Gender

Interesting topic for this week's blog as this issue has come up in the course of my work for GOPAC. The upcoming global conference includes a series of workshops geared towards developing human capital in the on going fight to strengthen government institutions and fight corruption. It was a priority for provide equal representation and include a number of guest speakers and expert partners that are female.

Retrospectively speaking, the development of civilization has been marked by struggles. The struggle for equality has marked the aim of humanity and democracy. Whether it be the civil rights movements led by Malcom X or the violent revolution led by Che, as human beings we want everything to be equal.

Gender equality is one of the most important aspects of making our society fair. The role of gender not only reflects how intellectually advanced we are, but provides an equal playing field based on performance and combating bias.

It seems that Norway is really leading the way for gender equality legislations as it is severely advanced compared to the rest of the world. According to Nina, she said that in Norway a certain percent of executives in the most powerful businesses have to have female representation. Maternity leave can also be taken by the male partner and also a variety of other things that I forgot about our conversation a month earlier.

All in all, gender is something we must tackle to ensure equality.

Cheers ; )

Culture Shock

O geez............. culture shock. If I had to break down the expression into a specified strain of culture shock tailored to my situation in Ottawa it would have to be now. Toronto and Ottawa, how different are they? Looking past the obvious rivalries between the leafs and the senators, what lies at the heart of of each city is reflected in its people.

1 - Bilingualism

People in Ottawa speak French from time to time and it's a period where I get to pretend like I know the language. I feel pretty cool answering people in French when it comes to Sa Va BeeYen and simple stuff but it's the worst when they talk more and I have to break it to them that because French was the most "uncool" thing in grade school, I neglected out countries second language for most of my educational career. Pardon moi En Francais!

2 - Vibe

As mentioned. It's really quiet after the 9 - 5. Downtown seems like its transformed from a bustling city into a ghost town. Most restaurants that are SUPER busy become super empty and get this, some businesses only open until the afternoon and even gets the weekends off!! Tell a Toronto restaurant owner that story and he's be ready to pakc his bags. The quiet and silence does provide a great calm which can inspire people to be more active outdoors. Due to the support and guidance from my personal fitness coach (Nina Sanderson) I've been running along the Rideau Canal regularly despite wanting to die in the first 2 weeks. Due to my new found habit of running and doing some weights in between I've lost a total of no less than 20 lbs of fat. Take that freshman 15 and sophemore 20!!

3 - Parliament

Beautiful as the sun rises and the glistening waters compliment our parliament building during my morning walk to work. Weekly meetings at the West block in Mr.John Williams office gives an amazing view to the Supreme Court of Canada as I'm continually amazed by this workin city.

Well it's not much of a shock and more of a jolt of amazment.

Ottawa, o Ottawa how I will miss you..........................