Webinars
The EDI Celebration Series – Episode 3: Special guests Chief Deb Bergeson and Chief Nancy Macdonald-Duncan
April 21, 2021 at 1:00pm

The third installment of the EDI Celebration Series will be broadcast live on May 28 at 1:00 pm EST. For May’s event, Deb Bergeson, Acting Deputy Chief of Organizational Effectiveness and Engagement for the Calgary Fire Department, and Nancy Macdonald-Duncan, Assistant Chief of Fire Prevention and Life Safety for Mississauga Fire and Emergency Services, will share their career experiences and recommendations for increasing Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in the fire service.

The EDI Celebration Series is a program of the CAFC in collaboration with Fire Fighting in Canada through a generous grant from the Motorola Solutions Foundation.

Speakers

Deb Bergeson, Acting Deputy Chief of Organizational Effectiveness and Engagement, Calgary Fire Department

In January of this year, Deb Bergeson was promoted to Acting Deputy Dhief of Organizational Effectiveness and Engagement for the Calgary Fire Department (CFD). Working in a traditionally male-dominated environment, she has persevered and trail-blazed a 23-year career as a professional firefighter. She is a natural leader in all areas; always respectful of others and leading by example, with an understandable desire to advocate for inclusion and acceptance.

Chief Bergeson has a lifetime of achievements including winning six Canadian Championship titles in women’s singles luge over her decade on the National Luge Team, as well as holding the national track record at Canada Olympic Park. Prior to her successful athletic career, she earned two bachelor’s degrees from the University of Calgary and served as a student leader at the University for most of her time on campus.

She joined the Calgary Fire Department in 1998 as the third woman hired in the history of the
CFD.

Nancy Macdonald-Duncan, Assistant Chief of Fire Prevention and Life Safety, Mississauga Fire and Emergency Services

Nancy Macdonald-Duncan started her career as a law clerk with the firm of Sullivan Mahoney and became one of the first licenced paralegals in Ontario. In 2000, she became a prosecutor for the Regional Municipality of Niagara, prosecuting numerous regulatory offences including fire code prosecutions. She became a program specialist in prosecutions for the Office of the Fire Marshal in 2008. In that position, she prosecuted fire code offences throughout Ontario and assisted fire departments in preparing charging documents, disclosure and assisting other prosecutors who were new to fire code violations. She was an adjunct instructor for the Ontario Fire College for over 15 years.

In 2015, she commenced employment as the Division Chief of Inspections and Enforcement with the City of Mississauga. In 2017 she was promoted to Assistant Chief of Fire Prevention and Life Safety. Chief Macdonald-Duncan was put into an Acting Fire Chief’s position during COVID-19 and again on an interim basis when Chief Tim Beckett retired in November of 2020. She has received various awards in recognition of her contribution to the fire service.