My appointment the first woman to assume command of a principal warship in the Royal Canadian Navy, generated significant media attention. I had the privilege of taking the ship to sea for a community daysail with select women in leadership positions in the Halifax area, including politicians, a former lieutenant-governor, business women, and academics. The daysail was very successful from a community-relations perspective, it affirmed my confidence and reassured my ship’s company very early in our relationship that public attention about my appointment was my challenge, and mine only, and that I would not let it impact their day-to-day reality.
What does being Canadian mean to you?
To proudly set an example of generosity, acceptance, and compassion, and to defend these values when they are vulnerable. As a service person, I get to do this in and out of uniform, here at home in Canada and where I am asked to serve abroad.
What has been a defining moment in your personal or professional life?
Without a doubt, my decision to return to sea after I had my child. By the late 1990s, I was starting to feel the desire to have a family. I thought I might have to forgo the professional seagoing path to adequately care for a family, but my captain and his wife, who were themselves raising three children, explained that kids are very resilient. If loved and supported by their parents, they can adapt to the dynamic of their family and learn to deal with challenges, including the prolonged absences of their mother or father. Despite this encouragement, after I gave birth, I was determined that I would never return to sea. Little by little, however, this changed, and when my husband took early retirement from the Navy, I resumed operational seagoing service. I have experienced the joys of being a mother and of raising my child with the values my husband and I inherited from our parents, all while enjoying the great honour of being trusted by the Navy as warship captain.
Where do you feel most powerful?
There are two places where I feel most comfortable. First, on the bridge of a warship—buoyed by the energy and will of the ship’s company, and empowered by the Canadian naval ensign flying at the mast. Second, behind my camera.
Knowing what you know now, what would you have done differently when you were first starting out?
When I first joined the Navy, the attitude I adopted to facilitate my integration into this male-dominated environment was to ask to be treated like and to become “one of the guys.” Although it may seem odd to suppress one’s own personality, that was a different era, and I think that, in some way, this approach might have been foundational to easing women’s integration into service at sea. In today’s Navy, there is no requirement to become someone else. So I guess if I knew then what I know now, I would probably try to serve with more authenticity.
If you were to get a tattoo of one word, what would it be?
“Tenacity.”
Lisa LaFlamme
“The most worthwhile investment I’ve made is a university education.”
Birthplace Kitchener, ON
What age do you feel Depends on the day!
Occupation Journalist
Book you gift most The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
Favourite drink Caffè latte
Favourite place in Canada The shores of Lake Huron
If you could have dinner with any woman, alive or dead, who would it be?
Rebecca West. She was a great journalist and storyteller, and a brave pioneer.
How has your view of feminism changed over your lifetime?
For this answer I will quote Rebecca from 1913: “I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is: I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat.”
If you could do any interview over again, which would it be and why?
I would redo every interview I’ve ever done, because I always think of questions I should have asked as soon as the camera stops rolling.
There is a lot of dialogue around media’s portrayal of women. What has been your experience, and what changes do you see happening in your industry?
As a woman who’s worked in media for thirty years, the change I have personally witnessed and experienced is profound—including my current job. Despite the seismic shift in how women are represented, old stereotypes still creep in, so it’s never the right time to become complacent.
Tell us about a time when you had to summon all of your courage.
While covering the war in Afghanistan, my cameraman and I were caught up in a firefight. It was the most frightening experience of my life, and I survived thanks to the skill and direction of the Canadian infantry. I followed their orders to the letter!
What will it take to achieve gender parity?
Education! More women in global politics, policy-making, and decision-making roles.
What has become more important to you in the last few years?
It has become more important to me to spend less time talking and more time listening—particularly to my nieces and nephews who seem to have great insight into how to make the future more inclusive than the past.
What does success mean to you?
Success isn’t one thing to me, it’s a collection of things: health, good friends, satisfaction. Sometimes the simplest accomplishment brings the greatest feeling of success—like making pancakes that aren’t burnt!
What message would you put on a billboard, and where?
The message would be simple: “Give a Damn.” I would put it everywhere.
What gives you courage?
Being surrounded by my sisters.
What does being Canadian mean to you?
Being Canadian means having the freedom to stand up for what I believe in, and the right to work hard to live the life I choose.
What is your vision for Canada in twenty years?
In the next twenty years I hope to see a Canada that is even more inclusive, more respectful of our environment, and more of a global voice for peace and democracy.
If you had the gift of a year off, in a paused world, what would you work on?
I would spend a month in twelve countries to better understand and experience the challenges of women and girls around the world.
Knowing what you know now, what would you have done differently when you were first starting out?
