Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:00 Good morning, Fort McMurray, wood, Buffalo, and the rest of the world. You've tuned into the Mac city morning show. I'm your host, Elliot Pierre. And we're going to start this off the same way. We start off every show with a moment of gratitude. I know you could be doing a million other things with your time. So the fact that you're spending with us really does mean the world to me on that note, Tanner hit them with the intro. All right. And we're back. All right. Today's a good one. I don't think I've ever had a long standing conversation with my guests, which is my favorite when I get to meet new people. Um, as you know, I do not introduce my guests. I let them do that themselves because they can do a better job at it than I, so on that note, can you please introduce yourself to the world, tell them who you are and what you're about.
Speaker 1 00:00:48 Hey, good morning. Uh, my name is Jennifer Vardy. Uh, some people may know me as Jennifer Vandervort. That was my name before I got married. Um, I am a manager of government relations for the Fort MCI may T nation. Uh, I am a participant in leadership at Buffalo this year, uh, and I'm excited to be on the show. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 0 00:01:11 Okay. Let's just get right into it. So born and raised in Fort Macquarie or not?
Speaker 1 00:01:16 Uh, no, not born and raised. Uh, I was born in St. John's Newfoundland. Yeah. Yeah. And if you life and, uh, I've been here since 2007. Okay. Yeah. So I went to high school here, father Mark markets, where I graduated, uh, yeah. Choppers. And, uh, I went to college, uh, here at Canada college for social work. Yeah. Yeah. So, um, I've lived a good chunk of my life here. Um, and I'm really hoping that, um, I can take that experience and, um, utilize it this, uh, this term for my run for council for ward one. I am surprise. Oh, that's awesome. Congratulations. Thank you. Thank you.
Speaker 0 00:01:58 So my question with politics is always why.
Speaker 1 00:02:02 Um, that's a good question. Um, it was never in the grand plan. Uh, I, my background is in, uh, human services, more focusing on early learning in psychology. Okay. And then when I got to start, um, meeting with people one-on-one and helping them, I found that it was so it was so much, it was so overwhelming and I knew that I wanted to, uh, to support my community. I know I wanted to continue to be a leader. I do a lot of volunteer work. And so when I started kind of putting those things together, I thought, you know, I think that I have what it takes to, um, to represent Fort McMurry around the RMW B L leadership table. That's awesome. That's awesome. Public service. It's a good thing. Yeah, absolutely. And you know, we have a lot of it here in Fort McMurray. We have so many wonderful volunteers, many great volunteer organizations, non-for-profits charities. Um, it's a great, yeah,
Speaker 0 00:03:04 Yeah, no doubt. Okay. So now you're from St. John's you're so you're a townie you're Tony. Um, I'm assuming, because you moved here and you went to high school, you came with your family, correct. Okay. And they started to work up here.
Speaker 1 00:03:17 Oh, they did? Yeah. So my dad, uh, he works for Thompson brothers. Yeah. So he was here. He is still the area manager for Thompson brothers. Um, and that was my first job who was cleaning offices when I thought, when I was 14 years old. Uh, and then I had started working at, um, the Y YMCA wood, Buffalo. Okay. Uh, I worked as a lifeguard for almost eight years. Oh, wow. Yeah. So we're just Centennial, Y YMCA, uh, Mac Island when it opened. And I worked all the way up until I got pregnant with my first daughter. Yeah. Swimming lessons and life guarding. And that was my first little taste of what it takes to be involved in the community and building those relationships. Um, it was wonderful, uh, to see, you know, the little kids in my swimming lessons, three and four are now, uh, graduating high school. That's fantastic.
Speaker 0 00:04:08 It's crazy. I'm seeing like, like you said, if you're teaching somebody at this age and then they get here. Yeah. That's, it's nuts. Especially if you've taught them a skill and they remember you. Yes. Like I remember all of my swim instructors to this day and if I was to bump into one of them, Mrs. Burke
Speaker 1 00:04:24 Is one of them. I'll be like, Hey, how are you? And she'd be like, I have no idea who you are. Yeah. No idea. Yeah. Very it's wonderful. And exactly when you see those kids, um, I was an educator and early learning educator and some of the kids that I had taught, um, as three and four year olds are now in the, you know, third grade, second grade. And when they see you, they have that, Hey, I remember you. And you're like, Oh, I remember you too. And you know, you share those moments and it's just wonderful.
Speaker 0 00:04:50 Nice. Now you went to Kiana college, you finished your whole, um, education at Kiana.
