After getting lost in Edmunston trying to find the rental company so we could drop off the car, we made it to the Université de Moncton - Edmunston Campus for a presenation of a new model of partnership the Université has with teh CCNB of Edmunston in sharing facilities and services. Very welcoming individuals and good discussion...
On another note, the week has been a tremendous learning experience in terms of living accessibility through Courntey's reality. Courtney is a C5 quadrapalegic and everytime a building, or room, or vehicle is not accessible, the whole group and guests witness it and have to find a solution to it. In travelling with him in the rental down to Fredericton, it was also nice to chat with him about all that. I had assumed he would have been frustrated with all this, but he's really a true champion of the cause, also being President of the Canadian Parapalegic Association of NB, and each time a challenge occurs, he wants it to be noticed so people can take note and hopefully address it in the future. Thanks for that part of the trip Courtney...
We travelled to Florenceville to visit McCain Foods. We had a tour of the R&D centre and then had an hour with the Chairman of the company, Allison McCain. With companies not only in NB, but all over the world, it was nice to pick his brain on economic development, business, young entrepreneurs, community impact, organisational culture etc. Looking back at all the companies we visited this week, all were so different. From JDI to McCain, to Imperial manufacturing, to Big Tide Brewing to NB Power just to name a few. I have so much reading to add to my list now...
We had great supper with 2 other business leaders of the region. Sabian Cymbals and Barrett Corporation. I was really impressed by Ed Barrett, the Co-CEO. Great insights on leadership, business and advancing NB forward from business to community development.
Now I'm in Woodstock. Super tired. The group has gone out for drinks at Courtney's place... so me and my co-prego-leader are staying in to relax. I'm still not over my cold either so I am exhausted. Tomorrow is our last day... we have supper with the group and I think I'll bring LP so I can spend time with him before I go home to put him to bed! Looking forward to relaxing at home on Sunday...
10.23.2009
21inc. - Day 6
The morning started off with a great breakfast with a varierty of community leaders from Bathurst. Really great discussion about perceptions from and between North and South ends of the province, business development, what is realistic in regionalisation versus centralisation, how this all fits in the bigger picture for New Brunswick etc etc. I sat with the Mayor from Nigadoo and what wonderful values she had about her community, volunteerisms, youth etc. Wish I could I have spent more time picking her brain.
Then we were off to CCNB so Scott, our co-leader, could show us his EcoPlusHome project he has been working on. Essentially a pilot project with over 50 community partners, for an affordable, energy efficient house. Check out the website.
From Bathurst we travelled to Campbellton where Courntey and I, another co-leader but also one of my Board members at work (the Stan Cassidy Foundation) had to leave to travel to Fredericton for a work-related event. The Foundation was a finalist for a Business Excellence Award with the local chamber of commerce. I don't think we could have been any further away from Fredericton on this tour... but we hopped in a rental car and drove to Woodstock, where Courntey lives so we could change, then off to the Delta Fredericton for the Gala. And we didn't win. blrrrrrrrrrrrrr. But it was a great evening. We travelled back to Woodstock for the night, and at 8am the next day we were already at a Tim's drivethrough for coffee, ready for the trip to Edmundston to meet up with the group again.
I should have started to count the kms I covered this week... bus, car, and walking!
AND we got our first snow that day...
Then we were off to CCNB so Scott, our co-leader, could show us his EcoPlusHome project he has been working on. Essentially a pilot project with over 50 community partners, for an affordable, energy efficient house. Check out the website.
From Bathurst we travelled to Campbellton where Courntey and I, another co-leader but also one of my Board members at work (the Stan Cassidy Foundation) had to leave to travel to Fredericton for a work-related event. The Foundation was a finalist for a Business Excellence Award with the local chamber of commerce. I don't think we could have been any further away from Fredericton on this tour... but we hopped in a rental car and drove to Woodstock, where Courntey lives so we could change, then off to the Delta Fredericton for the Gala. And we didn't win. blrrrrrrrrrrrrr. But it was a great evening. We travelled back to Woodstock for the night, and at 8am the next day we were already at a Tim's drivethrough for coffee, ready for the trip to Edmundston to meet up with the group again.
I should have started to count the kms I covered this week... bus, car, and walking!
AND we got our first snow that day...
