b'WE ARE ALL LEADERSHow a Bus Driver Showed us Anything was PossibleBy Kevin ChiefB Many young people just need the right opportunity to Belonging is an incredibly powerful value. With a name like Chief, you never forget you areput them on a path to realizing their full potential. They Indigenous. When I was growing up, if someone asked memay be the first in their family to graduate high school or if I was an Indian, I thought saying yes might mean I attend a post-secondary institution, but may not have a didnt belong. network of friends or connections to get that first job and At school, I only wrote Kevin at the top of myexperience. We need to help create paths and build those assignments. Adding Chief reminded me I was wearingrelationships for them to succeed.old clothes, that I had a sleepless night and that I livedWe cant just tell them it is possible, we have to show in a bachelor pad with a single father. Eventually, thethem. It is irresponsible of us to ask anyone to overcome embarrassment of being raised in poverty turned into ahardship and challenge unless we can show them others sense of shame. who have done it. But there were also moments when that would go away.When I was seven years old my friend Chris Henderson When I would put on my Isaac Newton School jersey andand I were catching a bus on Selkirk Avenue to go swim at sink a basket for my team, it let me feel what it was like tothe now Sergeant Tommy Prince Place. We got on the bus give back, to have the ability to contributeand I held myand went to the back seat to sit down. Chris tapped me on head up high. the shoulder and said, Hey, did you see the bus driver? Its a feeling Manitobans from all walks of life knowGo look at the bus driver! I ran to the front and came and embraceour ability to contribute. Our generosityback. Chris asked me, Did you see? Can you believe it? is recognized across Canada. It is rooted in a tradition ofThe bus driver is Aboriginalwe can be bus drivers! overcoming adversity and, once overcoming it, wanting toThat was over 35 years ago when you just didnt see any help others do the same thing. Indigenous bus drivers. Until I saw that bus driver I never I saw it when my Grade Six teacher Mrs. Wilson waswould have known we could be bus drivers.patient with me at school and when Leti, the Filipina ownerI often think about that bus driver and I wonder if of a corner store, made me part of her family. I saw it whenhe knows how many people his life touchedhow he coaches at the University of Winnipeg opened the gyminspired one boy who went on to become the Southern early for me and when so many people mentored me asGrand Chief and another who represented that same I started my career. They were willing to see my potentialneighbourhood in the Manitoba Legislature.instead of focusing on my hardships. They made me feelI think about what it took for him to be a bus driver. I like I belonged and changed who I thought I could be.wondered about the people around him who supported During the Truth and Reconciliation hearings,him and made it possible to get that jobwho pushed Honourable Justice Murray Sinclair travelled the countryour systems a little harder and said, why cant we have an for over six years and heard over 6,000 testimonials.Indigenous person be a bus driver? I wish I could go back Belonging was one of the most common values he heardand shake their hands.from those stories. Building successful relationships byI know the hands that I would shake would be both fostering a path of reconciliation will help us restore thisIndigenous and non-Indigenous. Those are the kind of sense of belonging. ripple effects you may never see from your work, but you Our classrooms and workplaces are looking differentshould know they happenhow one small act can meantoday as our population in Manitoba continues to growso much.even more diverse. We have one of the youngest andThats how a bus driver showed us anything was possible.fastest-growing demographics in the country, including Indigenous and new Canadians. Its important for all of ourKevin Chief is Senior Advisor for Indigenous youth to feel a sense of belonging in their community andRelations with the Office of Inclusion at the Bank workplaces so they can be proud of who they are, proudof Montreal, and Partnership Lead with the Centre of where they are from and know they can give back. for Aboriginal Human Resource Development. Fall 2019 HRmatters 9'