Marty C. Ontario, Canada Southern Alberta Roundup 3/28/2026Marty C. Ontario, Canada Southern Alberta Roundup 3/28/2026
Mad Dog Recovery AA Speakers
Marty C. shares a raw, often funny but deeply serious account of alcoholism, prison time, partial recovery, and eventually working the AA steps in full. He talks openly about powerlessness, sponsorship, step work, and how fellowship and spiritual practice carried him through profound family loss and grief.
1:15:14•30 Mar 2026
From Chains to Change: Marty C. Brings AA to Life at the Southern Alberta Roundup
Episode Overview
- Simply not drinking while avoiding the 12 steps can leave someone dangerously untreated, even after many sober years.
- Powerlessness is described as both being unable to stop once drinking starts and being unable to stop starting in the first place.
- The 12 steps are presented as a complete process; skipping steps often leads to shallow change and ongoing self-centred behaviour.
- Step 10 and staying in the present moment are highlighted as crucial tools for handling intense emotions, including rage and grief.
- AA fellowship and shared prayer are shown as powerful sources of comfort and support during devastating family losses.
“You’re asleep dreaming you’re awake.”
What remarkable journeys have people faced head-on against addiction? This talk from the Southern Alberta Roundup brings Marty C. from Hamilton, Ontario, to the podium with what the organisers call “a message of depth and weight” – and he doesn’t disappoint.
Across humour, honesty, and some very raw storytelling, Marty traces his drinking from a first magical beer at twelve, through Irish Catholic family chaos, violence, prison, and early attempts at AA that were more about not drinking than real change. He laughs about being hauled in chains to an AA conference for the promise of “a roast beef dinner and a dance… with chicks?”, yet that day planted seeds he wouldn’t recognise for years.
The heart of his sharing sits in powerlessness and the 12 steps. Marty insists, “My message is going to be a message of powerlessness to the power,” and later repeats a line that shook him: “You’re asleep dreaming you’re awake.” He’s blunt about spending his first 14 sober years “not drinking” but still lying, stealing and living off self-will, until sponsor Mark Houston walked him through the steps properly and changed everything. This isn’t a tidy recovery story.
Marty talks about deep losses – a daughter’s suicide attempt, another daughter’s cancer and stage four diagnosis, and eventually Sarah’s overdose. Yet he describes how step 10 and the AA fellowship carried him through, right down to the day of Sarah’s funeral when 1,600 people joined in the Prayer of St Francis and he “could feel the healing” in the room.
If you’re curious how AA, the steps, and sponsorship actually play out in a messy real life, you’ll find plenty here to relate to, wince at, and maybe laugh with. Where do you see your own story in Marty’s mix of chaos, honesty, and unexpected grace?
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