Happy International Women’s Day!

On Thursday, the Kanata North Office was once again happy to hold our International Women’s Day Breakfast. It is so awesome to be surrounded by so many amazing women from our community each year. With MP Sudds and MPP McCrimmon, I am so thankful that we all work so well together! At this year’s breakfast, we were so fortunate to have the Executive Director of the Kanata North Business Association, Kelly Daize, as our guest speaker. It was fascinating to learn about Kelly’s journey as a woman in tech, when early in her career, computer science and computer technology were fields that mostly men went into. However, I would like to emphasize something I heard from Kelly and something I hear a lot. As Kelly shared, early in her career, when she was discouraged, it was the men she worked with who encouraged her to keep going. I continue to think that International Women’s Day needs to focus on how, when we all work together and encourage each other, we all do better.

I am thankful for the three male councillors I work with most often, Councillor Hubley, Councillor Gower and Councillor Kelly, for their support. With former Mayor Jim Watson and Mayor Mark Sutcliffe as constant supporters of mine, I am stronger as a result. And, I will point out that it was former councillor, Alex Munter, who started the Kanata Women’s Day Breakfast tradition! This year, I was so thrilled to have Councillor Allan Hubley, Councillor Glen Gower, Councillor Theresa Kavanaugh, Councillor David Brown, Councillor David Hill, Councillor Laura Dudas, OCDSB Trustee Julia Fortey, OCDSB Donna Blackburn, Former Councillor Wilkinson and Former Councillor Eli El-Chantiry attend the breakfast. There are fewer female councillors on Council, but they are strong advocates for their communities, and I learn from them every day. Thank you to all who attended in their support of women.

Councillor Cathy Curry