This report shares the results of four peer discourse sessions conducted in Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta, with diverse groups of civically engaged people about early childhood development and child mental health. This research demonstrates the power of dominant and unproductive understandings of early childhood development and child mental health among Albertans. However, the research also shows that more policy-oriented conversations about these issues can emerge through the use of simplifying models such as Toxic Stress and values such as Interdependence.