Eli A. Popoff (1921-2014) was born on a farm near the town of Blaine Lake, Saskatchewan and as an adult he moved to Grand Forks in the interior of British Columbia. He was a farmer, carpenter, bookkeeper, writer, community worker, Doukhobor historian, educator, translator, editor of Iskra newsletter, member of the USCC and a family man. Popoff’s contribution includes working as an administrator of the USCC, as a secretary of John J. Verigin and as a primary correspondent of the USCC with individuals or organizations dealing with the Doukhobors from 1970s to 2010s. In 1957, Popoff was a first Doukhobor to hold public office in BC as School Board Trustee in Grand Forks. In 1968, Popoff became a secretary of the Association of Canadians of Russian Descent and helped organized 70th Anniversary of Doukhobors in Canada. Besides being editor of Iskra for two years, Popoff published numerous works on the Doukhobor beliefs and translated various Doukhobor writings, including psalms, hymns, songs, letters and speeches from Russian to English. In relation to Doukhobor songs translation, Popoff collaborated with Kenneth Peacock of the National Museum of Man in Ottawa in order to preserve musical tradition of the Doukhobors. In addition, from 1970s to 1980s Popoff was involved with Selkirk College, BC and gave series of lectures and facilitated discussions on the Doukhobor philosophy and history. Moreover, Popoff edited and translated the proceeding of the Joint Doukhobor Research Committee Symposiums Meetings, 1974-1982 that were published by Selkirk College in 1997. In 1992, he complied and published a collection called Stories From Doukhobor History containing translated articles about the Doukhobors meant to be used as teaching curriculum for children at the Sunday school meetings of the USCC. In 1999, during the Conference on the Doukhobor Centenary at the University of Ottawa, Popoff was awarded with the Institute of Canadian Studies Award for Outstanding Achievement in Canadian Studies.
Adbusters Media Foundation is a Vancouver-based nonprofit society that was founded in 1989 by Kalle Lasn and Bill Schmalz. It is an anti-corporate, activist organization that is pro-environment and anti-consumerism. Adbusters is known for its strategy of culture jamming, which involves rearranging popular advertisements, slogans, and logos to subvert their meaning and expose underlying ideological messages. A main component of Adbusters' advocacy is aesthetic in nature, aiming to "out-cool" brands they perceive as having harmful impacts on global society or ecology, while using graphic design to sell ideas geared toward activism and political change.
The founding of Adbusters links to events in the late 1980s, when Kalle Lasn and Bill Schmalz created a motion picture "anti-ad" that advocated against old-growth forestry practices in British Columbia. Canadian TV stations refused to air the ad. Realizing that corporations held privileged access to public airwaves, Adbusters Media Foundation was created to advocate for a citizen's right to communicate anti-corporate messages.
A major activity of the organization is the publishing of the bi-monthly, internationally-circulated Adbusters magazine. Subtitled the "Journal of the Mental Environment," Adbusters magazine features articles, anti-ads, and calls to action aiming to destabilize pro-consumption messaging traditionally distributed through magazines, television, and the internet. The magazine is entirely reader-supported, receiving no funding from advertising, sponsorship, or government grants. As of August, 2022, 162 issues have been published and distributed since 1989.
Through its magazine, newsletters, and online presence, Adbusters has launched or promoted several international campaigns including Buy Nothing Day, TV Turnoff Week, First Things First, Media Carta, Blackspot Shoe campaign, and Occupy Wall Street. Buy Nothing Day, occurring on the 4th Friday of November, is a protest against consumer culture and Black Friday. TV Turnoff Week, and it's modern analogue Digital Detox Week, advocates for taking a week-long break from televised consumer messaging. The First Things First campaign is aimed at graphic designers, advocating against "selling out" to promote unethical products and industries.
Media Carta was the campaign slogan applied to a 20 year legal battle fought by Adbusters for the right to air anti-consumerism messaging on several Canadian broadcasting networks. The lawsuit claimed the broadcaster's refusals limited Adbusters' freedom of expression. The case was dismissed in the BC Supreme Court in 2008, only to be overturned in 2009 by the BC Court of Appeal.
Occupy Wall Street was initiated by Adbusters in mid-2011, through a mailing list email and a poster featuring a ballet dancer on top of Wall Street's Charging Bull statue. The movement was initially created to protest wealth disparity and corporate influence on democracy in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis, and eventually grew to over 900 cities around the world. Adbusters does not claim ownership over the Occupy movement, as it grew to be run by local grassroots collectives.
Adbusters continues to publish its magazine and launch campaigns, with its latest efforts focusing on garnering an international movement to fight for psychological, ecological, corporate, financial, economic, political, and aesthetic change.
Tin Whistle Brewing Company is the first craft brewery established in the South Okanagan, based in Penticton, British Columbia. The original locomotive of the Kettle Valley Railway is the brewery’s namesake. Over the years, the company has changed owners, recipes, and labels, but has always brewed a variety of beers that take inspiration from the wildlife, geography, and history of the Okanagan Valley.
Tin Whistle Brewing began production in 1995, based in a converted railway museum building on Eckhardt Avenue West. The original owners were a 4-person team comprised of couples Linda and Richard Grierson, and Lawrie and Lynda Lock, who were assisted by brewery consultant Frank Appleton. Beers developed under this team's ownership include the Rattlesnake ESB Ale, Coyote Ale, Back Widow Dark Ale, Peaches n’ Cream Ale, and Killer Bee Dark Honey Porter.
In 1998, the brewery was purchased by Lorraine Nagy, who managed the company for 22 years with her son Mike Nagy. During this ownership, several beers were developed including the Centennial Blonde Ale, Kettle Valley Amber Ale, Chocolate Cherry Porter, Harvest Honey Pale Ale, Scorpion Double IPA, Osprey Pear White IPA, Hands Up Red Ale, Fresh Hop Pale Ale, Mosaic Express IPA, Extortionist Hazelnut Espresso Stout, Paradise Coconut Hopfenweisse, and the Wasted Grape Gewurztraminer Saison Ale. Award-winning brews include the Stag Apple Scotch IPA, which placed bronze in the dark beer category at the 2014 Canadian Beer Awards and Gold at the 2014 BC Beer Awards, as well as the Raspberry Blonde Ale, which placed gold in the fruit beer category at the 2016 BC Beer Awards. The Killer Bee Dark Honey Ale also won a silver medal at the Calgary International Beer Festival in 2016. In 2015, the brewery moved to the Cannery Trade Center on Fairview Road in order to increase production and expand the tasting room. Brewmasters under Loraine Nagy's ownership include Ron Bradley (200-?–2011?), followed by Jeff Todd (2011?–2018), and Matt Farmer (2018-present).
Alexis Esseltine and Timothy Scoon purchased Tin Whistle Brewing in 2020. Bringing a commitment to sustainability, the latest owners have certified the brewery as carbon neutral and use local BC and Canadian grown ingredients in their brewing process. All five beers developed by the original owners are still brewed under this new management, as well as the Lookout IPA, Mythical Creatures IPA, Wanderlust Ale, Morning Glory Ale, Hazelnut Coffee Milk Sour, Gimlet Juniper Lime Sour, Go Go Light Pseudo Lager, Queen of Tart Sour, and Coco Galore Coconut Hopfenweisse. The current brewmaster under Esseltine and Scoon's ownership is Matt Farmer.