Silla performing at TED@Destination Canada

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Destination Canada and TED collaborated to create TED@DestinationCanada, producing 14 TED Talks from the brightest speakers and biggest changemakers connected to Canada. The theme of the event was O P E N.

O P E N

When we come together with open hearts and open minds, anything is possible. We see connections everywhere. We welcome all ideas, experiences and ways of life—because this is how we learn, grow and change. 

TED@Destination Canada Speakers
Photo credit: Gilberto Tadday / TED

On Thursday, February 23, 14 speakers took the stage at the TED Theater in New York City to record their talks so they can be shared globally. 

These speakers and their innovative ideas represent all regions of our country, a span of generations, a wealth of backgrounds and a diversity of perspectives. We know their ideas will spark conversations that will help drive our country and our global community forward. 

The talks will be released starting in the spring of 2023. Please check back for updates.

If you have any questions, please contact: TED@DestinationCanada.com

#TEDatDestinationCanada

 

Updated March 30, 2023

Featured TED Talk

 
Cameron Davis

 

Cameron Davis, Youth advocate
Ottawa, Ontario

How Gen Zers can use their voice for change

Learn More About Cameron and Watch his Talk

TED Talks

Normand Voyer

Normand Voyer, Molecular prospector
Are life-saving medicines hiding in the world's coldest places?

Learn More About Normand

Matricia Bauer

Matricia Bauer, Mountain mover
The power of connecting with your identity

Learn More About Matricia

Azim Shariff

Azim Shariff, Morality mapper
Does working hard really make you a good person?

Learn More About Azim

Kevin Smith

Kevin Smith, Coastal explorer
The unexpected story of one of the biggest coastal cleanups ever

Learn More About Kevin

Jiaying Zhao

Jiaying Zhao, Behavioural scientist
How to feng shui your fridge -- and other happy climate hacks

Learn More About Jiaying

Alysa McCall

Alysa McCall, Polar bear protector
What to do when there's a polar bear in your backyard

Learn More About Alysa

Lori McCarthy

Lori McCarthy, Food laureate
How to find a sense of belonging - wherever you are

Learn More About Lori

Alona Fyshe

Alona Fyshe, Neural networker
Does AI actually understand us?

Learn More About Alona

Paul Bloom

Paul Bloom, Psychology provocateur
The surprising psychology behind your urge to break the rules

Learn More About Paul

Kris Alexander

Kris Alexander, Video game wizard
How video games can level up the way you learn

Learn More About Kris

Coming Soon

Cohen Bradley
Cohen Bradley Master of ceremonies

Location: Haida Gwaii, British Columbia

As a Haida cultural ambassador, traditional performer, master of ceremonies, writer and Indigenous guide, Cohen Bradley melds culture and tourism. Bradley is proud to hold the names of Taaydal (“coming in big”) and Gidin Kuns (“powerful eagle”) in his Clan and Nation.

His passion for stories told in their many forms began when he was a child in the Potlatch house, and the legends and traditions of his ancestors have guided his work ever since. Bradley began working in tourism at a young age and was given opportunities to study the oral histories and cultures of many First Nations. These experiences fuel his dedication to support the restoration of traditional practices in the modern context.

Rebecca Darwent
Rebecca Darwent Philanthropic adviser

Location: Montréal, Québec

Rebecca Darwent is a social entrepreneur who activates generosity through philanthropic advising, consulting and speaking. A proven builder of relationships and capital, Darwent has led strategy, policy, fund development and partnerships that have mobilized multimillion-dollar investments in equity, health and education. In 2020, Darwent co-founded the Foundation for Black Communities, which seeks to ensure that every Black person in Canada can flourish and that Black communities have the power to define their own future.

Darwent was previously the director of global partnerships at Singularity University, leading tech and education programming across five continents. She also worked in the Ontario provincial government as a senior policy advisor to the Minister of Children and Youth Services, responsible for the Anti-Racism Directorate. She is vice chair of Laidlaw Foundation, a Women Leaders for the World Fellow and a Canadian Millennium Laureate.

Michael Green
Michael Green Architect

Location: Vancouver, British Columbia

Michael Green and the ambitious team of architects and designers at MGA use new materials and technologies to spur sustainable innovation and construction in projects ranging from single-family homes to large-scale masterplans.

Since founding MGA in 2012, Green has been an advocate for change in the building industry—lecturing internationally on sustainable design and materials, leading research and education initiatives in climate, environment, disaster and global shelter needs, and authoring publications on mass timber. Over the past decade the firm has completed some of the world’s most significant timber buildings and has been recognized with more than 50 international awards for design excellence.

An avid adventurer, Green has explored remote regions of every continent—ice climbing, mountaineering, ocean kayaking and biking—and his journeys through nature are what inspire his work.

Performers

Silla
Silla Urgent voices

Silla is an Inuit duo blending divergent styles of traditional and contemporary katajjaq (throat singing) across a wide range of genres. Performing together since 2005, Silla members Charlotte Qamaniq and Cynthia Pitsiulak hail from Iglulik and Kimmirut Nunavut, respectively.

Their moniker comes from the Inuktitut word Sila, which encompasses concepts of weather, land, spirit of the atmosphere, cunning and intelligence. The name evokes the rich musical texture and nuance throat singing creates, and acknowledges the powerful spirituality and traditions that have kept it alive through the historical and modern threats posed by colonialism.

Silla has been twice nominated at the Juno Awards and has won two Summer Solstice Indigenous Music Awards.

Melissa Laveaux
Mélissa Laveaux Musical alchemist

Mélissa Laveaux is a Canadian singer, songwriter and guitarist who sings in both English and Haitian Creole, the language of her parents. She began her career in Ottawa's feminist riot grrrl punk community, releasing her first album, Camphor & Copper, in 2008. She now lives in Paris—which inspired her second album, Dying is a Wild Night.

Laveaux’s work often explores the ethnomusicology of Haiti, including songs of rebellion she heard as a child (Radyo Siwèl, 2018). On her fourth studio album, Mama Forgot Her Name was Miracle (2022), Laveaux dives into the poetic, therapeutic and spiritual aspects of music, conjuring grown-up lullabies and nursery rhymes while invoking influential voices from the past. For her, music is a tool of political resistance.