Vision
We strive to ensure that everyone throughout the country has guaranteed access to food and a way of life that is good for all people, animals and our planet.
Mission
To secure access to vegan options in all of Canada as a fundamental human right by 2024*.
*Date to validate by looking at the IPCC report’s projections (it is said that by 2030 the planet is irreversibly impacted by climate change) and depending on the strategic plan.
Approach
The purpose of VOC is to ensure that, throughout Canada, vegan choices are available to all people who wish to have them, in the area of food as in all aspects of life (education, clothing, etc.). In particular, VOC is working to make vegan options available in the public sector. Our movement seeks to amend Canadian legislation in order to obtain a mandatory vegan option for public cafeterias under federal, provincial, and municipal jurisdiction. This includes, but is not limited to, all hospitals, universities, senior centres, and schools. VOC advocates that access to vegan alternatives, particularly vegan meals, should be recognized as a human right under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It has been almost two years since the Portuguese Vegetarian Association, with the support of some Portuguese political parties, managed to push for the approval of pioneering legislation that mandates the availability of vegan meals in all public facilities throughout the country. This was achieved mainly by popular demand and the contribution of over 15,000 people who signed a petition. We feel strongly about the importance of this law. It will help to tackle major health, ethical and environmental issues related to eating habits. It will also make vegan food more widely available. We feel encouraged that this positive breakthrough inspired an international movement, and now several countries are pushing their governments to approve a similar law. We hope that Canadian MP’s will listen to the Canadian public, make the courageous decision to align with modern values, and take action on this issue.
Values and Priorities
VOC is driven by the priority of alleviating suffering in the world, aiming specifically to improve human health, protect animals, and reduce environmental degradation. VOC is a collective of 520+ allied members working cooperatively on common projects related to veganism. Cooperation and collaboration are essential to the success of these projects. We are a horizontal, decentralized organization.
To learn more about our values, consult our toolbox.
Team
We are working to build a movement that is less hierarchical, inclusive and free of any coercive power dynamics. We want to empower individuals to exploit their creativity and initiative, while taking into account the need to obtain the consent of the group. Read more about our structure.
Interested in getting involved in a self-organized, decentralized, innovative, and dynamic collective?
Are you interested in vegan food, the environment, animal protection, and/or human rights? Do you have talents in writing, graphic design, communication, or law, or do you have simply energy?
You are the right person to co-create with us a new political and social landscape in Canada! Let us dare to demand our right to eat, dress, and live according to our deepest convictions.
World map of members
Available positions
Alyssa Berris
Alyssa holds a master’s degree in sociology and is co-founder of Vegan Option Canada and the Gatineau Vegetarian Association. Social activist for the recognition of vegan rights, for the fight against climate change and the improvement of animal condition, Alyssa is involved in the collective effort for a healthy, sustainable and socially responsible global ecological transition. She has supported the OPIS campaign, #STOPTHEPAIN, and is a member of the Algosphere Alliance. Alyssa is working on the convergence of struggles to safeguard biodiversity and calmed relationships with life.
Sorin holds a Master in Software Engineering from Concordia University in Montreal and has a background in artificial intelligence. A social activist, he believes that love is the most powerful engine in the pursuit of alleviating suffering, and he strives to create bridges and partnerships between social change groups with diverse approaches. He is a co-founder of Vegan Option Canada and an active member of OPIS and the Algosphere Alliance.
Carolyn Harris
Carolyn Harris currently hosts a radio show on CKCU 93.1 FM in Ottawa called Always for Animal Rights, and she formerly served as the Vice-President of the National Capital Vegetarian Association (now known as VegOttawa). She enjoys writing and editing English texts for Vegan Option Canada, and she created VOC’s survey of vegans in Canadian society.
Jean-Christophe decided at an early age to dedicate his life to organising the creation of greater happiness in the world. With this aim, he first trained as an economist and became a key strategist in charge of major projects at France’s largest public corporation, La Poste. He wrote Naître est-il dans l’intérêt de l’enfant? Idéologie de reproduction versus non-souffrance (2011), the result of a decades-long historical exploration of the conflict between the ethic of non-suffering and the ideology of reproduction. In 2013 he co-founded the Algosphere Alliance, a network and direct democracy for the alleviation of suffering.
Margaret Janiszewski
A vegan of 7 years, Margaret holds an MEd in Educational Psychology, Family Life Education from McGill University. She is a high school teacher who is passionate about educating others on how veganism improves human health, alleviates animal suffering, and reduces environmental impacts, and how it can reduce world hunger. In an attempt to connect vegans in Montreal, she founded the Vegan Montreal Facebook group.
Rob McLeod
Rob is the Vice-President of VegOttawa, formerly known as the National Capital Vegetarian Association (NCVA) and past President of the NCVA. He is a vegan Chef, Vegucator and vegan activist who keeps a keen eye on the latest vegan and plant based food, lifestyle and activism trends. Rob also occasionally hosts the VegOttawa FB Live podcast “VegTalk Ottawa”. He is dedicated to continuing to build on the NCVA’s success with VegOttawa by growing membership, enabling new opportunities for members to connect with Ottawa veg friendly businesses, while spreading the message about veganism and plant based lifestyles. Rob is an advisor to the Vegan Option Canada team and coordinator with the Vegan Option Ontario initiative.
