[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ disabled_on=”off|off|off” admin_label=”Section_intro” _builder_version=”4.10.7″ _module_preset=”default” background_color=”RGBA(0,0,0,0)” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.10.7″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||||false|false” custom_padding=”||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.10.6″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/billninacs.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Logo_760x236.png” title_text=”Logo_760x236″ align=”center” disabled_on=”on|off|off” _builder_version=”4.10.7″ _module_preset=”default” width=”400px” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.10.8″ _module_preset=”default” width=”80%” module_alignment=”center” custom_margin=”||40px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.10.8″ _module_preset=”default” text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” width=”80%” module_alignment=”center” custom_margin=”||40px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
This site is dedicated to the video series stemming from an invitation launched by the Lucie and Andr\u00e9 Chagnon Foundation, with whom Bill worked for many years. The Foundation asked him to share his thoughts on various subjects related to community development, a proposal that Bill accepted with pleasure. This initiative is part of a wider personal endeavour in which Bill shares his knowledge on several platforms, including the Passerelles site.<\/p>\n
With his many years of experience, Bill draws on his studies and delves into his memories to explain simply, and with insight, various topics of interest to anyone concerned with social issues. His remarks are addressed as much to people studying in fields related to these issues as to those who work in them, as well as to organisations and communities wishing to increase their power to ensure their well-being. In short, these brief videos should interest all who want to contribute to changing economic, social, cultural and environmental practices and policies in order to make them more equitable, just, sustainable and united.<\/p>\n
The expression “solidarity development activist”<\/strong><\/p>\n In his CV, Bill makes it clear that he wants to change the world. Throughout his work, he supports all forms of development based on solidarity, equity and social justice. He uses of this series of videos to advocate for the use of the term “solidarity development” to include all types of economic and social development that are based on the principles of solidarity and equity generally associated with international development.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.10.8″ _module_preset=”default” width=”80%” module_alignment=”center” custom_margin=”||40px||false|false” custom_padding=”0px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.10.8″ _module_preset=”default” text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” width=”80%” module_alignment=”center” custom_margin=”||40px||false|false” custom_padding=”0px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Several themes touched upon in the video series are covered in his book:<\/p>\n Many are also covered in the documents found on the Passerelles website*** https:\/\/www.passerelles.quebec\/Ninacs-EN<\/a><\/span>, three of which are especially noteworthy: \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Finally, most are also presented in a book chapter that is still under copyright:<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ disabled_on=”on|off|off” admin_label=”Section_motdebill” _builder_version=”4.10.8″ _module_preset=”default” background_color=”RGBA(0,0,0,0)” background_image=”https:\/\/billninacs.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/bg_motdebill.png” background_size=”contain” background_position=”top_center” width=”1104px” height=”1441px” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” title_text=”bg_motdebill” sticky_enabled=”0″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.10.7″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.10.7″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.10.8″ _module_preset=”default” header_font=”DeliveryNote||||||||” header_text_color=”gcid-668ce199-0be5-4849-8ff2-7eae1572a0d8″ global_colors_info=”{%22gcid-668ce199-0be5-4849-8ff2-7eae1572a0d8%22:%91%22header_text_color%22%93}”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”3_4,1_4″ use_custom_gutter=”on” gutter_width=”2″ _builder_version=”4.10.8″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”0px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”3_4″ _builder_version=”4.10.7″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.10.8″ _module_preset=”default” text_text_color=”gcid-668ce199-0be5-4849-8ff2-7eae1572a0d8″ text_font_size=”15px” text_line_height=”1.5em” background_layout=”dark” global_colors_info=”{%22gcid-668ce199-0be5-4849-8ff2-7eae1572a0d8%22:%91%22text_text_color%22%93}”]<\/p>\n To explain why I accepted to participate in this project, I would like to share what I wrote 30 years ago in the 55th <\/span>edition of the Bois-Francs Community Development Corporation\u2019s newsletter, April 1990.<\/p>\n WHY I AM AN ACTIVIST<\/p>\n Instead of my usual editorial, allow me to share a personal testimony.<\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n From collective consciousness to social consciousness to political consciousness, there\u2019s continuity in my personal journey that is reflected in the goal of my life that I have consciously pursued for nearly twenty years.