A highly-celebrated Calgary businesswoman who followed in the footstep of her ancestors will share that history with Turner Valley area residents this weekend.
Foothills resident Nancy Southern, who made Fortune’s list of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Business in 2016, is the guest speaker at Turner Valley Oilfields Society’s third annual Speaker Series event May 11 in Turner Valley’s Flare ‘n’ Derrick Community Hall.
The event includes a dinner, silent auction and tour of the Turner Valley Gas Plant.
“I feel a close connection to the Turner Valley, Black Diamond area and Okotoks,” she said. “My great grandfather… worked on the first wooden derricks in the area and my grandfather also worked on the derricks and became a rig hand.
“He was superintendent of Esso’s drilling program way back when but started off with Royalite before Esso bought it.”
Southern’s great grandparents homesteaded in Okotoks. Her great grandfather, Tom Visser, served as Okotoks’ mayor in the 1930s.
Southern, who was born and raised in Calgary, is the chair and chief executive officer of ATCO and Canadian Utilities Limited, executive vice-president of Spruce Meadows and founding director of AKITA Drilling.
When Southern was asked by the Oilfield Society to be this year’s Speaker Series presenter, she said she was honoured.
During the presentation, Southern will discuss her family’s connection to the area and ATCO’s connection to the oil and gas industry.
“I feel honoured to share a part of my own family’s history and also in a very small way give back because I think the Turner Valley Oilfield Society is a really great society in trying to maintain the history of the area and the tremendous benefits that the Turner Valley, Black Diamond area provided Canadians for many, many decades and still does today,” she said.
The advocate on social issues of global importance, including the role of women in business and the rights of Indigenous people, is an Honorary Chief of the Kainai (Blood Tribute of Alberta) and earned the name Aksisoowa’paakii, or Brave Woman, in 2012.
Southern received the Canadian Business Leader Award from the University of Alberta School of Business for her leadership, entrepreneurial spirit, integrity and commitment to the community.
She also received the University of Calgary School of Public Policy’s Distinguished Policy Fellow Award. She had studied economics and commerce there.
Larry Kapustka, chairman of the Turner Valley Oilfield Society, said Southern is a great follow-up to Laureen Harper, former prime minister Stephen Harper’s wife, who was the guest speaker at last year’s event.
“It just seemed like a perfect continuation of our Laureen talk,” he said. “This time it will be more on how the business has developed, in that ATCO has been a key player in the industry, and she has become head of that organization so I think she will have more of not just the ‘this is what it was like as a kid growing up,’ but ‘this is where it led to the development of the overall industry.’”
Kapustka said the series was created following the centennial anniversary of the discovery of petroleum at Dingman No. 1 well on May 14, 1914 to celebrate such an important day in history. The event is held annually in mid May.
“We thought that would be something that can bring history to the community and create a bit of excitement around things by getting people engaged and learning a little bit more about what’s going on here,” he said.
The society will also honour Pioneers of the Oilfields Area during the reception.
Tickets cost $50 and are available at the Sheep River Library in Turner Valley, Cool Hand Luke’s in Black Diamond or at turnervalleyoilfieldsociety.ca
