Tax experts

I ramble glibly about delivering ad-hoc tax clinics around the country on social jaunts, but I just had a wonderful lunch with two women who could run circles around me in that department. Now retired, both worked in the money machinations of RevCan -- places where the $$$-rubber hits the road and the money gets collected. (I ran a program that gave money back to people whose accounts we had messed up.) But these two charming gals ran key parts of the revenue-generation system. As I always say, taxes make the world go 'round. And Canada is a world-beater in the revenue-sharing business, which is how wealth is re-distributed for the betterment of us all.

I remain very proud to have been a part of the Canada Revenue Agency, as it is now called. I was also very proud to have been with Customs and Excise. These are places that make the country work -- places where one can actually see how schlepping into work every day makes a difference. The colleagues I lunched with today were not token feminist appointments. No. They were skilled and experienced people who did a "real" job -- regardless of gender. It really is a pleasure to be included in their social circle. To have worked "in the trenches" in the money-collecting business in this country was an honour. I will miss them both.

Speaking of "real" jobs, we were delighted to have been at the graduation of our son-in-law in the Calgary Fire Department. Having spent six years in the fire service in Vancouver, he nonetheless had to start all over in Calgary and it was wonderful to watch the successful graduates last week start their careers. Being a fire fighter is a special, chosen profession. We are very proud of Colin.