What message would you put on a billboard, and where?
“How much is Enough? When you have Enough, what do you do with the rest?” In cities across Canada.
What is your vision for Canada in twenty years?
Canada is dancing on a precious and privileged edge between its old and its new story. Modern cultures too often discard the old in favour of the new. With unusually vast areas of intact wilderness remaining, Indigenous peoples stepping in to reclaim their authority and wisdom, a vigorous modern-day economy, a blessing of water and every kind of natural resource, people with cultural wisdom and knowledge from around the planet, and an official collective call to embrace and respect diversity, Canada stands poised to become a model of innovation on how to combine the past and the future in a whole, and healthy, and inclusive way. My hope for Canada is that it is able to soften that hard point of balance so that it is easier to dance both ways and that the future has less of a “now this, not that” quality, and more of a “yes, that! And let’s also...” quality.
If you were to get a tattoo of one word, what would it be?
“Balance.”
Susan Niczowski
“Success means feeling good about myself and the people around me, being happy, and enjoying life. It’s all about having fun.”
Birthplace Toronto, ON
What age do you feel In my 20s
Occupation President of Summer Fresh Salads
Favourite drink Chardonnay
Favourite place in Canada Toronto
How has your view of feminism changed over your lifetime?
I was brought up to believe that women are just as good as—if not better than—men, and women can achieve anything they want. I’ve been treated a bit differently being female, and it was more difficult for people to take me seriously, but I’ve been able to prove myself through my career and my life. Obviously, being female is still very difficult. I think persistence and integrity mean a lot.
Tell us about a time when you had to summon all of your courage.
Every day. You deal with the good stuff in one way, and the not-so-good stuff in another way. There was an incident eight years ago when we were totally blindsided by the outcome of the meeting because they told us the purpose was to set up strategies and that wasn’t the case at all. I had my team with me and they started crying with the news that we got. I was, like, “Holy shit. How do I handle this?” Through compassion and trying to be very calm about the whole situation, we were able to achieve it. Obviously, I had to watch my teammates and stand tough for them and the rest of my company. That was one of the hardest days of my life.
Entrepreneurship involves a lot of comfort with risk taking. How have you learned to get comfortable with that?
I don’t think I’ll ever be comfortable with it. Every decision I make could be either very positive or very negative. I have to live with the decisions I’ve made and make the best of it.
How have you gotten to where you are today?
I love people. I’ve always thrived in terms of meeting and listening to people, and taking the best in people. This love that I have for being with people and entertaining and enjoying people’s friendships has really helped my career.
Which is your favourite hummus and salad?
It depends on the day, but I love roasted garlic hummus. My favourite salad is Greek pasta salad with feta.
Where do you see the food industry going?
People have to eat, and we’re all about eating healthy and trying to look young and feel young. I think the North American consumer is going to be changing their eating habits. Millennials are eating more often and snacking more than their older counterparts. That’s because people are on the go and they’re constantly moving. I think healthy, natural, fresh, great-quality foods are going to be a real thing for us.
What is the best investment you’ve made?
My career.
When do you feel most powerful?
When I make decisions. Sometimes they’re wrong and sometimes they’re right. You have to live and breathe by the decision you’ve made.
What does being Canadian mean to you?
Canada is a great country, from the landscape to the beautiful buildings and cities we have. I feel very lucky that I was born and raised in Toronto. We as a country have a lot of potential in the world.
If you were to get a tattoo of one word, what would it be?
“Fun.”
Samantha Nutt
“As you grow into adulthood, you recognize that feminism is actually a process, not a history lesson. It’s a continuous struggle for most women.”
Birthplace Scarborough, ON
What age do you feel Whatever age I happen to be
Occupation Medical doctor, founder and president of War Child Canada and USA; staff physician, Women’s College Hospital
Book you gift most Lives of Girls and Women by Alice Munro
Favourite drink The second one
Favourite place in Canada The family cottage near Haliburton at the foot of Algonquin Park
How has your view of feminism changed over your lifetime?
I was supposed to be part of that post-feminist generation. We were told that our mothers and our grandmothers had fought to ensure that we had genuine options in life. Our gender would never define us or limit us in any way. As I grew into adulthood, I began to realize that feminism is actually a process, not a history lesson. It’s a continuous struggle for most women—one that persists today. And for some women, those barriers to advancement are even greater: women who are born into poverty or violence in war zones around the world, refugee women, Indigenous women, and too many others. That for me was the biggest awakening as I matured—the recognition that the women’s movement is unfinished everywhere. We cannot abandon the cause of feminism, because there is still work to be done.
What is your vision for Canada in twenty years?
