I was born in Ontario in 1958 and raised in a town located in the Ottawa Valley which is no more than an hour´s drive from the nation´s capital. My father was a first generation Canadian who married my mother who was born and raised in Ireland. My parents instilled in me the requirement to value hard work, value education, judge people by their actions, respect the laws of the country, take accountability for one´s decisions and actions, be agnostic about another person´s cultural background, the colour of their skin, and their religious affiliation. They also instilled within me the need to effectively manage one´s personal finances, strive to be honest in all my dealings and speak-truth-to-power when needed.
By the time I reached my 18th birthday, I developed a deep pride in being a Canadian. A person who is fiscally prudent and socially responsible. From a political perspective, I have tended to vote conservative both federally and provincially most of the time, but not all the time. The times that I have not voted conservative were due to the fact that I felt the conservative party of the day was not acting in a fiscally prudent and socially responsible way. Of critical importance, I do not vote for any political leader who lacks authenticity or who displays arrogance towards others.
Before retiring to a quieter life in 2019, my career consisted of senior and executive leadership roles in both the private and public sectors. More specifically, I had the good fortune of working 16 years for three great Canadian companies, and 19 years for Ontario taxpayers as an Ontario public servant. The perspectives I will be sharing with you will be based on what I have observed over the past 65 plus years.