Stories of Resilience: The Collection
Coming into the 75th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we see there are many struggles that continue to confront our local and global communities. While we have international human rights law and foundations to guide us, we have a long way to go to actualize these rights and bring peace to our communities and world. The rates of hate and intolerance are growing, poverty is deepening, and Canadians are only now beginning to reckon with our deep history of genocide.
“If there is to be perpetual peace in a world of nation states, the individuals who live in them must be free, their human rights must be respected.” —John Peters Humphrey
The Stories of Resilience series was meant to bridge learning between generations. We thank the New Horizons for Seniors Program for enabling us to host these spaces of learning with our Elders.
Please enjoy the collection of stories from our Elders and Speakers.
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Bob has extensive legal and judicial experience, which includes 9 years as an Alberta Criminal Court Judge and 7 years as a Deputy Judge of the Northwest Territories. In addition to his practice and judicial experience, Bob served as the Chief of the Commission and Tribunals of the Alberta Human Rights Commission. His practice today includes employment, labour, administrative law, and legal assistance to Indigenous communities. Bob holds executive & board positions with many community organizations in Alberta and he continues to mentor young lawyers and law students. Bob lectures at many universities and is a frequent public speaker on community, poverty, and human rights issues. Bob has been named King’s Counsel, he received the Queen’s Jubilee Medal in 2003 and the Alberta Centennial Medal in 2005. Bob was honoured by the Law Society of Alberta and Canadian Bar Association with a Distinguished Service Award.
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Mirtha Rivera was born in the capital city of Santiago, Chile, where a military coup overthrew the elected popular government in 1973. She was active in the students movement demanding free education, she was also involved in the demonstrations against the USA war in vietnam. She grew up learning dance, and singing was an everyday activity, her father was a singer.
Politics were always an important conversation in her family. Also at the time in the 60s when the music in the radio stations was all from the USA; in English; she joined a popular theater and a folk music and dance group in her neighborhood to reclaim her cultural roots. Mirtha came to Saskatchewan as a political refugee with her husband and young son in November 1975. The cold weather didn’t freeze her creative spark, and she continued her organizing work in the Chilean community, women’s community and arts communities.
Her heart is with the ones whose voices are not heard, the disabled, the houseless, the Undocumented. She is a singer, musician, writer, political activist, animal-lover, and mother of two grown sons. She and her companera began their relationship in 1989, lobbied for LGBT rights (including the right to marry) before 2005, and married in 2010.
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Ronald is one of the founders of the Dignity Forum, a non profit initiative to combat racism and improve human rights protections in Alberta. He has also had the opportunity of being involved in the development of human rights policies over the past 45 years. His experiences include: sponsoring the Individual Rights Protection Act as an MLA in the Lougheed years (1971-79); chairing the Committee of Tolerance and Understanding appointed to examine our educational system in light of the Keegstra ant-Semitic teachings; framing policies as a Director of the Chumir Foundation to encourage the government to act forcibly in dealing with human rights issues and speaking at various conferences highlighting the need for priorities in these matters.
Ronald has been the recipient of a number of awards for his work in the Human Rights field including the Alberta Human Rights award from the Alberta Human Rights Commission and the Gerald L. Gall Human rights award from the John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights.
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Jo-Ann Saddleback is a member of the Saddle Lake Cree First Nation. Her husband, Jerry Saddleback, is from the Samson Cree Nation and they have 11 children between them. Jo-Ann worked as a Policy Analyst/Researcher for various organizations and Executive Director for Metis Settlements General Council heading up Legal and Governmental Affairs. She also spent 30 years as a community developer, travelling across Canada developing and delivering workshops for RCMP, Corrections Canada, Alberta Health and Alberta Justice. As part of this work, she visited Old People in First Nations and Metis communities. They initiated her to ceremonies and evaluated the teachings she shares in communities. Jo-Ann remains grateful they entrust her to continue work sharing their wisdom.
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Su Deranger has been a strong voice for environmental, social justice, and the upholding of Indigenous and Treaty rights for many years. She has worked nationally, provincially, locally, and internationally in these areas. Su is the co-founder of Mother Earth Justice Advocates and is currently a member of Indigenous Climate Action, Co-Chair of Keepers of the Water, and member of Righting Relations. She has a passion for the unity of all peoples and the protection of Mother Earth. Her four children, four grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren motivate her to strive for a better world.
