"Is Our Forest Really Ours?" - Public Talk by Charles Thériault

Documentary film maker and author Charles Thériault will give a public talk entitled “Is Our Forest Really Ours?” on Tuesday, October 16 at 7 pm in Sir James Dunn Hall G2 at St. Thomas University. The event is sponsored by the Economics 3443-New Brunswick Economy class, the Department of Economics, and the Environment and Society Program.

With hundreds of documentaries, publications, and texts produced throughout his career, Thériault’s most recent work is a bilingual blog, isourforestreallyours.ca which consists of 28 video episodes exposing the disastrous exploitation of our Crown forests in New Brunswick and the detrimental impact that the Irvings hold over our province. Thériault will speak of his continuing endeavor to instill proper stewardship, not only of our richest resource, our public forest, but also proper stewardship of planet earth. Charles recently published his first novel, Mary of the Woods. His story hopes to bring some light to the power of Mother Nature, the perversity caused by greed and the essential power of survival engendered by the matriarchal spirit of women

Thériault is an independent communicator who completed his first film at the age of 16 with the National Film Board of Canada. This unleashed in him a passion that has continued to drive him 44 years later. He has understood the transformative power that films have as a medium for educating, informing, motivating, entertaining, and inspiring reflection. Fluently bilingual, he spent his career simplifying complicated information and his nickname "popularizer" is one he proudly sports.

Several years ago, with Gilbert Sewell of the Pabineau First Nation, he created an important CD ROM on the Mig'maw culture. This disclosed details of their language, local plants with medicinal purposes, hunting methods, legends, and spiritual beliefs. Later, he published a work on psychiatry, Understanding Bipolar Mood Disorder, putting into common language the illness affecting his wife at the time. Over 7,000 copies in French and English were distributed across the country.

Thériault lives in Kedgwick with his wife Betty and surrounded by his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.  He and his wife have a cozy straw-bale cottage that they built with their own hands using materials from the land. Their intention is to leave the smallest possible footprint on earth. In the fall election of 2014, Charles ran as an independent candidate in Restigouche West and earned 18% of the vote. This recent election he ran as a Green Party candidate and garnered 31% of the vote.

All are welcome.