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“My family and I spent a lot of time at Expo 67 sitting on benches people-watch- ing,” says MacDonald. “We started making up stories about where these people came from and what their lives were like. I came from a small town with very little diversity. I was exposed to so many kinds of people and kinds of stories there, and it changed my life.”
After graduating from the radio and television program at Toronto’s formerly named Ryerson University in the early 1980s, MacDonald landed at Global Television. There she learned the ropes of the news industry as an arts and enter- tainment anchor hosting five shows per day, before moving to Edmonton in 1987 to take a co-anchor and producer role.
A few years later, after MacDonald had left Global upon completing maternity leave, she was asked to “do something about women” with hopes of increasing both Global’s female audience and, as the savvy entrepreneur MacDonald doesn’t hesitate
to point out, advertisers. And so Woman of Vision was born.
“Nobody else was telling these stories,” says MacDonald. “I had a young daughter at the time and wanted the world to be different for her. I wanted her to have female role models, examples of what she could be if she dreamed big.”
Notable Women of Vision over the years include former (and so far only female) prime minister Kim Campbell, former premier Rachel Notley, and actress and model Ashley Callingbull.
MacDonald credits her daughter for helping shape the series as she grew up.
“She’s had input all along the way,” beams MacDonald. “She’s grown up with these stories. I would go to her and say, ‘We’re talking about this person, and this is the angle I’m thinking about. What do you think?’ It helped make the show better.”
Even though Woman of Vision has been dormant for the past few years, MacDonald hasn’t. Since before the pandemic, she’s hosted monthly panels on mental health. And now that the world has opened up again, she’s resumed her work as a prolific speaker and emcee, hosting and moderating events while balancing the consulting
work she does with New ViewPoint. Woman of Vision of course remains a priority, even if she’s got the privilege of taking time to plot out its next 25 years — perhaps reaching 500 women profiled isn’t out of the question.
“I still have a lot of work do to. I have too much energy to stop.” ED.
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4.
FOREVER A BOY SCOUT
As a boy, Nick Lees loved adventure and the camaraderie that came with it. Decades later, nothing’s changed
BY STEVEN SANDOR
which point he applied to the Edmonton Journal, and got back into the business — as a court reporter.
But he “didn’t want to go to court every day,” and soon he was on the general assignment desk — where he broke some of the cardinal rules of journalism: that those of us covering stories should never be part of those stories.
“It was found and it was highly read- able,” Lees says. “I was notorious in my own way. A lot of people at the Journal were pissed off at me. That was because I did what I wanted to do and created a story out of it.”
Lees wrote about parachuting with a pack sack and rifle, cycling adventures, mountain climbing, marathon running and canoe trips into the Canadian wild. His sto- ries about Edmonton focused on the real characters that made the place special, and the charitable causes that needed a hand up. Sure, Lees broke the rules, but he was doing good — and isn’t that what service journalism is all about?
“I did it because my goal was to help so many people by telling good stories,” says Lees. “It came from my mom and dad, that you should always be able to help when you can. You have to understand that life can be a trial for some, and an easy march for others.”
Lees has run marathons all over the world — about 60 of them. And he dreamed up a publicity stunt that would help raise money for charities. Runners of- ten talk about “hitting the wall,” when the pain becomes too much during a distance run. Athletes need to know how to get over
As a Scotland-born boy grow- ing up in England, Nick Lees relished the time he spent with the Boy Scouts (“I was a Queen’s Scout”). He got to
escape into the great outdoors — to hike, to have adventures. And he reveled in the camaraderie that came with it.
“Sitting around the campfire and singing a song. That’s a memory that’s precious to me.”
Adventures and camaraderie were im- portant to Nick Lees as a boy, and they’re just as important to him now.
Whether it’s climbing Mount Logan, jumping out of airplanes or running marathons while carrying a ladder, Lees has never been one to say no to adventure. He’s helped raise millions of dollars for charities, and used his power for 30 years as an Edmonton Journal columnist to “shine a light on those of us who need to have a light shined on them.”
Lees has cemented a legacy. It’s evident when you walk into his room at a west- end seniors’ complex and see the plaques hanging on the wall. The Jubilee Medal. A City of Edmonton citation. A distin- guished citizen award from MacEwan University. There are more. But awards aren’t the motivation for Lees — it’s all about community, and adventure.
“I love making friends,” says Lees. “And when people are hostile to me, I love that even more.”
Lees worked as a reporter before he came to Canada. But, he didn’t go straight into the newspaper business after he arrived here; he worked a variety of odd jobs — until his first Edmonton winter, at