Dan Lee Johnstone (born July 31, 1987 in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

), also known as "Can Man Dan," is a Canadian

anti-poverty Poverty reduction, poverty relief, or poverty alleviation, is a set of measures, both economic and humanitarian, that are intended to permanently lift people out of poverty. Measures, like those promoted by Henry George in his economics clas ...

and social activist,

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

, and

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

. Alongside his

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

, the Can Man Dan Foundation, Johnstone has worked with local community members, various levels of government, and other non-profit groups and charities to facilitate his charitable acts. Growing up in a single-mother, low-income household, Johnstone was motivated to support the same services and community projects that his family had used and started the Can Man Dan initiative. Johnstone has stated that his ultimate goal is to "spread a positive message about helping people in need, raise awareness for different charities in need, and ultimately assist in the ending of hunger, poverty, and homelessness in Alberta by forming a united community." On top of the community events that he hosts, Johnstone also travels to schools and events across western Canada as a

motivational speaker A motivational speaker is a speaker who makes speeches intended to motivate or inspire an audience. Such speakers may attempt to challenge or transform their audiences. The speech itself is popularly known as a pep talk. Motivational speakers ca ...

to share his story and various experiences. His work also includes leading an

inner city The term ''inner city'' has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Sociologists some ...

help program, where he and his group of volunteers distribute meals and supplies to Edmonton's homeless community every month. Johnstone has also advocated for other social issues and programs such as adequate protection and resources for

domestic abuse Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for ''intimate partner v ...

victims, supporting

LGBTQ ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

rights and freedoms, initiating a

basic income Universal basic income (UBI) is a social welfare proposal in which all citizens of a given population regularly receive an unconditional transfer payment, that is, without a means test or need to work. It would be received independently of a ...

for Canadians, and defending and investing in

social housing Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, def ...

projects for seniors and low-income families.

Early life

Johnstone was born in

on July 31, 1987, during the notorious

Edmonton tornado The Edmonton tornado of 1987, an event also known as Black Friday to Edmontonians, was a powerful and devastating tornado that ripped through the eastern parts of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and parts of neighbouring Strathcona County on the afte ...

that claimed 27 lives, and he is the eldest son of Pamela Johnstone. Growing up in a single mother household along with his brother, they were often dependent on local charities such as the Christmas Bureau, the Adopt-A-Teen campaign, and the Edmonton Food Bank. After high school, Johnstone studied at

MacEwan University , mottoeng = , type = Public University , established = , closed = , founder = , parent = , academic_affiliations = AUCC, ACCC, AACTI ...

for a year before leaving after his mother fell ill.

Charity work

Johnstone's activism and philanthropy work began in Edmonton in the June 2011, when he began going door-to-door around various neighbourhoods by himself collecting food and clothing donations for various charities, such as the Edmonton Food Bank, the youth shelter, and various homeless shelters and

soup kitchens A soup kitchen, food kitchen, or meal center, is a place where food is offered to the hungry usually for free or sometimes at a below-market price (such as via coin donations upon visiting). Frequently located in lower-income neighborhoods, soup ...

. In June 2021, Johnstone announced that his 10 years of fundraising and activism as "Can Man Dan" has raised $4.4 million for people in need across Alberta.

Annual events

While Johnstone hosts many community events around Alberta, he is perhaps best known for his annual Christmas campaign, where every December, Johnstone camps out for weeks in the back of a

tractor-trailer A semi-trailer truck, also known as a semitruck, (or semi, eighteen-wheeler, big rig, tractor-trailer or, by synecdoche, a semitrailer) is the combination of a tractor unit and one or more semi-trailers to carry freight. A semi-trailer a ...

