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Ryan’s Ramblings
Ryan Vanderputten, P.Eng., FITE
President, CITE
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president@cite7.org Spring is finally showing up in many parts of this great country! As the snow melts away and the buds on the trees start to emerge, I am reminded that the changing of the seasons truly represents a new growth opportunity. Our entire TransportationTalk issue this month is focused on the topics of equity, diversity, and inclusion. I am still on my own journey to grow in my awareness and understanding of these issues and how they relate to our transportation field. I recently participated in a couple of thought-provoking discussions at work on anti-racism leadership and development. It was eye opening to recognize that the position of privilege that I have can be used as an opportunity to challenge the practices, policies, and procedures that my company (and CITE) has that do not serve Indigenous and racialized people and over-serve white people. I want to thank our contributors this month—Mariam Bello, Matthew Davis, Dale Lynch, Priyanka Babbar, and David Cooper—for their thoughtful and encouraging perspectives, as well as their patience with me as I walk through this journey myself.
Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (ED&I) are topics that many of our partner organizations are also currently working through. While not a specific element of our 2020-2024 CITE Strategic Plan, ED&I is one of my focus areas for 2022. We have added a couple of dedicated sessions at our Annual Conference in Vancouver for our industry to explore these topics in a safe and open environment (see sidebar on page 13). I encourage you to take the time to read the articles, do your own research, and join me in this journey to becoming anti-racist leaders in our community.
As your President, I am also humbled to represent CITE at many of our events, including meetings with our partnership organizations. The Canadian Urban Transit Association (CUTA) held their first in-person national transit meeting in nearly two and a half years in Quebec City on April 3-5. I had the privilege of meeting with a number of transit leaders from across Canada and hearing how public transit empowers communities and keeps them moving.