21inc. - Day 5
I am behind updating the blog about my week... the last couple of days have been really busy.
So day 5... I can barely remember which day was what....
We started in Richibucto at Imperial Manufacturing. I was totally clueless that this manufacturing plant was in NB. The place is massive (to my standards anyways). They make a variety of construction products out of sheet metal. A real production line with a variety of machinery. We had an hour tour of the place and it was quite impressive hearing them talk about the progression of their business over the years, their processes getting leaner and leaner over time and how they started.
We then travelled to Miramichi at Beaverbrk House for a half-way debrief amongst ourselves on how the trip is going... good group discussions about expectations, outcomes... too tired to get into it.
From there we travelled to Caraquet for a frustrating meeting with l'Acadie Nouvelle. Well frustrating for me anyways. The Chief Editor gave us a tour and answered questions. My frustration is the lack of coverage in Fredericton and Saint John... and not just within the francophonie, but anything! If it has nothing to do with Government or politics its almost like its not worth recognizing. I have a hard time swallowing the lack of resources as an answer, there must be a bit of wiggle room in there. And I express this frustration for the NGOs who have taken the impressive initative to go from being uniligual english to bilingual in this province, and it's nearly impossible for them to breakthrough the francophone media. Enough ranting.
We however had a really nice meeting with one of the VPs of la Fédération des Caisses Populaires Acadiennes and the group had a really good discussion.
Then we had supper at Hotel Paulin which was absolutely gorgeous and the food was fabulous... again, wish I could have had the wine!!!! We met with "old boys betwork" of the community and they spoke about their community's success and vision. The General Manager of Caraquet was there and is a 21inc. alumni so it was nice to make that connection.
It was a late night; we then travelled to Bathurst and arrived at 11pm at our hotel... I was already tired from th day before... and now I was really tired.
So day 5... I can barely remember which day was what....
We started in Richibucto at Imperial Manufacturing. I was totally clueless that this manufacturing plant was in NB. The place is massive (to my standards anyways). They make a variety of construction products out of sheet metal. A real production line with a variety of machinery. We had an hour tour of the place and it was quite impressive hearing them talk about the progression of their business over the years, their processes getting leaner and leaner over time and how they started.
We then travelled to Miramichi at Beaverbrk House for a half-way debrief amongst ourselves on how the trip is going... good group discussions about expectations, outcomes... too tired to get into it.
From there we travelled to Caraquet for a frustrating meeting with l'Acadie Nouvelle. Well frustrating for me anyways. The Chief Editor gave us a tour and answered questions. My frustration is the lack of coverage in Fredericton and Saint John... and not just within the francophonie, but anything! If it has nothing to do with Government or politics its almost like its not worth recognizing. I have a hard time swallowing the lack of resources as an answer, there must be a bit of wiggle room in there. And I express this frustration for the NGOs who have taken the impressive initative to go from being uniligual english to bilingual in this province, and it's nearly impossible for them to breakthrough the francophone media. Enough ranting.
We however had a really nice meeting with one of the VPs of la Fédération des Caisses Populaires Acadiennes and the group had a really good discussion.
Then we had supper at Hotel Paulin which was absolutely gorgeous and the food was fabulous... again, wish I could have had the wine!!!! We met with "old boys betwork" of the community and they spoke about their community's success and vision. The General Manager of Caraquet was there and is a 21inc. alumni so it was nice to make that connection.
It was a late night; we then travelled to Bathurst and arrived at 11pm at our hotel... I was already tired from th day before... and now I was really tired.
10.20.2009
21inc. - Day 4
The day started off early in Moncton with breakfast with Shawn Graham, the Premier. I enjoyed the fact that there was no speech, he just invited a Q&A right away and we bombarded him with a variety of questions.
... almost midnight... really tired... going to make this quick today.