I would have written a journal. It is a great regret that so many amazing moments are left to my memory bank and weren’t committed to paper.
If you were to get a tattoo of one word, what would it be?
“Ouch.”
Michele Landsberg
“Feminism has little do to with the kind of shoes you wear and everything to do with your rights, power, and cultural freedom.”
Birthplace Toronto, ON
What age do you feel 50 or sometimes 12
Occupation author, journalist, social activist
Book you gift most The Mother of All Questions by Rebecca Solnit
Favourite drink Bubbly water
What has been a defining moment in your personal or professional life?
When I graduated from the University of Toronto in English literature, I had to go to the dean for a recommendation for graduate school. He told me very elaborately and contemptuously that no woman would ever be allowed to teach at University College so long as he was dean. It was 1962 and I thought, “How could I think I was good enough?” I was certainly good enough. There’s no question I could have gone on had I been allowed to.
At that very moment, a boyfriend persuaded me to write one of the stories he was assigned by the Globe and Mail. I wrote the story for him; he handed it in and said, “Hire this girl” and they did. Overnight, with no thought of ever becoming a journalist, suddenly I was a Globe and Mail reporter with no training.
For decades I couldn’t talk about this without crying. I wasn’t cut out for academic life and I’m much better as a journalist. But I cried about it out of fury with myself for accepting his contemptuous judgm
ent of women.
What does it take to raise feminist boys and girls, and activists?
Far more courage and energy than most people think. I know because I’ve tried now with two generations. It’s so hard to go against the culture. Luckily, the culture is changing swiftly now in terms of acceptance and equality even though the commercial culture hasn’t. People say, “Don’t bother your kid. He’s three years old. What does he know about not being rude to girls or whatever?” It could be tiresome, but you have to do it. You can’t just coast and think, “Oh I’m a feminist and my child will be,” because you are not as strong as the commercial culture. It’s important to keep “woke,” as they say.
Tell us about a time when you had to summon all of your courage.
I wrote about a number of cases of recovered memory, in which women began to realize what they had been pushing out of their minds for a long time: that they’d been sexually abused as children, usually in their families. This was just at the moment that a wicked organization called the False Memory Syndrome Foundation was founded by an accused, father. He and his wife began to spread very effective propaganda that all these women were being persuaded by reckless therapists to invent “false memories.”
I was the only dissenting voice. When I saw that I was the only journalist talking about this honestly, it was frightening. The foundation tried to take me to the Press Council and there were threats of every kind. I didn’t lose my courage, but I was shaken.
The triumph of the false memory people soon began to end, as I’d predicted. It hasn’t gone away completely; whenever a man is accused of raping his own child, they call it false memory and say it never happened. The term lingers but not as predominantly as it once did.
What does being Canadian mean to you?
From the time I became aware of the Holocaust at age ten, I have very often felt lucky to be born here. Yet when I became aware of how anti-Semitic Canada had been in not taking any refugees from Hitler, I felt bitter resentment toward Canada for not having opened the door and saved so many. I continue to have very divided feeling. I feel so fortunate to live in a peaceful and beautiful country with, by and large, civilized governance, but, at the same time, this is the year of truth and reconciliation. We’re all complicit and we all have to work at this. So I have negative feelings about Canada, too, and I didn’t want to participate in Canada 150.
If you were to get a tattoo of one word, what would it be?
“Persist.”
Silken Laumann
“Canada needs greater equity between those who have and those who don’t have.”
Birthplace Toronto, ON
What age do you feel? 40
Occupation Writer, speaker, life coach
Book you gift most The Mastery of Love by Don Miguel Ruiz
Favourite drink Cappuccino
Favourite place in Canada Broughton Archipelago, north of Desolation Sound, BC
What advice would you give to young women who are struggling with confidence and body image?
To look deeper than “I’m not eating properly” and to find help are probably the biggest things. Seeking control is a very common response to stress in your life. Everybody deserves help and to share the issue, not keep it a secret. Healing will not happen overnight. I’m still healing in my life.
What will it take to achieve gender parity?
I think things will change as we see women more visibly in sport, in public life, in politics, in multiple roles that allow women to do the job their way. Things change by women pushing the boundaries and asking for equal representation. Women my age find themselves in the second wave of their own personal commitment to feminism. I certainly do. So now I’m a fifty-something with some power and status—I can use my influence on the boards that I’m on to push for other women. I find myself saying, “You know what? If I’m part of this board, I’m going to make gender parity a priority because I think it’s really important for the organization, and definitely important for women.”
Tell us about a time you had to summon all of your courage.
