Joint Conference Day 1 : May 4th
Collaboration
Whether fighting against climate change, making steps towards truth and reconciliation, or recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, our sector is strongest when we work together. Join colleagues from across the province to discuss strategies for successful and lasting collaboration. Break down silos, build meaningful relationships, and explore strategies for finding allies to create change.
Theme sponsored by the British Columbia General Employees’ Union
Opening Remarks
Anchor Speaker – Weaving Our Stories Together
9:30am – 11:15 AM
How can we weave our stories together? As more and more Canadians confront the truths of settler colonialism and the erasures, dispossession, and violence which Indigenous people have experienced, how can we find paths forward? Current conversations in decolonizing heritage, in recognizing Indigenous title and rights, in facing truths, offer the chance for listening and redress. In this talk, Kamala Todd, a Métis-Cree filmmaker, community planner, and Indigenous cultural heritage specialist will share thoughts on decolonizing heritage, building relationships and healing, with examples of her own learning and work on Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh territories. Some topic areas will include UNDRIP, MOUs/co-management agreements, rethinking commemoration, and honouring Indigenous people’s self-determination.
Opening Remarks by:
Miranda Jimmy
Miranda Jimmy
Miranda Jimmy is a passionate Edmontonian and member of Thunderchild First Nation. She is a community connector and fierce defender of truth. Miranda is committed to the spirit and intent of the Treaty relationship and finds ways each day to demonstrate to others what this looks like.
Miranda’s professional life has focused on contributing to her community in a variety of ways. She has training in arts and cultural management, conflict resolution and negotiation, and communications. She has made a career in the arts and heritage sector, working with many different non-profit organizations, nations, governments, and private businesses. Currently, Miranda works remotely for the National Trust for Canada part time along with managing a variety of other heritage projects and contracts.
Most of the time, Miranda can be found online sharing her thoughts and amplifying the experiences of Indigenous Peoples on Twitter @TheMirandaJimmy and on her blog at MirandaJimmy.com.
Kamala Jasmine Todd
Director, Indigenous City Media
Kamala Todd is a Métis-Cree mother, community planner, curator, and filmmaker born and raised in the beautiful lands of the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ and Skwxwú7mesh-speaking people (aka Vancouver). She is adjunct professor at SFU Urban Studies and UBC SCARP. She was the City of Vancouver’s first Indigenous Arts and Culture Planner. Her film credits include Welcome to Our Homelands, Cedar and Bamboo, RELAW: Living Indigenous Laws, and Indigenous Plant Diva. She advises local governments and other organizations on decolonizing with a focus on planning, heritage, public art, education, and other areas of systemic colonialism.
Panel – Government Partnerships & Advocacy
How to build successful culture and heritage organization partnerships with local governments and advocate for your institution within a municipal context.
11:15am – 12:30 PM
This panel will feature examples from big and small locales across the province, and include provincial, municipal and first nations government partnerships. Join in to hear about lessons learned from the government and non-for-profit sides of collaborative work in conserving heritage, uplifting marginalized community history and more.
Panelist discussion will dive into how to navigate partnership, including getting government stakeholders excited about heritage/culture institutions and projects, and how to navigate partisanship within different governments.
Looking to the upcoming municipal elections across the province, panelists will also weigh in on how to navigate election cycles : How elections affect our organizations, and examples of advocacy for local, provincial, and national elections.
Key Themes in Heritage: Heritage planning, heritage management.
Moderated By:
Stephanie Halapija
Executive Director, Gulf of Georgia Cannery
Charlayne Thornton-Joe
City Councillor, City of Victoria
Charlayne Thornton-Joe is a third generation Victorian. She attended University of Victoria where she received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Pacific and Asian Studies. She was elected to Council in 2002 and before that time she was employed in the hospitality industry.
Charlayne is a council liaison for Victoria Civic Heritage Trust and Victoria Heritage Foundation. She also served the Chinese community in various roles. She was a director on the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association and member of the Victoria Chinatown Lioness, serving four terms as President. She currently is a member of the the Chinese Freemasons and a new club called The Jade Phoenix Club.
In February 2022, a long desired dream of Charlayne’s became a reality when the Chinese Canadian Museum opened the Fan Tan Alley exhibit in the oldest Chinatown in Canada. Even more exciting for her was to be chosen as the Visitor Experience and Facilities Coordinator for this new exhibit
Tracy Calogheros
Chief Executive Officer, The Exploration Place
Suzan Hewat
Mayor, Village of Kaslo
Suzan has lived Kaslo for over 40 years and is in her 2nd term as Mayor and in her 17th year on Council. In addition to her role as Mayor, she has worked full time as an accounting technician for the past 20 years. She is the Regional District representative, Chair of the West Kootenay-Boundary Regional Hospital District and a committee member on the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.