Speaker 1 00:04:55 So at the time you, um, sorry, I just scratch those nose here. That's okay. Um, no, at the time you couldn't, uh, finish your social work degree. You had to go to university of Calgary and halfway in between when I had, was going to university of Calgary, um, I had my daughter. Right. So after you have kids, everything changes for you. Yeah. And it was, it was like, so what, so what do I want to do? Do you want to go back and finish my social work degree? Um, and at the time I didn't have the luxury of doing that. I was 19 one. I was, uh, living in low-income housing here in wood, Buffalo, shout out to wood, Buffalo housing because, you know, they're amazing. And I needed something that was tangible that I could do. And so it turned to childcare and, um, I started working with the Fort McMurray first nation.
Speaker 1 00:05:48 Um, I was lucky enough that they, uh, that they supported me in getting my education. Um, and then we went from having an Aboriginal head start to a daycare, uh, in 2019, uh, our daycare was nominated for indigenous business of the year, but the Fort McMurray chamber of commerce. Yeah, it was great. And, uh, last year in 2020, I was awarded the prime minister's award of excellence for my work in indigenous communities. That's awesome. So, you know, things that kind of turn that you think are, um, divots or, you know, you're going off your path sometimes lead to the path that you're supposed to be on. So I went back and then I finished my degree in human services, focusing on psychology and early learning. And now I'm back in school again.
Speaker 0 00:06:37 Yeah. For political science. Yeah. I'll help with your run. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. And, uh,
Speaker 1 00:06:44 I've been in human services a long time, and so I know what it takes to, to create good programs. I know what I know what people, um, not that I know was in. Um, but I listened to what people say, what makes good programs? And I had a hard time connecting, you know, why is funding taking so long? Why are the people, um, sitting around the boardrooms? Why are they not hearing what we're saying? Right. And so when I made the switch to government relations for the Fort Macai, Maytee, um, I'm now learning what that is. And I'm hoping to find that middle point, right. I can listen to what people are saying here. I know the programs that are needed, and I know the policies I know, and now I'm learning the shortcuts, right. To get things done in a quicker way.
Speaker 0 00:07:29 Very cool. Thanks. So now leadership would Buffalo, what's that all about how are you engaged? Tell me, like, tell the people at home. What is leadership, wood, Buffalo. Cause I think a lot of people just don't know.
Speaker 1 00:07:39 It's amazing. So leadership, Buffalo is, uh, the leadership program here in wood, Buffalo. A few social is the one who presents it. Um, it's a year long program and it focuses on leadership skills. So you apply it's a year long program. Um, you apply, you go through interview process. Um, there's a bursary, cause it is a tuition program. There's a bursary that you can apply for the Santa Ana, um, Santa L sorry, Memorial bursary. Okay. And that will pay for your whole year tuition. Um, and then they base, uh, you have to write a couple of questions about, uh, your leadership skills, what you've done so far, and then they'll choose, um, the best recipients to receive that bursary. Right. Um, I was fortunate enough. I was the one who received the bursary this year. So that was fantastic. So once you get into the program, uh, this year we have 21 people.
Speaker 1 00:08:38 Um, this was right before we had got the strong restrictions around COVID. So we were still able to be in the same area with masks. And you do, you know, team building, you learn about the people in your program and you learn a little bit about yourself. Um, you're in a situation with other leaders, uh, not just executive directors and managers, but just community leaders, you know, volunteers, um, people who want to make a difference, but maybe aren't really sure where to start. Right. But then you also have your executive directors and your managers and you learn about what leadership is and it's not a title. It's not, um, I can do this or I know this and you don't, it's, uh, you're developing your own leadership style. Right. So very much who am I and what kind of impact do I want to make? Right. So it's, it's incredible. Um, we're wrapping up here in may, will be our last learning day and then we'll have graduation and, uh, the applications, I believe we'll start in the summer.
Speaker 0 00:09:43 So you'll have a new cohort. Cool.
Speaker 1 00:09:48 So people are kind of on the fence of, of, uh, going. I recommend it. I recommend it to everyone who asks
Speaker 0 00:09:53 About it. It's fantastic. Very cool. All right. We're at the point of the show called the Mac CD minutes. I don't know if you've seen the show, you know, what's about to hit you get ready for a 10 or ask some amazing questions. I never know what he's going to ask, so I wish you the best of luck. Oh, thank you. I won't let her hit her with the Mac CD minute. My man.
