I was born in Calgary, Canada, and earned a Bachelor’s degree (Hons.) in Chinese history at the University of Calgary. From there I obtained a Master’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and worked on and off as a senior policy advisor for Canada’s foreign ministry for about ten years. Between the birth of my two children I earned another Master’s in International Human Rights Law at the University of Oxford. If ever I can afford a life of leisure, I hope to return and do a real degree studying comparative eschatology.

A very large part of my life has been spent working, volunteering and consulting in the international human rights field, including by increasing access to anti-surveillance and censorship tools in Iran, China, Myanmar, and elsewhere; working with civil rights lawyers representing political dissidents; supporting refugee and asylum claimants; and conducting and publishing original research on the repression of religious minorities in China (I’ve also published on this topic for more popular audiences). It’s a country that I love, but only in the abstract; I was blacklisted at 16 and cannot obtain a visa. I’ve also written and co-produced two feature documentary films on the themes of religious and political persecution, censorship, forced labour, scapegoating, and mass persuasion under totalitarian regimes.

A few of these topics recur in my most recent documentary, which focuses on my experience of ‘cancel culture’ following a catastrophic bid for political office in 2019 (read my contemporaneous account of events here). Relatedly, I’m the plaintiff in an ongoing $7 million defamation claim against several Canadian media and political institutions, and my case has so far resulted in the recognition of a new tort of civil harassment in Alberta. You can read about or support my litigation efforts by clicking here.

In 2022 I founded Canada’s first tuition-free classical charter school, Calgary Classical Academy. Having drawn more capable people to the project than myself, we’re already grown to have three campuses in Calgary and Edmonton. This is a short video introduction to our work and how we aim to promote knowledge of things that are true, good, and enduring.

Sometimes I also write and speak about arts and culture, biopolitics, education, family and childcare policy, post-liberalism, and whatever else seems interesting. But mostly I prefer to spend time reading or meditating in silent contemplation of the Dao.