, aiming to fill it with food and toy donations for children and families in need. Due to the severity of the winters commonly found in Alberta, and the freezing cold temperatures that go along with them, these campouts have become highly publicized and staple events for many charities and other

grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...

programs. Can Man Dan's holiday campaign has raised millions of dollars in funding and resources for various charities and people in need across Alberta. Johnstone has also hosted many other charitable events around Alberta, including his annual "We're Here For Ya Day" event, where he offers free hair services, a barbecue meals, personal hygiene products, school supplies, fresh bread, and food hampers to thousands of low-income individuals.

Notable charitable acts

In June 2013, Can Man Dan provided immediate assistance to Calgary's Food Bank and those affected by the

2013 Alberta floods In the days leading up to June 19, 2013, parts of southern and central Alberta, Canada experienced heavy rainfall that triggered catastrophic flooding described by the provincial government as the worst in Alberta's history. Areas along the Bo ...

in the form of 5000 pounds of food. In both December 2013 and December 2014, local Edmonton chain restaurant, Delux Burger Bar, featured Can Man Dan as their "Celebrity Chef." Delux Burger Bar locations across Edmonton added the Can Man Dan burger to their menus, and gave a portion of sales to the Edmonton Food Bank on Dan's behalf. Dan also arranged to have the Can Man Dan burger served to hundreds of Edmonton's homeless & less fortunate as he hosted "Burger Night" at one of Edmonton's local homeless shelters. Johnstone made headlines in April 2014 after he announced that he would wrestle in a

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

match with Canadian wrestling promotion, the PWA (The

Prairie Wrestling Alliance The Prairie Wrestling Alliance (PWA, formerly Prairie Wrestling Association) is an independent wrestling promotion based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, since 2001. The PWA is co-owned, operated, and promoted by Kurt Sorochan. Lance Storm is a form ...

) to raise money, food and awareness for Edmonton's homeless youth population. Despite suffering a fractured nose during the bout, Johnstone ultimately won his debut wrestling match raising thousands of dollars and thousands of pounds of food for Edmonton's Youth Empowerment and Support Services (YESS), an organization that Dan's mother had used when she was a teenager. In the spring of 2015, Johnstone started a new community project aimed to help struggling locally owned businesses attain new customers called "Localive". In the

summer Summer is the hottest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, the earliest sunrise and latest sunset occurs, daylight hours are longest and dark hours are shortest, wit ...

of 2015, Johnstone was voted in by Edmonton's general public to serve as an honorary parade marshal for their annual

K-Days K-Days, formerly known as the Edmonton Exhibition, Klondike Days, and the Capital Ex, is an annual 10-day exhibition held in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada mostly in late July. In recent years it has attracted between 700,000 and 800,000 visitors per ...

festival parade. Johnstone, along with five other community heroes and various departments of Edmonton's first responders, were made honorary parade marshals and each given $2500 to donate to a charity of their choice. In November 2015, a press release was issued announcing that Johnstone was made honorary chairman and official ambassador for Edmonton's Adopt-A-Teen program, a social program that Dan and his family used when he was growing up. Since being made Adopt-A-Teen's honorary chairman in 2015, Johnstone has helped provide thousands of low-income and underprivileged teenagers with a $50 gift card for Christmas. Johnstone made national headlines in December 2015 as he announced that he would spend the month touring Alberta and camping out in various cities to raise resources for multiple food banks across the province affected by the economic downturn. Johnstone's "Tour of Alberta" raised 25 tonnes of food and thousands of dollars for various food banks throughout Alberta to distribute to people in need. In May 2016, Johnstone revealed that he and his mother were former victims of

and that he was starting a thirty-five-day campaign to raise awareness for domestic abuse victims and raise money for a local women's shelter (WIN House) in Edmonton. Johnstone's campaign consisted of completing six "extreme and wacky" stunts around Edmonton, which were intended to raise awareness and money. Johnstone's stunts included wrestling in a

match against

Ring Of Honor Ring of Honor (ROH) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. The promotion was founded by Rob Feinstein on February 23, 2002, and was operated by Cary Silkin from 2004 until 2011, when the promotion was so ...