Speaker 2 00:10:13 Question number one. What is one thing you can take from your education that you can use for your run for council?
Speaker 1 00:10:21 Oh, good question. Something that I can take from my education when I run for council. Um, one being that, you know, when you go to post-secondary, you read a lot, that's a big thing. And a huge thing of council is taking what they're presenting to you reading it, and then asking questions because there's not going to be one counselor who comes in and has all the answers. That's. We need people who, um, who can learn the things that they don't know and who ask those kinds of questions. And those are the, the skills that I have. Um, did it come from, post-secondary kind of, did it come from just, uh, you know, living? Absolutely. Um, I think that our, our new leadership, whether it be me or whoever, the community votes in, I really hope we see, um, our community leaders asking hard questions, um, being wrong, admitting they're wrong. And then moving forward, because we're not always
Speaker 0 00:11:22 Going to be right. There you go. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:11:25 Question number two. What was the most fun part for you from your stay at the Y M C a
Speaker 1 00:11:31 Oh my most, there were so much, that was, my phone was my first real job was at the Y YMCA. And, um, I remember the first time that, um, I received a gift after swimming lessons. I w it was, it was amazing. It was, uh, um, it was flowers then there's this little boy. He must've hit, he was five or six and he was in, he was in private swim lessons. Um, and he, he had a learning disability, so it was, it was one-on-one. And he had a hard time focusing in large classes and we just clicked, which was wonderful. And he had brought me these, these roses and this like glass, this glass bays. And it was, it was one of those moments that you just remember, right? Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:12:14 Question number three. How do you think working with children will be similar to be two working on council?
Speaker 1 00:12:23 Good question. Good question. Um, I mean, children are just, they're just little people, right? They're little people who don't always have control of their emotions. And unfortunately, a lot of adults are big people who don't have control of their emotions. So, um, I try to be as supportive understanding and kind as I can in any situation. Um, I really want to be that person, uh, for people who they can turn to and know that they're going to get consistency throughout. And that's really what I'm going to be leading with in my campaign. Um, I'll be talking about what my stances are, but mostly it'll be who I am, because when we talk about politics, you know, we have our top three, this is what I'm going to focus on. But leadership in the community is, you know, once you've settled those, um, you know, the fly in fly out or we've settled, how we're going to spread our funding. There's now a thousand other questions and answers that we need to do. And I know that when I go to vote, I want to make sure that the candidate that I'm voting, I know who they are. I know what their values are. I know where they come from. I know their education. So then I can trust, I can put trust into what they're going to vote on, um, and how they're going to represent the community. Moving forward.
Speaker 2 00:13:49 Question number four. What is your favorite event to participate in within Fort McMurray?
Speaker 1 00:13:55 What is my favorite event of participate in, in Fort McMurray? Um, I am a sucker for the Canada day parade. Oh, I love the candidate parade. I go with my kids every year. Um, I love seeing just the multicultural and multi-organizational, um, collaboration. I mean, we see like the Highland dancers come in and then we see the RCMP. And then we see, um, a couple of years ago we had traditional drummers and we see the multicultural organization and other dancers. It's just like, you really get a feel of what wood Buffalo is about and, and a 45 minute span. It's perfect. I love it. It's great. And there's free candy, so very diverse.
Speaker 2 00:14:41 And the final question, what is your favorite place or event in Fort McMurray that doesn't exist anymore?
Speaker 1 00:14:48 Oh, um, I to live out in Anzac for awhile, um, and what the arm WB used to do is they would have, uh, movie nights on the weekends. So they would come and they would do they'd have popcorn and they would, uh, bring like a projector and you can go and like watch movies, um, outside, inside. I kind of depend on the weather and you can just go there with your kids. Um, if you were a teenager, you could just go with like, uh, your significant other or your family. And it was just like a really fun place to be able to hang out. Um, and that was something that I'm hoping, uh, hoping to bring back. Obviously when it COVID is over just more things that we can do as a community. Um, I'm a huge supporter of these large events, like, uh, the Arctic winter games.
Speaker 1 00:15:33 Um, I can't wait for them to, to, they have new dates coming out and I can't wait for them, uh, to be able to come to Fort McMurray. But I'm also a big supporter of those reoccurring programs that we have that really make cue that make wood, Buffalo a great place to live. Right. Like, like the mob. I mean, I grew up in wood, Buffalo, so going to a hockey game on a Friday night was something that we did often. And especially now with COVID, it's something that we're really missing from the community. And I can't wait for recipe. We'll do that again.
