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'It actually changed me' Fort Smith mayor chooses politics after leadership conference
Paul Bickford
Northern News Services
Published Monday, September 9, 2013
THEBACHA/FORT SMITH
Just last year, Brad Brake was not thinking of running for any kind of elected office.
Brad Brake met a number of notable leaders at last year's Governor General's Canadian Leadership Conference, including former governor general Adrienne Clarkson. - photo courtesy of Brad Brake |
Now the mayor of Fort Smith, he had previously lost his first try at the mayor's seat three years earlier, failed in a bid to become first vice-president of the Union of Northern Workers (UNW), and had also lost his position as the union's second vice-president, which he had held for six years.
"I was getting hammered pretty hard," he said in a recent interview with News/North.
"I had actually given up on any kind of political running or anything like that," he added. "I was like, 'OK, I'm done with it. I'm just going to stay at home and be with my family,' which was something I was looking forward to doing."
Then, something unexpected happened.
Based on an application he had made when on the UNW executive, Brake was accepted to the Governor General's Canadian Leadership Conference.
"Well, that has got to be the absolute best thing I could've done ever, really," he said of the conference. "From a personal level and from a professional level, it actually changed me."
The conference takes 230 mid-career, mid-level people from various walks of life - business, government, labour, and First Nations, community and charitable organizations - and helps develop their leadership skills.
It is held at various locations throughout Canada every four years, and study groups are assigned to each province and territory.
From June 1-15 of last year, Brake went to a plenary session in Nova Scotia, followed by study tours in a number of communities in Ontario and a closing session in Ottawa.
In those two weeks, he met an impressive and eclectic array of leaders - former governor general Adrienne Clarkson, Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi, the president of the Canadian Federation of Nurses, two former Ontario premiers, economists, businesspeople, writers and more.
"I had lunch with Jim Balsillie. I was sitting right next to him," said Brake of the billionaire co-founder and former CEO of Research In Motion, now known as Blackberry.
The tour of southern Ontario took Brake to a variety of locations, including two communities which had faced tragedy in years past - Goderich, which had been hit by a tornado in 2011, and Walkerton, which had to deal with a contaminated water supply in 2000.
Brake returned from the conference with a new attitude.
"It was a game-changer, man," he said. "It was complete and utter change for me."
Brake uses a number of superlatives to describe the conference, such as "incredible," "life-altering" and "unbelievable."
"It motivated me a bit more and it showed me that I had something to offer still, whereas with all my defeats I had felt that I didn't," he said.
Brake decided to become a candidate for mayor in the fall of last year and won, which he said probably would not have happened without the conference and encouragement from his wife.
Brake, originally from Newfoundland, has lived in Fort Smith since 1999. Brake made the trek North when his wife got a job in the town as a computer technician.
"I love it here. It's home now," he said, adding he enjoys the small-town atmosphere.
After working a number of jobs in his first year in the community, Brake has been a corrections officer with the Department of Justice since early 2000 - a job he continues to work full time while serving as mayor.
"It's actually not that bad because I'm a shift worker," he said of finding the time to fill both roles, adding he has to average four hours per working day at town hall.
"There isn't enough work here for a full-time mayor," he said, even though he devotes 40 to 50 hours a week to mayoral duties, including attending meetings at night and various community events.
"I'd sooner work than eat," he said, adding he is enjoying the role of mayor.
Brake said the experiences from the leadership conference continue to help him a "humongous" amount in leading Fort Smith.
For instance, when the town faced its biggest challenge since he has been mayor - a fire at Centennial Arena earlier this year - he recalled visiting Walkerton and Goderich as part of the conference.
"It helped me prepare for it and helped me to look at it.
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