Hot Tubbin' For...GGCLC: Day #1 - Opening Plenary and Gala
Well, adjusting to this weird time zone (4 hours ahead of Vancouver) in Halifax has been a bit of a challenge. I had grand plans of going for walk this morning but got around to sleeping in and repacking one of my suitcases. After I spent the morning getting ready, I went downstairs and picked up my conference bag, jacket (weird sizing - oh well) and binder. Then I went and dropped off my small suitcase with my clothes for the Ottawa Gala and had lunch with my study tour comrades. After brief introductions we broke off and went to the pre-conference session lead by Maxime Boilard (Olympic Canoer) and Barbara Oberleitner both alumni from the 2008 conference.
They were amazing - Maxime's comparisons to paddling and leadership were so...relevant. I had just received news that my application for health and wellness funding at UBC had been approved - and it was based on my success dragon boating. So I proposed putting together a dragon boat in the Library to build both physical fitness and camaraderie. It just goes to show that hobbies can work themselves into your work life, for the better...I digress... Anyway, back to the conference...the presentation was a heartfelt and motivating session where they spoke about what we can expect to get out of the conference and reiterated what I've heard over and over again - that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and we need to look to development, alignment and performance as a process to develop our leadership - the steps to creating a paddling team. You can look at all of us representing all sectors in a boat. Unless we paddle together, the boat doesn't move. One stroke, one heart, one country. Wowzers.
Next up for us the official opening of the conference by His Excellency, Governor General David Johnston. First were greetings from Annette Verschuren (former CEO Home Depot Canada) and then Albert Marshall, elder from the Mi'kmaw nation blessed the conference by saying a prayer accompanied by smouldering sage. Once the Governor General was finished the conference was officially opened! Then it was off to our breakout room where I would meet Ontario 2, the people I would spend the next 15 days with.
I walked in and immediately felt excited and at ease. You could already feel the chemistry of the group. We are an incredibly diverse and accomplished group. Gender wise we are 8 men and 7 women - lawyers, communications folks, operations managers, accountants, librarians, engineers, politicians, physicians, entrepreneurs, union activists, community leaders, actuaries from all over the country - coast to coast to coast, Vancouver to Whitehorse to St. John's! We went around the table and introduced ourselves, talked a little bit about our work but mostly spoke about what made us apply to the conference. Our journeys to get to the conference may be completely different but the reasons WHY we're here are all very similar. For me, it's the opportunity to connect with people I would never have the chance to meet otherwise. It gives me the opportunity to contribute and participate in really important dialogue about our country. And it gives people the chance to hear a progressive voice coming from the labour movement - that union activists are passionate about making things better for our members of course, but also for all working people...blah blah blah. :)
After the brief sessions with our study groups it was time to get ready for the opening gala at Pier 21 (the site of Canada's Immigration Museum). I ran into Trevor Davies - GVP of CUPE BC and someone I know from Member Facilitator Training last year. It was nice to see a familiar face. I also run into to Georgi Bates from COPE 378 who I met last week when I met with the BC labour delegates. The 3 of us walk over together and then split off to find our study groups. Ontario 2 commandeers a table in the middle of the room near the open bar (woot - we were served delicious Nova Scotian wine). I got to chatting with a few of my tour mates - these are genuinely good people. I felt pretty good about holding my own with them and any hesitation I had about participating is gone. I'm excited to get going! Dinner time rolls around and we're seated near the back of the room.
The gala starts off with greetings from the Premier of Nova Scotia, Darrell Dexter (NDP woot!), and a performance from the DRUM! They were AWESOME! We saw them play musician representing Mi'kmaw, Acadiens, Celts, and the Black Settlers. They were full of life, energy, hope, history, passion and inspiration - it was a great introduction to the people of Nova Scotia. We then said grace and it was dinner time.
Dinner started with a beet salad, served with micro greens and chèvre and then topped with a truffled honey goat cheese dressing. It was earthy, and tangy - a great start. Then the main was steak and Atlantic lobster with grilled vegetables. Holy hell - the steak was perfectly medium rare and the lobster tender and rich. For dessert we were treated to a delicious apple tartin served with berries and raspberry coulis and a tasting plate of Nova Scotian cheese, dried fruits, chocolate dipped strawberries, truffles and grapes. Yum yum yum - what a way to start the conference!
After dinner we moved onto the keynote speakers - Sergio Marchionne, CEO FIAT/Chrysler and Leo Gerard, President of the International United Steelworkers Union. They spoke inspiringly about leadership and sustainable communities from business and labour perspectives. What Marchionne has done with FIAT/Chrysler is pretty damn impressive - no wonder he is sought after to save companies. And he's down-to-earth. Leo Girard was interesting - a good sense of humour but nothing really new to me. He's got an interesting job seeing as he oversees an international body - those of us in the public sector are used to provincial issues taking the forefront. All of the delegates really appreciated their candour and realized that business and labour aren't quite as far apart on some issues as you would think. (I should say out of respect for my group mates and the speakers of the conference, I can't post any details of the conversations that happen in the rooms).