We were off to the Atlantic Institute of Cancer Research later on and got a tour and presentation from the CEO... then off to the Atlantic Ballet Theatre of Canada to discuss arts and the world of business. Yes, art is a business and was I ever happy to here this CEO in the industry say so!!!!! The we went to Dieppe to discuss the impressive growth and plans of this community. It was all impressive... but my attention span at this point was getting low. And then even worse when we went into the next session of immigration for the larger Moncton area. And plus the discussion got a bit fluffy... so I disconnected quite a bit there. When it gets into personal experiences and sharing of what we love about multiculturalism, I just loose all interest in the discussion. And for some reason, each time a conversations revolve around multiculturalism, people talk about the great food you can take advantage of when you have multiculturalism. What??!! Can we talk about what the actual strategies should be and what is not working? What are the missing links? What policies should be changed, what should be encouraged, discouraged... arg, I was a little frustrated. But it was nice to see a few of my co-leaders speak passionatly on this topic which was dear to them. But don't get me wrong, I'm a proponent of immigration and the added values it brings to our communities.
We travelled to Elsipogtog First Nations reserve where we spent some time with Josie, a well respected elder in that community. Although we did not do the sweat lodge as we were hoping (which was fine with me since I was nto abel to participate in it anyways given the pregers situation!), we still sat in one, many of us together with Josie, huddled on the floor and bombarded her with question, while she just answered all of them patiently and passed on her knowledge and values of her culture. She had us all hooked! I'm sure some of our questions must have been so naive, but she was so open and patient and had a great sense of humor. She explained a lot of the symbolisms, the values and beliefs tied in with their respect of mother nature, her community, her work, her medicines. That was the highlight of my day and I wanted to stay longer to keep picking her brain and better understand her world. Thank you Josie!!
Now we are in sweet little cottages in Richibucto... I headed to bed a bit early as usual to try to rest this belly. My muscles are a bit sore and I'm still sick from 2 weeks ago, but I'm not complaining, its a great week so far...
Tomorrow we only start at 8am... so we get to sleep in a bit. We'll be visiting local companies, the francophone newspaper, banks, Caraquet ...but the only thing that I seem to really remember from the schedule is only arriving at our hotel at 10pm! Another long day...
cdg
... almost midnight... really tired... going to make this quick today.
We were off to the Atlantic Institute of Cancer Research later on and got a tour and presentation from the CEO... then off to the Atlantic Ballet Theatre of Canada to discuss arts and the world of business. Yes, art is a business and was I ever happy to here this CEO in the industry say so!!!!! The we went to Dieppe to discuss the impressive growth and plans of this community. It was all impressive... but my attention span at this point was getting low. And then even worse when we went into the next session of immigration for the larger Moncton area. And plus the discussion got a bit fluffy... so I disconnected quite a bit there. When it gets into personal experiences and sharing of what we love about multiculturalism, I just loose all interest in the discussion. And for some reason, each time a conversations revolve around multiculturalism, people talk about the great food you can take advantage of when you have multiculturalism. What??!! Can we talk about what the actual strategies should be and what is not working? What are the missing links? What policies should be changed, what should be encouraged, discouraged... arg, I was a little frustrated. But it was nice to see a few of my co-leaders speak passionatly on this topic which was dear to them. But don't get me wrong, I'm a proponent of immigration and the added values it brings to our communities.
We travelled to Elsipogtog First Nations reserve where we spent some time with Josie, a well respected elder in that community. Although we did not do the sweat lodge as we were hoping (which was fine with me since I was nto abel to participate in it anyways given the pregers situation!), we still sat in one, many of us together with Josie, huddled on the floor and bombarded her with question, while she just answered all of them patiently and passed on her knowledge and values of her culture. She had us all hooked! I'm sure some of our questions must have been so naive, but she was so open and patient and had a great sense of humor. She explained a lot of the symbolisms, the values and beliefs tied in with their respect of mother nature, her community, her work, her medicines. That was the highlight of my day and I wanted to stay longer to keep picking her brain and better understand her world. Thank you Josie!!
Now we are in sweet little cottages in Richibucto... I headed to bed a bit early as usual to try to rest this belly. My muscles are a bit sore and I'm still sick from 2 weeks ago, but I'm not complaining, its a great week so far...