I hope we continue to be a country that believes—and invests—in tolerance, peace-building around the world, a strong social safety net, universal health care, support for the vulnerable, and multiculturalism. I also hope that in twenty years we are closer to a proper process of reconciliation and redress for Indigenous Canadian communities. The conversations have started but so far they are just that—conversations—and we need to move toward concerted action if anything is going to change.
Tell us about a time when you had to summon all of your courage.
It was 2004. My husband and I were in eastern Congo doing some War Child work and filming a documentary for MuchMusic and MTV on the impact of the conflict. The Congolese government arrested some Rwandan generals who were attempting to cross back over the border, and all hell broke loose. We were trapped in a locally run hotel, and mortars were landing all around us. At one point, I thought that rebel soldiers were in the building and that I would be raped and others would be killed. We were able to get out, but about 250 people died. I remember running to UN armoured personnel carriers that had been dispatched to collect civilians, and there were kids shooting at each other thirty feet away. You didn’t know if they would turn and start shooting at you. I felt nauseous, scared, and horrified, but also very aware that for a decade this kind of torment had been a daily reality for millions of Congolese people. It’s unimaginable. I don’t know if surviving something frightening is the same thing as finding courage; but it has become a reference point whenever I think I can’t get through periods of stress or frustration.
What will it take to achieve gender parity?
We need to look at what we value, and who we prioritize, mentor, and support. We need to really think about the existing barriers to women’s full and equal participation, and make sure that we’re working against them instead of reinforcing them. Take breakfast meetings as an example: if you’re a single mom with kids at home, and you’re trying to get them off to school, a breakfast meeting is out of the question. Yet many workplaces still use that as a measure of com
mitment, particularly for those on the executive track: are you the first person in, last person out? For some people, that kind of punishing schedule is neither affordable nor feasible, so it becomes a subtle form of discrimination.
If we want to achieve gender parity, we need to value and measure work differently. We need to ditch the invisible clock and create more flexible work environments. And we need to consistently nurture and cultivate that next generation of women leaders. I would not have accomplished many of the things I have without people in my life who believed in me—the ones who championed and encouraged me (men and women) at different stages of my career. I am steadfastly committed to doing the same for others.
What message would you put on a billboard?
“Permissions are sought only by those who lack imagination.”
If you were to get a tattoo of one word, what would it be?
“Rhys” (my son’s name).
Ratna Omidvar
“Being an optimist and being part of the narrative gives me courage.”
Birthplace Amritsar, India
How old you feel 52+
Occupation Independent senator from Ontario
Book you gift most The book that I co-wrote with Dana Wagner, Flight and Freedom
Favourite drink Mojito
Favourite place in Canada My backyard garden or Granville Island, Vancouver
What will it take to achieve gender parity?
There’s absolutely no doubt that we live in a country, place, and time where gender parity has huge political currency and drive behind it. I’m less satisfied in terms of how inclusive this movement of gender equity and feminism is. The women’s movement also includes women of colour, disabled women, aboriginal women, Indigenous women, lesbian women, and transgender women. I’m not sure that all these other realities and intersections of gender and other demographics have been equally propelled along. Yes, there is a rising tide. My question is, does it lift all women and how can it do that?
If you had the gift of a year off, in a paused world, what you work on?
I would go to one of the big refugee-receiving countries in the world like Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, or Pakistan and try to understand the life of a refugee in a refugee camp. Displacement and civil strife are part of our global narrative. I’m really upset that when children are caught up in protracted refugee situations, they go a lifetime without education. We must insist that education is a human right and we must provide it to children regardless of where they are.
Tell us about a time when you had to summon all of your courage.
When I stood with my husband and my little baby on the border between Iran and Turkey. We needed to leave Iran because of what was happening and we had to get across to the other side. The soldiers decided completely what my life would be like. The decisions that other people make for you, leave you feeling completely helpless. We did get through. I never want to be helpless again.
The other defining experience was when we landed in Canada after going through all that fleeing, applying, being rejected, applying again, and finally getting in and landing in Canada. Foolishly thinking that in Canada everything would be the way we like to think about the end, as something you’ve aspired to. The truth is that it’s bloody hard.
What advice would you give to young women interested in pursuing a similar career?
Be open to risk. I’ve had five different careers in my life. Each one of them has taken me to a different place and given me different rewards and different challenges, and that’s why I am who I am today. With risk comes reward, and that reward is almost always personal renewal.
I wish I had joined a political party. I never did because politics where I come from, Iran, is a corrupting influence and it’s not uplifting. You grow up thinking that politics is not quite clean and it’s not what you want to aspire to in your life. Much, much later I realized that politics in this country is a very high expression of nation building.
What is the best investment you’ve made?
