Canadian Government Executive - Volume 24 - Issue 04

10 / Canadian Government Executive // July/August 2018 Penguins in Pittsburgh, but then made my way through the minors with stops in Cleveland, Ohio; Muskegon, Michigan; Roanoke, Virginia; and finally Huntsville, Alabama. Looking back, I realize that I had a really unique opportunity to be able to play hockey professionally. I had some wonderful experiences includ- ing being able to skate with some of the hockey greats like Mario Lemieux, Ron Francis, Larry Murphy, Rick Tocchet, Tom Barasso and Jaromir Jagr, to name a few. For a young hockey player from the North, to play with these NHL players – many of whom were on the Canada Cup rosters – it was like a dream. But, after two years in the minors, I realized that a professional hockey career probably wasn’t in the cards. I decided to return to the Northwest Territories, and I accepted a job as a wildlife biologist here in Yel- lowknife. It gave me the opportunity to become involved in an area that has a special significance to myself and to many people in Canada. As an Indigenous person, and grow- ing up the way I did in the North, I have always had a real strong connection to the land and its resources – thanks to my mom and dad. Being able to join the fisheries and forestry. During my time at Cornell, many of my hockey teammates were taking business management and marketing courses. We spent a lot of time studying together, and I would listen to their conversations about business and marketing, and I thought, “you know, that might be interesting and valuable to learn as well.” So I talked with the guid- ance counsellor, and I ended up gradu- ating from Cornell with a dual major in natural resource management and busi- ness management and marketing. During one of my summers at home in Fort Smith from Cornell, I worked at my first job in the public service which was as a Junior Park Warden for Wood Buffa- lo National Park. It was a fantastic oppor- tunity to gain hands-on experience in the field of natural resources, and I was able to participate in studies on bison, per- egrine falcons, black bears, campground enforcement and fire suppression activi- ties. After that summer, I knew that this was a profession that I would enjoy. During my years at Cornell, I was able to play hockey and was drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins. Upon graduation, I endeavored to play semi-pro hockey and initially started off playing with the Q: Your background is really quite unique, and I think that our CGE readers are going to be quite interested in learning a little bit about you. For sure, George. So I grew up in a small community of 2, 200 people near the Northern Alberta border in the North- west Territories in a town called Fort Smith. Born and raised in the North, I am the youngest of six children, and we grew up following a traditional type of lifestyle with my parents who were hunt- ers, trappers and fishers. We lived a lot off the land for sustenance, and by doing so, I was exposed to the land, and I devel- oped a strong connection to the land and its animals. We were taught the ways of hunting by my dad and mom from an ear- ly age. I even shot my first moose when I was 10-years old. So, growing up as a young northern boy, I would say I had this aspiration of working in the field of wildlife from a very early age. The other dream I had, like many Canadian boys and girls, was to play professional hock- ey. At the age of 16, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to play junior hockey in a northern Alberta town called Grande Prairie. I finished high school in Grande Prai- rie, and then I attended Grande Prairie Regional College for a first year Bachelor of Science program. While I was there, by chance, I enrolled in a zoology course during the summer that was very inter- esting and ended up being life-changing for me. The teacher for that course actual- ly helped shape my vision of what I want- ed to study in school. She noticed I had a keen interest in birds during a school trip to Tofino, BC. We had some great conver- sations on wildlife biology and discussed the type of work I could do in that field. I mentioned to her that I had a recruiting letter from Cornell University to go and play hockey, and she mentioned to me that Cornell has one of the best ornithol- ogy departments in the world, which was something I wasn’t aware of. So after I completed my first year at Grande Prairie College, I transferred to Cornell and be- gan my studies in natural resource man- agement covering the fields of wildlife, INTERVIEW Photo: Canadian Tourism Commission