Indigenous speaker shares an urgent call to action for all Canadians

Acclaimed journalist and author Brandi Morin will deliver the keynote address at VIU’s Indigenous Speakers Series event on November 20.

As a Survivor of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls crisis, award-winning journalist and author Brandi Morin uses her personal experiences to tell the stories of those who did not survive.

For more than a decade, Morin has dedicated her career to amplifying Indigenous voices and shedding light on crucial stories that have catalyzed change and reconciliation in Canada. Her reporting has won her many awards along the way, some of which include a Human Rights Reporting award and an Environmental and Climate Change Award from the Canadian Association of Journalists, an Amnesty International award for best local news, top prize in Featuring Reporting at the Edward Murrow Awards and the Tim Giago Free Press Award from the Indigenous Journalists Association.

Topics that Morin has covered include the Wet’suwet’en People’s fight against pipeline construction, the toxic effects of Alberta's oil sands industry on Indigenous communities and the devastating effects of residential schools on Survivors.

At Vancouver Island University’s (VIU’s) tenth annual Indigenous Speakers Series on November 20, Morin will share her personal story of survival, from a childhood marked by intergenerational trauma to becoming a leading voice in journalism. In her talk, “Indigenous truth in the face of power: a journalist’s call to action,” she will demonstrate how storytelling can break cycles of trauma and create pathways for justice.

In 2022, Morin became an author as well as journalist with the release of Our Voice of Fire: A Memoir of a Warrior Rising, which became a national bestseller shortly after its release. The book, which shares her story as a Survivor, received both the Memoir of the Year and the Wilfrid Eggleston prizes at the 2023 Alberta Literary Awards.

Her commitment to truth-telling has not been without challenges. In January 2024, Morin was arrested and charged with obstruction while reporting on an Edmonton City Police raid of an Indigenous homeless encampment. The charges were dropped a month later after significant outcry from national and international press organizations. During her talk, Morin will show some video footage from stories she has covered.

Morin will deliver her talk on Wednesday, November 20 starting at 6:30 pm in the Malaspina Theatre on VIU’s Nanaimo campus and online via Zoom webinar. This free event will be moderated by Nahlah Ayed, host of CBC Radio’s Ideas. Following Morin’s talk, Ayed will host a live Q&A session. Free parking is available in Lot G from 5 to 9 pm. Register on Eventbrite.

For more information, visit the Indigenous Speakers Series homepage.

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Media Contact:

Jenn McGarrigle, Communications Manager, Vancouver Island University

C: 250.619.6860 | E: Jenn.McGarrigle@viu.ca | X: @VIUniversity

The VIU community acknowledges and thanks the Snuneymuxw, Quw’utsun, Tla’amin, Snaw-naw-as and Qualicum First Nation on whose traditional lands we teach, learn, research, live and share knowledge.