Speaker 0 00:16:06 Those have been your five questions. It was impressive with the questions, bro. Yeah. I try my best on it. Okay. As a swim instructor, I have a little boy, uh, Keegan, Keegan, Spencer, Pierre, he's the Apple of his dad's eye. Um, he was swimming prior to like, I think it's an important life skill to have, and now he can't swim anymore, but you just said something, I didn't know. This even existed. You can get private swim lessons.
Speaker 1 00:16:32 Yes. Yeah. What, yeah. You can get one-on-one some lesson. So, um, I don't know. I haven't worked in a tool now since COVID I have no idea, but, um, yeah. Well you can do is you instead of paying for the, the big group lessons, um, you can pay for one-on-ones and then it's the same amount of time, uh, between half an hour and 45 minutes. And then just with one-on-one with an instructor. Yeah. You can, I mean, you can focus on the, um, your level as a whole, or if he's struggling with like a back float. Right, right. You'll just talk to the teacher and like, this is what he's struggling with or some, a big one, uh, when we did one-on-one was just fear of the water. So for kids, but also for adults, there's one-on-ones for adults too. And it was just getting comfortable with being in the water and that's usually half the battle.
Speaker 0 00:17:16 Yeah. He's he went through the first two levels. Yeah. Which was good, but I just pulled like a ridiculous dad of 2021 spoiled kid move this weekend. I literally, uh, booked a hotel here in Fort McMurray that has a swimming pool and a, we overnighted it. And he it's, the only reason we went to the hotel is because it had the swimming pool and you could book it for like an hour. Yeah. So I literally, we stayed in a hotel so he could go swimming and he just loved it. And I was thinking like, it's such a shame that he doesn't have the skills to swim without the floaties on. And he's, he's not that old, he's only six, but like, I would like him to have that life skill because of COVID it halted the swim lesson. So I'm definitely gonna look into this private floats. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:18:06 Yeah. That's the easiest. And that's something that they, that they teach. I don't know if you've seen those YouTube videos of like the six month old babies who can swim. Oh, no. Oh yeah. So there's, it's not very popular in Canada. It's very popular in Australia. So what they do is they have like little, little babies, like six months to nine months and they teach them how to swim. And all it is is they throw them in the water, literally they're under. And then when they're ready to breathe, they just come up and they just float on their back. And so, and that's a big technique that we use when we're teaching somebody is, um, if you're, uh, if you're struggling, float on your back. Cause then yeah,
Speaker 0 00:18:43 Yeah, yeah. Uh, we're baby parents. That's how I learned how to swim. Parents threw me in a river in South America and I was like, figure it out, figure it out. And I did, but yeah, it's a life skill that I think he should get. So I'm going to look into that. Well, listen, we're at the end of the show, I know it flies time flies. Wow. Like a super hit down, like, sorry about that. <inaudible> constantly tells every guest don't hit the mic and then he like karate chops. So you definitely do need to come back. Uh, but before you leave, this is topical information. Tell people about like, I'm, I'm pumped about, um, leadership with Buffalo and what you do for a living. That's all nice. And we can talk about that further next time, but like right now you are running. So how can people support you? Where can they find you? This is your shameless.
Speaker 1 00:19:38 Oh my goodness. Um, we're okay. So, um, my website is going to be up and running here pretty soon. A simple vote, Jennifer Vardy, all of my tags, all of my, uh, handles, I guess they're called is vote, Jennifer Verde. Um, so if you're looking for me, that's where you can find me Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Um, I'll be posting videos here pretty soon. Just more about who I am, what am I supporting? What is my background? Um, and I'm really excited to be running, but I'm also really excited to, um, hopefully engage in new age category. I mean, I'm really young. I'm, I'm so far, I'm the youngest candidate to, to run this term and I really want to encourage, um, you know, 18 to 25. We don't see a lot of those voters go out and vote. If it's not for me, that's fine. Go vote, go vote for your, your, your candidate. Take some time. It's wonderful because everything is available online. Right? All of our candidates have websites and Instagram. And so that's a, that's a big platform as people just to get informed, get engaged and, uh, and stay
Speaker 3 00:20:48 Connected. There you go. Sweet. Okay. Well for McMurry wood, Buffalo, that's another episode of the Mac city morning show. I ended the same way I started. Thank you so much for spending the time with us. I know you could be doing a million other things. So it really does mean the world to me. And on that note, have a great day and we'll see you tomorrow. Peace. <inaudible> talk about quenching your ugly thirst.