Silas Young Caleb DeWall (born August 9, 1979) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Silas Young. He was last contracted for Ring of Honor, where he is a two-time ROH World Television Champion, although he has not appeared on ...

, becoming an

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at the Brick Field at Commo ...

cheerleader for a day, and undergoing intense police training with Edmonton Police Services, among other things. In December 2016, Johnstone embarked on his "Feed Alberta Tour" hoping to raise food and funds for various food banks across Alberta that were hit hard due to the ongoing

recession In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction when there is a general decline in economic activity. Recessions generally occur when there is a widespread drop in spending (an adverse demand shock). This may be triggered by various ...

. Johnstone travelled to the cities that were most affected by the stagnant economy and camped out in freezing cold temperatures for several days on end. Johnstone's "Feed Alberta Tour" raised more than 50 000 pounds of food and close to $20 000 in cash donations. One month after its initial release in December 2016, Dan personally paid for forty low-income single parents and their children to watch ''

Rogue One ''Rogue One: A Star Wars Story'' (or simply ''Rogue One'') is a 2016 American epic space opera film directed by Gareth Edwards. The screenplay by Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy is from a story by John Knoll and Gary Whitta. It was produced by Luc ...

'' in theatres. Dan cited that

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...

was one of his favorite movie franchises and he believed that all children should have the opportunity to watch it. In March 2017, Dan publicly urged Edmonton's city council to use a $38 million snow-removal surplus on renovating and restoring Edmonton's low-income housing units. In May 2017, Can Man Dan took 55 students from a local

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

to Edmonton's inner-city streets to pass out hundreds of care packages filled with food, personal hygiene products, and socks to the city's homeless and most vulnerable. In November 2017, Dan announced that he was hosting the "Can Man Dan City-Wide Food Drive" to replenish Edmonton's struggling local food bank, which was seeing record high usage at the time. Dan put out a plea to Edmonton residents and Edmonton's city council to help him "refill all of the empty shelves" at the Edmonton Food Bank and to work together to ensure that "no one goes hungry" over the holiday season. Dan's citywide food drive managed to raise over 110 000 pounds of food and $65 000 in 30 days. After the

death of Colten Boushie Colten Boushie (October 31, 1993 – August 9, 2016) was a 22-year-old Indigenous man of the Cree people, Cree Red Pheasant First Nation who was fatally shot on a rural Saskatchewan farm by its owner, Gerald Stanley. Stanley stood trial for sec ...

, Dan was just one of many aboriginal leaders to publicly condemn the not-guilty verdict. In March 2018, Can Man Dan was able to raise more than $10 000 for an Edmonton-based centre for low-income, homeless, and forgotten seniors. In September 2018, Johnstone was able to equip 2 100 low-income children in the Edmonton region with school supplies, backpacks, food hampers, haircuts, and breakfast supplies before the 2018/2019 school semester started. In December of that year, Johnstone announced that he would be hosting the "Can Man Dan City-Wide Food and Toy Drive" in support of various Edmonton charities and declared that "no child in his city will go without a gift to open or a hot meal to eat on Christmas day". Dan's city-wide drive was a big success and managed to bring in more than 60 000 pounds of food for Edmonton's Food Bank, which was severely struggling at the time, and nearly $60 000 worth of brand new toys for Santas Anonymous, an Edmonton-based charity that provides wrapped gifts to underprivileged children every year.

Launch of the Can Man Dan Foundation

On September 1, 2019, Johnstone equipped thousands of low-income children and their families with free school supplies and backpacks for the upcoming public school year. That same day, Johnstone also held a major press conference to unveil his brand new not-for-profit organization, the Can Man Dan Foundation. In October 2019, Johnstone, along with his newly created foundation, provided hundreds of Edmonton's low-income and at-risk youth with brand new Halloween costumes and accessories. Due to the decline in Alberta's economy, Can Man Dan ensured youth that they would be provided for and that they would still be able to partake in the Halloween festivities. In November 2019, Can Man Dan announced that he would be completing four, four-day winter campouts leading up to Christmas citing that "every child deserves a hot meal on their plate and a gift to open up on Christmas Day." Johnstone's series of winter campouts managed to raise 75 000 pounds of non-perishable food and frozen turkeys for Edmonton's local food bank, as well as $75 000 worth of brand-new toys for underprivileged children.

