At the heart of every Toddcast episode is a personal conversation. Editing reduces it for length, accelerates the story for dramatic effect and puts everything in the correct order when events are remembered out of sequence. Music and monologue turn it into something we recognize as a podcast. But what does a human story sound like, organic and unprocessed? In this unedited chat with Natasha Fraser, she remembers her life growing up as the child of a teenage mother.

Mackenzie Kitchen shares a truth that we should all take to heart. There is no straight path to success.

A personal journey through opioids.

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Chantal had firm plans to be something before a setback… and another path opened unexpectedly.


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A completely spontaneous conversation with my colleague Lily Spek on singing, and life as a Free Agent.

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On any given day, about 1 in 10 members of Canada’s workforce is absent due to illness or injury.

Part of this comes from our aging society, but all of us are susceptible when stress, anxiety, depression, and personal and family crises make it difficult to balance responsibilities of work and home life.

On this edition of Toddcast, a conversation with Elizabeth Ellis.

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When the people closest to us decide that taking their life entails less pain than living it, we—and others—are left behind in that wake... left to ponder the question, "Why?"

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Identity Management expert, unicyclist and history buff Tim Bouma gives new life to Canadian painter Tom Thomson in his imaginative book adapted from the popular Twitter account.

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Robert VanderBerg, Archivist and Curator of the National Arts Centre, found his dream job.

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A round-table discussion with its users and administrators of Career Marketplace on how the platform can improve the lives of employees who want to grow and develop in their career and managers in search of the perfect fit.

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Daughter and mother YouTubers NanHa and Momma J explore Nova Scotia to have fun and make you smile.

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Career public servant Mark Templin shares 30 years of lessons learned.

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On this, the 50th episode of Toddcast, Todd answers questions about himself, the podcast, and the podcasting medium.

All about Canada's Free Agents, in their own words, featuring Amanda Bloom, Stephanie Davidson, Daphne Guerrero, Steph Percival, Aaron Percival, Alena Fraser, Karol Gajewski, Hope Harris, Etienne Laliberté, Bruce Lonergan, Nancy Pawelek, Ryan Sigouin, Lily Spek, and Greg White.

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At a conference, Gayla Tibbits learned something unexpected about herself and her past.  Not from a presenter, but from a fellow attendee.

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Major Kathryn Foss, a transgender woman and 30-year veteran of the Canadian Forces.

Tariq Piracha on empathetic listening and the history of the Confidants peer support program.

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Senior Executive Katherine Parker discusses the "hidden gem" Interchange Canada, the mechanism for temporary assignments of individuals in and out of the core public administration.

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Public servant Jessica Ward-King has both a PhD in Psychology and the unique insight that only comes with experiencing Bipolar Disorder in her own life.

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A conversation with SanDee Vandal — whose life wound a dark and potentially fatal path before she found her way to the public service.

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Thom Kearney helped bring GCconnex and GCpedia into being and is now leading public consultations on Canada’s Plan on Open Government.

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Sarine, Christian, Bob, Nelly, Lina, and one Anonymous listener share stories about their journey to the public service, the work that they do, and their hopes for the future.Stream or download in MP3 format.



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Nelly Leonidis, Rod Gallant and Kerry Colpitts share more reflections about telework in the public service.

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Ten years into her public service career, now moving to Ottawa, Jen Ferris is ready to see whether her next ten years have more of the same difficulties in accommodation. The public service failed her in 2001. Would the next decade demonstrate the improvement she should reasonably expect?

Nelly Leonidis on the benefits, drawbacks, and barriers to Telework, in part one of a two-part series. Stream, or download in MP3 format.


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The Performance Management experience, told from both an employee and a manager perspective.

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Meet Gavin Thompson: public servant, statistician, and the man behind the Boom! Savings! Charity Shopping Club (on Facebook, Twitter, and the web).

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Letters from public servants who have experienced the death of a colleague, a conversation with Jeremy Ames, and Todd's advice for managers and employees.

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Bill Blight, a public servant with visual impairment, on his life and career with his service dog Craig.

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Dr. Jennifer Barrigar talks about the anniversary and lasting after-effects of the Montreal Massacre.

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Related:

• Gender Violence, part 1

George Wenzel and Chris MacQuarrie take us on a journey where we get a glimpse into what it's like to be a public servant working in “The Regions”. Stream, or download in MP3 format.



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The third of our continuing series on mental health and mental illness features two special guests from Canada Border Services Agency: Lisa Janes, acting Director General for Border Operations Directorate, and Darlene Marion, Senior Program Officer, who many listeners will remember from Toddcast Season 1, Episode 2.

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Related:

• Mental Health Talks, part 1 and part 2.

Melissa Scullion talks about her personal and professional journey in coping with depression.

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Related:

• Mental Health Talks, part 1 and part 3.

Vicki Fleury, on making the leap from student to employee, on her Young Professionals Network involvement, and in… her amazing socks. Yes, socks. Plus, we reach into the Toddcast mailbag and share some well-wishes received for this, our first anniversary.

If you're not a Gnorman fan, skip to the 5-minute mark.

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Abandoned on the street. Apprehended by police. Admitted to an orphanage. The story of Jen Ferris in her own words.

Aaron Ydenberg shares his personal story about his Performance Management Agreement review this year, and Sierra Duffey relates her experiences as a student employee and millennial in the public service.

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Mary Beth Baker talks about GCPEDIA vs. GCconnex, Free Agents, and taking a year off from the public service.

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Joyce Silver talks about past experiences and new beginnings... plus, failures, fear and doubt. No-one is as successful or brave or confident as you think. Listen in for some personal confessions.

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Terry shares his career and life experiences: a tale of self-discovery, adversity, creativity, grief, reflection, rejuvenation... and toast.

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Lianna Ferran discusses how to plan for a difficult conversation, how to navigate through, and why — if you've done all you can — forgiveness might be the only solution.

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Jennifer talks about blogging, the Changing our Organization through Respect (COR) initiative, and her long career in the Canadian Public Service.

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Nine current and former student employees of the Government of Canada discuss their placement experiences.

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Scott McNaughton and Emily Brown talk about men's clothing initiative Suits his Style.

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Yara El Helou, Sage Cram and a third guest address the topic of workplace bullying, harassment and violence, with statistics and personal accounts.

• Yara El Helou's segment begins at the 5:30 mark.
• Sage Cram's personal story begins at 20:55.
• Third story (anonymous) begins at 27:40

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Maria Belen shares her impressions and experiences as a young public servant.

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Roles and approaches for Public Servants interested in making meaningful strides along the pathway towards Indigenous Reconciliation.

Darlene Mulcahey talks about her personal and professional journey in coping with mental illness.

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Related:

• Mental Health Talks, part 2 and part 3.

I've launched a new podcast for and about public servants. It will focus on the human side of the Government of Canada, sharing good news and personal stories: some humour, some tears.

Episode 1 is decidedly light and upbeat for the most part, but with a nod at the serious side you can expect in other episodes. Everything comes wrapped in music from Creative Commons, and there will be outtakes at the end for those strong enough to endure me reading the show credits.

A GCconnex group (only accessible within the GC network) has also been established for listeners who want to discuss any aspect of the show.

Join me for (what I hope is) an interesting ride. Stream it below, or download the MP3 file.



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Last season we spoke with Kathryn Foss. She's a Major in the Canadian Armed Forces who has served for nearly 30 years and a transgender woman who was just beginning her journey into transition. On this episode, a conversation with someone well on her way to becoming the person she always felt she was inside.

Greg White and Pierre-Luc Poisson on male privilege, feminism, and masculinity.

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Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay