By Scott Taylor
On Wednesday 20 November, the Navy League of Canada hosted the Momentum conference at the Shaw Convention Center in the heart of downtown Ottawa.
The genesis for this event resulted from the timing of the recent federal election. “Every year around this timeframe we host a day on parliament hill aimed at promoting awareness of Canada’s Navy and Coast Guard” explained Harry Harsch, Vice-President of the Navy League’s Maritime Affairs. “We looked at the 21 October election date and realized that it would be a bit premature to have a Navy Day reception in the immediate aftermath of a new government being formed.”
It was at that juncture that Maria Granados, Maritime Affairs and Communications Coordinator of the Navy League put forward the suggestion that those resources and manpower normally employed for Navy Day be reassigned to the creation of a conference on women in security and defence to acknowledge the progress made to date, but focused on the way ahead.
When the Navy League Senior brass agreed, Momentum was set in motion.
To create a new conference, from a standing start with only 9 months lead time is no easy feat. A venue and sponsors had to be committed based on guess-timated attendance, which in turn was to be attracted by a wish list of invited guest speakers.
In the end it all came together brilliantly. The Navy League organizers managed to fill the hall with close to 200 attendees – the overwhelming majority being women.
The spectrum of guests ranged through retired senior military and security officers, serving personnel, defence industry executives, senior bureaucrats and even a class of high school students.
It was the list of speakers, which impressed the most with an opening speech address from Deputy Minister of National Defence Jody Thomas. This was followed by some incredibly engaging personal tales of female trailblazers who overcame adversity as they rose through the ranks of their respective defence related professions.
One of the conference highlights was the presentation by Major (ret’d) Sandra Perron. She talked about her experience as an infantry officer and how people will need to extend themselves beyond their personal comfort zones if the military institution is to successfully transform its culture.
The majority of the speakers and panelists remained throughout the day, allowing attendees to network with them more personally during the coffee and lunch breaks.
Esprit de Corps was proud to be a sponsor of Momentum (along with BAE Systems, Seaspan Shipyards, MDA and the Corps of Commissionaires). Based on the response from the audience and participants this show seems destined to become an annual event.
Here’s hoping that at any future Momentum conference, more male delegates register and attend. These sorts of personal revelations of women finding courage through adversity in a male-dominated workplace are lessons well learned by all genders.
