margo timmins was born and spent most of her childhood in montreal as one of six children of barbara and john timmins. she describes her mother barbara as "a very honest person, and very confident in who she was and her emotions and her place in the world. and i think if she gave anything, that's what she gave us: the sense that you do what you do, and not to worry about it too much. a confidence. not a confidence that we're necessarily right, but even if we're wrong, well, too bad".