The fifth edition of Canadian Civil Alive ditched the stage and took over Montreal for a whole day. On Saturday, August 15th, 2026: six civic-advocacy missions ran across the city at once with a barbecue for supporters to celebrate at the end.
Preparations
Four years of evenings of talks and games were fun, but we always wanted to do more concrete advocacy work on the day, given, you know (gestures at human civilization).
So this year our collaborators brought a mission that could be turned into advocacy content. Instead of tickets, a free Canadian Civil account got you onto any mission. Supporters also got the live creator map and the closing barbecue, because, you know (gestures at bank account).
A crew of volunteers prepared the HQ, and the night before a few creators went live on a spontaneous Miles in Transit livestream to hype it up.
Creators
- Miles in Transit - Miles Taylor
- The Transit Brief - Reece Martin
- The Greater Discussions - Arden English
- About Here - Uytae Lee
- Missing Middle Podcast - Cara Stern
- Oh The Urbanity - Patrick Murphy and Jasmine Steffler
- Paige Saunders
Lurkers
Creators there to hang out.
- The Flying Moose - Hudson Yuen
Missions
Six of them, all at once, all over the city. Here's how each one went.
Missions started at 6am; from 5pm onwards they started wrapping up and the crowd grew.
GP du GP
Sam Gamble, in doctor's scrubs, hit the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve at dawn to ride the full Grand Prix distance, while the crew flagged down cycling doctors with one question: will you take on a new patient?
Canadian Civil
Read the full post on this event
By 10am there was good news and bad news. The lap board was already at 25 of 70. The doctors were less keen; the closest we got all day was 6 Dr Peppers and a plastic surgeon participating in triathlon training.
The board hit 70 of 70, about 305 km, around 6:15pm. Family doctors found: zero. Guess we'll try something else next year.
What was made
More to come. The GP du GP is part of an upcoming Paige and Canadian Civil co-production on healthcare.
Montreal Metro Accessibility Stress Test
Miles and his crew met at Papineau at 8am with a stroller, a car seat, a bike, a scooter, crutches, and a suitcase. Miles took the walking boot and wore it all day. FOR THE BIT!
Canadian Civil
Read the full post on this event
They rode every elevator in the Metro from Laval to Jean-Drapeau. Elevators were sometimes out of service and the three-elevator shuffle at Berri-UQAM took about 35 minutes. Laval turned out to be great! Miles suspected that might be "the first time anyone's ever said that sentence."
The last station was done at 10 hours, 45 minutes and 2 seconds. The teddy bear in the stroller, renamed from his given name (Goldie) to Opus Jr. like the victim of a transit cult, survived.
What was made
A video is in production; keep an eye on the Miles in Transit YouTube Channel and Patreon in the coming months.
Transit Cost March
Reece "Mega-legs" Martin set off from near Papineau to walk from mega-project to mega-project, adding up what each one cost until the tally hit the roughly $6 billion the Blue Line extension would save if it were built at European or Asian prices.
Canadian Civil
Eight projects later (Place des Arts, Berri-UQAM, Bonaventure, the Palais des Congrès, Sainte-Catherine Street, the New Vic, the Ville-Marie Expressway and the CHUM), the tally had cleared the bar. It took about two and a half hours, although, because people kept trying to take transit to find him, no one managed to catch him while he strode the roads.
What was made
Reece
Transit-Oriented Disappointment
Arden left Brossard at 11am to buy a snack near as many REM stations as six hours allowed.
Canadian Civil
Read the full post on this event
Du Quartier set the record, with a Couche-Tard two minutes away. Édouard-Montpetit did not: the closest store was nearly at the next Metro station, and the dépanneur inside the station was closed for vacation.
After a dozen stations, a missed train and a trip out to Kirkland, Arden called it in time for a return to BBQ HQ.
What was made
More to come.
The Cutting Board
At noon Uytae and Cara took over the porch to workshop the script, to both increase the sophistication of the event and feed hungry supporters.
Canadian Civil
Read the full post on this event
Uytae's next About Here video is going to be made in partnership with Missing Middle, on what the next family home in Canada looks like and whether multiplexes are the answer.
Not just a metaphor, there was an actual cutting board. At least two people made their point on the script while holding a piece of cheese.
What was made
Upcoming About Here video, made in collaboration with Missing Middle.
Precious Cargo Group Ride
Patrick and Jasmine split about twenty people into a bike team, with Patrick on an Xtracycle electric long-tail cargo bike, and a transit team, with Jeremy Flatt filming. Three family trips: library, school and daycare in one go, the Parc Jarry pool, then downtown.
Canadian Civil
Read the full post on this event
Bikes won the first two, transit won downtown on the 55 bus. The transit team did stop for ice cream, technically for the bathroom, and to boo the bikes as they rolled past.
Eleanor created her own side mission
One transit rider had a side mission of seeing how many cartwheels could be done at the same time.
What was made
Oh The Urbanity
The ride itself.
Oh The Urbanity
Where ten of us admit whether we own a car.
Supporter Celebration
At the end of the day the group gathered for a New Zealand-style sausage sizzle under freshly installed string lights, with the 70 of 70 lap board on display like a trophy.
Canadian Civil
Read the full post on this event
The Metro crew rolled in last, after dark, and Miles finally got permission to take the boot off.
By The Numbers
- 6 missions, running at the same time
- 8 creators, plus a lurker
- 12 volunteers
- 145 sign-ups across the missions and the celebration by the end of the day, from 76 people
- About 260 photos taken on the day
- About 11 hours of video filmed on the day, four and a half of them on the Metro mission alone
- 70 laps of the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, and 0 family doctors
What's Next
There's a members livestream debrief with the creators coming up, so keep your eyes peeled.
We're confident in the model now, so the date is set: Saturday, August 14th, 2027. Plan around being there.
We always knew this year would be experimental and pretty wild. We got a lot of ideas and ran a full survey with rankings afterwards. The top picks (more laid-back missions, press outreach and shorter missions) will make next year look pretty different, but this first year of the new format will remain one of a kind.
If you want to volunteer, you're a content creator who'd like a mission next year, or you've got something that needs attention drawn to it, get in touch.
Thank You
Huge thanks to the volunteers who made the day happen:
- Natasha Murmu - Special thanks for editing the montage at the top of this post, plus photos, video and translation
- J.D. Kurman - The barbecue
- Jeremy Flatt - Chefing, filming and hosting
- Karl Lavoie - Venue and accommodation prep
- Jaylen - Badges and preparing the venue
- Theo Frye-Yanos - Tickets and preparing the venue
- Raphaël Astier - Social media on the day
- Sushrut Jog - Barbecue prep, photography and translation
- Katie Lin - Barbecue prep and photography
- Andy Igoe & Sam Gamble - Riding the GP du GP
- Stefan Lucian - Translation before the day
Thanks to every creator who brought a mission, everyone who signed up for one, and every supporter who helped fund the project.
See you in 2027!
Member discussion