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The Expedition was conceived by Erin McKnight, who will be the sole member to complete the coast to coast journey. Along the three year route she has had several different women join her along different legs around the journey.
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Erin's first taste of wilderness was at an Ontario summer camp when she was seven years old. After spending several summers at camp she participated in the Bark Lake Leadership Program and an Outward Bound course. |
After graduating from college she spent two years studying Biology in Victoria B.C. where she also learned to whitewater kayak. In 1996 Erin decided to pursue a career in outdoor education and participated in a four month skill intensive Canadian Outdoor Leadership program on Northern Vancouver Island. After a fifty day teaching practicum she went on to work at Strathcona Park Lodge outdoor education Centre on Vancouver Island and Kandalore Outdoor Center in Ontario teaching youth outdoor skills. Erin has paddled several rivers in Ontario, B.C. and the Natla and Keele rivers in the N.W.T. She currently lives in Mississauga, and works at Mountain Equipment Co-op.
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Marie Roberts joined Erin on the first leg of the journey in 1998. They paddled from Lachine, Quebec to Marathon Ontario. Unfortunately, Marie was forced to leave the expedition when a personal emergency arose. |
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In 1999, Alison Pick, a high-school friend of Erin's joined the expedition where it left off at Thunder Bay. Alison recently completed a psychology degree, and is interested in pursing a career in the field of mental health. She currently works at the Rathby House, a peer support counselling service on the University of Guelph campus in Ontario. |
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Maura Sullivan is joining Erin on the third leg of the Canada By Canoe expedition. She is 24 years old and just happilly graduated from Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario in Environmental Science - and what a perfect way to celebrate? She is excited about the opportunity of paddling and seeing the north country by water, having already cycled through Canada's ten provinces and previous two territories. She has a great love for the outdoors and is looking forward to the next few months with Erin. Maura will be attending teachers college in September at Queen's University and, therefore, Erin will be joined by Pamela Lewis from Hay River, NWT to Tuktoyaktuk to finish the journey. |
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When ''Marigold'" our canoe hits Great Slave Lake,Maura will leave the journey and Erin will be joined by Pam Lewis of Victoria B. C. for the last leg to Tuktoyuktuka in the North West Territories.Pam and Erin met while doing the Canadian Outdoor Leadership Training Course in Strathcona Park (C.O.L.T) on Vancouver Island.Pam started canoeing while at Queen's University where she received her Psychology Degree. She worked at Camp Outlook (Kingston,Ontario) an organization that takes underprivledged boys and girls on 10 and 15 day canoe trips in Algonquin Park. For Pam it is especially rewarding to be part of "CANADA BY CANOE" because of the cause. Pamela was diagnosed with bi-polar when she was 18 after a very bad car accident which resulted in a broken neck- Wearing a halo brace for several months enabled Pam a full recovery from this serious injury.Pam knows first hand the stigma that is felt by people with mental illness.She is continuing to manage her illness with the help of family, friends,and the beauty and peace of the outdoors. Pam is very grateful to Erin for her courage and willingness to bring the subject of mental health to the attention of the public. |