Learning from Canada’s Aboriginal Women Leaders
In the fall, some colleagues and I attended a panel hosted by TD’s Diversity & Inclusion Centre of Excellence, chaired by TD’s Monique Bateman, Special Advisor, Aboriginal Relations. There, we listened to three inspiring Chiefs talk about leadership.
Right away I was struck by how—unlike during the leaders’ debates aired during the countdown to our federal election—the panelists did not once interrupt each other. They each waited patiently for the moderator’s questions and answered in turn, when asked. Their answers were smart, thoughtful, and carefully considered.
I am a confident writer, always have been. But I recently chanced on a column I’d written in 2004 by that hang-about village idiot, Bill O’Reilly, on Fox News, and my blood froze. That was the year I was first hit by online bursts of hate. I’d reached the 10-year point at which the wonderful U.S. journalist Michelle Goldberg has suggested that online feminist writers might well burn out. A decade of being called a “c—t” and an “ugly bitch”? It saps the soul.
When you want to achieve an important goal, it often helps to set a deadline.
The federal election is just around the corner, and during this long campaign a mighty alliance of women’s organizations and their allies across Canada have been working tirelessly to engage our political leaders on issues of importance to women. 