<\/p>\n In March of 1972, I spent a few days at the Abbey of Saint-Beno\u00eet-du-Lac. I was 26 then and it was the first time that I had seriously reflected on my life. During this brief stay, I concluded that the direction my life had taken was unsatisfying for a variety of reasons.<\/p>\n Like any good accountant, I took stock of myself: my strengths and weaknesses, my positive and negative experiences. I tried to identify what was missing in my life. I wrote the following:<\/p>\n “I would like to put my talents, knowledge and abilities at the service of the people who need them most (as opposed to the wealthy families who employed me in their companies at that time) while earning enough income to allow me and my family to live relatively comfortably (as opposed to the poverty of my teenage years).\u201d<\/p>\n I then resolved that someday, in an undefined and distant future, I would achieve this. It had become, without my realising it, my life goal.<\/p>\n Eighteen years later, this objective still motivates me and I sincerely believe I will fulfil it through my work and my community activism.<\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n Every life is a living political statement, moving and evolving. Mine asserts great trust in the human race, in people, and I meet my Creator in others, by getting to know them through sharing.<\/p>\n I definitely want to bring about a new world, a more egalitarian society, freed from poverty, sexism, bureaucratic reasoning and abuses of power, and I refuse to accept increased consumption as the driving force of our economy and the criteria of our quality of life. All of this is reflected both in my personal life and in my work, and I will soon have the opportunity to tell you how at our next brainstorming workshop.<\/p>\n In order to succeed in building a better world, I believe that individuals must change and I recognize that I, Bill, cannot change them: they must change themselves as I must change myself. And I believe that the political and economic system must also be changed and that all people must participate in this change according to their abilities.<\/p>\n We have to work simultaneously and jointly on both fronts: we have to change the individual and we have to change the system.<\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n I am nevertheless realistic. It is obvious that utopia does not and never will exist, and to believe otherwise is to delude oneself. However, striving for utopia is not utopian and that is enough for me.<\/p>\n That is why I am here today, an activist in my organisation.<\/p>\n And you, why are you here?<\/p>\n Bill<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_4″ _builder_version=”4.10.7″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/billninacs.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/1986-Colloque-Bill-animation-ouverture-2.jpg” title_text=”1986 Colloque Bill animation ouverture-2″ _builder_version=”4.10.8″ _module_preset=”default” width_tablet=”” width_phone=”100px” width_last_edited=”on|phone” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ disabled_on=”off|on|on” admin_label=”Section_motdebill” _builder_version=”4.10.8″ _module_preset=”default” background_color=”RGBA(0,0,0,0)” background_image=”https:\/\/billninacs.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/background-Mot-de-bill_1_1104x1441.png” background_position=”top_center” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.10.7″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.10.7″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.10.8″ _module_preset=”default” header_font=”DeliveryNote||||||||” header_text_color=”gcid-668ce199-0be5-4849-8ff2-7eae1572a0d8″ global_colors_info=”{%22gcid-668ce199-0be5-4849-8ff2-7eae1572a0d8%22:%91%22header_text_color%22%93}”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row use_custom_gutter=”on” gutter_width=”2″ _builder_version=”4.10.8″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”0px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.10.7″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/billninacs.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/1986-Colloque-Bill-animation-ouverture-2.jpg” title_text=”1986 Colloque Bill animation ouverture-2″ _builder_version=”4.10.8″ _module_preset=”default” width=”100px” width_phone=”100px” width_last_edited=”off|desktop” module_alignment=”left” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.10.8″ _module_preset=”default” text_text_color=”gcid-668ce199-0be5-4849-8ff2-7eae1572a0d8″ text_font_size=”14px” text_line_height=”1.5em” background_layout=”dark” global_colors_info=”{%22gcid-668ce199-0be5-4849-8ff2-7eae1572a0d8%22:%91%22text_text_color%22%93}”]<\/p>\n To explain why I accepted to participate in this project, I would like to share what I wrote 30 years ago in the 55th <\/span>edition of the Bois-Francs Community Development Corporation\u2019s newsletter, April 1990.<\/p>\n WHY I AM AN ACTIVIST<\/p>\n Instead of my usual editorial, allow me to share a personal testimony.<\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n From collective consciousness to social consciousness to political consciousness, there\u2019s continuity in my personal journey that is reflected in the goal of my life that I have consciously pursued for nearly twenty years.<\/p>\n In March of 1972, I spent a few days at the Abbey of Saint-Beno\u00eet-du-Lac. I was 26 then and it was the first time that I had seriously reflected on my life. During this brief stay, I concluded that the direction my life had taken was unsatisfying for a variety of reasons.