Christine Sinclair for Mono Council

I have not always lived in Mono, but there has never been a year where I did not spend a significant amount of time here visiting family and enjoying the natural beauty that Mono has to offer. As a child, my father’s work took our family to Pakistan and Kenya.  When I was 17, I returned to Canada to attend high school and university. I have a joint honours degree in History and Philosophy from McGill University and a masters of Social Work from York University. These degrees taught me the importance of understanding our past to build for the future, and how the structures in our society do not evenly distribute rewards and punishments based on merit or value.   

I was in the position of having to work while I was in high school and university. I’ve had a lot of different kinds of jobs – I’ve worked in factories and fast food, gardening and tour guiding, elder care and babysitting, retail and research, call centres and cleaning. My international experience didn’t end in childhood – I’ve built solar cookers in Switzerland and prepared food for Women’s Day celebrations in India. I’ve developed programs from a hut at the foot of Kilimanjaro and I’ve co-facilitated women’s rights training to Indigenous groups in Northern Kenya. I’ve seen many sides of the human experience. And most of us are just trying to do our best.

While volunteering for the Sexual Assault Centre of McGill Student Society, I connected with a network of folks committed to supporting positive change. I’d found my people.  Whilst being on strike at York University during my MSW, I developed a stronger understanding of labour rights and the tools of public protest. I have profound respect for the voice of the people, and I am deeply committed to listening to that wisdom. From there I worked in community development, and systemic mental health and anti-poverty advocacy. In all of this work, I was reminded of the need for joy and rigorous community involvement in all levels of decision-making.

For a few years I shifted away from paid employment to raise my children. Being a parent is probably the hardest job I have ever had. My children are my teachers and I am regularly humbled by how much I still have to learn. My children are also a reason I am running for council – we need to plan for the Mono our children will raise their children in.  

I returned to (paid) work in 2020 in the education and communication branch of the Centre for Human Rights, Equity and Inclusion at York University. My third child was born in 2021, the same week we broke ground to build our home in Mono. We moved here permanently in 2023 and by 2025, I started work at Headwaters Communities in Action, where I could return to working directly with my community, and be at the end of the driveway at 3:45 when my kids got off the bus. 

Working in Mono has been wonderful. I have loved meeting people and hatching plans to bring people together. I have built some incredible relationships here. I want to show up for my community, I want to show up for you. I’m running because I love Mono. I am not a career politician and I’m not the loudest voice in the room (usually). I have a career in listening to people and working with them to solve problems,  to build something better, or to learn something new. It always starts with listening. A vote for me is a vote for someone who is, who has been, and who will listen first.