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CHAPTER 8
I was hired to do union education when I was with the trade union and learn- ing these courses. I became an instructor and taught people health and safety. I explained how to do agreements and arbitration. You know how to adapt, but it goes beyond adaptation to make it work for you or try to find a way that will work for you.
In the early 2000s, the provincial government closed our hospital. At the same time, I had a friend working for Statistics Canada. If there had been math on the intake test, I don’t think I would have been ready for it. Thankfully, the department was looking for trainers.
When I first came into the government, the way training worked was verbatim for example: “Open your book to page one,” and they would read it to you. Then say “turn to page two” and read that page. This was their idea of training. Fortunately, I also got in when management was open to more creative ways and ideas.
I had all these ideas and a track record of training, and it made sense to con- tribute to developing or assisting. I began focusing on helping the inter- viewers at Statistics Canada know how to train other interviewers.
My first job at Statistics Canada was the project officer position. I was put on a survey project and had to learn about it. The survey was in a format where interviewers nationwide would call respondents at home and ask them ques- tions regarding a particular subject matter.
I started off with the Canadian Travel Survey. We’d ask about different travel- ling done in Canada. The idea is to get information so various government agencies and departments can decide.
The thing with statistics is that if you look at the numbers, you may get it, but you may still need to get it. Statistics lead to stories, but they also lead to other questions. How do we approach problems?
So, yes, I have grade 10 math, and I worked at Statistics Canada, but I was never called to use that math. They have a whole division of people who do that.
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