MICHAEL’S FIRST CHILDREN’S BOOK
“We Need Everyone”
illustrated by Tiff Bartel
is now available!
Michael has been passionate about writing and storytelling since he wrote his first book as a child. He has worked tirelessly to articulate the ideas and actions that can improve our communities and systems - while communicating a story that is captivating & real.
“I wrote my first story when I was in Kindergarten about a character named Mr Big Face. Since then, I have continued to develop my passion for story telling and writing in creative and constructive ways, including contributing to reports on a number of topics close to my heart. ”
Published Author
In 2022 Michael announced his very first venture as author with the children’s book WE NEED EVERYONE. It will be available fully in 2024 and is currently available for pre-sale. He has contributed works and had his community organizing published in a number of academic and anthology books that are available for purchase!
Click on the items below to order the books from their publisher’s websites!
2018 The Self Care Medicine Wheel (Portage and Main Press)
2017 Street Ceremony & Activism: A North End Conversation (Mennonite Church Canada)
2014 After The Rallies: Where Do We Go From Here? (ARP)
Micheal loves writing & has been published in and contributed to numerous articles & reports on topics he is passionate about!
Municipal Climate Action (2021)
The Infiltration Manual aims to demystify municipal governance structures and provide youth with practical knowledge and tools on how to take climate action at the local level. It covers a range of topics, including: An overview of the structure of municipal government, a road map on how to gather community support, tips on how to present an initiative to Council and a variety of email, meeting, and petition templates.
Youth Employment (2017)
All stakeholders with a role to play in youth employment must be involved in helping young people overcome these barriers including employers, small and medium-sized enterprises, non-profits, labour organizations, educational institutions, service providers & governments. With the right resources, youth, in turn, do the hard work of accumulating and adapting their skills to find work that fits their values and ambitions.
Housing (2021)
Youth involved in the child welfare system in Manitoba are aging out of foster care and into situations of precarious housing and homelessness at astonishing rates. A cross-cultural and intergenerational collective of planners, researchers, and urban Indigenous youth in Winnipeg joined together to lead a social innovation lab to address this issue through a systems-thinking approach.
Child Poverty (2020)
Manitoba’s relative ranking in poverty and child poverty, even using the government’s own measure, is worsening. We were 4th in both categories of overall poverty and child poverty in 2016. In 2018, there was a 7% increase in overall poverty and 19% increase in child poverty. Campaign 2000 was formed to monitor and report back on the unanimous House of Commons motion to end child poverty in Canada by the year 2000. Here we are 30 years later and 20 years late.
Child Welfare (2018)
My favourite feature of the report is how a lot of our recommendations are actually reinforcing existing recommendations from reports like TRC and UNDRIP!! Please let me know once you take a look and how you feel about our recommendations. I want to emphasize that we are not done our work as a committee or you as community. It is now on all of us to ensure the government takes and implements them – cuz we don’t need another report that sits on the shelf.
Community Organizing (2013)
This post originally appeared on my blog in 2013 referring to the Idle No More movement. It constantly used the word “issue” instead of topic, and used an example of a specific politician so I’ve updated it in 2019, the day after the Global Climate Strike.. This article also appeared in The Winter We Danced anthology.
we need more indigenous voices in main stream media. Here are some of my CBC opinion pieces:
Why the 'tough on crime' approach won't work to end violence in Winnipeg
Co-written with Dr Marcia Anderson / Nov 2019
People who sell drugs, people who use drugs and people who participate in gang activity have been blamed for the increase in violence in Winnipeg in 2019. The response from many has been calls for more "tough on crime" approaches and an increase in funding for police. When we are talking about significant public investments, though, shouldn't we be asking about how likely this approach is to reduce the harms from drug use and prevent violence?
Manitoba 'politicking with our children's lives' by changing how kids in CFS are counted, says activist
Voluntary means I willingly share my gift with those around me. I am pointing out and picking on the use of the word "voluntary" in all this, as I feel like our families are being slandered with a subtext or implication that indigenous parents willingly give their children to this beast of a system when it is absolutely not the case. We are a strong community and our village is emerging to protect all of the children all of the time.
Homelessness is killing people in our city: What have you done to help?
Co-written with Ahmad Moussa / Dec 2016
What have you done to reach out? Have you donated to one of the support services or gone out to help? Have you advocated for improved policy changes or championed the inclusion of those living with these challenges? There are so many ways to help, and we literally need everyone. The lives of our relatives on the street depend on it.