A Leader with Unexpected Roots

I am a child of sixties...True, I did not come o fage until 70s but I am a baby boomer none less. I proudly marched in anti-war demonstrations and was even prouder that stayed out of Vietnam and that we re-created underground railroads to help young American boys escape draft. I grew up in Mon- treal (Quebec) during Quiet Revolution-when whole society rebelled against patriarchal church, and justice values and principles became embedded in provincial and even federal politics. Canadians were early adopters of Medicare and were not ashamed of offering a social safety net to help those who lost their jobs or became ill or disabled. After Second World War, we opened our country to immigrants and refugees (although shuttering of those doors to Jews and others trying to escape Nazi Europe has remained a dark spot in our col- lective history) and proclaimed ourselves a multicultural society. We smugly believed that race issues exploding on streets of States were not our problem.%t it was not long after I started my postsecondary studies that my complacency was shaken and my analyti- cal tools honed. Education opened my eyes to world around me. Canadian industry was part of military-in- dustrial complex and complicit in manufacturing napalm that killed and maimed thousands of innocent people. Many children were living in poverty in my hometown. Although French-speaking Quebecers were in major- ity in our province, language of business remained English and many francophones dropped out of high school and remained in low paying jobs and out of halls of power. If Native (Aboriginal) Canadians were in anyone's consciousness at all it was as a stereotype-liv- ing in teepees on Prairies or in igloos with dogsleds in far North (not in nearby communities or dispossessed of their land and living in communities without adequate food, shelter and water). As a young woman, I realized that I faced blatant and systemic discrimination, and un- less things changed I would not have same opportuni- ties as my male peers to intellectually grow and develop and contribute to society-never mind being paid equally. The seeds of rebellion were sown.CHANGING THE SYSTEM FROM WITHINI became a student activist on campus-establishing a Woman's Centre and helping friends start a glbt book- store, protesting destruction of old Victorian man- sions in nearby neighborhoods, studying writings of Karl Marx and Mao Tse Tung, and trying to imagine a more Utopian and egalitarian world in which to live. Many debates ensued over strong coffee and beer-could world be changed through evolutionary shifts in policy and processes, or were more radical, revolutionary tactics necessary? My pacifist nature led to rifts in friendships as I declared my unease with violent actions (that were never acted upon) against the state.Instead, I serendipitously found myself in a summer job at Dean of Students Office researching status of women (students, staff and faculty) on campus-and had my first career mentor set me on my journey of postsec- ondary work. Erin, a professor in Faculty of Religious Studies, was a former nun who had embraced liberation theology and worked for many years with impoverished communities in South America. She was also a strong fem- inist. Nun, feminist, activist, professor-these all seemed to me to be distinct roles, and I certainly couldn't fathom how anyone (except perhaps Berrigan brothers in United States who were pivotal in anti-Nixon era) could mold what I considered disparate and contra- dictory traits into one personality. Yes, people are complex and complicated. Most importantly, I learned from Erin that one can be an effective agent of change and impact lives of others by working within institutions. It was not necessary to blow them up.WE'RE BEHIND YOU: THE YOUNGER SIBLING COMPLEXMy educational journey took me to United States where I could enroll in a graduate degree in women's history (Canada had no such programs at time). …

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