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CAFC highlights

Highlights:

Monday –
Rick Hillier’s speech. Best feel-good anecdotes:

1. Hillier lived in Texas for a while, which, his
   buddies said, was good preparation for Afghanistan, what with all the heat and
   the fact that most Texans are more heavily armed than the Taliban.
2. Rick Mercer’s ability, on a visit
   to Afghanistan, to talk a mile a minute
   while parachuting/free falling from 10,500 feet. “He never shut up,”
   Hillier said.
3. When Hillier was leaving Afghanistan he asked the troops what one
   final thing he could do for them. Like the good small-town men and women
   many of them are, they asked Hillier to bring a Tim Hortons to the base. A
   pretty hefty task – unless, of course, you’re Gen. Hillier. Hiller spoke a
   bit later to a business group in Ottawa and was asked by someone in
   the audience (with whom he had planted the question!) what Canadians could
   do for the troops. “Well,” he said, “funny you should ask. They want a
   Tims.” Naturally, Tims magnate Ron Joyce was in the audience, the rest is
   history and you’ve all seen photos of the Tims in Kandahar.  

You can
read highlights of the more serious portions of Hiller’s speech on leadership
and putting people first here.

Other CAFC
highlights:

Monday
night – Lobster and musician Terry Kelly.

Tuesday –
Niagara Falls Deputy Chief Jim Jessop’s passion for code enforcement.

Wednesday
– Some blatant truths during the panel discussion about 24-hour shifts and the
division between management and staff. Expect to see more unions recommending
24-hour shifts.

Wednesday
night – Cowboy hats – lots and lots of cowboy hats! The CAFC’s 2011 conference
is in Calgary . . .

More business
news from the CAFC 2010 next week.

Meantime
check out our photo gallery on our Facebook group page.