As a member of the City Hall Restoration Committee, Suzan helped raised funds to renovate the deteriorating City Hall, one of Kaslo’s two National Historic sites. It took over 10 years but in 2018, the renovations were completed in time for Kaslo’s 125th birthday. As Mayor, Suzan works to ensure that Kaslo’s heritage values are represented in their downtown Heritage Zone. She is currently a member of the Events Committee which has been celebrating Heritage Week over the past 2 years virtually by showcasing the many heritage assets in the area.
Suzan manages Kaslo Now the popular local facebook page dedicated to sharing Kaslo’s history.
Roundtable – Emergency Preparedness & Resilience
1:00 – 2:15 PM
How to collaborate on emergency preparedness and find partners within your community to become more resilient. With examples of grassroots mutual aid, community-partnered emergency preparedness plans and a look into what partnership and resiliency looks like from the provincial perspective.
Panelists will share experiences and advice on how to build and maintain strong relationships to rely on in emergencies. Plus, they will discuss their lessons learned in the past years building their emergency preparedness toolkits, particularly in relation to succession planning.
Key Themes in Heritage: Heritage conservation
Moderated By:
Tara Fraser
Steering Committee Member, BC HERN
Conservator, Vancouver Art Gallery
Tara Fraser holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in History, a BFA in Fine Arts and a Certificate in chemistry from the University of Saskatchewan and Master of Art Conservation from Queen’s University (Kingston, Ontario). She has worked in the conservation labs of Oxford University, the Saskatchewan Archives Board, Queen’s University Archives, and was Conservation Consultant at the Smithsonian Institution Archives in Washington, D.C.
Tara has written over 50 institutional disaster plans, developed and lead numerous disaster workshops for archives and museums and has been involved in the salvage and response of a range of disasters, in small to large cultural institutions.
Tara is co-founder of Fraser Spafford Ricci, is currently the Head of the Conservation department at the Vancouver Art Gallery and a member of the BC HERN Steering Committee.
Drew Blaney
Culture & Heritage Manager, Tla’amin Nation
Carrie Chard
Operations Manager, Barkerville Historic Town & Park
Fire Chief, Wells Volunteer Fire Brigade, District of Wells, BC
Carrie Chard works out of the main Barkerville Townsite (86km east of Quesnel) and manages and oversees Cottonwood Historic Site (32km east Of Quesnel). Carrie grew up in Abbotsford before heading north in 1995 in search of adventure. She earned a business degree and has since worked in and learned about a number of disparate industries including restaurants, sales, and forestry. Carrie worked in a sawmill and planer as well as a pulp and paper mill. Many years of heavy industrial work, safety planning, firefighting, heavy equipment operation, and a Red Seal brought her to where she is today. Growing up and visiting Barkerville and Cottonwood House with her family every summer, Carrie finds it surreal to be responsible for protection and security of these amazing places that hold so many personal memories.
Roger Tinney
Manager of Stewardship and Historic Place Operations, Provincial Heritage Branch
Roger Tinney has been working in heritage planning and design for over 30 years. Formerly Principal at Tinney and Associates for land planning and design, Roger now works at the Provincial Heritage Branch managing the oversight of provincial heritage sites, including Hat Creek Ranch and Barkerville Historic Town and Park.
Roger has previously taken part in the City of Victoria Heritage Advisory Committee, the City of Victoria Advisory Planning Committee, the Victoria Civic HeritageTrust Architectural Conservation Committee and the Victoria Civic HeritageTrust Board of Directors and Chair.
Leslie Norman
Curator, Pitt Meadows Museum & Archives/PMHMS
Leslie Norman, a graduate of the Classical Studies program at UBC, has been the Curator/Manager at the Pitt Meadows Museum and Archives since late 1995. Prior to that time she was with the Fraser Fort George Regional Museum (now The Exploration Place) in Prince George. The mother of two grown daughters, she was born and raised on the North Shore of Vancouver, and now resides in Coquitlam, BC with her husband Bjorn and her dog Gabby.
Social Event – Failure to Communicate
3:30 PM
Join conference delegates from across the province and beyond for an informal meetup to kick off the first Joint Conference. Collaboration can work wonderfully and be beneficial for everyone involved. But it also brings with it some unique challenges, unexpected growing pains and a whole host of opportunities for miscommunication. Sound familiar? We invite all delegates to come and share their stories. Get to know other delegates, the Heritage BC and BCMA team, and chat in a casual setting. This event will not be recorded.
