It wasn’t onboard an aircraft, on an Arctic gravel airstrip, or in a busy hangar that I found myself surrounded by incredible women in aviation this weekend. Instead, it was in a Chapters bookstore and convention centre north of Toronto, with the trees full of fall colours and the sky a bright blue.
And it was long overdue.
I departed Halifax for Brampton Friday, arriving at the Pearson Convention Center for the Northern Lights Aero Foundation’s past recipients reception, excited but also a little unsure: after all, it had been 12 years since my last time attending, when I’d been honoured with a Rising Star award for my work in aviation history and with the Canadian Aviation Historical Society. I was 32 at the time, based in Edmonton, with one book out and another on the way.
Flash forward to Friday, when me and my polka dot dress still felt out of place, even with several more aviation history books under my belt. But I’m not an insider and I’m more used to talking to school kids during my author visits than captains of planes and industry. But suddenly there was Rosella Bjornson (Canada Aviation Hall of Fame, Alberta Order of Excellence) beaming at me before giving me a hug, and Kathy Fox (Honorary Colonel in the RCAF and Order of Canada) shaking my hand, and fellow judge for this year’s awards, Retired Lieutenant-General Lise Bourgon chit-chatting in line for a drink.
And after that, I felt the turbulence subside.
Instead, I leaned in to the enjoyment of it all.
I was inspired chatting with Aymie Rioux, one of the Air Canada scholarship recipients, who is originally from the Magdalen Islands. At the age of 35, she left her successful career in maritime operations in both polar regions to retrain as a pilot.
I was energized hearing Likhitha Tananki’s ongoing journey to becoming a SAR fixed wing pilot, and seeing another emerging professional connect with past Elsie Award recipient Kathy Stewart about how to become a police helicopter pilot.
Then Saturday morning, I skipped off to the Chapters store in Woodbridge, Ontario to finally meet Dr. Alis B. Kennedy, the inspiration for my first picture book, Alis the Aviator. After phone calls and emails and zoom meetings over the past eight years, we did an event together, sharing her story with young kids and signing a pile of books (hot holiday shopping tip for those of you in the GTA – the only copies in the world with both our signatures are at the store!)
And even with my inspiration-meter already off the charts, back I went to the Northern Lights Aero Foundation gala Saturday night to celebrate the honorees with 500-plus other people. As one of the outside judges, it was incredibly tough to select the final list, I’ll tell you, but here they are:
- Lori Duthie, Executive Director of the Canadian International Air Show (Business);
- Barbara Bowen at Manitoba Aerospace with outreach programs like Girls in Aviation Day (Education);
- Major Nadine Dale, Detachment Commanding Officer of 17 Wing Detachment Dundurn in Saskatchewan (Engineering);
- Melissa Haney, B-737 Captain and Flight Operations Support Manager of Air Inuit (Flight Operations);
- Katia Canciani, with her internationally-recognized Safer Skies initiatives and Governor General’s Literary Award-winning children’s books (Government);
- Dr. Jenni Gibbons, astronaut and CAPCOM for International Space Station Increment 63 (Trailblazer);
- Angel Abraham, graduate of the Commercial Aviation Management program at Western University, Naval Reservist at HMCS Prevot, and creator of The Student Pilot podcast (Rising Star);
- Doris Ipeelee, first Inuk woman from Nunavut to be First Officer on the B-737 for Canadian North, director for Canadian Aviation Pride, and volunteer firefighter and emergency medical responder in Forth Smith, NWT.
Amid the celebrating, however, there was still the staggering statistic that only 5% of airline pilots worldwide are women, and Major Nadine Dale told me afterward that among AME’s it’s about 2%. The Captain Christina Thomson ALPA Scholarship also underlined the fact that intimate partner violence is still a problem in society, and can affect even some of the strongest and most talented among us. As the ALPA representative said, we need to speak up, name it, and prevent it. And, we need to actively seek out hope for change in this time of challenge and conflict.
Change is happening, if slower than we’d like. It walked across the stage with Melissa Haney and Doris Ipeelee, who celebrated their Inuit heritage openly, nurturing the next generations of aviation-obsessed kids from their communities and beyond. It joined the conversation circles of engineers, NavCan data analysts, and future air traffic controllers. It was bolstered by the bagpiper as he played the Top Gun and Star Wars themes at the end of the evening, and 500 people whooped and hollered for the amazing pioneers who pointed the way, and the young women in aviation today who are locked on to that North Star.