Tomorrow we only start at 8am... so we get to sleep in a bit. We'll be visiting local companies, the francophone newspaper, banks, Caraquet ...but the only thing that I seem to really remember from the schedule is only arriving at our hotel at 10pm! Another long day...
cdg
10.19.2009
21inc. - Day 3
We spent a good part, well all of the morning at JDI today. Discussion on its business, then tour of the mill followed by another discussion which revolved around self-sufficiency, energy, the environment... what are JDI's plan? Vision? It was a good opportunity to ask questions and discuss. I'm reading a book on the Irving Family dinasty in NB right now, so it was timely for me and very interesting. I was mostly interested in knowing how they form their unshakable internal commitment with staff, while having large parts of the community be unhappy with their presence. We didn't get there. Many in the group are very focused on green matters so the discussion is often directed that way, and I do also have an interest, and do not mind it, but I discuss it enough elsewhere and everywhere. I like discussing the interal culture, process, leadership styles and relationships. The history, how they got there, how they address challenges. Something different.
We then had lunch at a microbrewery, Big Tide Brewery and had beer tasting... it did smell good!! 2 more months... 2 more months... ;) If in SJ, definately give it a try, lunch was outstanding.
Then we had another tear jerking session which was very effective in getting the message out. We had a tour of the neighborhoods greatly affected by poverty in SJ. SJ has quite a unique challenge with this compared to the rest of the NB, I never realized this. Many affordable housing units. Many. Many. Many buildings borded up, condemned... or that should be. And a great NGO in the middle of it all which works towards decreasing the percentage of the population affected by poverty, the North End Community Centre.
Then we had a great walking tour of SJ to see its history and how its municipal policies on maintaining historical real estate, architecture and the image of their corresponding neighberhoods work for SJ. Wonderful old buildings and properties. I wish I had tones of money to invest in real estate.
Then off to Moncton where we had dinner at the U de M and had a panel discussion with 4 great women about women in position of leadership. My new hero, Aldéa Landry... she's done so much, and her comments this evening were brilliant and inspiring.
I'm at the hotel now... spent time with my feet in the hot tub relaxing... and now I really need to get to bed. We have breakfast at 7:30am with the Premier. I should really be thinking of my possible questions... not writing on the blog... ah, I'll try to think something up over coffee at 7am.
Bonne nuit...
cdg
We then had lunch at a microbrewery, Big Tide Brewery and had beer tasting... it did smell good!! 2 more months... 2 more months... ;) If in SJ, definately give it a try, lunch was outstanding.
Then we had another tear jerking session which was very effective in getting the message out. We had a tour of the neighborhoods greatly affected by poverty in SJ. SJ has quite a unique challenge with this compared to the rest of the NB, I never realized this. Many affordable housing units. Many. Many. Many buildings borded up, condemned... or that should be. And a great NGO in the middle of it all which works towards decreasing the percentage of the population affected by poverty, the North End Community Centre.
Then we had a great walking tour of SJ to see its history and how its municipal policies on maintaining historical real estate, architecture and the image of their corresponding neighberhoods work for SJ. Wonderful old buildings and properties. I wish I had tones of money to invest in real estate.
Then off to Moncton where we had dinner at the U de M and had a panel discussion with 4 great women about women in position of leadership. My new hero, Aldéa Landry... she's done so much, and her comments this evening were brilliant and inspiring.
I'm at the hotel now... spent time with my feet in the hot tub relaxing... and now I really need to get to bed. We have breakfast at 7:30am with the Premier. I should really be thinking of my possible questions... not writing on the blog... ah, I'll try to think something up over coffee at 7am.
Bonne nuit...
cdg
21inc. - Day 2
Day 2 started with a very effective awareness breakfast at the NB Association for Community living. Kudos to that NGO for clearly knowing (really, many NGOS can't clearly communicate their message!!) the message they need to bring to the community, and telling their story VERY well. We heard stories of individuals touched by this NGO. Google them. Attend their next awareness breakfast. That's all I can say. This is a NGO worth discovering. I'm hooked!
We then had a session with the Dean of the faculty of business at UNB, Dan Coleman. Great presentation. We then spent time in our groups to start discussing our group project and picking our top 3 choices from a pretty good list. Although Fredericton projects were lacking - what happened there Fredericton??
Then off to Sussex to a Dairy Farm! Armadale Farm welcomed us with opened arms to show us the operations of their business. A friendly Dutch family who moved here in 1986, with a great little business. I kept thinking my father-in-law (Bert the dutch!) would appreaciate this tour at the farm with the production of Gouda and Edam cheeses, yogourt... CHEESE CURDS!! And the smell of the farm stuck on us for a bit too long... or it was my preger nose which could sniff it out for the rest of the day. The mayor stopped by briefly to chat about Sussex... great little community.
