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Penny Ballantyne, 47, is a former deputy minister with the Territorial government and is currently President of the Worker's Compensation Board.
 Penny Ballantyne |
She received a Bachelor of science degree from McGill University and a master's degree in genetics from University of Alberta
She lives in Yellowknife with her husband Mike, daughters Erin and Alex, and son Nick
Who do you admire and why?
"Certainly my grandmother. She was very, very poor, and raised nine kids with no running water, no electricity. There was just an incredible dignity about her. She never complained when really she faced some incredible challenges in life."
Is it getting easier for women to move into positions of influence?
"I think we benefitted here from the feminist movement of the 1960s. It just opened up peoples' thinking everywhere to the possibility that women could be managers, they could be bosses, other than just support people."
The North may be a lonely place for a geneticist to call home, but not Penny Ballantyne.
In fact, Ballantyne didn't feel at home at all down south after finishing her master's degree so she headed back North where she felt she belonged, and went into a different line of work all together.
"I was homesick for the North after being down south a number of years," says Ballantyne, who lived in several Northern communities as a child, including Yellowknife.
Today, she is president of the Workers' Compensation Board. She has plenty of experience as a top public administrator.
The NWT Housing Corp., where Ballantyne got her first job after university as a research assistant in 1976, was where she began building an impressive resume.
She went on to be president of Housing Corp., serve as deputy minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, then Health and Social Services, Education Culture and Employment, and now her most recent appointment is president of the WCB.
One may wonder how she finds time for family life, but she does.
"If I look at any success I've had, I'd would primarily look at my family," says Ballantyne. "I don't think I could have held down responsible positions, raised three kids without a fabulous husband, and he's been incredibly supportive."
The support goes both ways. Last year, Ballantyne's husband Mike fell seriously ill. She decided to leave her job at ECE to stay home and care for him.
"First of all, when one is in a situation where someone you love is in a life-threatening position your priorities become extremely clear," says Ballantyne.
"There was never any question in mind that I wouldn't leave my work to be with my husband."
The couple are now both back to work. Both are successful, but their family lives are never far behind.
"We don't go out a whole lot," laughs Ballantyne. "I think our kids would say we have very boring lives."
Elaine Keenan Bengts, in her 40s, is an Attorney and information and privacy commissioner for the Northwest Territories.
She has a Bachelor of arts and law degree from University of Alberta. She is married to Peter Bengts and has three daughters Amanda, Lauren, and Stacie.
Who do you admire and why?
"Probably my dad. My dad always wanted to be a lawyer. He grew up during the Dirty Thirties, and nobody got to go to university in those days but he always wanted to be a lawyer. I kind of hero worship my dad a little."
Is it getting easier for women to move into positions of influence?
"I think it's becoming more difficult. (Yellowknife) really was a frontier town back then. Anyone who came up here and was willing to work was given a shot. We're becoming far more cosmopolitan, far more business oriented. I think that Southern influences are starting to appear and I think it may be more difficult for young female lawyers, at least, to find employment here now."
Elaine Keenan Bengts tried her hand at corporate law in Alberta but hated it.
There was just something about Yellowknife her husband Peter and herself -- both lawyers, both Yellowknifers -- that made them want to come back.
"I was going to be an oil and gas lawyer in Calgary until I spent a summer working in Calgary," laughs Keenan Bengts. "It was awful.
"We came back to visit family one summer. It was a beautiful day. We were sitting on the rocks, and we kind of looked at each other at the same time and said: 'Why is it that we didn't want to come back?'"
After articling in Yellowknife, and working at a local law firm for a few years, Keenan Bengts opened her own practice out the family home. She eventually moved to a downtown office after the kids started coming along.
"As far as being macho, in my business at least, it's always been harder for women in the south than it's ever been for me here," says Keenan Bengts.
"I've always found the North very open as far as willing to accept women, minorities into the workplace."
She wonders though, as Yellowknife grows, whether big-city attitudes from the south are beginning to take hold.
"It's still a man's world. Men still run the firms down south. You don't see a whole lot of women partners in the big influential firms in Southern Canada."
Mieke Cameron, 55, is principal of Sir John Franklin high school
She has a bachelor of education (with distinction) and B.A. from the University of Regina and a master's degree in education from University of Alberta. She lives in Yellowknife with husband Les and daughters Marni and Lisa.
 Mieke Cameron |
"My first degree was in English, so novelists galore but T.S. Elliot was always one who's works I really enjoy ... Gandhi, his actions and his thinking has always inspired me."
Is it getting easier for women to move into positions of influence?
"When you look around it would appear that it is easier because we have many more women taking positions of leadership ... I am actually the first female principal of Sir John Franklin high school. But I look around me, our student council president is female, our grad council president is female."
Mieke Cameron believes part of her role is to encourage students to learn how to govern themselves. After all, they will have to do so soon enough.
Equally important, you have to teach to the heart as well as the mind, she says.
"I don't make important decisions alone, ever, and that's my style," says the Sir John Franklin high school principal. It's a job she's held for six years.