My social network. I’ve been very lucky. I’ve met some incredible people who helped me, who nurtured and mentored me, and who opened doors for me. About five years ago, I decided to create a club in Toronto of leading women of colour. We would deliberately socially engineer it so that we would create friendships between women who are Canadians and leaders in their fields, but come from different parts of the world. These groups of women, along with others, give you advice, watch your back, and speak truth to power.
What gives you courage?
I’m an eternal optimist. My name, Omidvar, in Persian means “hope.” I believe relentlessly in the power that things will get better.
What does being Canadian mean to you?
Being Canadian, to me, is best described by the following words: it does not matter where you came from or when, we all stand side by side to build this country. It is about equity, equality, participation, and contributing to this country.
What is your vision for Canada in twenty years?
I think we have to recognize that we’re thirty-five million people on one of the largest land masses in the world. We can actually have a far more viable economy and be a far stronger nation if we’re able to take that thirty-five million people to a much higher level. I’d like to see a string of urban cities in the North. I have an aspiration for Canada to be bigger, not in terms of its land mass, but in terms of its growth in the country with new technologies and new people.
If you were to get a tattoo of one word, what would it be?
“Joy.”
Barbara Orser
“Women are using feminist values to create wealth and social change, including in technology and capital markets.”
Birthplace Toronto
What age do you feel 35
Occupation Deloitte professor in the Management of Growth Enterprises, University of Ottawa Telfer School of Management
Book you gift most The one I wrote with Catherine J. Elliott: Feminine Capital: Unlocking the Power of Women Entrepreneurs
Favourite drink Root beer
Favourite place in Canada On top of Red Mountain, BC
What has been a defining moment in your personal or professional life?
It was during a time when I felt incredibly vulnerable that I realized the need and power of feminism. At the birth of my daughter, I was diagnosed with advanced cervical cancer. Circumstance obliged me to keep the company of women. A female radiologist, a female oncologist, and female nurses collectively saved my life. During the post-partum period that was coupled with radiation-induced menopause, I began to read feminist books, such as The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan. About this same time, the first Canadian research conference on sexism in the workplace and women in management was held at Mount St. Vincent University. The conference was the first to assemble Canadian scholars writing about sexism in the workplace. I had just left a coveted marketing position due to the gruelling days and difficulty raising a young family. At no point during my business education were gender barriers to career advancement discussed. The studies were telling my story. The personal was indeed political. It was at this point that my career trajectory changed to writing about professional women from a feminist lens.
Tell us about a time when you had to summon all of your courage.
Several years ago, I suffered from a significant neurological disease. Over the course of a few days, I went from skiing to being partially paralyzed and bedridden in an emergency room. I understand serious illness as I am a two-time cancer survivor. But this time, I called on my inner spirit for courage and humour. It was during a difficult treatment I decided that I was entitled to a “ten-minute pity party.” A good cry and it was back to maintaining a positive outlook. This became the theme of my recovery. Two years later, I returned to the university and I’m back on the ski hills.
What is your vision for Canada in twenty years?
Canada will further demonstrate to the world that people can solve pro
blems through a spirit of generosity and compassion. This includes honouring and supporting Indigenous peoples’ knowledge and rights. This includes celebrating our multicultural fabric in an entrepreneurial, innovation-driven economy.
What message would you put up on a billboard, and where?
“Live life like there’s no tomorrow,” as a screen saver on every computer in the world.
If you were to get a tattoo of one word, what would it be?
“Cowabunga.”
Sue Paish
“Canada needs more courage and confidence and less ambivalence.”
Birthplace New Denver, BC
What age do you feel Older than yesterday, and younger than tomorrow
Occupation Mother to three amazing young women. To help me fulfill the responsibilities of this role, I am also President and CEO of LifeLabs.
Favourite drink Tetley tea
Favourite place in Canada Port Renfrew, BC
How has your view of feminism changed over your lifetime?
In my twenties, I thought that feminism was an interesting but rather passé idea that we would soon outgrow as society saw the good sense and “obvious” benefits of equality and parity. When I became a working mom in my thirties, I realized that feminism was a necessary topic of discussion, and that it required energy and persistence as ideas and practices that had evolved in our society over multiple generations would not change easily or quickly. In my forties, there were moments of dismay as I realized that the “obvious” benefits I saw were not appreciated by others, and sometimes were deliberately undermined by embedded attitudes and practices. In my fifties and beyond, I am both encouraged by public support from some notable leaders, and equally dismayed and concerned about the rise of divisions and increasing intolerance. I realize now that continuing to advocate for judgment based on ability, not gender; opportunity based on potential, not visible demographic markers; and support for all, regardless of where they come from or what they look like, will be part of my life’s work—likely to my end.
Canada 150 Women_Conversations with Leaders, Champions, and Luminaries Page 19