan that you put across stock footage, than it is on solving real problems for real people, then it’s time for a wake-up call... we are failing. That means you, and that means me. Big red Fs all around.”
She went on to point out that none of us really know what we’re doing, and that failing is a good chance to try something different. She asked everybody to consider the stories they tell themselves about themselves, and why they tell them. “Everything, besides the laws of nature, is entirely made up. There is no such thing as the laws of economics. There is no inevitable order of things, really, and there’s no gospel from the mount. We have literally created everything around us, through the stories we tell, and we have the ability to create something new.”
She warned against the trap of considering one’s own actions as somehow separate from the actions of one’s community and the society of which they are a part. Dr. Weeden then shared poetry, personal stories about the moments that shaped her, and advice on how we can begin planning new ways of being and thinking. “We cannot pretend that everything is business as usual when the world is on fire, and there is not a damn thing that is inevitable except for death. The world we live in today is the result of millions and millions of choices and decisions... we can say that we value healthcare, or justice, or equality, or anything at all, but if we’re not willing to invest time, resources and effort into maintaining those things, then we don’t really value them.” she concluded. The standing ovation she received at the end of her powerful speech may have been started by Warden McNeil, but the rest of the audience was right behind him.
After the keynote speech, guests broke into groups for creative brainstorming sessions and snacks, which were provided by Pine Cafe and Bistro from right across the street.
The final event of the day was an interactive theatre piece from Porte Parole Productions out of Montreal. Documentary theatre facilitators Alex Ivanovici and Brett Watson were accompanied on stage by a variety of thought leaders, including locals like organic farmer Katrina McQuail, NDP riding representative Angela Keeley, and entrepreneur John Marshall. The group sat at a long table and had a dinner party-style discussion about rural issues like the housing crisis, unemployment, income inequality, and a lack of transportation. As part of their process, Ivanovici and Watson recorded the conversation, which will now potentially be turned into a play, with professional actors playing the community members who participated.
Following the fictional ‘dinner party’ there was a real-life pizza party courtesy of Wingham’s Cornerstone Pizza in the lower hall, which signaled the conclusion of the opening day of the 2024 R2R conference.