"I believe young people have to have a voice."
Cameron points out a situation a few years back where smoking on campus had become an issue. The school board had yet to take action, so students decided to do something themselves.
"They said, 'You know, when the year 2000 rolls around there shouldn't be smoking on campus, and we want to take that up,'" says Cameron.
"I think that's how the culture is changing. When students have issues there's a place for them to voice those issues.
One of her proudest moments of late was when one of her students, Brendan Matthews, was selected to appear on a poster commemorating the Canadians' triumph at Vimy Ridge in France during the First World War.
He was one of 12 Canadian students to visit the historic site at Remembrance Day last year.
"It's maybe the light for me right now," says Cameron.
Ina Murray, 49, is Executive director of Northern Arts and Cultural Centre
She has hree years towards a bachelor of arts degree in english and arts diploma from Fraser Valley School of Arts. She is married to husband Ryan and they have one son Jordon.
Who do you admire and why?
"My absolute hero, Tommy Banks. When we're talking about the arts, which I live and breathe right now, Tommy Banks is just an amazing man -- the first jazz-playing Canadian senator. I think the word humble is hugely overrated but he is humble, and helpful, and he's an educator. He's given so much to the arts without having an ego and always putting himself first."
Is it getting easier for women to move into positions of influence?
"Yes, I do believe there's been some great strides made. I still believe that we have a very long way to go. Anywhere you look at management positions, there are still a whole lot of men in those positions. I think women tend to have more linear style of management. They really look at the person as a human being. They understand people who have families and priorities."
Dr. Lorette Foley is Deputy minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
She has four undergraduate degrees, several diplomas, a master's degree in sociology, and a doctorate in educational leadership.
Who do you admire and why?
"My mother. She was gentle and firm, yet deeply spiritual. She always gave us the message to do the right thing for the right reasons."
Is it getting easier for women to move into positions of influence?
"I'd say yes. They're certainly a strategic part of this government. (Women) might be considered a minority, especially in senior positions, and I think the government is very intent that will change."
Dr. Loretta Foley is an educator who has "never stopped learning."
The deputy minister of Education, Culture, and Economic Development collected her numerous degrees and diplomas attending 20 straight years of summer school, and she still thinks there's room to collect a few more.
She's taught everything from elementary to high school -- in New York, Nova Scotia (her home province), Vancouver, Edmonton, and Yellowknife. She is a former nun, who left her order in 1970 but remains devotedly Roman Catholic. She's also a dedicated feminist, which some may find contradictory considering the church's long-standing ban on female clerics, but Foley senses changes are on the way.
"I would like very much for women to be able to become ordained priests and see other reforms in the church," says Foley.
"Why do I stay? I don't believe in throwing out the baby with the bath. I believe that reform always comes from within, and I think reform is on the way."
For now, Foley is just trying to help NWT youth, particularly young women, into getting successful jobs and careers.
"I think our students, our young women, it will be very difficult for them to be successful unless they have the community, including home support, as well as a very strong school system that is geared towards their academic needs," says Foley.
Bernadette Stewart, 40, is President of Braden Burry Expediting.
She has a civil engineering degree from the University of New Brunswick. She lives in Yellowknife with her husband Gord, and two stepchildren, Chad and Heather
 Bernadette Stewart |
Who do you admire and why?
"My grandmother, that would be a role model for me. Hard working, very practical, results orientated. She always did a lot for family and stuff, but was also well respected for business as well."
Is it getting easier for women to move into positions of Influence?
"I think it is. You just learn to go with the flow."
Bernadette Stewart knows all about the boys' club.
She was one of five women among 250 men to graduate with a civil engineering degree from the University of New Brunswick in 1985.
She took a job with NWT Housing Corp. and moved to Iqaluit soon after graduation. The following year, she was promoted to the position of construction manager for the department.
"Engineering isn't the easiest (vocation) to be in," says Stewart. "You just learn to go with the flow, and I guess even in this environment that's (working in a male dominate field) has been very helpful."
Today, Stewart is president of Braden Burry Expediting. The company has grown ten-fold since Stewart and her husband Gord bought the company in 1988 -- the same year they married.
"That's what this job really is; it's project management," says Stewart, comparing her previous role as a Housing Corp. manager to her job as president of a major company.
"It's having a plan and moving ahead with where we're going to go. 'What's are next move? How are we going to position ourselves effectively to meet the needs of everybody.' "
The company drew in more than $5 million in revenue last year, and now has more than 50 employees on staff. They ship cargo and supplies all over the North. Braden Burry is also involved in several joint ventures with other Northern firms. Stewart spends about 10 hours a day in the office each day. She is also on the Stanton Territorial Hospital Authority board.
She says keeping business out of her social life isn't always easy.
"There's socializing, which is work but they become friends as well," says Stewart. "You have to be out there (visible) in the business."
Stewart says she never envisioned heading a major company.
"I certainly didn't go to university to run a company," says Stewart.
"The workplace is a lot different from when our parents started. You'd probably take a job and have a career your whole life. I think that expectation has become less and less for anybody."
