Each is an proficient adventurer and paddler; together they form a team which has racked up an impressive and wide-ranging outdoor expertise. They feel ready to tackle the physical challenges, to observe, to document, and to devise solutions to the unpredictable events which will inevitably crop up. For most of them, IKIVUQ will be their fifth shared expedition.
ARIEL DESJARDINS CHARBONNEAU
Ariel has been exploring rivers for over ten years, both with the four earlier expeditions and with several others. He believes in combining high levels of fun with safety, and is a certified guide in adventure tourism. Trained as a physiotherapist, he works both as a scientific researcher and a clinical practitioner. Out of canoeing season, Ariel pores over maps in order to plot out upcoming expeditions.
“I love the time spent planning our route; dreaming of great expeditions; the feverish feeling of being outbound; the pride of going beyond one’s limits; and the powerful freedom of being lost, isolated, and yet in the place where one belongs. There is no experience more potent than canoeing in the wilderness, where I feel so close to my true self, so close to others, so accomplished, so thoroughly content.”
CLOÉ FORTIN
Cloé has long been an outdoor enthusiast, and has been paddling since her teenage years; she has participated in several of the team’s main expeditions. With a bachelor’s degree in psychology and an MBA under her belt, she is now undertaking doctoral studies in organizational psychology. Her abundant store of knowledge and her long experience have led her to advocate the use of outdoor activities to help develop self-awareness.
“We share a single world, but are far from one another… In order to survive, society needs connections, presence to others, commitment. I need to be a part of the solution; together, thanks to our ideas and decisions, our projects and creativity, we will create the possibility of living better together, the possibility of changing the world.”
FRANÇOIS LÉGER-SAVARD
François has made several journeys, either as a travel guide or as a crew member, to the far North of Quebec which is, as well, the first territory that he explored in his capacity as a professional photographer. His photographs bear witness to the powerful draw of the Arctic, and demonstrate the friendships he has established there with members of the First Nations, whose people have lived on these lands for several thousand years. He works as a cameraman on documentary films which explore the social realm in various parts of the planet.
“From behind the camera, my eyes observe things that are difficult to explain, impossible to deny, imperative to share. Whether it is to help us bow down before the beauty of the world or to condemn those things that make us ugly, I feel the need to share these images which help me to mature.”
RAPHAËL HERNANDEZ
Raphaël is an industrial designer; outdoor equipment lies at the heart of his thought and design process; every expedition he undertakes serves as an opportunity to test his creations and to imagine future designs. He has participated in numerous expeditions and has travelled several times to the far North. His intimate understanding of materials, objects, and function, his fine talent for cooking, and his straight talk make him an inestimable part of any such undertaking.
“For me, expeditions are the perfect excuse to pause awhile, to give myself the room I need to breathe, to create, to listen to my surroundings, and to reset my inner clock to real time.”
ANNE-SOPHIE DAIGLE
Anne-Sophie has been paddling since she was seven. She still occasionally serves as an expedition guide for the summer camp she went to as a child. This will be her first trip with the group. She has expert knowledge of outdoor equipment, and is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Special Education. Her fondest wish is to see outdoor activity offered to exceptional children as a means of facilitating their social integration.
“The intensity of this lifestyle, the human contact, and the incomparable experience of feeling Lilliputian among the surrounding grandeur are all part of what I look forward to. It should be an uncommon expedition, one which is taking shape initially in my imagination. I trust it will be profitable to all: to myself, to my crewmates, to our near and dear ones, to my future pupils. I plan to live this major expedition fully, with all the strength of my beating heart and all the strength of my paddling arms.”
ÉLISE BÉLANGER
Élise is an intrepid traveller : she has been a volunteer in various African nations, explored America at the wheel of a rundown car, swum the depths of several oceans and participated in expeditions with members of the team. A doctor « without roots », she now practices medicine in Salluit; she hopes to contribute to the development of the Nunavik community, particularly by fostering the empowerment of the Inuit in the area of physical and mental health.
“I love being destabilized by change, carried away by uncontrollable laughter, spellbound by a new world. I have long dreamt of participating in a major expedition, and more so since I have become acquainted with the North. I respond strongly to this arid land, which is both deeply silent and charged with history, and which gives me the feeling, almost the certainty, that each of us has a role to play in the grand scheme of things.”