The panelists were Flora Northwest, a Samson Cree Nation Elder who belongs to the Maskwacis community. She is also a residential school survivor.  Shawna J Serniak is an Indigenous International Speaker, Founder of Every Woman Empowered, YouTube Personality and Host of Chick Chit Chat and Founder of Project Change MMIW and the charity Every Woman Empowered Endowment Fund. Shawna was recognized by Alberta’s Minister of Culture, Multiculturalism and Status of Women for her community leadership and acts of service. Chelsea Vowel is a professor at the University of Alberta and Dan Johnstone is a Canadian anti-poverty and social activist and community organizer. He is also know as Can Man Dan. He is running for City Council on October 18th 2021.

One wonders whether the fact that our books are not main stream is part of the problem. But we must advocate for our stories to be told. No one can tell our stories better than ourselves. Our stories are culturally rich, filled with values and morals and in many ways, we must tell our children the stories our parents told us. This is why we must advocate for immigrant writers in Alberta. 

Immigrant writers need visibility primarily.