Laura Fort
Stéphane Groleau
Long-standing vegan ecologist Stéphane has always wanted to make veganism accessible in Quebec (since 2001). He is an organic farmer and one of Quebec’s experts in vegan agriculture. Founder of Végane Québec, he co-directed the first Quebec documentary (Un repas Végé), produced the first vegan accordion, and translated the book La permaculture, une brève introduction. He is also known as a gardener, musician, speaker, and website designer, including for Vegan Option Canada.
Robert is one of the world’s experts on suffering and has long advocated for a discipline dedicated to its study, for which he created the term “algonomy”. Over the years he has systematically compiled a wealth of references and accumulated extensive knowledge on the topic of suffering, for which he was a main contributor to the Wikipedia entry. In 2013 he co-founded the Algosphere Alliance, a network and global democracy for the alleviation of suffering.
Carolina Andrea Valenzuela
Carolina co-founded Defend Animals Manitoba. She is a committed activist and organizer of Anonymous for the Voiceless Winnipeg. She is the coordinator of Vegan Option Manitoba.
Claude Samson
Claude has been a vegan for four years. He has since participated in a number of vigils and events to end animal exploitation. He tries as often as possible to put his francophone editorial skills to the service of this cause.
Patricia Devaney
Patricia is a business graduate with international experience, mother of three and currently working to create a NFP that will serve as platform for all families who wish to successfully implement vegan options in Canadian schools and other learning environments.
Cymry Gomery
Cymry Gomery is a Montréal based social justice and animal rights activist who has been vegan since 2013. She volunteers with Fair Vote Canada, Coalition Climate Montréal, Canadian Unitarians for Social Justice, The Leap Montreal; and Council of Canadians, among others. She champions veganism because it is a simple choice that anyone can make, which can have a profound effect on the environment, on other species, and on one’s spiritual progress.
Juan Enrique Hinojosa
Juan Enrique Hinojosa is the founding president of YUL Vegan Co-Op and of Ma Voix Pour Eux. He is the Engagement Specialist at Vegan Option Canada.
Advisory Committee
Human Rights
Dr Jeanette Rowley
Jeanette founded the IVRA in 2012 as a way of contributing to anti-speciesist discourse. Her PhD centres on the idea that vegans’ right to freedom of conscience brings human rights to a threshold where they intersect with animal rights.
Inspired by the philosophy of otherness developed by Emmanuel Levinas, Jeanette suggests that the legal recognition of vegans, whose claims present the moral standing of nonhuman animals, gives expression to the original duty to respond to suffering, which is entrenched in the idea of human rights. She argues that since the suffering narrative of human rights is grounded by the philosophy of otherness, it should explore the value of veganism in the search for a postmodern principle of inclusive justice.
Nuno M. Alvim
Nuno Alvim is the president of the Portuguese Vegetarian Association. He has a master degree in Criminology. He’s been engaged in active lobbying and campaigning for promoting veganism and animal rights. He was the main organiser of a petition in Portugal that has resulted in legislation for the provision of strict vegetarian food in public canteens.
International Panel
Tobias is an international public speaker and writes a popular blog called The Vegan Strategist. Together with Melanie Joy he co-founded and co-directs the Center for Effective Vegan Advocacy. He is known for his pragmatic, non-confrontational approach to encouraging people to adopt a cruelty-free vegan lifestyle. Tobias was also the founder of the Belgian non-profit vegetarian organisation EVA, and was elected a Fellow of Ashoka, an international organisation supporting high impact social entrepreneurs. @TobiasLeenaert
Axelle Playoust-Braure
Axelle Playoust-Braure holds a master’s degree in sociology from the Université du Québec à Montréal. She co-founded two animal associations during her university studies and is now co-editor of L’Amorce, an online magazine against speciesism. Inspired by the movement of effective altruism, she is actively involved in various causes aimed at abolishing relationships of appropriation and reducing suffering.
Jonathan founded the think-and-do tank OPIS in 2016 and brings a mixture of rationality and creativity to his passion of helping to reduce suffering in the world. Jonathan obtained a PhD in molecular biology after studying at Harvard and the University of Basel, and spent several years in industry before turning to writing and public speaking on ethics and compassion. He is the author of The Battle for Compassion: Ethics in an Apathetic Universe (New York: Algora Publishing, 2011), which offers a sweeping overview of our situation as a species and methodically addresses the question “What matters?” He also produced a short film to communicate some of the key ideas. He is currently working on a new book that develops a more holistic approach to ethics. @JonLeighton1
Yves Bonnardel
Involved in the Cahiers antispécistes and Veggie Pride from the start, a member of the Swiss organization PEA – For Animal Equality, a field activist and theorist, publisher and essayist, Yves Bonnardel believes that progressive movements cannot continue to avoid deeply questioning the dominations that structure our societies. An egalitarian, he believes that the fight against speciesism is fundamental and must lead to a major societal change that will be beneficial to all.
