Governor General’s Leadership Conference – Words cannot describe the impact that the two weeks of participation in the GG Leadership Conference has had on me personally and professionally.  Looking back, I really didn’t grasp what an honour it was to be selected as a participant.  It wasn’t until I flew to Calgary, met up with other participants and was swept up in all of excitement and enthusiasm that I realized how lucky I was to have been selected as one of the 230 participants for the 2008 event. Apparently, thousands of people apply and considering that the conference takes place once every four years, I now fully appreciate my luck. 

Photo: Nova Scotia Group Members 

The participants all met in Calgary and we were given our jackets, binders and laptop bag and off we went. We boarded a train headed for Banff and upon arrival we checked into the Banff Conference Centre. We spent two and half days listening to a line up of incredible and powerful speakers including Chief Phil Fontaine, National Chief of First Nations, the Honourable Peter Lougheed (former premier of Alta), Sheila Watt-Cloutier, Former Chair, Inuit Circumpolar Council, Dr. David Foot, author of Boom, Bust, Echo, Jim Balsillie, Co-Chief Executive Officer, Research in Motion, Sherri Torjman from the Caledon Institute, and many other top notch business and community leaders of today. 

The Governor General attended the first three days with all the participants. One evening we traveled by bus to the Nakoda Lodge for a spectacular dinner and traditional aboriginal dancing. The drum beat permeated throughout the dining hall and calm settled amongst the participants so we could feel the intensity of their traditional singing and drumming.

Photo: Traditional aboriginal dancing

The next day we split up into study groups. There were 16 study groups in total and I was assigned to the Nova Scotia Group. Our group ended up flying to Sydney, Nova Scotia to begin our tour. The intent of the study group assignments are to travel to various locations throughout Canada to learn about the cultural, social, economic and the political opportunities, challenges and barriers.  The first day we visited the Sydney Tar Ponds and met with the organization now in charge of the clean up. On this visit, we learned first hand about the environmental impact, the delays in the clean up efforts, the community consultations and the creation of a plan that met the needs of the stakeholders.

On average we stopped at 6 – 8 locations each day and met with community leaders, politicians, academics, first nations’ elders/leaders and many more. We even stopped at a number of disability service providers along our route. I was really delighted to stop at Team Works Cooperative – an employment service cooperative that includes IL Canada’s Halifax IL Centre as one of their partners. I felt relieved when the representatives began talking the IL Lingo because it reinforced my own interventions in my study group regarding inclusion, access and full integration IL style.

One night we joined the Board of Governors of St. Francis Xavier University in Anitgonish -- for a lobster fest in a beautiful dance worthy barn that backed onto a beach.

The Nova Scotia study group consisted of people from the corporate world, first nation’s community, unions and community groups. We were definitely a “mixed bag of nuts”.   At first, there was a wee bit of tension especially at the end of our long days with group discussions featuring various group member perspectives on community challenges.  Somebody in the group noticed that we were probably all “Type A” personalities so keep that in mind when I refer to my study group and our lively debates on the bus. One day, early in our travels, there was a break through, the tension lifted and we began to giggle and laugh at the silliest things and our own personal solitudes were eliminated. We were suddenly a team! Exhaustion can certainly encourage a twisted sense of humour.

 Photo: Traci with the Governor General

For 9 days, our team traveled throughout Nova Scotia including the island of Cape Breton. What a funky province!  I had only flown in and out of Halifax on business before. I had no idea of the beauty, the history of the province and its residents.

A very special day for me was our visit to Chapel Island First Nation’s Community. There, we enjoyed the drumming of one of the community’s elders and two younger men along with the traditional “shawl” dance performed by two stunningly beautiful first nation’s women.

One of the elders led us back in the meadow to show us a sacred baptismal and burial site.  We stood in the meadow listening to the childhood memories of one of the Mi’kmaq elders and the entire study group felt in awe of the experience and felt honoured to be allowed into such a sacred area. This day also coincided with the apology in the House of Commons by the Prime Minister for the residential school’s tragedy so with that as the backdrop you can well imagine the sentiments that day.

Everyday, the study group members met specifically to share their thoughts and reflections on the meetings.  On many occasions, I was beyond exhaustion.  Many of the other study group’s members were as well and they didn’t live with disabilities.  After our intense travel in Nova Scotia, we boarded a plane with Ottawa as our next destination.

In Ottawa, each study group finalized their presentations for the Governor General.  Our Nova Scotia Group was selected to be the first group to present so we had a lot of work to do to create our multi-media presentation on our adventure. Naturally, being in Ottawa, I called upon the IL Canada staff to help out. Kier came rushing over to help with our multi-media presentation and he rolled up my collage to get it scanned and photocopied for the audience. Our group wanted to attract audience attention from the get go so naturally we decided to try and find a bag piper. Who do you call when you need help to find something unusual and out of the ordinary – IL Canada staff! Diane Champagne, my new Executive Assistive called anyone who might have something to do with bag piping. Lo and behold, within 3 hours we had lined up a bag piper for the next day. All the IL Canada staff pitched in to help out and their assistance definitely made a positive impact and impressed the group.

The collage that I am referring to is a montage of cuts outs of the promotional materials that we received from the many organizations that we visited. I incorporated quotes, picturesque scenes and some of the logos and created this mosaic of the Nova Scotia Study Group experience.

Photo: Nova Scotia Collage

For two days, all the study groups presented their findings/reports to the Governor General.  I have so much to tell you about what transpired throughout the conference, our presentations and wrap up but I still need a couple of days to unwind and debrief myself.

Photo: Governor General dancing

At the closing gala, the Chairperson of the event, Rick George and other alumni warned us that it will take a few weeks for everything to settle.  The conference was a whirl wind event and the experience was so intense that a participant needs a while to let it all sink in.  I have lots more to tell you but I am still dealing with fatigue. I don’t want to short change readers on the impact of the event so give me a few days and I will post more.

Photo: Nova Scotia group with the Governor General

In my next entry, I will write also write about our national board meeting in Shippagan and its impact in their community.

Take care for now.

Traci