Work during the COVID-19 pandemic

In March 2020, during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, Can Man Dan handed out hundreds of "COVID-19 Emergency Packages" directly to Edmonton's homeless population as a way to help curb the spread of the disease among those considered most vulnerable. Each emergency package roughly contained thirty dollars (

CAD Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computers (or ) to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. This software is used to increase the productivity of the designer, improve the quality of design, improve co ...

) worth of essential personal hygiene products and non-perishable food items as there were widespread shortages of both at the time. On August 30, 2020, Johnstone, along with the Can Man Dan Foundation, supplied two thousand low-income children living in the greater

Edmonton Metropolitan Region The Edmonton Metropolitan Region (EMR), also commonly referred to as Greater Edmonton or Metro Edmonton, is a conglomeration of municipalities centred on Alberta's provincial capital of Edmonton. The EMR's commonly known boundaries are coincide ...

with free backpacks filled with school supplies, food hampers, haircut vouchers, personal hygiene products, and face masks for the upcoming school season. Can Man Dan noted that he didn't necessarily agree with the decision of the

Government of Alberta The government of Alberta (french: gouvernement de l'Alberta) is the body responsible for the administration of the Canadian province of Alberta. As a constitutional monarchy, the Crown—represented in the province by the lieutenant governor—i ...

to send children back to school during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but still felt the need to support impoverished children regardless of his personal opinion. In the days leading up to Halloween in 2020, Can Man Dan outfitted two-hundred disadvantaged children in Edmonton with brand-new Halloween costumes and outfits, giving them the opportunity to partake in the annual tradition. Johnstone noted that he felt obligated to help after there was a large plea from families who were suffering financially from the dormant economy caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. On November 19th, 2020, Can Man Dan began his tenth annual holiday food and toy drive to support Edmonton's local food bank and other Christmas-themed charities found in the city. This was Johnstone's tenth consecutive year of camping out in freezing temperatures to raise support and donations for underprivileged families and children in need. Can Man Dan noted that "COVID cannot take Christmas" and vowed to raise as much non-perishable food items and brand new toys as he possibly could within a five-week period. Can Man Dan ended his annual food and toy drive by raising over 60,000 pounds of food for Edmonton's Food Bank, and $130,000 (

) in new toys for local non-profit organizations.

Break and return to philanthropy

In August 2021, Can Man Dan announced that he would be leaving public life after succumbing to

occupational burnout According to the World Health Organization (WHO), occupational burnout is a syndrome resulting from chronic work-related stress, with symptoms characterized by "feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion; increased mental distance from one’s ...

, and an array of other mental and physical health issues. In the fall of 2022, Dan returned to his philanthropy and public life by opening a new "faith and wellness" centre in Edmonton, Alberta, which also happened to coincide with the release of his debut book, "''...I Think God is Real: The Extraordinary Journey of Can Man Dan''". Johnstone spoke candidly with various media outlets documenting his long and private struggles with depression,

alcoholism Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol (drug), alcohol that results in significant Mental health, mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognize ...

, burnout, and

suicidal ideation Suicidal ideation, or suicidal thoughts, means having thoughts, ideas, or ruminations about the possibility of ending one's own life.World Health Organization, ''ICD-11 for Mortality and Morbidity Statistics'', ver. 09/2020MB26.A Suicidal ideatio ...