Jens Tuider
Jens Tuider, M.A., studied philosophy and specialised in animal ethics. He is currently Chief of Staff, Special Advisor to the CEO and responsible for strategy at ProVeg International and also used to work for Beyond Carnism and Animal Equality. He is a lecturer for animal ethics at several colleges in Germany (Fachhochschule des Mittelstands), heads an interdisciplinary working group on animal ethics at the University of Heidelberg, Germany (Interdisziplinäre Arbeitsgemeinschaft Tierethik, IAT), and runs an online database with arguments in defence of animal rights. He is also part of an expert group advising Germany’s biggest contest for young scientists (Jugend forscht) on stricter standards for animal testing. Jens has published academic and non-academic books and articles on animal ethics and animal rights and has given presentations and workshops at a number of international events. Having started out as a theorist, he has become increasingly interested in questions of activism and strategy directed at bringing about effective social change for animals. His current focus areas include Clean Animal Products, Early Intervention and Collective Impact
Sailesh Rao is a Human Earth Animal Liberation (HEAL) activist, husband, dad and since 2010, a star-struck grandfather. He has promised his granddaughter, Kimaya, that the world will be largely Vegan before she turns 16 in 2026, so that people will stop eating her relatives, the animals. He has faith that humanity will transform to keep his pinky promise to Kimaya, not just for ethical reasons, but also out of sheer ecological necessity.
Panel Pancanadien
Christiane Bailey
Christiane is a Ph.D. student in philosophy at the University of Montreal where she is working on a thesis on the recognition of animals as individuals with subjective consciousness (psychological life with emotional, cognitive and social dimensions) and on the ethical and socio-political implications of this recognition. It focuses on critical, eco-feminist and post-humanist approaches to contemporary animal ethics.
Annie C. Bernatchez
Annie C. Bernatchez is a doctorate student in sociology at the university of Ottawa, Canada. Her field of interest is in social movement and critical studies, with a focus on animal liberation organizations. It is Annie’s third year in the program and she is currently writing her research proposal. The central point of interest of her thesis will be the everyday lives of animal activists within the current social context of state repression that categorizes such form of activism as terrorism. Annie will hold to a vegan standpoint throughout her thesis to advocate against such categorization. She uses her position in the university setting to do activist work through speaking and writing.
Long-time director of the board of the Toronto Vegetarian Association , a pro-vegan group. In addition to his local experience he also has contacts in the wider North American and international vegetarian/vegan movement. Furthermore, he has strong connections with the very active Toronto animal rights scene. In his youth he was active with several environmental groups and is still knowledgeable about the environmental movement. For several years he has been a special education teacher, but he previously worked in business and government. His business studies help him understand financial statements, strategic planning, human resources, and marketing.
Louis-Alexandre Gagnon
Founding President of the Montréal Vegan Festival (FVM) and founder of the Montreal Vegetarian Association in 2005. He has been mobilizing people on the issue of animal rights and veganism for several years in Montreal.
Nara Schuler
Nara Schuler is the author of Secrets of My Vegan Kitchen, leader of the Durham Vegetarian Association, organizer of the DurhamVeg Fest, and owner of FGF Vegan. She has a degree in Business Administration, with Teaching Specialization, and she received her Plant-Based Nutrition Certificate from the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies.
Catalina Gutiérrez is an animal rights activist and co-founder of Regard animal, an organization working to create and broadcast projects and initiatives connecting the animal issue and art. Catalina holds a M.A. degree in Geography and is highly interested in environmental issues and in the Degrowth movement.
Danièle Paquette
Danièle Paquette is President of the Montreal Vegetarian Association, she has been very involved since 2014. Her company, Coaching de santé & mieux-être Danièle Paquette allows her to promote healthy lifestyles and veganism. Bachelor of social work and certified health coach, she holds several certification in plant nutrition including Forks Over Knives and PCRM. Her work is to improve animal rights and the state of animal welfare, the planet, and the health of humans.
Outreach and Communication
Jevranne Martel
Canada Vegan Outreach Coordinator. Based in Ottawa, Jevranne leaflets colleges throughout most of Canada and does other forms of outreach in her local area. Jevranne has been a passionate vegan and animal advocate since finding out how animals are treated in August of 2013. Prior to that time, she was dedicated to motivational speaking and life coaching and now uses these skills to help motivate and coach others to be effective activists. Jevranne prides herself in using kindness, compassion, and understanding in her interactions.
Health and Nutrition
Susan Macfarlane, MScA, RD, helps people achieve their best health through a whole-food, sustainably sourced diet. She runs a private nutrition counselling practice in Ottawa and specializes in plant-based nutrition, weight management, and eating disorder recovery.