Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Do you facilitate Canada Greener Homes loans and rebates, or label homes for ENERGY STAR, Net Zero, R-2000, LEED, Passive House, PHIUS Zero and Living Building Challenge? Do you sell or install energy efficiency products & technologies, or work with utilities and policymakers to develop, manage and deliver energy efficiency programs?

Not anymore! Please reach out to my close friends and allies at CLEAResult http://www.ecofitt.ca , or my former business at Homesol Building Solutions Inc. http://www.homesol.ca . Depending on your requirements, they both have teams of full-time industry experts on staff and they’ll be glad to help you. For larger developments and advanced building science, connect with the best at Building Knowledge Canada http://www.buildingknowledge.ca . For other environmental, low income and rebate programs in the Ottawa area, contact our friends at Envirocentre http://www.envirocentre.ca

Do you still do any carpentry, construction and renovations for clients?

No, not much, although real old-time master builders like me will never stop building. I’m still working on my own place, and also have a $3 million showcase sustainable six-plex in mind for a few years hence. However, if you have a truly green (not greenwash) build or retrofit project in mind, I can help you with energy design and Code compliance, selecting competent trades and proper materials, and perhaps providing part-time project management. I might even put my nailbag back on again for the right jobsite!

Who are your relations? Are you Indigenous?

I grew up in the 60s and 70s in Montreal West and Vermont in a family of five children. My father’s ancestors settled in Payentanassin (St. Joseph Island) near Sault St. Marie in the early 1800s and my mother’s in the early 1600s near Hochelaga (Montreal). I’ve been happily married since 1999, with one son, and a granddaughter who is half native Mexican. Like most of the early New France settlers there’s some Indigenous relations in my family tree, but I have mostly Scottish, French and Viking DNA.

Why is your focus on Indigenous housing?

I live with my wife Kathryn on 5 acres of maple forest in rural Lanark Highlands, Ontario, on Algonquin and Anishinabek Treaty 27 Territory, and I am grateful to be able to share this land and learn from its Indigenous people. I acknowledge that hundreds of years of white supremacist “doctrine of discovery” colonial thinking, particularly since the beginning of Canada and the overtly racist residential school system, was and continues to be a form of genocide.

I know the principles of fairness, equality, peace and good government in Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms stems from the invaluable contribution of Indigenous peoples’ knowledge to this country and the world. I understand generational trauma can only heal through harmonious equanimity, forgiveness and loving kindness, not through division, anger and strife between our human family.

I believe we must honour the intent of the Treaties and two row Wampum for all immigrants to live alongside the original people of these lands in friendship and respect, and continue to listen and learn from their wisdom.

The work of Truth and Reconciliation to undo the mistakes of the past includes resolving the housing crisis in First Nations, Inuit and Metis communities and ensuring that all Indigenous people have healthy, comfortable and affordable homes based on the principles of good green building science.

That’s a topic I happen to know a lot about, including years of experience training and working with people in northern, rural and remote communities, so it’s where I focus my efforts to make a difference at this stage of my life.

Do you do any work in big cities?

Whitehorse is the largest town in Canada’s North with around 30,000 people, and I’ve worked in both Yellowknife and Iqaluit, so I guess that’s where I would draw the line, any community larger than that is beyond the scope of “rural or remote”.

How far will you travel for work?

Anywhere within Canada, preferably somewhere in the North!

What are your qualifications?

Refer to my curriculum vitae and project spotlights in the blog posts section currently “under construction”.

Did you make up your own questions just so you could answer them?

Website literary license 🙂 If you have any real questions, please send them and I’ll add them to this list!