Bridge Builders: Scott Chisholm on the importance of listening

Superior Morning4:07Building Bridges - Scott Chisholm

We'll meet another community 'bridge builder', leading up to our community forum on Wednesday called Building Bridges. We hear from a non-Aboriginal man who recalls the time he was the only 'white guy' in a remote community.

Thunder Bay firefighter Scott Chisholm recalls the first time he was "the only white guy" in a remote First Nation.

The 49-year-old is the founder of the Collateral Damage Project. It invites people to share their stories of the loved ones and friends they've lost to suicide.

Chisholm was invited to Wapakeka First Nation for a suicide prevention conference, where he shared his experience as a teenager when his father died by suicide.

"Trying to talk to people before that was difficult," he said. "It wasn't until that point that I shared my story and my vulnerability that the humanity of it came together and [it became apparent] there's a reason for people to share their stories.

"I realized at that point, it was about trust, it was about respect, it was about truly understanding and getting to know people," Chisholm added.

'What's your story?'

Even though he grew up in Northwestern Ontario, Chisholm said his education didn't include lessons about Indigenous Peoples.

"That leaves us very vulnerable," he said. "And that's okay. I think what I've accepted and maybe embraced is that vulnerability and the honesty of saying 'I don't know'."

Chisholm said setting aside assumptions and asking people can help build bridges.

"When we stop and ask 'what's your story?', and truly wait for the answer, having that vulnerability is where we begin to learn."

You can meet Scott Chisholm and other cross-cultural bridge builders at CBC Thunder Bay's community forum, Building Bridges, Wednesday Oct. 1 at Confederation College, starting at 7 p.m.