International Womens Day Celebration
“Exploring Tolerance in a time of Intolerance” was the theme of this years Women’s day banquet hosted by IDIOttawa. A gathering of 90 women and men hailing from countries around the globe came together on March 5th to celebrate International Women’s Day via the theme of “Exploring Tolerance in a Time of Intolerance: Building Bridges from Women’s Perspectives.” The evening included a fabulous dinner, folk dancing and talks from four diverse, articulate and intelligent women. The event was led by The Ven. David Selzer who served as the MC, Feyza Celik who offered a provocative greeting on behalf of IDI and The Rev. Karen Coxon, who served as the moderator. The speakers who challenged the audience to look at intolerance and considerations
for moving forward included Joan McKenna, Acting Superintendent, Criminal Investigations Unit of the Ottawa Police Service, Brenda Merckley, Secretary of the Bridlewood Community Association, Dr. Susan Braedley, Professor in the School Social Work and the Institute of Political Economy at Carleton University, and Mine Khan, Member of the Turkish Muslim faith community. The Djerdan Folk Dance Group delighted the audience with their talents and beautiful interpretation of Turkish folk dances. The highly successful International Women’s Day event, a first of its kind for IDI-Ottawa, promises to become an annual event for the IDI-Ottawa and the entire Ottawa community.