An inspiring and amazing evening. The venue was perfect - we were wined and dined, warmly welcomed, had great entertainment and left full, inspired and ready to take on tomorrow's full schedule of speakers.
They were amazing - Maxime's comparisons to paddling and leadership were so...relevant. I had just received news that my application for health and wellness funding at UBC had been approved - and it was based on my success dragon boating. So I proposed putting together a dragon boat in the Library to build both physical fitness and camaraderie. It just goes to show that hobbies can work themselves into your work life, for the better...I digress... Anyway, back to the conference...the presentation was a heartfelt and motivating session where they spoke about what we can expect to get out of the conference and reiterated what I've heard over and over again - that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and we need to look to development, alignment and performance as a process to develop our leadership - the steps to creating a paddling team. You can look at all of us representing all sectors in a boat. Unless we paddle together, the boat doesn't move. One stroke, one heart, one country. Wowzers.
Next up for us the official opening of the conference by His Excellency, Governor General David Johnston. First were greetings from Annette Verschuren (former CEO Home Depot Canada) and then Albert Marshall, elder from the Mi'kmaw nation blessed the conference by saying a prayer accompanied by smouldering sage. Once the Governor General was finished the conference was officially opened! Then it was off to our breakout room where I would meet Ontario 2, the people I would spend the next 15 days with.
I walked in and immediately felt excited and at ease. You could already feel the chemistry of the group. We are an incredibly diverse and accomplished group. Gender wise we are 8 men and 7 women - lawyers, communications folks, operations managers, accountants, librarians, engineers, politicians, physicians, entrepreneurs, union activists, community leaders, actuaries from all over the country - coast to coast to coast, Vancouver to Whitehorse to St. John's! We went around the table and introduced ourselves, talked a little bit about our work but mostly spoke about what made us apply to the conference. Our journeys to get to the conference may be completely different but the reasons WHY we're here are all very similar. For me, it's the opportunity to connect with people I would never have the chance to meet otherwise. It gives me the opportunity to contribute and participate in really important dialogue about our country. And it gives people the chance to hear a progressive voice coming from the labour movement - that union activists are passionate about making things better for our members of course, but also for all working people...blah blah blah. :)
After the brief sessions with our study groups it was time to get ready for the opening gala at Pier 21 (the site of Canada's Immigration Museum). I ran into Trevor Davies - GVP of CUPE BC and someone I know from Member Facilitator Training last year. It was nice to see a familiar face. I also run into to Georgi Bates from COPE 378 who I met last week when I met with the BC labour delegates. The 3 of us walk over together and then split off to find our study groups. Ontario 2 commandeers a table in the middle of the room near the open bar (woot - we were served delicious Nova Scotian wine). I got to chatting with a few of my tour mates - these are genuinely good people. I felt pretty good about holding my own with them and any hesitation I had about participating is gone. I'm excited to get going! Dinner time rolls around and we're seated near the back of the room.
The gala starts off with greetings from the Premier of Nova Scotia, Darrell Dexter (NDP woot!), and a performance from the DRUM! They were AWESOME! We saw them play musician representing Mi'kmaw, Acadiens, Celts, and the Black Settlers. They were full of life, energy, hope, history, passion and inspiration - it was a great introduction to the people of Nova Scotia. We then said grace and it was dinner time.
Dinner started with a beet salad, served with micro greens and chèvre and then topped with a truffled honey goat cheese dressing. It was earthy, and tangy - a great start. Then the main was steak and Atlantic lobster with grilled vegetables. Holy hell - the steak was perfectly medium rare and the lobster tender and rich. For dessert we were treated to a delicious apple tartin served with berries and raspberry coulis and a tasting plate of Nova Scotian cheese, dried fruits, chocolate dipped strawberries, truffles and grapes. Yum yum yum - what a way to start the conference!
After dinner we moved onto the keynote speakers - Sergio Marchionne, CEO FIAT/Chrysler and Leo Gerard, President of the International United Steelworkers Union. They spoke inspiringly about leadership and sustainable communities from business and labour perspectives. What Marchionne has done with FIAT/Chrysler is pretty damn impressive - no wonder he is sought after to save companies. And he's down-to-earth. Leo Girard was interesting - a good sense of humour but nothing really new to me. He's got an interesting job seeing as he oversees an international body - those of us in the public sector are used to provincial issues taking the forefront. All of the delegates really appreciated their candour and realized that business and labour aren't quite as far apart on some issues as you would think. (I should say out of respect for my group mates and the speakers of the conference, I can't post any details of the conversations that happen in the rooms).
An inspiring and amazing evening. The venue was perfect - we were wined and dined, warmly welcomed, had great entertainment and left full, inspired and ready to take on tomorrow's full schedule of speakers.
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