Sunday July 2, 2023 | VIEW ROYAL, BC [Updated July 11, 2023]
FEATURE by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
After a whirlwind 17-day experience as part of the Commonwealth Study Conference (CSC) last month, Town of View Royal Councillor Damian Kowalewich is back and ready to take on further leadership.
Delegates to the CSC are deemed as ’emerging leaders’. People in various capacities in their local communities or larger government or agency sectors take part as delegates.
The 2023 CSC began for the 300 delegates (from 33 counties, including 59 Canadians) with a three-day plenary session in Banff, Alberta then relocated to Toronto. Side trips to explore other locations were also part of the itinerary.
Delegates were from all over the world, said Kowalewich in an exclusive interview with Island Social Trends just ahead of Canada Day. He also seemed incredibly impressed with how multicultural Toronto is, which he experienced in the second portion of the conference.
“It was a whirlwind that took us from Banff to Ontario (Toronto, Ottawa, Kitchener, Niagara Region), and then Montreal to present or findings in the form of an Assembly of Nations. I was also appointed Group Leader by the conference executive for the Ontario tour. What an honour,” says Kowalewich.
Findings were presented to the CSC committee on June 18 in Montreal.
A Royal family project:
The Commonwealth Study Conference was founded in 1956 by The Duke of Edinburgh (father of King Charles III). This year’s conference was honoured with the three-day participation of Anne, Princess Royal (second child of the late Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh, and younger sister to King Charles).
During the plenary, Princess Anne visited in person with every working group of delegates. “Her time is very valuable,” says Kowalewich, who — himself a police officer with Saanich Police — noted that she had a strict security detail and there were “rules of engagement” (shaking hands with the Princess was okay).
Upon meeting Kowalewich in that open plenary phase, Princess Anne reportedly remarked about how beautiful Victoria, BC is. “She is very down to earth and authentic, and quite pleasant with everyone,” he said.
The Princess Royal — who turns 73 in August — spoke on several occasions through the three-day plenary, including delivering a keynote speech at the end of that portion of the 2023 CSC. By attending, she and the CSC deemed every delegate as an emerging leader with the responsibility to promote inclusivity in the Commonwealth and the world. Kowalewich noted that a high level of trust developed among the delegates, as they now join the alumni of other delegates from previous years.
One can expect that such an experience leaves an indelible mark on delegates, without much room to waver from the continuing their leadership commitment going forward upon returning home.
Employer’s support:
Kowalewich represented an Ontario presentation group through his employer; he is a detective with Saanich Police here on Vancouver Island. He also represented the Town of View Royal, as one of their seven-member municipal council.
He’ll be making a followup report to senior management at the Saanich Police, about his journey with CSC and will share findings with his colleagues.
Social experiment:
Working closely with the Ontario group, Kowalewich remarked: “To immerse oneself with 18 leaders for that long was a unique social experiment. They are all amazing people yet everyone was so different.”
In their groups the delegates built relationships and networks and discussed ways to promote diversity and inclusion. Measuring change in that regard was a key consideration. It was concluded by the group’s discussions that progress with diversity and inclusion often “doesn’t happen quickly enough”.
“Sometimes the evolution of change does take time,” said Kowalewich who also has a Masters in Communications. He said that upholding values about diversity and inclusion and promoting those qualities is a key strategy.
Significant issues:
“Certainly we talked about significant issues,” said Kowalewich, which he itemized as climate change, food security, infrastructure to sustain all that, and the importance of inclusivity in the world. “Now more than ever we’re becoming more global.”
Kowalewich says the CSC experience changed his perspective on what Canada is about and the meaning of what multiculturalism is. In his group there were delegates from Jamaica, Tanzania, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Ghana, Nigeria, Malaysia, Uganda, India, South Africa and Canada.
True leadership:
What is true leadership? “Leaders speak up when they need to,” says Kowalewich. “Using their sphere of influence” and also being “a visible ally” are key aspects of being an effective leader, he said upon returning to Vancouver Island.
Kowalewich now expects he’ll become even more visible beyond his work in law enforcement, his role as a municipal councillor, and his leadership as the chair of the West Shore Parks and Recreation Society in the west shore (including some recent diversity and inclusion leadership initiatives).
Part of that mission is to encourage local organizations and leaders to commit funding to further things that strengthen diversity, equity and inclusion.
Kowalewich also hopes to help attract council candidates to the small municipality of View Royal. He’ll be looking for ways to encourage people to become engaged who otherwise might not, adding that involvement on social media “is not enough”, though it may come to light that social media actually often enables people to be involved more than before when in life circumstances might not otherwise support that (e.g. people busy raising families, working long hours in employment, etc) . He feels that productive politics should not be about posturing and political theatre.
Youth:
He notes that the lens of Canadian youth is very wide. “They have access to more information which affects their outlook on the world.,” says Kowalewich.
There’s a lot less freedom of movement for today’s youth, given the many dangers out there. But he encourages parents to allow their teens to spend time in the community and learn about community service. “The future is very different for them,” said Kowalewich, who comes from a time when hanging out in the neighbourhood and just getting home before dark was how it used to be.
Kowalewich and his wife have two children — one is a teen and the other is in elementary school.
Housing:
Housing attainability is a concern for Kowalewich. “For a lot of generations that was very attainable. Right now that is not within reach for many.”
He aims to work on making housing as affordable and available as possible, noting that in View Royal affordable housing projects and the developers who build them must enable people from “all walks of life” to attain a place to call home. He mentions townhomes as part of that mix.
Going forward:
As a result of this experience Kowalewich will likely apply himself differently or more in the west shore community. Even though just one delegate among many, the impact he’s bringing back home to south Vancouver Island will likely have a ripple effect on many in this region.
===== RELATED:
View Royal Councillor Damian Kowalewich heading to Commonwealth Conference (May 17, 2023)
Blast of a celebration for skatepark opening (May 14, 2023)
King Charles III addresses nation, Commonwealth & world (September 9, 2022)
===== ABOUT THE WRITER:
Mary P Brooke, now 68, has been covering news of the west shore region since 2008. Her publication series has covered news of the day through broader socioeconomic and political insights in the region: MapleLine Magazine (2008-2010), Sooke Voice News (2011-2013), West Shore Voice News (2014-2020), and Island Social Trends (since 2020).
As a big part of that work she has attended and covered council and committee meetings over the years in Sooke, Langford, Colwood, Metchosin, View Royal and in Juan de Fuca as well as a wide range of other agencies including the Capital Regional District, BC Transit, and West Shore Parks and Recreation. She covered COVID pandemic news daily during 2020 and 2021. She has now been reporting with the BC Legislative Press Gallery.
Many of the news features by Mary P Brooke focus on the newsmakers and their influence on communities.
Since 2014, Ms Brooke has attended nearly every SD62 board and committee meeting. With that depth she has served the community with a deeper understanding of the school district. In October 2022 she was a trustee candidate in the Belmont Zone of SD62 (Langford, Highlands, Colwood and Metchosin) in an effort to parlay her insights about SD62 to the broader community.
The Island Social Trends print edition (previously West Shore Voice News) launches later in July 2023, after a three-year hiatus during the pandemic years. The print-bound copies of MapleLine Magazine, Sooke Voice News and West Shore Voice News are already part of the permanent collections at the Sooke Region Museum.
In 2023, Mary P Brooke has been nominated for the Jack Webster Foundation Shelley Fralic Award to recognize a woman journalist whose professional journalism makes a contribution to the community.