LIFE AFTER THE NFB A conversation with Suzanne Chevigny, woman of many talents

by Marie-Pierre Tremblay
June 2002

I first met Suzanne Chevigny in 1976, at a large gathering to which she had invited all NFB women to set up a committee that would study employment equity. I saw her again in February at her Outremont home, surrounded by beautiful objects, sculptures and etchings, as warm and open-minded as ever and enriched by many other experiences.

New direction: fine arts
After 37 years with the NFB, Suzanne took off her manager's hat and in September 1994 enrolled as a fulltime student in Concordia University's Faculty of Fine Arts, in the Painting and Drawing program. She found herself in a different world: "I was surrounded by young people just out of CEGEP, with a solid grounding in drawing. I didn't know anything about it. I was really unsurs of myself. In the first week, I had to draw a tree...it took me hours. Then I had to bring in work every week. I worked extremely hard, and realized I was actually making progress. I love drawing in charcoal. I got through the program... I got my degree, and I'm really proud of it. I graduated in 1999."

She worked as a teacher's assistant, helping students attending free studio workshops, then became assistant to Dr. Cheryl Dudek, head of the Printmaking and Photography Department. This gave her unrestricted access to the facilities. "That's how I prepared my first exhibit of prints and etchings; it was part of a collective show at the Dorval Cultural Centre in May of last year. Later my work was featured in the NFB-Club-ONF exhibit in October. The response encouraged me to carry on, but for now I've decided to take a bit of a rest, so I didn't take a TA job this session."

Call that rest?
"Throughout this time, I was also taking Spanish courses at Loyola. I had to prepare a TV broadcast with three young people. I was the Arts and Film columnist. Can you imagine ... ? We had a great time!"

In May 1995, Pierre Juneau called me and asked me to give him a hand on the Mandate Review Committee - the Committee set up by the federal government to examine the mandates of the NFB, CBC and Telefilm. I agreed to help out during the summer, before my courses started up again, but I didn't realize what I was getting into. The Committee grew in scope and I gradually ended up as its Administrative Director. I hired and supervised staff ... that went on for ten months. I worked evenings, weekends ... well, it was quite an adventure. And through it all I still had my course work to do."

"Later, in 2000, Mr. Juneau called me again, and that time I worked with him for a year. He had just been appointed a trustee for Rogers, which wanted to buy Videotron ... but Videotron was finally bought by Qu�b�cor. Mr. Juneau was also President of the World Council of Radio and Television (WCRT). That was really interesting... he is a passionate advocate of freedom of speech, and a strong believer in public radio and television. When he resigned from the Board, I closed the books for both offices - Videotron and WCRT - and sold the furniture. The WCRT files had to be sent to the CBC, which was to take over as Board Secretary. I was given a contract to catalogue them."

This is retirement?
"I guess you could say I haven't really had time to stop. I'm also Chairperson of the Board of Pro-Gam, a non-profit organization funded by the Regional Health and Social Services Board and the United Way of Canada that provides treatment for violent men. Pro-Gam has four permanent employees. We have to establish budgets and policies... I'm also on the Board of Directors of the Voli�res du Quebec in Mont-Tremblant, where I own a time-share condo. I'd bought a condo elsewhere but got burnt when the operation went bankrupt. So I was really careful this time.

photo : Marie-Pierre Tremblay

But that's not all...
"While I was with the NFB, I was invited to join the Board of Directors of the Women's Television Network Foundation (WTNF). WTN is a television channel run exclusively by women for women. I'm still a member of the WTN Foundation Board, which was established to promote women's access to the technical professions. I helped develop programs with technical schools and CEGEPs across Canada. There have also been programs for older women who are already in the professions but want retraining. And I'm responsable for the Garden Committee here. I plant, weed and clean, and I've had an irrigation system installed. There's a fair amount of land surrounding these 32 condos on four floors. We recently won the City of Outremont award for the most beautiful garden in our category, and when I went to collect it there was a bit of a misunderstanding... they thought I was the building superintendent's wife... I still laugh when I think about it."

What about travel?
"I don't have too much time to travel... but I have friends in Paris and one of them lends me her apartment, so I do go there once in a while. I love Paris. I even spent a month there last year, sa I had a chance to go to museums and to the opera. I even found time to hop over to Spain, where another of my friends lives. In a few days I'Il be going to Oaxaca, in Mexico, to spend some time with Janine Edoin. At last ... I can enjoy the sun and laze around."

But something tells me that Suzanne won't be able to laze around for six weeks. And it seems I'm right: I've just heard that she's registered for advanced Spanish courses in Mexico.

Incredible energy ... and an impressive career!

________________________

Suzanne Chevigny joined the NFB in 1957 as a secretary. She then became a Personnel Advisor, and was later promoted to Chief, Personnel Operations (recruiting, classification and compensation, and training). At the same time, she continued her studies for many years. In 1987 she was appointed Director of the Employment Equity Program, a position she hold until her retirement in 1994.