Steve Truant – Planning Officer, Ontario Power Generation
Steve is the Planning Officer for OPG’s Niagara Operations. He has over 20 years experience in the electrical field with a focus on project work and power generation. After working at facilities across OPG, Steve and his family decided to settle down in Niagara Falls, where they found the community to be exceptional, opportunistic and just the right pace.
Over the last 8 years in Niagara, Steve has been a committed leader in his industry, within the community and abroad. This includes a 2-year secondment, where he specialized in health and safety while working collaboratively with public and private executive leaders and H&S professionals at local, provincial and federal levels.
Along with being a proud alumnus of McMaster University, Steve also enjoys volunteering in youth sports programs throughout the Niagara Region.
How do you define community leadership?
I define Community Leadership as simply giving back to your community in any way it suits your lifestyle. Whether it be coaching a local sports team, volunteering your time to the local mission or simply picking up trash while you walk by it on the sidewalk, it’s about taking that extra set to make a positive influence in your community.
“…it’s about taking that extra set to
make a positive influence in your community. “
Why are you personally motivated to explore community leadership?
I am personally motivated because I see this opportunity to be an opportunity to make a positive difference in my community at a professional level and as an ambassador for OPG which I am very proud to be an employee of.
What, in your view, is the most significant issue/opportunity facing our community? Why?
I feel that while homelessness is not as big of an issue in Niagara Falls as many other cities in Canada, the increasing wage gap has created far too many families to fall below the poverty line. This is due to the exit of industrial jobs over the last few decades and the increase of minimum wage jobs, through the growth of tourism.
How would you go about tackling this issue?
A solution to this issue could be to establish training programs to develop the skills necessary to fill the needs of corporations within the community. Having a strong pool of skilled citizens would certainly entice companies to invest here. Another observation is that the City”s pool of skilled workers is quietly increasing due to the fact that there are so many new faces that choose to commute to the GTA rather than maintain residence in it. The some of the necessary skills are here, we just need to leverage this fact to Corporations across the GTA and abroad.
In your view, what’s the most important attribute of a leader?
I feel the most important attribute of a leader is integrity, making the right decision even when no one is around.
I have been fortunate enough to be a leader both on and off work hours throughout my life and have grown as a person tremendously. I want to share these experiences with other people in my community, so we can grow as leaders together.