A different look at Canada’s military

Former Chief of Defense Staff , Canadian Military
John Anderson was born in Trail, BC and grew up in Oliver, British Columbia in family circumstances which today would be categorized as “very low income”. During his early career he served on many ships in both the Pacific and Atlantic fleets. He also served in a number of office jobs ashore, mostly in the National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa. He has commanded a squadron of destroyers and within 9 years he assumed command of Canada’s navy. In 1993 he was promoted Admiral and appointed Chief of Defence Staff thus commanding all of the Canadian Military forces as well as acting as chief military advisor to the Government of Canada. In the present phase of is life, he continues to stay on the cutting edge of strategies and ideas with his work with NATO. < What students learned>

* Fomer Major including service in Desert Storm
* Mac Fraser has faced life and death situations like no other of our guests. He’s had an effect on every organization he’s come into contact with. His priority in any project is people, process, product The village that he administers has gone from poverty to managed boom times. His first career of 20 years saw him in active warfare, including being missing in action for 5 days. He has a story on almost any topic. One of his greatest interests is to inspire others. He does this through humour, wisdom and a deep interest in others. Learn what it takes to be have people come on board with your project, or to help them make major changes in their own lives. Read what students say about him

* Former submariner, commander at Nanoose Martime Experimental and Test Range
* Mike Dalzel , a native Victorian has had a wide ranging career from the cold war and beyond. In his first year in the Navy he spent 256 days away at sea. While he had extensive experience as a submariner, he has worked on surface ships as well as office jobs. He talks of the ultimate camaraderie of working on a submarine. His final regular posting was as the Commander of the Canadian Forces Maritime Experimental and Test Range at Nanoose Bay , a time of great protest. After retirement he was asked to develop a public relations program to tell the public about what the Navy does. Overall he has wonderful ideas and stories for marketing, networking and problem solving.


Fomer test pilot and air safety expert

Les East has been a military officer, a civilian test pilot and a transportation safety expert. “My life has been on a golden platter. I had the academic qualifications to go to College and the military paid for everything, including pilot training.” After 27 years in the Forces, then a four-year test-pilot position with a civilian helicopter company, his third and last job was in aviation safety with the federal Transportation Safety Board. That involved helping prevent accidents as well as investigating the causes of those accidents. His training experience was ongoing: flying, leadership and administration courses were taken with the Canadian Forces, the US Coast Guard, the US Air Force, the US Navy, US Aviation Schools, and two US universities in addition to his undergraduate education in Canada. His experience with the development and testing of new aviation products, his background in aviation accident investigation and his Masters in Marketing give a broad scope to any interview.