Team and biography of the leader

John Symon

Biography of John Symon

John Symon works as a freelance journalist—often writing about outdoor sports—and as a coach. He wrote a best-selling guidebook on places to take kids around Montreal. Symon grew up on Vancouver Island before backpacking around the world in his early 20s. After that experience, he opted to move to Montreal and learn French.

Symon has a long history of political and environmental activism in both BC and Quebec. He has worked to initiate recycling programs, protect farmland, and build bicycling infrastructures. He is an active member of the resident’s committee in the Devil’s Hill community of Ville in St. Pierre that favours taking down the roadblock erected by Montreal West on Broughton Ave. He also works to improve conditions in his neighbourhood. Symon volunteers with the Viking Ski Club of Morin Heights and sits on the executive of the Quebec Chapter of the Professional Writers Association of Canada (PWAC).

Friends invariably call Symon “a good listener” and ‘tenacious’ noting his abilities to relate to people of different backgrounds and not to give up easily. He strives to understand all sides of controversies and is one of few environmentalists to have both worked in logging camps and studied commerce. Symon also believes that environmental issues can rarely be separated from questions of social justice.

Symon, who lives in Lachine’s du Canal district, is the father of three teenagers. He holds two degrees from l’Université de Montréal in geography and a business degree from Concordia University.