-- which he all claimed stemmed from his own personal unresolved

childhood trauma Childhood trauma is often described as serious adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Children may go through a range of experiences that classify as psychological trauma; these might include neglect, abandonment, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, and ...

. Johnstone also noted that he found

faith Faith, derived from Latin ''fides'' and Old French ''feid'', is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or In the context of religion, one can define faith as "belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion". Religious people often ...

in his time away, along with a newfound respect for

therapy A therapy or medical treatment (often abbreviated tx, Tx, or Tx) is the attempted remediation of a health problem, usually following a medical diagnosis. As a rule, each therapy has indications and contraindications. There are many different ...

and

psychiatry Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders. These include various maladaptations related to mood, behaviour, cognition, and perceptions. See glossary of psychiatry. Initial psych ...

, and would now devote his career and life to helping others find the same value in these life changing services. Can Man Dan ended off 2022 by camping out in -36 degree temperatures for four days straight to raise donations for Edmonton's local food bank, which was seeing unprecedented usage at the time. Johnstone also used this opportunity to advocate for people experiencing mental health issues during the holiday season.

Political career

In June 2013, Dan Johnstone announced that he would be running in the

2013 Edmonton municipal election The 2013 Edmonton municipal election was held Monday, October 21, 2013 to elect a mayor and 12 councillors to the city council, seven of the nine trustees to Edmonton Public Schools, and the seven trustees to the Edmonton Catholic Schools. Two ...

. Johnstone declared that he would be running for the open seat in Edmonton's Ward 10 which was vacated by Mayoral hopeful,

Don Iveson Donald L. Iveson (born May 30, 1979) is a Canadian politician who served as mayor of Edmonton from 2013 to 2021. He was first elected as mayor in the 2013 municipal election with 62% of the vote, and was re-elected in 2017 with 73.6% of the vot ...

. Johnstone, declaring himself as fiscally responsible and

socially progressive Progressivism holds that it is possible to improve human societies through political action. As a political movement, progressivism seeks to advance the human condition through social reform based on purported advancements in science, techno ...

, was the youngest candidate running for any position in the 2013 Edmonton election, being only 25 years old when he announced his candidacy. Johnstone's platform was largely based on the repair of basic

infrastructure Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and priv ...

, spending responsibly, focusing on the revitalization of mature neighbourhoods, investing in the building of

low income housing Subsidized housing is government sponsored economic assistance aimed towards alleviating housing costs and expenses for impoverished people with low to moderate incomes. In the United States, subsidized housing is often called "affordable housin ...

, as well as building a stronger

public transit Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...

system while lowering fares. Johnstone also pledged to self-fund his entire campaign and donate $10 000 for each year of his terms' salary to various charities and causes around Edmonton citing that, "politicians make entirely too much money." He was ultimately defeated by former

Alberta Party The Alberta Party, formally the Alberta Party Political Association, is a political party in the province of Alberta, Canada. The party describes itself as a centrist and pragmatic in that is not dogmatically ideological in its approach to politi ...

candidate, Michael Walters. On December 27, 2015, Johnstone announced his candidacy for the Ward 12

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

race in Edmonton's south-side district to replace

Amarjeet Sohi Amarjeet Sohi (born March 8, 1964) is a Canadian politician serving as the 36th and current List of mayors of Edmonton, mayor of Edmonton since October 26, 2021. Sohi previously sat as a Member of Parliament (Canada), member of Parliament (MP) a ...

who was elected to

Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since 2 ...

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

government in October 2015. Johnstone, once again labelling himself as a fiscally responsible and socially progressive candidate, concentrated on restructuring Edmonton's photo radar system and redirecting a majority of the revenue to Edmonton's Police services, ushering in a more economical public transit system, postponing the building of the Valley Line LRT route, and mandating that a certain percentage of newly developed land must contain low-income and other forms of social housing. Johnstone was also openly critical of the record-breaking thirty-two candidates citing that it would confuse casual voters and result in a low voter turnout. Johnstone was defeated by local police detective, Moe Banga. In May 2018, Johnstone announced that he was seeking the Alberta Party nomination to be their official candidate in the upcoming

2019 Alberta general election The 2019 Alberta general election was held on April 16, 2019, to elect 87 members to the 30th Alberta Legislature. In its first general election contest, the Jason Kenney-led United Conservative Party (UCP) won 54.88% of the popular vote and 63 ...

