This is the seventh in a series of columns about the Imagine – Learn/Inspire/Act Conference being held on Saturday, May 6 at the Almonte Civitan Hall. Previous columns have featured the various people giving presentations at the conference. This time the What Now Lanark County Committee is pleased to tell of others who will be taking part.
The day will begin in a good way with remarks from Barbara Dumont-Hill, an Algonquin Elder who was born on the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg Reserve and has resided on her traditional territory ever since. She is Turtle Clan and served as a grandmother with the 2015 Walking With Our Sisters memorial installation in Ottawa.
Barbara has worked with the RCMP, Carleton University, Algonquin College, the Public Service Alliance of Canada, the Children’s Aid Society of Ottawa and was part of the Canadian Department of Justice legal team working with the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. She has kindly volunteered to be available throughout the day of the conference for anyone who needs support.
The conference proceedings will be opened by one of my favourite people, the Mayor of Mississippi Mills, Christa Lowry. The committee is honoured to have Mayor Lowry’s words of encouragement launch the day’s presentations.
Another very inspiring woman who plans to attend the conference is Bonnie Robichaud, the author of a recently released book, It Should Be Easy to Fix. In 1977, Bonnie accepted a job at the Department of National Defence in North Bay. After a string of dead-end jobs, with five young children at home, she was ecstatic to have found a unionized job with steady pay, benefits and vacation time. After her supervisor began to sexually harass and intimidate her, her story could have followed the same course as countless women before her: endure, stay silent and eventually quit. Instead, Bonnie filed a complaint after her probation period was up. When a high-ranking officer said she was the only one who had ever complained, Bonnie said, “Good. Then it should be easy to fix.”
This timely memoir follows her grueling eleven-year fight for justice which was won in the Supreme Court of Canada. The unanimous decision set a historic legal precedent making employers responsible for maintaining a respectful and harassment-free workplace. Bonnie will be at the conference where copies of It Should Be Easy to Fix will be for sale.
As mentioned in some previous columns, there will also be books available from several of the presenters at the conference:
Julie S. Lalonde – Resilience is Futile: The Life and Death and Life of Julie S. Lalonde
Tracey Lindeman – BLEED: Destroying Myths and Misogyny in Endometriosis Care
Alex Manley – The New Masculinity: A Roadmap for a 21st-Century Definition of Manhood
Needless to say, the authors will be happy to discuss and sign copies of their books.
In addition to the writers who will represent their own work, Almonte’s Mill Street Books will have a table featuring a selection of other books touching on the themes of the conference. All of the day’s book sales will be cash only – luckily there is a cash machine at the Civitan Hall!
The What Now Lanark County Committee is looking forward to meeting you on May 6. Conference tickets are $40 (includes lunch and snacks) and available at www.ticketsplease.ca, at Baker Bob’s in Almonte, or by calling (613) 485-6434. For more information contact www.whatnowlanarkcounty@gmail.com.
Fern Martin