Then we were off to Saint John where we had a great supper in the NB Museum and had a workshop/discussion on organizational identity and its emergence with Stuart Baker, an expert on Branding. Very interesting analysis... too tired to think of it much more at this point....
next... day 3....
cdg
We then had a session with the Dean of the faculty of business at UNB, Dan Coleman. Great presentation. We then spent time in our groups to start discussing our group project and picking our top 3 choices from a pretty good list. Although Fredericton projects were lacking - what happened there Fredericton??
Then off to Sussex to a Dairy Farm! Armadale Farm welcomed us with opened arms to show us the operations of their business. A friendly Dutch family who moved here in 1986, with a great little business. I kept thinking my father-in-law (Bert the dutch!) would appreaciate this tour at the farm with the production of Gouda and Edam cheeses, yogourt... CHEESE CURDS!! And the smell of the farm stuck on us for a bit too long... or it was my preger nose which could sniff it out for the rest of the day. The mayor stopped by briefly to chat about Sussex... great little community.
Then we were off to Saint John where we had a great supper in the NB Museum and had a workshop/discussion on organizational identity and its emergence with Stuart Baker, an expert on Branding. Very interesting analysis... too tired to think of it much more at this point....
next... day 3....
cdg
21inc. - Day 1
This week is my provincial tour with 21inc... and so far its been quite the experience.
For those who have been following the blog, you probably read that I am participating in 21inc. a New Brunswick leadership program which spans over 10 months. Check out the website, I was pretty excited to have been selected to be part of this group: www.21inc.ca
So far, the program has included one leadership accelerator, which was held in Fredericton over 3 days. I was really afraid that this was going to be just a feel-good program with a little fairy dust in the pink clouds about how we all love NB, how great it is and how we are all little leaders that can change the world. How useless. And thank goodness it isn't. It's been good discussions so far about the future of the province, policies and their directions, the realities, the various communities and industries, why we still struggle as a province... and why we still want to come back home. My co-leaders are great career-driven and passionate about their province and their industry and/or community. And bonus: I'm not the only one pregnant!! Out of 21 selected individuals, 3 are expecting! woot-woot!
We have 2 more of these accelerators to go through, a tour accross the province over the span of a week and a group project from a community NGO to deliver.
So Day 1 of the tour was just this past Saturday... I'm a bit late in updating the blog. I'm writing from Moncton right now, on day 3... and I'm pretty tired. We start at 7:30am... and we get back anytime between 8-10pm... and it's none stop. So if some of this makes little sense: I'm tired.
So Day 1 was pretty laid back. We met up in Fredericton over lunch at NRC to discuss technology, leadership and the future of NB. We had the GM of Knowledge Park and 2 IT entrepreneurs/business leaders. This was our first panel discussion...we were pretty tame as a group but it was nice to see everyone again since the Fredericton accelerator which was in... september?
We then had an hour and half with David Hay, the CEO of NB Power. We talked both leadership from his perspective and discussions/debates on the future of NB Power. This guy has his leadership skills masters, we were all eating out of his palm when he was done... hey, are we not suppose to have some tougher discussions here? Ah, just learning from the way he answered questions and manipulated the group was a great learning experience.
We then went to the Department of Education to have a chat about illiteracy in NB. We did not have enough time to get into this discussion. I really wanted to get into early childhood. Even if this period is not covered by the Department of Education, the Departement has to deal with al the issues that stem from not investing enough in the ages 0-5. Are we not addressing illiteracy too late in the game by grade 1? Habits are already created, individual family culture is already created. What about tying the community in? How do they work together on that? Well, they don't really that much in NB. And the ADM was good at not answering questions... or rather not knowing how to. Understandably I guess. The vision will not come from senior public servants... I was just so encouraged by the commitment of early childhood education in Saskatchewan, and the partnership the group of parents, community and school has (speaking from my experience on the fransaskois side)... rediscovering NB in this sector was a disapointing exercise.
Then, it was a nice family gathering; 21inc alumi met up with us for supper and it was a good time... and the pregers in the group headed to bed early. ;) I really could have used a glass of red wine or two... 2 more months... 2 more months...
I'll keep you posted on each day...