. Johnstone was looking to represent the Alberta Party in the province's Edmonton-South district, but left near the end of June 2018, citing lack of "leadership, direction, and organization;" he also noted that while he respected former Edmonton mayor,

Stephen Mandel Stephen Mandel (born July 18, 1945) is a Canadian politician and leader of the Alberta Party from 2018 to 2019. He previously served as an Alberta cabinet minister from 2014 to 2015 and as mayor of Edmonton, Alberta for three terms from 2004 ...

, he was still unpersuaded and preferred the leadership of former Alberta Party leader,

Greg Clark Gregory David Clark (born 28 August 1967) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities from 7 July 2022 to 6 September 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, he has served as Member of Pa ...

. On January 22, 2021, Dan announced his candidacy for the newly created Ward Ipiihkoohkanipiaohtsi in the

2021 Edmonton municipal election The 2021 Edmonton municipal election was held on October 18, 2021, to elect a mayor and 12 councillors to the city council, the nine trustees to Edmonton Public Schools, and the seven trustees to the Edmonton Catholic Schools. It was held in conj ...

. He withdrew his candidacy in August 2021, citing a need to focus on his mental health.

Awards and honours

In June 2015, "WO Magazine" listed Johnstone as one of their "Top 5 Anti-Poverty Activists". Johnstone was voted by readers as Edmonton's "Best Activist" in

Vue Weekly ''Vue Weekly'' was an alternative weekly newspaper published in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, with issues released every Thursday. It covered topics on artists and events that are often ignored, marginalized, or misrepresented by the mainstream med ...

's "Best of Edmonton 2017" series, and was voted Edmonton's "Best Philanthropist" in the 2018 edition. In November 2018, Avenue Magazine awarded Dan with their "Top 40 Under 40" award for " onatinghis time to give back to the community.

Personal life

Dan is an avid professional wrestling fan, a self-declared

cinephile Cinephilia (; also cinemaphilia or filmophilia) is the term used to refer to a passionate interest in films, film theory, and film criticism. The term is a portmanteau of the words cinema and philia, one of the four ancient Greek words for lo ...

, and

board game Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well. Many board games feature a comp ...

enthusiast. Dan has noted on several occasions that his favourite television show is ''

Game of Thrones ''Game of Thrones'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin, the first ...

'', and that he is also a fan of reality television, and one day hopes to compete on '' Survivor'', ''

Big Brother Canada ''Big Brother Canada'' is a Canada, Canadian television Reality competition, reality game show based on the Big Brother (Dutch TV series), Dutch reality show of the same name, which is part of the wider ''Big Brother (franchise), Big Brother'' f ...

'', and ''

The Amazing Race Canada ''The Amazing Race Canada'' is a Canadian adventure reality game show based on the international ''Amazing Race'' franchise. Following the premise of other versions of the format, the show follows teams of two as they race across Canada and aro ...

''. Dan considers himself to be a political

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

, but believes that all levels of government should take a more

centrist Centrism is a political outlook or position involving acceptance or support of a balance of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy while opposing political changes that would result in a significant shift of society strongly to the l ...

approach when governing, as he believes that divisive and polarizing politics are harmful to a society and the community.

References

External links

Can Man Dan Foundation official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Can Man Dan 1987 births Living people 21st-century Canadian politicians 21st-century First Nations people Alberta municipal politicians Canadian anti-poverty activists Canadian philanthropists First Nations activists First Nations politicians Homelessness activists Politicians from Edmonton