It was during the writing of Unsinkable, because I was so afraid of sharing my story. There was so much emotional baggage that I was carrying. It was one of those things in my life that I knew I couldn’t not do. I use a double negative intentionally. I didn’t actually want to do this thing—I had to do it or else nothing in my life would move forward, because it was stopping me. I did believe that it had value for others, but it was terrifying. I just kept pushing myself forward and I shed zillions of tears and I screamed at many walls. Literally pushing, pulling, crying, sobbing, angry, and finally it was done. Writing and publishing Unsinkable was the single most powerful act of liberation in my life.
What message would you put on a billboard, and where?
It would say “I am enough,” and I would also add, “without the accomplishments, without the perfect skin, without my children succeeding 100 percent of the time.” I would stamp it on every mirror.
Where do you feel the most powerful?
In some ways, in the weight room. Lifting weights, moving my body and being physical. I’m a physical creature.
If you had the gift of a year off, in a paused world, what would you work on?
I always feel like I’m taking a year off because I always live my life from a place of what I want to do, versus what I have to do. I approach every year from the perspective, “What do I want to do this year?” So I don’t need a year off from my life. I’ve created my life in such a way that I can have impact on a consistent basis.
What has shifted for you since the release of your honest and beautiful memoir, Unsinkable?
So much of what was in the book I had long kept as a secret from myself and some of my closest friends. By putting it out there and saying “this is my story,” I realized that the world didn’t end. The story actually is everybody’s story. I no longer carry shame and that’s been incredibly liberating.
If you were to get a tattoo of one word, what would it be?
“Grateful.”
Karina LeBlanc
“I would never be who I am today had I never moved to Canada. I am so grateful for this country.”
Birthplace Atlanta, GA
What age do you feel 26
Occupation Motivational speaker, TV personality, host, UNICEF ambassador, and CEO of my own company
Book you gift most The Secret by Rhonda Byrne
Favourite drink Coconut water
Favourite place in Canada My home in Vancouver
How has your view of feminism changed over your lifetime?
I grew up in the Caribbean, so both my parents were equal from the start. That was just the culture I was raised in; you respected your mother and your father. I remember my dad said to me at a young age, “You’re a black woman, so you enter life with either two strikes against you or two strikes for you.” He empowered me through those words because he basically said, “When you enter a room, people will notice you because of either what they believe of the past or what you present to them in the present.”
I always felt equal to everyone, until we moved to Canada. I was one of two black kids in my school. I was shy. I was bullied. This generation now, they see that women should be prime ministers and presidents. In my generation, I was right in between, where I saw all the possibilities. For the previous generation, it was almost a dream. Feminism today is owning who you are; stepping up and speaking your voice; understanding that—man or woman—your challenge is to be who you are. When I see women pushing the envelope, it inspires me and I want to be just like them. We know we’re going to hit a brick wall; it’s about knowing how to get around it. We need to make sure people see women like us pushing the barrier. Being different is good. I’m a black woman with a mohawk. I figured out long ago that I wasn’t going to blend.
What message would you put on a billboard, and where?
“Be the best version of you in this moment.” In the sky all the
time.
What does being Canadian mean to you?
I was asked by the prime minister to speak on Canada150 on Parliament Hill. Right after twenty families got sworn in, I spoke about why it’s great being Canadian. To me, being Canadian means opportunity, a life where diversity and being different is accepted. It allowed me to be who I am today. When you travel the world, you really get to see how fortunate we are. This country has made me feel like I am connected to the world and it helps me understand my purpose on this earth.
If you were to get a tattoo of one word, what would it be?
“Faith.”
Patti Leigh
“Being Canadian means to have limitless opportunity—to be free to dream, free to speak, free to laugh, and free to live.”
Birthplace Regina, SK
What age do you feel Age is a matter of mind
Occupation Director, Board of Directors, Dr. Michael Smith Science Fair Endowment
Book you gift most Discover by Jack Hodgins
Favourite drink Red zinfandel
Favourite place in Canada Vancouver
If you could have dinner with any woman, alive or dead, who would it be?
Michelle Obama. She comes from humble beginnings, is an outstanding role model, and has achieved so much. I admire her strong family values and how she kept her daughters from the limelight during her days as First Lady in the White House. This required a strong personality and a shared commitment with her husband. As First Lady, she became an advocate for, among other things, nutrition, physical activity, and healthy eating—goals, commitments, objectives that I share. Finally, she epitomizes the saying, “Behind every successful man is a strong woman.”
Canada 150 Women_Conversations with Leaders, Champions, and Luminaries Page 14