Chris
;)
For those who have been following the blog, you probably read that I am participating in 21inc. a New Brunswick leadership program which spans over 10 months. Check out the website, I was pretty excited to have been selected to be part of this group: www.21inc.ca
So far, the program has included one leadership accelerator, which was held in Fredericton over 3 days. I was really afraid that this was going to be just a feel-good program with a little fairy dust in the pink clouds about how we all love NB, how great it is and how we are all little leaders that can change the world. How useless. And thank goodness it isn't. It's been good discussions so far about the future of the province, policies and their directions, the realities, the various communities and industries, why we still struggle as a province... and why we still want to come back home. My co-leaders are great career-driven and passionate about their province and their industry and/or community. And bonus: I'm not the only one pregnant!! Out of 21 selected individuals, 3 are expecting! woot-woot!
We have 2 more of these accelerators to go through, a tour accross the province over the span of a week and a group project from a community NGO to deliver.
So Day 1 of the tour was just this past Saturday... I'm a bit late in updating the blog. I'm writing from Moncton right now, on day 3... and I'm pretty tired. We start at 7:30am... and we get back anytime between 8-10pm... and it's none stop. So if some of this makes little sense: I'm tired.
So Day 1 was pretty laid back. We met up in Fredericton over lunch at NRC to discuss technology, leadership and the future of NB. We had the GM of Knowledge Park and 2 IT entrepreneurs/business leaders. This was our first panel discussion...we were pretty tame as a group but it was nice to see everyone again since the Fredericton accelerator which was in... september?
We then had an hour and half with David Hay, the CEO of NB Power. We talked both leadership from his perspective and discussions/debates on the future of NB Power. This guy has his leadership skills masters, we were all eating out of his palm when he was done... hey, are we not suppose to have some tougher discussions here? Ah, just learning from the way he answered questions and manipulated the group was a great learning experience.
We then went to the Department of Education to have a chat about illiteracy in NB. We did not have enough time to get into this discussion. I really wanted to get into early childhood. Even if this period is not covered by the Department of Education, the Departement has to deal with al the issues that stem from not investing enough in the ages 0-5. Are we not addressing illiteracy too late in the game by grade 1? Habits are already created, individual family culture is already created. What about tying the community in? How do they work together on that? Well, they don't really that much in NB. And the ADM was good at not answering questions... or rather not knowing how to. Understandably I guess. The vision will not come from senior public servants... I was just so encouraged by the commitment of early childhood education in Saskatchewan, and the partnership the group of parents, community and school has (speaking from my experience on the fransaskois side)... rediscovering NB in this sector was a disapointing exercise.
Then, it was a nice family gathering; 21inc alumi met up with us for supper and it was a good time... and the pregers in the group headed to bed early. ;) I really could have used a glass of red wine or two... 2 more months... 2 more months...
I'll keep you posted on each day...
Chris
;)
10.04.2009
Chasse à l'orignal / Moose Hunt
Last weekend was moose hunting season... and if you've been following the blog, you discovered that JM put my name in for the the draw to increase his chances of going moose hunting... I was trying to be supportive of what he loves doing, telling myself: what are the odds I get picked?? Well, I got picked. So almost 6 months pregnant, JM brings me out for moose hunting. I'm a good sport aren't I?? I had no idea what I was getting myself into or what I was doing. JM told me what to wear, got me ready, told me what to do, what to bring... and here I am, ready to go on day 1 - whatever that means. And yes, that really is a confused look on my face: I didn't quite know how to feel about the whole thing yet, all I knew is that I was ready to try it out.
On day 2, here is JM in a stand... I eventually went up to join him, it was so boring on the ground! And the view up there was amazing. Although it would still get boring up there after a few hours... but it was nice to experience what JM's passionate about. And I think he enjoyed having his wife out there with him. ;)
But no moose. NO MOOSE. I didn't even see or hear one. The boys, Mark and Tony apparently did and were close a few times. It must have been my frequent need to pee, my sniffling, my laboured walk with too-big boots, my constantly readjusting of the non-prego pants which were oh-so-not comfortable sitting in a bush. So the prego situation probably did not bring JM any luck. But I think the boys had fun anyways.
So I experienced it... and it was great to do so to see what JM is so passionate about. But I don't think I'll be putting my name in next year! Thanks for the hunting experience boys! ;)
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