<\/p>\n Like any good accountant, I took stock of myself: my strengths and weaknesses, my positive and negative experiences. I tried to identify what was missing in my life. I wrote the following:<\/p>\n “I would like to put my talents, knowledge and abilities at the service of the people who need them most (as opposed to the wealthy families who employed me in their companies at that time) while earning enough income to allow me and my family to live relatively comfortably (as opposed to the poverty of my teenage years).\u201d<\/p>\n I then resolved that someday, in an undefined and distant future, I would achieve this. It had become, without my realising it, my life goal.<\/p>\n Eighteen years later, this objective still motivates me and I sincerely believe I will fulfil it through my work and my community activism.<\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n Every life is a living political statement, moving and evolving. Mine asserts great trust in the human race, in people, and I meet my Creator in others, by getting to know them through sharing.<\/p>\n I definitely want to bring about a new world, a more egalitarian society, freed from poverty, sexism, bureaucratic reasoning and abuses of power, and I refuse to accept increased consumption as the driving force of our economy and the criteria of our quality of life. All of this is reflected both in my personal life and in my work, and I will soon have the opportunity to tell you how at our next brainstorming workshop.<\/p>\n In order to succeed in building a better world, I believe that individuals must change and I recognize that I, Bill, cannot change them: they must change themselves as I must change myself. And I believe that the political and economic system must also be changed and that all people must participate in this change according to their abilities.<\/p>\n We have to work simultaneously and jointly on both fronts: we have to change the individual and we have to change the system.<\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n I am nevertheless realistic. It is obvious that utopia does not and never will exist, and to believe otherwise is to delude oneself. However, striving for utopia is not utopian and that is enough for me.<\/p>\n That is why I am here today, an activist in my organisation.<\/p>\n And you, why are you here?<\/p>\n Bill<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.10.8″ _module_preset=”default” background_color=”RGBA(0,0,0,0)” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.10.8″ _module_preset=”default” width=”70%” module_alignment=”center” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.10.7″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.10.8″ _module_preset=”default” text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” header_3_text_color=”gcid-be63f708-b83a-4413-b972-627678a7c448″ custom_padding=”||0px|||” global_colors_info=”{%22gcid-be63f708-b83a-4413-b972-627678a7c448%22:%91%22header_3_text_color%22%93}”]<\/p>\n I consider this project to be an honour bestowed upon me. Above all else, the Lucie and Andr\u00e9 Chagnon Foundation was its catalyst and supported it once it was launched. Although many members of the Foundation\u2019s staff lent a hand to its realisation, Rafik Boualam, Jean-Marc Chouinard and Fran\u00e7ois Lagarde deserve a special mention for their generous encouragement. I sincerely hope that these videos will be useful for them.<\/p>\n However, the project would not have been completed without the participation of the City of Victoriaville, in particular the Department of Recreation, Culture and Community Life, which “lent” me its Family Policy and Seniors Policy officer to accompany me in this adventure for over a year and a half. In fact, it would be difficult for me to exaggerate the exceptional role that Jessica Dessureault played in terms of both the quality of certain technical aspects of the videos and the clarity of the communication of their content. In addition, her coordination of the process was imbued with her boundless energy and contagious good humour: it was a real pleasure to work with her and to get to know her.<\/p>\n I also want to take this opportunity to express my deep satisfaction with the work done by Roxane Beaudette and Jean-Patrick Peuvion, the Rouge-Tomate team. The degree of professionalism that they demonstrated was really high, both in terms of thoroughness and attention to detail as well as that of their determination to meet the objectives of the project despite its many challenges. However, it is in terms of the attention paid to my health that I am particularly grateful. Roxane and Jean-Patrick showed a lot of flexibility and patience throughout their mandate and I have never felt rushed despite the delays caused by my condition. I didn’t expect so much concern and I thank them for it.[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text disabled_on=”on|on|on” _builder_version=”4.10.8″ _module_preset=”default” disabled=”on” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Partenaires<\/strong><\/p>\n Int\u00e9grer les logos des partenaires avec les hyperliens\u00a0:<\/em><\/p>\n Fondation Lucie et Andr\u00e9 Chagnon<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Ville de Victoriaville<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n RCD\u00c9C<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Passerelles<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Collectif des partenaires en d\u00e9veloppement des communaut\u00e9s<\/a><\/span><\/p>\nFor More Information<\/h2>\n
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A Word from Bill<\/h1>\n
A Word from Bill<\/h1>\n
Special thanks<\/strong><\/h3>\n